endIndex: Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 19) — Vice President Leni Robredo, several lawmakers, and progressive youth groups denounced the Department of National Defense's decision to abrogate its three-decade agreement with the University of the Philippines that bars uniformed personnel from entering UP campuses without notifying school officials. The Duterte administration's unilateral termination of the deal is clearly meant to silence the government's critics, Robredo said Tuesday, pointing out that the accord simply asks law enforcers to give notice to the university before conducting any security operations inside their campuses. "This is neither a difficult nor onerous rule... Clearly, then, 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," she said.