UP misunderstood

By Artchil B. Fernandez

 

No institution of higher learning in the country has been more misunderstood than the University of the Philippines (UP). The decision of Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana to unilaterally abrogate the 1989 accord between the Department of National Defense (DND) and the state university once again highlights how misunderstood UP is especially by the defense establishment in the country.

Filipinos, especially the UP communities, were jolted and outraged this week when Lorenzana sent a letter to UP President Danilo Concepcion informing him the DND is scrapping the 31-year-old agreement. “The country’s premier state university has become a safe haven for enemies of the state,” Lorenzana accused the university. He further alleged “that there is indeed an ongoing clandestine recruitment inside UP campuses nationwide” by the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing the New People’s Amy (NPA).

The DND-UP accord was signed in 1989 between then UP President Jose Abueva and then Defense Chief Fidel Ramos. The accord bans the presence of the military and the police in UP campuses without prior notice to school authorities except in cases of hot pursuit and similar occasions of emergency. Military and police are also prohibited by the accord to “interfere with peaceful protest actions by UP constituents” within campus premises. The agreement “has become obsolete” Lorenzana asserted and it is now a “hindrance to operations against communist rebels, especially recruitment of cadres in UP.”

By accusing UP as “safe haven of the enemies of the state” Lorenzana is trying to paint an image of the university as a nest of dangerous people hence the security apparatus of the state must move against the institution. This act of Lorenzana shows that he and the military establishment do not understand the role and function of higher education institution in society.

A university is a marketplace of ideas. It is a place where people study and discuss all kinds of ideas. These ideas are examined, shifted, and critiqued.  In order for teachers and students to have an intensive and fruitful discourse on these ideas, they must be free from fear and intimidation. This is the rationale behind the accord. By preventing the military and the police from barging into UP campus without coordination with school officials, the agreement creates an atmosphere conducive for learning.

The abrogation of the accord is a serious threat to academic freedom which is sacrosanct in a university. The possibility of the military and the police intruding into the campus anytime is a Damocles sword hanging over the UP community. If the topics discussed by teachers and students are deemed by the security establishment as dangerous, nothing now prevents them from invading the campus, arrest students and teachers discussing ideas perceived by the military as threat to state security.

In addition, dissent is an essential component of democracy and the right enshrined in the Constitution. UP students engaged in protest actions are merely exercising their right to dissent. To call those who exercise this right as “enemies of the state” has no place in a democracy. If Lorenzana and the DND adhere to democracy they should defend the democratic rights of UP community not suppress them.

One hallmark of UP education is critical thinking.  Given that critical thinking is paramount at UP it is erroneous and patently wrong for Lorenzana to assume that students are being brainwashed in the university. Ideological straitjacket is not part of UP education and tradition. The premium given to critical thinking in the institution makes it highly unlikely and unthinkable for UP students to swallow anything line, hook and sinker. Blind acceptance is contrary to critical thinking.

Critical thinking prevents UP community from becoming an apologist for the status quo. Critical thinking enables the community to be reflexive and see what is wrong with society. Critical thinking makes UP the conscience of society, pointing out the defects of society not to destroy it but to make society better by being the voice of reform and change. It is inevitable that critical thinking leads to dissent.

People particularly the defense establishment greatly misunderstood the vital role of UP in society. Critical thinking, dissent and creativity, the foundations of UP education are positive forces that drive change, progress and development. Without critical thinking, creativity and dissent the human race would still be in the caves. The awesome achievements of humanity in the long march of history are brought about by the very things UP upholds and is famous for.

Suppressing critical thinking and dissent which kills creativity is what Lorenzana and the security establishment intends to do by abrogating the DND-UP accord. They want not only to limit but even dictate the discourse in the university by placing the UP community on the edge through constant threat of intrusion and incursion.

It is tragic that UP is misunderstood for living up and consistently standing for the very things that make a university an institution of higher learning. Its dissent is mistaken as destructive instead of being viewed as an essential element of democracy. The critical thinking UP vigorously espouses is wrongly seen as hindrance rather than accepted as the engine of change. UP’s creativity and fruitful pursuits which brought honors to the country are ignored sacrificed in the altar of national security.

But UP being UP is not and will not be deterred by the latest machinations of the Du30 administration. Administrations come and go and long after Du30 and his administration are consigned to the dustbin of history, UP will remain resolute, strongly upholding critical thinking, dissent and creativity, living up honor and excellence.