KABATAAN Party-list on Thursday condemned the sexual assault suffered by a student inside the University of the Philippines Diliman campus.

The group said that the crime could have been avoided had the UP Diliman Police and other campus security personnel been given more funds.

It cited a November 2022 Philippine Collegian article that there were only 19 members of the UP Diliman Police in charge of security of the entire campus.

The Public Safety and Security Office of UP Diliman intended to hire more personnel but faced budget constraints.

The group said police deployment is not a solution because military and uniformed personnel have attacked UP community members in the past years, especially after the abrogation of the UP-DND accord.

“CHED Chair De Vera, as a former UPD Professor, should have understood that Academic freedom, gender rights and campus security go hand-in-hand. The PNP does not command any credibility in protecting such rights and principles,” the group said, referring to the Philippine National Police.

Kabataan Party-list called on Congress to provide bigger budget for UP and other State Universities and Colleges to enable them to reinforce campus security.