Defunding UP would be ‘legally infirm,’ Pangilinan says after Duterte threat

(File) UP Oblation with new fountain in Diliman, Quezon City. INQUIRER PHOTO/LYN RILLON

MANILA, Philippines — A president defunding the University of the Philippines (UP) would be “legally infirm,” Senator Francis Pangilinan said Wednesday.

This, after President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to cut government funding for the University of the Philippines amid calls for students for an academic strike in protest against the government’s disaster response.

Asked in an interview over ABS-CBN New Channel if the President can defund UP, Pangilinan, a lawyer, said: “No, that would be legally infirm.”

‘These issues of stopping funding…sa akin kasi, you threaten you…but in the end why are the students protesting? Let’s go back to that,” the senator also said.

“This is not unique to the Philippines, worldwide you see student protests,” he added.

In his taped speech aired on Tuesday, Duterte also dared the students to stop attending their classes and just criticize government inaction during disasters and the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The Ateneo de Manila University started the academic strike online last week. The students said they plan to stop submitting school requirements starting Nov. 18 until the national government “heeds the people’s demands for proper calamity aid and pandemic response.”

/MUF