by Danielle Liwanag

The boy watches his footsteps as he takes on his first day of school. He walks forward – into his classroom where he listens to his teacher and stares into her hopeful eyes as she tells them that they are the future of the country, that they should use their education to serve the country — to make it a better place. His eyes shine with a glimmer, never forgetting this. Fast forward to now, he stares into the eyes of the man in blue, his eyes shine not with glimmer but with rage. The rage that comes with being silenced for speaking out against those in power. 

More than three decades after it was first signed, the 1989 UP-DND accord was terminated by the Department of National Defense. The UP-DND accord is an agreement between the University of the Philippines and the Department of National Defense that prohibits military and law enforcement from entering UP campuses without prior permission. The agreement is rooted in protecting its students to be free to express their ideas without fear. Now, the Department of National Defense claims that the decision to unilaterally terminate the agreement is to protect the students from communist groups that use the campus grounds as a “safe haven.” UP’s vice president defends their institution by saying that while UP may have a history of being activists, it doesn’t mean that they recruit for the communist party. 

UP has always been among the forefront when it comes to activism in the country. It’s alumni and staff deem it a safe space for freedom of expression, intellectual discourse, and protest. Many believe that by terminating the agreement that allows this, it revokes students of their academic freedom and therefore removes the institution’s meaning and purpose. Although the DND still claims that allowing military enforcements to freely enter the campus without permission is a symbol of peace, the people rallying inside the campus grounds beg to differ. If the accord remains terminated, UP students believe that campus militarization will be at large and those in camouflage uniforms will be a threat to freedom and human rights. With the current administration’s history of red-tagging individuals who speak against them, it is easier for them to red-tag students or faculty with opposing views. 

This termination of the UP-DND accord is not only a threat to UP students nor to academic freedom, but also to innocent Filipinos everywhere. With the many cases of police brutality and abuse of power happening around, it is unpredictable to imagine what lies next for our rights and our country’s future. As students, we have always been taught to think critically and to choose to do what is right. But what happens when those speak out against what they believe is wrong and harmful are the very people that are being threatened to silence? 

The boy watches his footsteps again, but this time he looks back and sees the path he has forged. Never forgetting the words uttered in that classroom that day, he continues to stand alongside the people holding up banners and speaking their hearts out. He looks right into the eyes of the man in blue who tries to instill fear. But it was not fear the boy felt, but the passion to fight for the freedom they are trying to take.

Sources:
https://www.cnn.ph/life/culture/Current-Events/2021/1/21/up-dnd-accord-content-and-context.html
https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/11/19/20/up-not-anti-government-doesnt-recruit-for-communist-party-exec
https://www.rappler.com/nation/defense-lorenzana-says-university-philippines-now-safe-haven-state-enemies-dnd-accord-end
https://www.up.edu.ph/up-protests-against-threat-to-academic-freedom/