Lorenzana to oppose measures institutionalizing DND-UP accord

MANILA – Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Delfin Lorenzana on Thursday said he would oppose measures pushing the institutionalization of the DND-University of the Philippines (UP) Agreement of 1989.

“How can you institutionalize an agreement? Permanent na? (Will this be permanent?) Hindi na ‘yan agreement (that will be no longer be an agreement) but a law. I oppose it and I am ready to go up to the SC (Supreme Court) to defend my action,” he said in a message to reporters.

Lorenzana made the statement after Senator Joel Villanueva filed Senate Bill 2002 institutionalizing the essence of the agreement between the UP and state forces.

The bill seeks to amend Republic Act 9500 or the UP Charter Act of 2008 to require prior notification on the entry of police and military units in all UP campuses.

“Except in cases of hot pursuit and similar occasions of emergency… no member of the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines), the PNP (Philippine National Police), or other law enforcement agencies shall enter the premises of any of the UP campuses or regional units,” a portion of the bill read.

Lorenzana said the bill would not prosper. In abrogating the agreement on January 15, the DND chief called the arrangement “obsolete”.

He said the agreement was used by the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) to turn the state university into a breeding ground of “intransigent individuals and groups whose extremist beliefs have inveigled students to join their ranks to fight against the government”.