THE SENATE on Tuesday adopted a resolution urging the Department of Defense (DND) and University of the Philippines (UP) to revisit an agreement that limited military presence in the state university’s campuses.

The Senate welcomed the agency’s decision to hold dialogues with UP on the 1989 accord, according to a copy of Senate Resolution 616.

The chamber said the military should also hold talks with other academic institutions to expand the coverage of safeguards given to other state universities.

“We want to expand or extend the beautiful provisions and effects of the UP-DND accord to all education institutions,” Senator Francis N. Pangilinan said in Filipino in his sponsorship speech.

The military in a Jan. 15 letter to UP President Danilo Concepcion ended the ban on soldiers and police from UP premises without prior notification.

Senators Risa N. Hontiveros-Baraquel, Maria Lourdes Nancy S. Binay, Ralph G. Recto, Leila M. De Lima, Franklin M. Drilon and Emmanuel Joel J. Villanueva co-authored the resolution.

Senator Ronald M. dela Rosa, President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s former police chief, abstained. He said ending the accord would protect the youth from the “snares of communism and its empty promises.” — CAT

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR