DILG, UP to discuss 1992 pact

BY CHITO CHAVEZ

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) bared Tuesday that it will hold a dialogue with officials of the University of the Philippines (UP) this week to review their 1992 agreement which requires the police to seek permission from the school’s administration before entering its campuses.

DILG Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya also clarified that the department will not unilaterally abrogate the pact without consulting UP officials.

“Contrary to a report that came out in a broadsheet, the DILG wants to hold a dialogue with UP officials to revisit the 1992 agreement. For the record, what we said was that there is a need to review the 1992 agreement requiring the PNP to notify UP authorities before entering its campuses,” said Malaya.

Malaya explained that the DILG called for a meeting in response to the request of the UP officials for a dialogue to address the concerns of the department in the “spirit of justice, mutual trust, and the pursuit of excellence.’’

“The 1992 agreement, in fact, calls for regular meetings between the two parties to discuss the implementation of the accord. This meeting therefore is in keeping with agreement and is for the purpose of determining if the agreement is still relevant and serves to uphold public order and safety within UP campuses,” he added.

He added that the meeting will assess the level of security in UP considering the proliferation of residential units, business establishments, and informal settler families within UP campuses, especially in UP Diliman.

“The non-academic areas in UP have increased through the years and crime has been increasing, thus we need to discuss ways on how we can maintain peace and order in those areas,” Malaya said.

Malaya said portions of the UP campuses which have been leased out to private developers such as UP Technohub and UP Town Center are now open to the public as well as the entry of thousands of informal settlers inside the UP property pose a problem for law enforcement with the influx of non-UP faculty, students and residents.

“With the growth of the population within each campus, the current capability of the university’s police and firefighting forces must be assessed. Kaya pa ba nilang panindigan ang responsibilidad na pangalagaan ang seguridad at kaayusan sa loob ng campus,” he asked.

The DILG spokesperson said they also intend to raise the matter of continued clandestine recruitment by the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its front organizations of UP students which was the reason cited by Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana when it abrogated the UP-DND agreement. (Chito Chavez)