A broad network of Filipino teachers, researchers, school administrators, and other education professionals commended the University of the Philippines Board of Regents (UP BOR) for “unanimously approving” a resolution on the institutionalization of the UP-DND (Department of National Defense) Accord.
“The passage of the UP BOR resolution is a major victory in our efforts to safeguard academic freedom,” the Academics Unite for Democracy and Human Rights (ADHR) said in a statement on Friday, Nov. 5.
ADHR said that UP BOR, which is the highest decision-making body of the country’s premier state university, approved on Nov. 4 a resolution on the institutionalization of the UP-DND Accord.
“The UP BOR resolution articulates the UP community and academic sector’s resolve to push back against attempts by the Duterte government and military to intrude on academic spaces and trample upon independent and critical thinking,” ADHR said.
The group also noted that UP-DND Accord --- which since 1989 had prevented the military from entering campus premises without coordinating with the UP administration --- had been “unjustly terminated” by the Duterte government through Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana last January 2021.
ADHR said that the UP BOR resolution expresses support to HB 10171 which incorporates the provisions of the UP-DND Accord in the UP Charter.
The resolution likewise joins the clamor by legislators to “declare void as violative” of Congress Rules the motion for reconsideration filed by administration allies to block the bill’s passage upon the behest of the NTF-ELCAC.
While the passage of the UP BOR resolution is a major victory for academic freedom, ADHR noted that it also comes at a time “when deadly red-tagging of members of the academic community and other attacks persist, the latest being the attempts by military officials to seize books that have been deemed as ‘subversive’ from the shelves of university libraries.”
READ:
https://mb.com.ph/2021/11/03/students-condemn-purging-libraries-of-critical-materials-urge-ched-to-stand-with-them/
Given this, ADHR underscored the need for “collective efforts to assert our rights and safeguard our freedoms must continue.”
Thus, the group called on the the Senate to jumpstart efforts to approve counterpart bills pushing for the institutionalization of the UP-DND Accord.
Moreover, ADHR also pressed the Duterte government to “reverse its unilateral termination” in light of efforts to legislate the accord.
The group also called on Congress to now discuss HB 8544 which pushes for the protection of academic freedom not only in the UP system but in all educational institutions nationwide.
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https://mb.com.ph/2021/11/05/up-board-of-regents-urges-lawmakers-to-nullify-motion-to-reconsider-approved-up-dnd-accord-bill/