MANILA – Dismayado si Vice President Leni Robredo sa pagbasura ng Department of National Defense (DND) sa kasunduan na nagbabawal sa mga sundalo at pulis na tumapak sa loob ng campuses ng University of the Philippines (UP).
Sa isang statement, sinabi ni Robredo na may mga alternatibong paraan naman para tugunan ang binbanggit na problema ng pamahalaan.
“If this was simply about law enforcement, all the Accord asks is that military authorities give notice to University officials before any operations in UP.”
“This is neither a difficult nor onerous rule, and five Presidents since 1989 have managed to protect both the UP community and the Republic without breaking it.”
Sa isang liham, sinabi ni Defense Sec. Delfin Lorenzana na isa sa dahilan ng kanilang “unilateral termination” sa UP-DND Accord, ay ang umano’y recruitment ng mga komunistang grupo sa loob ng UP campuses.
Hindi kumbinsido rito si Robredo, dahil malinaw umano kung ano ang sini-simbolo ng hakbang.
“The unilateral scrapping of the decades-old Accord sends the opposite message: That under this administration, anyone, anywhere, at anytime, is fair game.”
Ayon pa sa bise presidente, panibagong hakbang ito ng administrasyon para patahimikin ang mga kritiko.
“This is not a practical gesture, but a symbolic one. One designed to sow fear. One designed to discourage dissent. One designed to silence criticism.”
READ: A digital copy of the 1989 UP-DND agreement that prohibits military and police presence in any UP campus without…
Posted by Philippine Collegian on Thursday, October 22, 2015
Minsang nang tinawag ni Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte na “recruitment ground” ng Communist Party of the Philippines at New People’s Army ang UP.
Ito ay sa gitna ng mga kilos protestang in-organisa ng mga estudyante ng Ateneo de Manila University laban sa tugon ng pamahalaan sa mga nagdaang bagyo noong Nobyembre 2020, at COVID-19 pandemic.
“It is now up to us to decide whether we will give in. Or whether, at long last, we will stand our ground and speak out,” ayon sa pangalawang pangulo.
“In this, my faith remains firm, we will find our courage and do what needs to be done.”
Nilangdaan nila dating UP President Jose Abueva at former Defense Sec. Fidel Ramos ang UP-DND Accord noong 1989. Layunin nito na protektahan ang unibersidad at mga estudyante mula sa police at military operation.
Si Robredo ay graduate ng kursong economics sa UP noong 1986. Habang si Duterte ay nagtapos ng political science si Duterte sa Lyceum of the Philippines University.
