Several Thomasians from different youth organizations pushed for the inclusion of youth participation in shaping the country in an online protest on Thursday, Jan. 21. 

Rights for Education representative Jay Santos stressed that the academe should also join the youth in this agenda. 

“[S]a panahon natin ngayon at  sa kasaysayan pa ng ating bansa, kinikilala natin ang kahalagahan ng papel ng kabataan sa paglahok at pahubog ng ating lipunan, at dapat katuwang natin dito ang ating paaralan,” she said.

According to Santos, the continuous suppression of the academe towards students also mirrors the government’s way of silencing its critics. 

Meanwhile, journalism major and one of the petitioners of the controversial Anti-Terror Law Mark Geronimo, encouraged the youth to use different social media platforms to educate and criticize the government. 

“[Y]ung mga platforms katulad ng Twitter, Facebook gamitin natin ito para mag educate at mag criticize sa mga maling gawain ng gobyerno,” Geronimo said.

Despite receiving several threats from online trolls, Geronimo still urged the youth to educate themselves in the current issues faced by the country. 

The online protest titled “Sulong Tomasino!: First Day Fight!” was streamed last Jan. 21 at the official Facebook page of League of Filipino Students – UST.

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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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The UST – Faculty of Medicine and Surgery (FMS) expressed their grief over the passing of Dr. Lorenzo Magat in an online eulogy on Thursday, Jan. 7. 

Magat died last Dec. 30 at the age of 60. He is an alumna of the University and a professor at the UST-FMS, where he taught microbiology and clinical pathology. 

Former adviser to the National Task Force for COVID-19 and UST alumna Dr. Tony Leachon described him as a “silent yet caring” friend. 

“He was a good friend of many. Silent lang yung style niya,” Leachon said. 

Earlier on Jan. 2, Leachon also took to Facebook his sorrow over Magat’s death. 

“Today we gather to mourn as one, ensuring your memory will never be undone. In loving memory of the one we love and honor, may your brightness always shine down from above,”  Leachon said. 

One of Magat’s former students recalls him as a “kind and passionate professor,” someone who encouraged them to study and understand medicine in a deeper sense to become great doctors someday. 

Several colleagues also flocked online to extend their condolence and sympathy to Magat’s family.

“[H]e was our clinical pathology resident before. I [will] always remember his smile,” the post read. 

The community mass was streamed online in the UST-FMS official Facebook page last Jan. 7 followed by a novena and a eulogy.

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