EDITOR’S NOTE: In the aftermath of yesterday’s president selection, it is imperative that we hold the newly selected UP president, Angelo Jimenez, accountable for his stances on pressing university issues. The Collegian Editorial Board is releasing the full and unedited transcript of the “fast talk” round with Jimenez. Our interview was conducted on November 22 at the Collegian office.
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Philippine Collegian (PC): Alright, sir. Last round is the fast talk. We’ll ask you about eight university issues, and let us know your stances on them. First, UPCAT. Should we retain or should or do away with UPCAT?
Angelo Jimenez: We’ll retain UPCAT.
PC: Free education. Free and unconditional education?
Jimenez: Free education, but not unconditional. You have to serve the people too.
PC: Mandatory ROTC?
Jimenez: No.
PC: Institutionalization of the UP-DND Accord?
Jimenez: Yes and no. Yes to institutionalization, but not to the UP-DND Accord because that has made been irrelevant by the UP-DILG Accord. I was signatory, uh, to the DILG Accord. You know what happened, sorry ah, this is the part, I just want to explain. The DND, it used to be that the PC-INP was part of the DND when Cory came to power and her secretary of defense was Enrile. And I was there when they debated it. It came from the Sonia Soto agreement. In the early 80s pa noh.
But in 1991, Congress created the Department of Interior and Local [Government], and removed the PNP and [transformed] it to a civilian agency. Kasi DND is military, police. And this accord, military is not supposed to be involved in arrest or going after students in campus. The military is created to destroy. It’s war noh. I mean, it’s the police noh.
Yung laman ng accord kasi we negotiated similar accord when I was CEGP national president eh, for the rest of the other schools noh, uh I remember it was still Lourdes Quisumbing was still the uh education secretary in Cory’s time. Anyway, arrest, policing is a civilian function. It is now under a civilian government. For me I wasn’t worried about the loss of the DND because it has been made irrelevant.
But now, supposed to be the military intervenes noh. You don’t have to use–you will not just use the accord. You will use humanitarian law. But our law says you cannot enter unless it’s combat zone. And you cannot attack anyone unless he is defined under international [law] as a combatant. A combatant, if he is resting to recover from a bullet wound, is not a target under humanitarian law. You have to respect that. We can use international humanitarian law to protect us. Now, I have said this to the board, the former regents know that because I helped crack the resolution. It is not the presence of uniformed personnel that is anathema to academic freedom. It is their posture. Remember this, I think the 44th training battalion or brigade is looking at the right, next to the administrative center in UP Mindanao. Simply because they were their first that has been gifted to us. And they participate in the lantern parade. They try to meld with the community. Of course there might have been problems there but the point is not their mere presence. Did you know that the Quezon City Police District is located in Sikatuna?
PC: Sa Karingal po.
Jimenez: Ah, Karingal? That’s UP property. Do you know that they pay rent to us? So, I mean, there is nothing inherently wrong and there’s something inherently good about a police agency in any society. We’d have to have praetors, we’d have to have gendarmerie noh. Tama ba pronunciation? So anyway, police is part of any society. So hindi po yung kanilang presensya kundi yung kanilang postura ang importante. Ah, yeah, so, yes or no, I agree with the institutionalization. That’s my baby.
PC: For or against full in-person classes?
Jimenez: Against. That’s not taking advantage of blended learning.
PC: But do you agree that there has to be some form of in-person learning?
Jimenez: Yes. As a matter of fact, for me, at this stage, we should be more on in-person hangga’t kaya, and then digital is supplement. But we should develop flexibility to move to wherever this will move. Kasi right now, I think it should still be more on in-person if we can do it at this stage in the development of technology and mental preparation or attitude of people.
PC: Contractualization of UP workers?
Jimenez: Contractualization kasi has a context. Certain jobs that are not permanent should be open to contractualization. But at its core—teaching, research—we should strive for regularization. Kasi hindi naman lahat nun parang, you need contractuals, e. In this society, you want to have flexibility. Labor markets talagang hindi pwedeng permanent lahat. There will be times wherein—lalo na yung job order—temporary lang yan. Alam mo, the kind of jobs in labor [market], job order, emergency employment, “Ay, darating si Michael Jackson, kailangan natin ng extra. Hire ka nga ng dalawang security.”
PC: Emergency hire?
Jimenez: Emergency hire. But sometimes, 10 years na, emergency hire pa rin, because we don’t have the heart to fire people. It’s happening in all agencies, but if it is fundamental and core business, I go for regularization. But if it is needed for not just emergency, but on a temporary, if it’s not core, then I am open to contractualization.
PC: Commercialization of UP lands? By commercialization, we mean using those lands for income generation.
Jimenez: Yes.
PC: Are you for or against the abolition of frats?
Jimenez: I am not for the abolition.
PC: Any quick message for the university?
Jimenez: I have so many messages. I know about the anxieties and stress that many of us undergo today. I know more than people are even willing to give me credit for. But what I really want to say is that we cannot base the future on our anxieties and fears. We have to found it on firmly on our hopes. And I am very optimistic about the future and our ability because I have known UP ever since. I am very optimistic about the future of UP. I'm very optimistic about our collective energies and talents. All we need today is just enough courage to move one step at a time so that we can cross the challenge of the pandemic and its aftermath—it’s now the aftermath, and the great future of the digital age that will be opened to us, and its promise to advance our humanity as well. ●
The earlier part of our interview with Jimenez may be read here. Due to an editing mistake, this transcript has been updated.
