Vice President Leni Robredo slammed Tuesday (January 19) the Department of National Defense’s (DND) unilateral move to scrap its three-decade-old agreement with the University of the Philippines, which banned the police and military from entering any of its campuses without notice from school officials.
Robredo, an economics graduate from UP Diliman, said the termination of the UP-DND accord “sends the opposite message: That under this administration, anyone, anywhere, at anytime, is fair game.”
In a statement, the Vice President said scrapping the accord wasn’t about law enforcement because the agreement only required state forces to inform UP officials before entering the campus unless the operation was in hot pursuit.
“Clearly, then, this is not a practical gesture, but a symbolic one. One designed to sow fear. One designed to discourage dissent. One designed to silence criticism,” she said.
DND Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the agreement, signed in 1989, was scrapped because it was being used as a “shield” by the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) to prevent the police and military from stopping the supposed “clandestine recruitment” of students as communist rebels.
In light of the pact’s termination, Robredo said it was up to the public to decide whether to give in or speak out.
“In this, my faith remains firm, we will find our courage and do what needs to be done,” she said.
Source: Latest Politics News Today (Politics.com.ph)
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