A day after Duterte Youth’s Partylist Representative Ducielle Cardema’s call to terminate the Department of National Defense’s (DND) Accord with PUP also known as Prudente-Ramos Accord, the PUP Student Regent Hon. Ellenor Bartolome, and Sentral na Konseho ng Mag-aaral President Jonero Dacula stormed the office of the said partylist to submit a strong position against the said issue.
Based on their update on the official Facebook page of the Office of the Student Regent posted on Wednesday, January 20, “The aforementioned position paper was also forwarded to the other members of the House and to the Department of National Defense in support of the filed House and Senate Resolution opposing the termination of the accords and upholding the academic freedom of all educational institutions.”
The letter highlights the incautious remark from the partylist representative who also seeks the same abrogation of the said Accord in view of their baseless red-tagging and accusation of recruitment to be part of the New People’s Army (NPA) inside the university.
According to the letter, the student representatives’ stands to reaffirm the importance of Academic Freedom of the Iskolar ng Bayan. Some of the points they have enlisted to put on record a strong position vis-à-vis of the curtailment of the students’ rights and welfare is that “the Congress shall ensure the protection of the youth from any forms of harassment, state sponsored violence and lawless abuse by reviewing and reviving the
Magna Carta of Students and other existing laws for the youth.”
SR Bartolome even further pointed out that, "Ang tunay na special treatment ay ang bukod tanging partylist na pinahintulutan ng COMELEC na maupo sa kongreso kahit na hindi rehistrado at lampas sa itinakdang edad ng batas. Hindi ang 30-year agreement na bunga ng pakikibaka ng mga naunang Iskolar ng Bayan. Hindi ang ng mga kabataang nagnanais lamang ng pagbabago sa lipunan na pinanday ng Sintang Paaralan. We will all fight back!". This same day, progressive student organizations also lead mobilizations at the PUP entrance gate to condemn Cardema’s remarks. –Rafael G. Salaguste/The Freehand News
Photo Courtesy: PUP Office of the Student Regent
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