UP faculty, staff and students urged the administration to reinstate the 1989 UP-DND accord as they oppose the “declaration of cooperation” recently signed by UP President Angelo Jimenez and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
While the document stated that it is “not a contract/agreement” but an “expression of interest” of both parties, the UP community remains alarmed by the declaration’s potential dangers to academic freedom and safety.
In a press conference organized by the Defend UP Network on Aug. 14, assistant professor Jules Lustro from the UP College of Engineering called the declaration an “assault” on academic freedom and independence.
Signed on Aug. 8, the “Declaration of Cooperation” would allow “visits, exchanges, and research fellowships” of the AFP in the UP Center for Integrative and Development Studies (UP CIDS).
Associate professor Danilo Arao from the UP College of Mass Communication questioned the silence of the Jimenez administration on the restoration of the 1989 University of the Philippines–Department of National Defense (UP-DND) accord.
“Our demand is for the UP-DND accord to continue. Bakit tahimik ang UP system administration dito at ito [declaration of cooperation] pa ang inatupag?,” he said.
The said accord barred state forces from forcibly entering its campuses without prior coordination with the administration. The Duterte government unilaterally terminated the agreement in January 2021.
When Jimenez was elected as the 22nd UP president, he said that he remained open to conducting dialogues with student-leaders, particularly about institutionalizing the UP-DND accord.
The UP sectoral regents, however, said in a joint statement that the Jimenez administration did not consult the UP community before the signing of the UP-AFP declaration.
The declaration was made public through posts on the AFP’s Facebook and Instagram pages on the same day it was signed by Jimenez but was taken down without any explanation. A copy of the full document was later published on the UP OVPAA website on Aug. 12.
“Kung hindi pa nagkamali ang AFP sa pag-post nito sa kanilang Facebook page, na ngayon ay tinanggal na, hindi agad na malalaman ng UP community,” Rommel Rodriguez, vice president of the All UP Academic Employees Union said.
Jenelle Raganas, co-convenor of Tanggol KAPP, an organization advocating for defending academic freedom, reiterated calls to prioritize actions against intimidation and harassment over scholarly pursuits.
“Paano mananaig ang scholarship kung patuloy ang red-tag[ging]?,” Raganas said.
In the 55th convention of the General Assembly of Student Councils (GASC), student leaders across the UP System reported multiple incidents of red-tagging and profiling from military personnel.
READ: Campus militarization, red-tagging intensifies amid return to f2f – UP student councils
Rodriguez also highlighted that faculty and staff were also red-tagged, primarily by the National Task Force to End local Communist Armed Conflict, but has yet to be addressed by the Jimenez administration with concrete plans of action.
The representatives of the UP community along with the Defend UP Network vows to raise its concerns in the next University Council meeting and continue its efforts to reject the UP-AFP declaration.
