MANILA, Philippines — The Department of National Defense’s unilateral termination of its pact with the University of the Philippines to keep state forces out of campus without warning sends a “wrong signal” even to academic institutions, the Ateneo School of Government (ASOG) said.
Taken in the context of red-tagging and human rights violations, the DND’s abrogation “sends the wrong signal not just to UP but also to all academic institutions in the country that provide safe spaces for independent academic thought and freedom,” said ASOG Dean Ronald Mendoza in a statement.
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Mendoza added that as educators, they bear the responsibility to protect students while giving them safe space for debate and dissent. “With or without an accord, it is our responsibility to work with the national security sector to make sure our academic institutions provide this safe space,” he added.
In justifying the unilateral termination, the defense chief had again used unsubstantiated accusations that there is an “ongoing clandestine recruitment” inside UP campuses and the deal is being used to bar the government from holding operations in the schools.
But DND’s action is largely seen as a move to further shrink spaces for activists and dissent, especially as the UP campuses have served as a safe space for protests even amid a pandemic.
Following the termination of the pact, right-wing Duterte Youth party-list called on the abrogation of DND’s similar pact with the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, triggering protest from the university.
Mendoza continued: “Any perceived or actual erosion of these safe spaces — the important middle ground for the meeting and/or clash of ideas — will probably undermine efforts to counter extreme views. “
The Ateneo dean added: “Ultimately, extremism can be defeated in the academic arena by offering our youth—the nation’s future leaders—an opportunity to sharpen their beliefs in a battle of ideas.”
UP President Danilo Concepcion has appealed to Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana to reconsider the abrogation.
Meanwhile, Sens. Joel Villanueva, Sonny Angara, Nancy Binay and Grace Poe filed a resolution to institutionalize the UP-DND accord. In the explanatory note for Senate Bill No. 2002, the senators branded the scrapping of the agreement as an "attack on [UP's] autonomy" which forms part of long-running "state efforts to minimize [its] unique role and participation... in social change." — Kristine Joy Patag