The University barred a student officer from enrolling next academic term after allegedly violating the Student’s Code of Conduct, the League of Filipino Students (LFS)–UST disclosed on Wednesday, Jan. 20.
According to LFS–UST, Senior High School (SHS) Student Council Head Councilor Shoti Ampatuan was given a show cause notice due to his affiliation with Anakbayan–UST SHS, which resulted in his dismissal from his position and denial of his good moral certification.
Ampatuan told TomasinoWeb that the alleged violation pertains to PPS 1027 of the Code of Conduct, which states that “students shall join only organizations duly recognized by the University.”
In his response to the show cause notice released last year Nov. 17, Ampatuan clarified that the evidence used against him was for the movement calling for academic ease in light of the three typhoons that hit the country between Oct. 25 to Nov. 12.
“I would like to clarify that I did not intend to deliberately violate the Code of Conduct of the University. As such, I apologize for any misunderstanding that my post may have caused,” he said.
He also defended his affiliation with Anakbayan, saying that it helped him be fully educated on social issues, and provided him an avenue to speak up against injustice and equality which, according to him, is among the many things the University has taught him.
“I believe that we are in a critical time in our nation’s history, and that due to this, the youth should be given the opportunity to further amplify their voices,” Ampatuan said.
LFS-UST urged the university administration to reverse its decision, firmly stressing that universities “should be an avenue for free speech, and not repression.”
“We call on the admin to overturn their decision and to uphold students’ democratic rights and be one with their students in their fight for quality education, human rights, and accountability for the Duterte regime’s criminal negligence,” the organization said.
‘A form of hypocrisy’
In a statement posted Thursday, Anakbayan-UST SHS described the said rule as “a form of hypocrisy” and questioned the administration’s actions.
“They utterly stated that the student violated the Code of Conduct due to their membership to a mass organization while hundreds of students […] are members of NGOs. Why pinpoint this student and this student only?” Anakbayan-UST asked.
“Why not instead of silencing and filing these resolutions because of the studentry [sic] wanting to be vocal, listen to what they say,” the organization added.
This is not the first time the University prohibited a student activist from SHS from enrolling and receiving good moral certification.
In February 2018, a group of SHS students were denied good moral certificates after staging a silent protest inside the Buenaventura Garcia Paredes, O.P. (BGPOP) building over the implementation of the K-12 program and the e-books system.
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