The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) welcomes the passage on the third and final reading of House Bill 10171 at the Congress, which seeks to institutionalise the agreement between the University of the Philippines (UP) and Department of National Defense (DND). This proposed piece of legislation prohibits law enforcement agencies from entering any UP campus without prior notice, and from interfering with peaceful protest actions within university premises.

The overwhelming approval of HB 10171 at the House of Representatives sends a strong commitment of the State to respect people’s freedom to express dissent, protest, and exercise their academic freedom. In the past, the UP-DND Accord has served to safeguard the constitutionally-recognised rights of University students, faculty, and employees from arbitrary repressions.

The Commission reiterates its stance that suppression of guaranteed rights should never be the response to dissent under a democracy. Protests serve as a gauge on how well a government is responding to the needs of a nation.

Likewise, we echo the sentiments of House Deputy Speaker Eddie Villanueva, one of the principal authors of the bill, that instead of discouraging the youth to participate in national discourse and suppressing their idealism, we must draw on their ideas and engage them in finding solutions to the country’s problems, especially now that we are in the process of national recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic

The Commission hopes that that HB 10171 will be fully enacted into law to ensure the safety and security of the members of the UP community as they carry out their mandate as the country’s leading public and secular institution of higher learning. ###