THE UNIVERSITY of the Philippines has clarified that the professor cited by the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ Civil Service Relations is no longer part of the UP system.

In a post, the AFP-CSR quoted former UP senior lecturer Michael Eric Castillo’s views on the termination of the UP-DND accord as saying that a “silent majority in UP” supports the termination of the agreement.

The university said that Castillo served as a part-time senior lecturer from 2013 to 2017.

In an interview with AFP-CRS, Castillo stressed that the majority in UP “do not pay attention to communist insurgency.”

“Tingnan ninyo ang profile ng mga komunista, sila ‘yung matagal doon sa university maka-graduate. Kaya talagang pahirap sila kasi dapat ‘yung additional 3 years sa university, ibang estudyante na dapat ang kumukuha ng slot na iyon. Majority sa UP hindi naman pinapansin ang mga komunista na iyan kasi iyan naman ay maliit lang ang bilang,” he said.

Castillo said that a “silent majority in UP” supported the termination of the UP-DND pact.

“UP as in institution ay hindi ninyo  kaaway. Mas marami ang opisyal ng UP na hindi lumalaban sa gobyerno at sumusunod sa patakaran at sa batas ng ating bansa. Paano masasabi na hindi sang-ayon ang majority sa pag-abrogate ng UP-DND accord? You try to survey. Hindi po totoo na majority ng UP alumni ay kalaban ng gobyerno,” he said.

The university said it respects and upholds the right of its constituents to freedom of expression and academic freedom. However, it said that “the post violates the rules and policies of the university regarding the unauthorized use of the UP seal, the UP Oblation, and the UP colors.”

“We urge that this post be taken down and a clarification on the use of official UP symbols be issued to prevent further misinformation. To do otherwise is a disservice to both UP and the AFP,” it added.

Castillo said he will still stand by his statement.

“I hope concerned UP officials will also take time viewing the entire interview where I was quoted by the AFP-CRS and other interviews by other media outfits,” he said.

“Let me reiterate that in my personal view, the UP-DND Accord is an affront to the integrity of the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines, as well as the men and women who risk their lives keeping the people safe and secure,” he added.

Castillo stressed that any member of UP “could make their views on the accord known to the public.”

“The UP-DND Accord is a national issue and every citizen of this country has a stake on this issue. It would have been better if UP made clarificatory statements on the ideas and statements I shared during my interview on the Accord. This is what the public hopes to know more about,” Castillo said.

“It is unfortunate that fellow UP alumni attack my person instead of my ideas. Every UP scholar knows that academic freedom only supports battle of ideas and not of personality,” he added.