House passes UP security provision

The House of Representatives has approved on second reading a bill institutionalizing the accord between the Department of National Defense (DND) and the University of the Philippines (UP) prohibiting the entry of state forces inside UP campuses without prior notice. Via voice voting, the lawmakers approved on Wednesday House Bill No. 10171, which seeks to make the abrogated 1989 UP-DND Accord part of the 2008 UP Charter. If passed into law, the proposed bill would ban the military, police and other law enforcement agencies from entering UP campuses except in cases of hot pursuit and similar occasions or emergencies. The measure also prohibits the custodial investigation of any student, faculty or employee of the university without informing the UP administrators, such as the president or chancellor of the constituent university. Law enforcers are also prohibited from interfering in protest actions by individuals or groups within the premises of any UP campus. —NESTOR CORRALES