endIndex:
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 19) Vice President Leni Robredo, several lawmakers, and progressive youth groups denounced the Department of National Defense s decision to abrogate its three-decade agreement with the University of the Philippines that bars uniformed personnel from entering UP campuses without notifying school officials.
The Duterte administration s unilateral termination of the deal is clearly meant to silence the government s critics, Robredo said Tuesday, pointing out that the accord simply asks law enforcers to give notice to the university before conducting any security operations inside their campuses. This is neither a difficult nor onerous rule. Clearly, then, this is not a practical gesture, but a symbolic one. One designed to sow fear. One designed to discourage dissent. One designed to silence criticism, she said.
endIndex:
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 19) Vice President Leni Robredo, several lawmakers, and progressive youth groups denounced the Department of National Defense s decision to abrogate its three-decade agreement with the University of the Philippines that bars uniformed personnel from entering UP campuses without notifying school officials.
The Duterte administration s unilateral termination of the deal is clearly meant to silence the government s critics, Robredo said Tuesday, pointing out that the accord simply asks law enforcers to give notice to the university before conducting any security operations inside their campuses. This is neither a difficult nor onerous rule. Clearly, then, this is not a practical gesture, but a symbolic one. One designed to sow fear. One designed to discourage dissent. One designed to silence criticism, she said.