MANILA, Philippines — The Time's Up Ateneo coalition on Thursday stressed that failure to file a formal complaint does not mean someone alleging sexual harassment is not a legitimate victim, adding that the university administration may be setting a precedent that would make reporting harassment in the future more difficult.
The coalition released an open letter to Ateneo president Ramon Villarin SJ in response to an earlier statement that emphasized “no formal complaints” were filed against Mary Thomas and Jesus Deogracias Principe, two professors accused of sexual harassment.
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They said that "survivors find it difficult to pursue formal complaints, on top of the psychological and emotional effects they must bear, even years later."
The letter was in response to Villarin's statement refuting claims made by Sam Rojas, a student whose account of sexual harassment went viral on social media, that Thomas only received a 15-day suspension after the matter was investigated by administration.
Villarin's statement came after an October 18 apology he issued acknowledging the school’s "cold and unfeeling" administrative systems and the resulting "extreme difficulty survivors face in coming forward."
For Time's Up Ateneo, “dwelling on [the lack of formal complaint] completely misses the point of the public outcry.”
The coalition pointed out that Vllarin's latest statement seemed “to have been deliberately worded solely to discredit” the student’s post “while refusing to be transparent about the cases that have been filed against Dr. Thomas and the sanctions that have resulted therefrom.”
Rojas' Facebook post has since been taken down.
Ateneo de Manila University has been embroiled in a public furor in the past weeks after Rojas came forward on social media about his alleged experience of sexual harassment, triggering a slew of statements from groups including the school’s faculty association, students of its Philosophy department, and alumni.
Time’s up, Ateneo
The university community subsequently decried the longstanding issue, pointing to the school’s broken system and the perceived impunity of faculty members.
Time's Up Ateneo was formed two days after the student and faculty protests on October 15 and is composed of students, alumni and faculty members of the school.
The coalition, in its open letter, raised the following demands:
- That the university “provide the full picture on the matter of complaints” of sexual harassment, instead of “omitting certain details while reporting others”
- That “the mere absence or presence of a formal complaint is not determinative of whether or not incidents of sexual harassment have transpired”
- That the university honor the commitments made at the closed-door meeting with students and faculty members of the coalition, which include an external audit on the school’s processes during sexual harassment cases and the restructuring of the school’s Committee on Decorum and Investigation (CODI) and the release of its current members
- That further meetings continue to be held on the matter in the future and that the community be represented in these meetings
An earlier statement from the coalition outlined their five core demands of the university, namely mechanisms tending to survivors’ welfare, immediate action on existing cases, the disclosure of investigative proceedings without necessarily naming the involved parties, and that known predators be kept away from students.
In the wake of the on-campus protests, Ateneo’s released a statement emphasizing that the university could not disclose any information pertaining to the identities of individuals involved and any details on the content of investigative proceedings due to confidentiality restrictions in the Data Privacy Act and the Safe Spaces Act.
The university during meeting also said that stipulations in the Labor Code of the Philippines made it difficult to completely terminate erring employees.
According to a Bureau of Labor Relations briefer on termination of employment, “an employer shall observe procedural due process before terminating one’s employment.”
Thus, in both the meeting and the university statements, the need for formal complaint was strongly highlighted.
What’s next?
After the closed-door meeting with management, the Sanggunian, the univerity's student council, said that they sent a letter to university vice president requesting for a No-Contact Order between Principe and his students for the rest of the academic year. They also called for survivors to file formal complaints.
Some members of the university's English Department, of which Thomas is a full-time professor, also released an October 19 statement defending the “innocence and integrity” of Thomas and slamming what they called a “trial by publicity and mob lynching.”
“By revealing her identity in these spaces, those involved not only damaged her reputation as an upright person, but also caused the possible end of her career,” the statement said.
Two days later, the English Department updated their statement to include their condemnation of sexual harassment on campus, saying they "shared" in the community’s "clamor for transparency."
Ateneo Sanggunian president Quiel Quiwa, on his Twitter account, warned students not to take the new development to mean Rojas was lying, saying that many students have since come forward to file formal complaints.
"Just because one is not a formal complainant does not mean one is not a victim," Time’s Up Ateneo said in their open letter.
“We strongly caution against setting any precedent that would discourage survivors from coming forward in the future, with the lack of sensitivity and compassion that has been shown towards those who have come forward.”
In an earlier phone call with Philstar.com, Quiwa said, “May pressure din ngayon to trust the current system while we’re trying to make it evolve. It will take time for the new systems, codes, and processes to be implemented. Maraming consultations.”