[PODCAST] KRIMINAL: Why Filipinos should care about the UP-DND accord

The Duterte government shocked the University of the Philippines (UP) community after it confirmed on Monday, January 18, that it was unilaterally terminating the agreement that prevented troops from freely entering UP campuses.

The backlash was swift.

Students and activists quickly trended #DefendUP online with thousands of tweets, and condemned the militarization of the country’s premier university.

They fear that the government will use the controversial anti-terror law to brand student activists as criminals and detain them without a warrant, as human rights lawyers have warned.

The 1989 accord that the government decided to scrap has protected student activists for decades. With a two-page letter, the government takes away that protection.

Why should Filipinos care?

In this episode of KRIMINAL, Rappler police reporter Rambo Talabong speaks with youth organizer Raoul Manuel of the Youth Act Now Against Tyranny to talk about the impact beyond UP’s campuses of the government’s abrogation.

Listen wherever you get your podcasts. – Rappler.com