By Aaron Recuenco The Philippine National Police (PNP) sees nothing wrong in the arrest of seven protesters inside the University of the Philippines (UP) Cebu Campus despite an existing agreement that policemen and soldiers could not conduct operations inside all UP campuses without prior notice or approval of the School Administration. Philippine National Police (MANILA BULLETIN) First, UP Cebu is supposed to be closed based on the Omnibus Guidelines on the Implementation of the Community Quarantine, according to Brig. Gen. Albert Ignatius Ferro, director of the Central Visayas regional police. Since it is not supposed to be open, Ferro argued that it follows that mass gathering is not allowed. “All of these are in violation of the Republic Act 11332 (An Act Providing Policies and Surveillance and Response to Notifiable Diseases, Epidemics and Health Events of Public Health Concern),” said Ferro in a statement sent to the Manila Bulletin. The UP Cebu students, along with other protesters, held a rally to protest the Anti-Terrorism Bill which has been the subject of criticisms from various sectors, including the academe and the business sector, over fears that it could justify abuses even against those with legitimate complaints and grievances against the government. Some of the chilling provisions of the bill, according to critics, is that anybody could be subjected to wiretapping and even arrested on a mere suspicion that he/she is engaged in terrorism activities, the longer detention of up to 24 days without filing of proper charges, the removal of the requirement to present a terror suspect in courts to check if he or she was tortured, and the lessening of accountability for wrong arrest such as the deletion of the P500,000 fine for every day of detention on wrong suspect from the original law. Critics said that the ‘imprecise and poorly-worded’ provisions of the Anti-Terrorism Bill could also pave the way for inclusion of protest actions and even critical articles and social media posts in the category of those who could be wiretapped, arrested, and punished. In a now deleted tweet of Mocha Uson, a government official and a known supporter of President Duterte, circulating in the social media, she labeled those who protested against the Anti-Terrorism Bill in UP Diliman as terrorists. In arresting the seven protesters at UP Cebu, Ferro said the police were actually on a hot pursuit since a crime was committed in front of the riot cops sent in the area. While the protest action was held outside UP Cebu, he said the suspects ran towards the campus. Ferro also said that there was an assault on persons on authority committed by the protesters as one of them kicked one of the policemen. “UP as a government educational institution should follow the Law especially on this time of National Crisis, for the good of the majority and not for a few individuals,” said Ferro. On Friday, the UP Cebu said that it will be conducting an investigation to determine if the police violated the UP-Department of National Defense (DND) Accord which prohibits police and military operations inside UP Campus without prior notice or approval of the UP Administration. While the police is not under the DND, the agreement was signed when the police was still under the DND. The agreement, known as the Soto-Enrile Accord (signed between student leader Sonia Soto and then Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile), was signed in 1982 due to the disappearances of student activists near the UP campuses during the Martial Law period. It sought to protect the autonomy of the university from military intervention.