Joint CPD-UP police patrols proposed to curb frat violence in Dilimancampus

National Capital Regional Police Office (NCRPO) director Chief Superintendent Edgar Aglipay wants joint mobile patrols between the University of the Philippines' (UP) police and the Central Police District (CPD) inside the 493-hectare campus of the state university in Diliman, Quezon City as a security measure against fraternity violence.

"I am meeting with UP president Dr. Francisco Nemenzo about this," said Aglipay. "I want to assure him that we have no intention at all of curtailing academic freedom of the university, which is also my alma mater.

Earlier, Nemenzo has vehemently rejected what he said was "any suggestion to undermine the integrity of the campus."

Aglipay, who finished his Masters in Business Administration in UP, told a group of STAR reporters over dinner Friday night that he could not understand why university officials are averse to the idea of having mobile police patrols on campus.

In his UP days, Aglipay joined the now defunct UP Plebian brotherhood -- a group that counts among its members Sen. Renato Cayetano and Supreme Court Chief Justice Hilario Davide.

"If they want a clear deterrent to fraternity violence, they should consider this seriously," he said. "I also want to dialogue with various student groups on the state university to assure them that it is far from our intention to intrude into their political affairs."

Aglipay made the proposal in the wake of a bloody scuffle on campus last week between the warring Alpha Phi Beta and Sigma Rho fraternities, which killed a student and injured three others.

Until now, police have yet to establish who really killed 20-year-old APB member Den Daniel Reyes, who died of multiple stab wounds during a rumble near the UP Law Center.

Wounded in the scuffle were Sigma Rhoans Gil Taway IV, Marshall Rongo and Fulgencio "Bibit" Factoran III, son of former Department of Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Fulgencio Factoran Jr. The Central Police District (CPD) had established a liaison office with the UP Diliman Police last year after the cold-blooded murder of journalism student Niño Calinao last February in yet another case of fraternity-related violence.

But Aglipay said the arrangement is not enough a deterrent to fraternity rumbles and other crimes on campus, insisting that strong police presence in now needed. The undermanned-UP police is the only police force in the country independent of the Philippine National Police (PNP).

At the Kapihan sa Sulo yesterday, UP Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Tessa Jasminez disclosed that representatives from the Sigma Rho and Alpha Phi Beta fraternities were expected to declare a formal truce in campus to prevent further violence between the two groups. - Gina Tabonares