The University of the Philippines Los Baños Chancellor Jose Camacho Jr. denounced the unilateral termination of the 1989 University of the Philippines (UP)-Department of National Defense (DND) accord.
In a statement released Tuesday (Jan. 19), Camacho said the 31-year old accord between the UP and the DND "sends mixed signals with its claim that UP campuses have become breeding grounds for rebel-students."
"As a bastion for the expression of ideas, ideals, and advocacies and as a sanctuary for the exercise of our cherished rights and freedoms, UP is hallowed ground for activism and dissent, not rebellion," he underscored.
Camacho noted that in the three decades that the accord has been in effect, it did not prevent the DND and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) from enforcing laws in any UP campus.
He added that the UP administration has assisted police personnel and National Bureau of Investigation agents in discreetly enforcing court issued writs such as warrants of arrest on campus.
The chancellor reiterated that the accord is not a hindrance to the enforcement of the country's laws and judicial orders on campus. It likewise never hindered DND or AFP from conducting intelligence operations in UP campuses.
"It is in this light that we view the unilateral rescission of the 1989 UP-DND accord as an assault against the freedom of UP as an institution. It comes at the heels of earlier threats to discontinue funding for the University, which was intended to silence and intimidate us," Camacho said.
"We will not back down. We will continue with our duty to defend the freedom of our people guaranteed under the Constitution -- the right to life and liberty, the freedom of speech, of expression and the right of the people to campaign against graft and corruption," he added.
On Monday, the DND unilaterally terminated the UP-DND accord, an agreement signed on June 30, 1989 by then-UP president Jose Abueva and then-defense chief Fidel V. Ramos.
The agreement prohibits state forces from entering the university premises without prior notice to the UP administration.