3 HS students kicked out for speaking Ilocano

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines — For speaking in their vernacular inside the school premises, three high school students of a private school in the Ilocano-speaking Ilocos Norte province found themselves being expelled by the school administration. Reports identified the recently dismissed students as Kleinee Bautista, Carl Abadilla and a certain Samboy, all grade 8 students of Saviour’s Christian Academy in Laoag City, the province capital. The three were dismissed by the school president, Rev. Brian Shah, after they were heard talking in Ilocano inside the campus, which is a violation of the school’s rules and regulations, including other Filipino dialects as stipulated in its student’s handbook. The three were formally expelled on July 31. The parents of students Kleinee and Carl claimed they were not given due process before being handed the “harsh” and “arbitrary” decision.