By VENMAR CECILLE
Bulatlat.com
Students denounced the unilateral termination of the Prudente-Ramos Accord, an agreement prohibiting the presence of the police and military in any of the branches and campuses of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP), dubbing it as a grave attack on academic freedom.
Last March 30, the PUP Sentral na Konseho ng Mag-aaral (SKM) wrote a letter to the University Legal Counsel to know the status of the Prudente-Ramos Accord amid their ongoing campaign against campus militarization and rejection of mandatory ROTC.
More than two weeks have passed, and the PUP administration has not responded despite consecutive follow-ups, prompting organized protests and calls for a dialogue.
On April 18, the PUP administration, through the University Legal Counsel, confirmed that the Prudente-Ramos Accord was unilaterally abrogated by the Department of National Defense (DND).
However, the notice to the students and the PUP community came more than 400 days late.
Former Defense Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana wrote to the PUP administration on January 19, 2022, informing them of their decision without prior consent to the other party. The PUP administration wrote back in February 2022, asking the Department to “reconsider” their decision but to no avail.
“For the longest time, the Accord served as our vanguard and sanctuary of our peace and wisdom in the University,” the PUP-SKM’s statement read.
Sanctuary against state violence
For Benhur Queqquegan, PUP-SKM vice president, the Accord allows PUP to maintain its role as a sanctuary against state violence.
“Before the agreement, the police and military could freely enter the university premises, and arrest progressive students and professors they deemed as subversives. This accord was borne out of necessity, to never repeat the same mistakes and abuses of state agents during the time of Martial Law,” Queqquegan said.
The accord was signed by then-PUP President Dr. Nemesio Prudente, former DND Secretary Fidel V. Ramos, former NPC Chairman Cicero Campos, former AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Renato De Villa, and director general of the Constabulary, Cesar Nazareno.
Queqquegan said that recently, harassment from state agents became common during protests and activities organized by PUP students, inside and outside the University.
“They would always gear themselves with armalites and shields. Even the volunteer-led relief operations for the razed communities of Valencia were violently disrupted by the police,” he said.
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Due to the persistent threats and harassment they experienced, Defend PUP Alliance was established in July last year to safeguard the democratic rights and civil liberties of the PUP community.
Queqquegan is also the main convener of this multi-sectoral alliance. The most recent case that the Defend PUP Alliance has documented was the case of police and military intervention in PUP Sto. Tomas, Batangas.
“The police were permitted to organize a symposium for an NSTP project, only to red-tag progressive groups in the university and spread blatant lies,” said Queqquegan.
Academic freedom in peril
Queqquegan also highlighted that the infiltration of state agents meant more red-tagging and security threats for the students.
“Instead of serving the interest of the students and the masses, the state agents continue to repress us because they fear the progressive culture that grounds us to uproot social problems,” Queqquegan added.
In addition, he feared that the attacks against academic freedom extend to other schools and universities.
Notably, it is not the first time that an accord was terminated. The UP-DND Accord of 1989 was unilaterally abrogated on January 15, 2021, eliciting condemnation from different stakeholders of UP.
With this, Kabataan Partylist, the representative of the youth sector in Congress, condemned the decision of the DND. They also called the DND cowards for keeping it undisclosed “like a thief in the night.”
“The abrogation of the two academic freedom accords long fought for and won by a generation of students is a betrayal of the memory of countless victims of human rights violations who merely expressed free ideas inside their university,” their statement read.
Sustaining the defense
Despite the abrogation, the community is hopeful and committed to exhausting all means to uphold the essence of academic freedom.
“We will continue to conduct mobilizations and educational discussions. This will also translate in university lobbying and in maximum, to push forward in institutionalizing the PUP-DND accord with the help of national formations,” Queqquegan said.
Among the national formations mentioned by Queqquegan is the Kabataan Partylist, which committed itself to lobbying for “more secure protections for academic freedom for all higher education institutions nationwide.”
They also called on the PUP administration to exhaust their means to advance the interest of the students and ensure that the lack of transparency will not happen again.
“Even without the PUP-DND accord, our democratic rights are still instilled in the Constitution. Now more than ever, we need to stand united, mobilize, and sustain our efforts to defend the University,” Queqquegan ended. (RTS, RVO) 
