June 7, 2021
By Francesca Kapunan
The Committee on Higher and Technical Education (CHTE) approved a Substitute Bill last June 2, which seeks to institutionalize the UP-DND accord.
In a virtual committee meeting last Wednesday headed by Baguio City Representative Mark Go, the CHTE moved to approve of the Substitute Bill which will make the accord part of Republic Act 9500 or the University of the Philippines Charter of 2008.
The decision also consolidates House Bills 8347 by Deputy Speaker Eduardo Villanueva, 8515 by Marikina City Rep. Stella Quimbo, and 8545 by Kabataan Party-list (KPL) Rep. Sarah Elago.
The bill details that prior notification must be given by police and military units before they enter any University of the Philippines (UP) campus, except in cases of hot pursuit. It further proposes that the service of search or arrest warrants to any constituent of UP may only be done with prior coordination to the university’s administration.
Elago has since welcomed the approval of the substitute bill. “Not only will this uphold the UP-DND accord in the UP Charter, it will also serve as a greater push for the police and military to enforce accountability among their ranks against a backdrop of worsening human rights violations and impunity in the country.”
The UP-DND accord is a 1989 agreement signed by former UP President Jose Abueva and former Defense chief Fidel Ramos. The pact bars police and military elements from conducting operations within UP without prior coordination with university officials.
Efforts to institutionalize the accord are being done after the Department of National Defense (DND) moved to unilaterally terminate the accord last January.
DND Secretary Delfin Lorenzana cites the accord’s ‘hindrance in providing effective security, safety and welfare of the students, faculty, and employees of UP’ as a reason for its termination.
This has since been met with condemnation with many of UP’s students, faculty, staff, and alumni. SYNC IN
Comments