An official of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) insisted on Monday, Feb. 8, that the administration never used the 28 year-old UP 1992 agreement as an excuse to lawfully deploy the full force of the Philippine National Police (PNP) in the crackdown on the recruitment of Communist groups inside its campus.

In an interview over ABS-CBN Teleradyo, DILG Undersecretary and spokesperson Jonathan Malaya stressed that, if that was the case, then the department could have easily taken the same course of the Department of National Defense (DND) in unilaterally terminating the UP agreement.

On January 20, DND Secretary Delfin Lirenzana explained that the abrogation of the accord was not an attack against UP, but stated the university has allegedly become a safe haven for the enemies of the state.

Malaya said that the DILG and the UP management should further engage in a dialogue if both sides can raise valid issues concerning the accord.

“If the University of the Philippines (UP) management can prove and can commit and prove that the existing security arrangements at the university are enough and sufficient then there is nothing to talk about. In so far as the security (inside the UP campus) is concerned,’’ Malaya said.

On February 6, the DILG and UP vowed to undertake an extensive review of the 992 agreement to ensure that the security in all the UP campuses are without prejudice to academic freedom and right to free speech and assembly.

DILG officer-in-charge (OIC) Bernardo C. Florece, Jr. stressed in the meeting that the concerned parties agreed to the need to review the 1992 agreement to suit present conditions saying the need for the accord to be updated.

He maintained the agreement will be reviewed with the assurance that it will not, in any way, diminish basic rights and the freedom of speech and assembly in UP which are Constitutionally protected and enshrined.