“We will have to wait and see whether the UP-AFP agreement will really allow the academe to take an active role in responding to strategic or long-term national security and sovereignty concerns”
The University of the Philippines and the Armed Forces of the Philippines signed on Aug. 8 a “Declaration of Cooperation” under which a university think tank, the UP Center for Integrative Development Studies (UP CIDS), will pursue research interests with the AFP in areas relevant to UP’s role, mission and mandate.
Both parties also affirmed a common commitment to dialogue and intellectual freedom.
The center’s work under the agreement include the following: share its technical expertise through resource persons for the successful conduct of forums and workshops; solicit articles from AFP personnel for submission to the UP CIDS-published Philippine Journal of Public Policy, subject to peer-review procedures; organize dissemination of UP CIDS research and conduct capacity building for AFP personnel and affiliates in relation to strategic studies and security; and host AFP personnel visits, exchanges and research fellowships.
These suggest the UP-AFP agreement would not encroach on UP’s closely guarded academic freedom and even make the premier State University take an active part in safeguarding national sovereignty particularly under the rapidly changing security landscape in the West Philippine Sea.
That’s what UP President Angelo Jimenez is saying, responding to fear among stakeholders the “Declaration of Cooperation” with the military would curtail academic freedom on its campuses.
He said: “Our policy is engagement. The national defense establishment as an institution is not an enemy.”
The agreement, he added, is an initial framework to guide future areas of cooperation that “won’t curtail academic freedom because UP researchers can choose and define their specific terms of engagement. Any activity undertaken shall be mutually agreed upon by both participants.”
Jimenez said the Aug. 8 declaration was similar to initiatives that led to research collaborations between the university and the uniformed services.
He cited as an example the June 2023 memorandum of understanding between the UP College of Engineering and the Philippine National Police Research and Development Center, which involved studies to enhance ballistic defense materials.
In May 2023, he said, the AFP and UP Manila signed a five-year memorandum of agreement for the training of civilian and military dentists at the UP College of Dentistry.
The history department of UP Diliman also co-published books on Philippine military history in partnership with the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office, an attached agency of the defense department.
Despite the UP President’s explanation, the agreement has alarmed various sectors of the UP community.
Among the first to question the agreement were the university’s sectoral regents representing faculty, students and personnel, the student council alliance Kasama sa UP and Defend UP Network.
They issued a joint statement denouncing, among others, Jimenez’s “undemocratic action” of having entered into the agreement with the AFP without prior consultation.
The All UP Academic Employees Union added its voice to the objections.
The union’s vice president for faculty said if the AFP “did not mistakenly” post a press release about the declaration on its Facebook page, the rest of the UP community would not have learned about it.
The new UP-AFP cooperation agreement is being criticized by the UP community as contrary to the UP-DND accord signed on June 30, 1989 by then-UP president Jose Abueva and then-defense chief Fidel V. Ramos.
The agreement laid down the guidelines on military and police operations inside the university.
The 1989 UP-DND Accord included several key provisions aimed at protecting academic freedom and ensuring the safety of the university community.
Among these were the requirement for prior notification by the military and police before the UP administration before conducting any operations within UP campuses.
Any request for assistance from the military or police had to be coordinated with the university officials.
These provisions were designed to create a safe and conducive environment for learning and free expression within the University of the Philippines.
We will have to wait and see whether the UP-AFP agreement will really allow the academe to take an active role in responding to strategic or long-term national security and sovereignty concerns while fully respecting the university’s academic freedom. (Email: ernhil@yahoo.com)
