CEBU, Philippines - At first, it was a battle between the University of San Carlos and its laid off workers. This time, it’s between USC and four of its college students.
University students Ken Ecarma, Kathleen Abugan, Alem Garcia and Justin Gular are facing possible expulsion from the university after an investigation by the Student Services Office linked them to the recent strike staged by workers laid off by the school.
The four were reportedly identified to have joined the picketing based on photos obtained by school authorities.
Authorities said the students violated Article IV, Section 2.5.7 of the university manual for picketing against the university without a valid permit. They added that the lack of permit could be a ground for expulsion.
Blocked
The investigating team has held two closed-door hearings since Ecarma and Gular were first identified with their participation in the May 27 strike.
Both were reportedly blocked from enrollment and banned from entering school premises at the time the case was lodged. As the hearing progressed, they were, however, allowed to enroll and attend their classes.
Garcia and Abugan later joined the list of respondents after they were also positively identified by the school’s sources.
In a press conference, the students denied they were bashing the university, saying they were at the picket only to “sympathize and show solidarity with the struggle” of the General Service Office workers.
Ecarma and Gular are members of Student Alliance for Nationalism and Democracy while Garcia and Abugan are under the school chapter’s Kabataan Partylist and Anakbayan, respectively.
Freedom
Ecarma, also the vice president of the Supreme Student Council, said they gave their full support to the workers as it was an exercise of their freedom of speech and expression.
“If we get expelled, we are not defeated. Rather, we are affirmed that our educational system is repressive. Only through the repression of our democratic rights can it continue to prosper as a commercial venture with a colonial character,” read Ecarma’s post on Facebook on the eve of the case’s second hearing.
France Kevin Degamo of the National Union of Students in the Philippines – Cebu Chapter said their group sympathizes with the embattled Carolinian students.
“This is not an isolated case. This is a manifestation of campus repression, a clear move to silence the progressive student movement and a violation of the democratic rights of the students enshrined in the 1987 Philippine Constitution which is the highest law of the land,” Degamo said.
Support
Ecarma and company also gained support from the Supreme Student Council representing USC’s 19,000 students.
“As an academic institution, USC must encourage critical thinking and must be constant in the pursuit of knowledge, development of students, character formation and general well-being of the society,” said SSC president Nicole Ponce.
Ponce said in order to achieve those goals, the university should inspire and not repress free inquiry and free expression.
Meanwhile, in a text message, Felicisimo Alingasa who is one of the administration’s representatives to the hearing, declined to give his comment until a final decision is made.
Alingasa said they have just finished with their deliberations, adding that a decision will be handed down today.
To recall, the maintenance personnel staged a strike after USC implemented a mandatory layoff citing it as a cost-cutting measure against the effects of K+12 curriculum in 2016. – (FREEMAN)