PUP SKM CONFIRMS DND ACCORD STATUS: TERMINATED

BY VIRGIL SALVANTE

THE OFFICE of the University Legal Counsel confirmed to the Polytechnic University of the Philippines’ Sentral na Konseho ng Mag-aaral (PUP SKM) on April 18 that the PUP-Department of National Defense (DND) Accord was unilaterally terminated since January 19, 2022.

The confirmation was in response to the letter sent by PUP SKM on March 30, seeking to clarify the status of the accord, disclosing that the university received a letter from former DND Secretary Delfin Lorenzana that the accord was terminated last year without prior announcement or discussion.

The PUP Administration forwarded a letter to DND on February 8, 2022, expressing their sentiments and asking for reconsideration regarding the decision to terminate the accord—the university did not receive an answer.

The PUP-DND Accord is a bilateral agreement dated August 21, 1990, signed between the former university president, Nemesio Prudente, and then-National Defense Secretary, Fidel Ramos, restraining military or other state forces from intervening inside the university premises without authorization of the administrators and officials.

Atty. Joanna Marie Liao of the university’s Legal Counsel stated that they will remain academic freedom and institutional autonomy their top priority despite the termination.

“We emphasized the importance of academic freedom and institutional autonomy in the full exercise of our right to education and stressed how the agreement helped quell the suspicions of the threats to liberty posed by standing armies,” she said.

PUP SKM voiced that the accord served as a safeguard to provide a safe space and academic freedom in the university for the past three decades, encouraging students to protect it.

“Hamon ito sa buong komunidad ng PUP, higit lalo sa administrasyon, sa kung papaanong sama-sama nating titiyakin ang kaligtasan sa loob ng pamantasan at iturol ang ating galit sa estado na siyang tunay natin na kaaway,” PUP-SKM wrote in a Facebook post on April 18.