MANILA – Days after the unilateral termination of the agreement between the Department of National Defense (DND) and the University of the Philippines (UP), the former’s chief assured students and faculty members that there will be no abuse coming from state forces.
“Anong gagawin namin? Wala,” Defense secretary Delfin Lorenzana said in a press conference Wednesday. “You can continue to trust us now and in the coming days. I want to remind students that the government is there to protect them and to assure them as well as parents that they are safe in and out of the campus.”
The UP-DND accord, signed in June 1989, prohibits the police and military from entering all UP campuses without prior notice.
It was last Jan. 15 when Lorenzana sent UP a letter saying it was time to end the pact as the university “has become a venue for clandestine recruitment into rebel groups.”
“I am appealing to the UP community to have an open mind. We have nothing against UP. This is not an attack against UP. We just want to protect students para wala nang masali sa listahan. We want to protect UP and its students,” Lorenzana stressed.
Meanwhile, the defense department will also be open for a dialogue with UP President Danilo Concepcion.
“I am willing to talk to him pero sagutin muna nila kung bakit namatay itong mga tao ito na kasama ng NPA. If they can explain that, we can talk. If not, forget it,” said Lorenzana.
“There’s a list of students of UP from all UP campuses na namatay during encounters with the Armed Forces. Explain to me bakit nangyari ito sa kanila. Why did they fail to protect these young kids?” he added./PN
