LOOK: Soldiers spotted inside UP Diliman after cancellation of UP-DND Accord
Just days after the Department of National Defense (DND) decided to scrap a 1989 deal preventing police and military from entering the premises of the University of the Philippines, members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) were seen inside the Diliman campus.
In photos taken by The Philippine Star photographer Ernie Penaredondo, members of the Joint Task Force-NCR of the Philippine Army can be seen at the Urban Garden of UP Diliman.
One photo shows two military transport trucks parked on the side of the road.
In a press briefing, Maj. Gen. Edgard Arevalo, spokesperson of the Armed Forces of the Philippines said soldiers were just inspecting their gardening project in the campus.
DND Sec. Delfin Lorenzana recently decided to unilaterally scrap the 1989 UP-DND accord, citing that the UP campus has been a hotbed for communist recruitment. UP President Danilo Concepcion wrote back to Lorenzana saying that "police and military authorities should have no fear of academic freedom." A number of lawmakers and government officials also denounced the move.
