Newly-appointed Defense Chief Gilbert "Gibo" Teodoro Jr. denied the notion of renewing the department's security agreement with the University of the Philippines, which the government suspended in 2021.
In a press briefing, Teodoro confirmed that he doesn’t want to reverse the policy that has been followed by his predecessor.
Former DND Secretary Delfin Lorenzana unilaterally terminated the decades-long UP-DND agreement, which forbade police and military participation in UP unless in exceptional circumstances.
This agreement was formed in 1989 following the kidnapping of a student journalist and other instances that jeopardized the university's constituents, which led to the development of an earlier version of the pact in 1982 to defend the university's autonomy against military interference.
While Teodoro did not support the agreement's renewal, he did remark that he is "mindful of the autonomy" of the state university.
Teodoro graduated from the University of the Philippines College of Law in 1989.
He encouraged everyone to be respectful even without the need for a memorandum of agreement, saying that he also admonished and urged all law enforcement officers to keep in mind the balance between freedom of expression and protecting the peace.
Meanwhile, a similar defense agreement between the DND and the Polytechnic University of the Philippines was surreptitiously canceled in 2022, with the university only announcing it a year later.
According to the PUP's legal representation in its letter to the DND, the pact was likewise unilaterally canceled by the DND without dialogue.
