Four senators are seeking to institutionalize the 1989 accord between the University of the Philippines (UP) and the Department of the National Defense (DND).
Following the DND's unilateral decision to terminate its three-decades-old agreement with UP, Senators Joel Villanueva, Sonny Angara, Nancy Binay, and Grace Poe filed Wednesday Senate Bill No. 2002 which places the accord in the UP Charter (Republic Act No. 9500).
"The bill will institutionalize the accord that was designed to nurture academic freedom and promote cooperation and mutual respect between the university and the State in pursuing justice, peace, and freedom," Villanueva, a member of the UP Board of Regents, told reporters in a message.
In the bill, the senators slammed as an attack to the State university's autonomy the DND's sudden abrogation of the agreement with the UP.
"(The UP-DND accord) is not a wall which obstructs justice or deters the solution or prevention of crime. It is unfortunate that its abrogation is being invoked for the wrong reasons. Implying that it has enabled thinking that is critical to the government is a gross misreading of UP’s role as vanguard of independent thought," the bill's explanatory note read.
"There is no monopoly of ideology in UP. It remains a big tent that shelters all ideas that can be pursued nonviolently. It is not a rebel recruitment station. On the contrary, it hosts many DDS (who) are free to compete in the marketplace of ideas," the senators added, apparently referring to staunch supporters of the Duterte administration known as "Duterte Die-Hard Supporters."
Under SB No. 2002, members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Philippine National Police (PNP), and other law enforcement agencies would be barred from entering the premises of any UP campuses or regional units.
They shall only be allowed "in cases of hot pursuit and similar occasions of emergency," echoing what was provided in the Soto-Enrile Accord – the agreement which the UP-DND deal was based on.
Military personnel, policemen, and any other law enforcers who are planning to conduct any operations in UP campuses must inform the UP president or the chancellor of the constituent university, deans, or officers-in-charge of the unit concerned before entering the premises of the university's premises.
Whenever requested by law enforcers, UP officials shall extend the necessary assistance in law enforcement within the university's premises.
The service of search and arrest warrants, as well as any oral or written "invitation" for questioning, must also be done after prior notification to concerned UP officials. Authorities serving the documents must be accompanied by the UP police and at least two UP faculty members.
The bill also states that the arrest or detention of UP students, faculty, or personnel anywhere in the Philippines must be reported "immediately" by the responsible head of the AFP, PNP, or other law enforcement agency unit to UP officials.
"No UP student, faculty, or employee shall be subjected to custodial investigation without, as far as practicable, prior notice" to the concerned UP officials.
The AFP, PNP, and other law enforcement agencies "shall not interfere with peaceful protest actions by individuals or groups within UP premises." Officials shall be deemed responsible for the behavior of their students, faculty, and employees in such activities, the bill said.
The bill also proposes to mandate UP official strengthen its police and security force "to prevent its campuses from being exploited by malefactors or criminal elements."
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the UP-DND accord was a "hindrance" to the government's efforts against communist insurgency.
Military officials have been insisting their claim that the State universities serve as a "breeding ground" for rebels as associated progressive groups to the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New Peoples' Army (CPP-NPA).
"Talk about exemptions, meron naman po (there are) mechanisms within the accord on how to address those concerns. It doesn’t get in the way of criminal investigation or any legitimate operation of the security forces," Villanueva maintained.
The chairman of the Senate Committee on Higher Education said lawmakers would also be willing to craft a similar bill for other State universities whose similar accords with the DND were also being threatened.