Teodoro says he won’t restore UP-DND accord

Defense chief Gilberto Teodoro Jr. on Thursday said he will not review the terminated agreement between the University of Philippines (UP) and the Department of National Defense (DND) that bans military and police forces from entering the campus.

At a Palace briefing, Teodoro, who is a UP alumnus, was asked if he will review the policy after it was unilaterally terminated by the Department during the stint of former Defense chief Delfin Lorenzana in 2021.

“I am not anymore. That has been the policy already done by my predecessor and I don't want to reverse the policy," Teodoro said.

“But that does not mean to say that I am not mindful of the autonomy of the University of the Philippines. And I urge everybody to be respectful of that without need of any [memorandum of agreement],” he added.

In a letter dated January 15, 2021, Lorenzana informed then-UP President Danilo Concepcion of the DND's decision to end the agreement.

Lorenzana cited information that communists are recruiting students inside UP campuses for his decision.

"In pursuit of true national peace and development, it is time to terminate or abrogate the existing agreement with the end view if protecting and securing the institution and youth against the enemies of the Filipino people without sacrificing the freedoms we have preserved for about 30 years since the agreement was executed," Lorenzana said.

The UP Student Regents called the move a declaration of war against freedom and rights.

“This unilateral termination paves the way for intensifying human rights abuses. It is also a declaration of war against constitutional guarantees of academic freedom and the right to free speech, expression, and assembly,” they said.

Even without the pact, Teodoro still encouraged the police and military to be “really mindful of the balance between freedom of expression and protecting the peace.”

The UP-DND accord was signed on June 30, 1989 and provided the guidelines on the conduct of police and military operations so that the incident involving a certain Donato Continente would not happen again, according to Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) secretary general Renato Reyes Jr.

UP Professor Danilo Arao said the agreement was signed 14 days after Continente, then a staff of the Philippine Collegian, was abducted and later tortured and forced to confess to the murder of American soldier Colonel James Rowe.

The accord provided that the military and police were prohibited from entering the premises of any UP campus or its regional units without prior notice to the UP administration. —Joviland Rita/ VAL, GMA Integrated News