Uproar as Duterte targets state university
Govt breaks deal barring state forces entering campuses, saying University of the Philippines is full of communists
University of the Philippines president Danilo Conception talks to the press on Jan. 19 during a protest against the breaking of an accord barring state forces from the university’s campuses. (Photo courtesy of Sophia Sibal of the Philippine Collegian)
Administrators and students at the Philippines’ national university have condemned the Defense Department’s termination of an agreement that requires state forces to seek permission from the university before they can enter its campuses.
Established in 1908, the University of the Philippines has built a reputation of academic excellence as well as for dissent against rights abuses.
Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP)
(MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
“Academic freedom, freedom of expression and association, due process, privacy, and other fundamental rights are guaranteed by the Philippine Constitution. These basic rights cannot be taken away by the unilateral scrapping of an agreement for operational coordination,” assured Cayosa in a statement.
“Considering its institutional autonomy as a National University under R.A. 9500 (the UP Charter of 2008), primary authority and responsibility for ‘effective security, safety, and welfare of the students, faculty and employees of U.P.’ rests with the officials of the U.P. System, not with the Department of National Defense or other government agencies/units,” he also pointed out.
The unilateral termination by the Department of National Defense (DND)
of its accord with the University of the Philippines (UP) casts further doubts on the sincerity of the government to uphold human rights. It also "aggravates the climate of distrust towards the government," the Commission on Hum
(UPDATED) Rebus sic stantibus, the inapplicability of contracts because of fundamental change of circumstances, is the latest addition to the Duterte administration's list of Latin doctrines when justifying questionable legal actions