Kabataan party-list joins calls for academic ease amid COVID-19, Ulysses' destruction
MANILA, Philippines — Youth party-list Kabataan on Sunday joined calls online for universities to ease academic loads on students amid the coronavirus pandemic and the destruction caused by Typhoon Ulysses.
In a tweet posted Sunday afternoon addressing the education department and Commission on Higher Education, Rep. Sarah Elago (Kabataan Party-list) said an eased academic load was a necessity for students, staff and faculty member affected by the three typhoons in as many weeks.
This comes after students of Ateneo de Manila University came out with a joint statement vowing not to submit any academic requirements in protest of the national government's response to the coronavirus pandemic and the aftermath of Typhoon Ulysses. As of press time, over 500 students have signed the petition.
"Easing of academic load is necessary to help students and members of faculty and education support personnel affected by the typhoons," Elago said in mixed Filipino and English, adding that an academic break would allow the community time to asses the current education situation and review faculty and student workload.
"It only makes sense with the severity of the disaster's damage on lives, homes, internet infrastructure, communications and other needs in blended distance education. It's imperative that DepEd and CHEd review the guidelines for remote learning class suspension," she also said.
As early as June, peasant groups have cast fear over the added burden that the distance learning scheme would place on rural families who would not be able to afford the gadgets, electricity and transportation that the system demanded.
Elago in her statement also called on students from the University of Santo Tomas to sign a similar petition within the institution to demand measures for the safe return of physical classes, the economic concerns of students and faculty, resources for access to education, and to promote the empowerment of students and their democratic rights.
"Openness and transparency are key to effective communication and cooperation among education stakeholders as we respond, recover, and emerge from this unprecedented crisis," the House lawmaker said.
Roque: 'Babagsak kayo'
In a tweet report by ABS-CBN News, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque responded to the Ateneo students, saying in Filipino: "You will fail. As a former professor, regardless of your reasons for your strike, if you do not comply with your academic requirements, you will lose your future and you won't graduate from Ateneo."
In response to Roque, Ateneo Sanggunian president Jb Bejarin said in a statement: "Karapatan ng bawat mag-aaral at Pilipino na manindigan laban sa mali, alang-alang sa ating bansa (It is the right of every student and Filipino to stand up against wrongdoings for the sake of our country)."
"Sa mga miyembro ng administrasyong Duterte, at sa ating mga kababayan, huwag po nating balewalain ang puno’t dulong dahilan ng petisyon mula sa aming mga kamag-aral sa Ateneo: ang mga kakulangan ng kasalukuyan at nagdaang liderato na nagdulot ng pagsubok na kinahaharap ng milyun-milyong kapuwa Pilipino ngayon dahil sa pandemya at mga nagdaang kalamidad," the student council president also said in the statement, a copy of which has been acquired by Philstar.com.
(To the members of the Duterte administration, and to our countrymen, let us not ignore the root cause of the petition from our classmates at the Ateneo: the shortcomings of the current and past leadership that have led to the test facing.)
"Sa pagkilala natin nagsisimula ang pagpuno sa ating mga kakulangan (It is in acknowledging ourselves that we can fill in these gaps)."
"We believe that things cannot continue business as usual. We can no longer stomach the ever-rising number of deaths due to the state's blatant incompetence. We cannot prioritize our schoolwork when our countrymen are suffering unnecessarily at the hands of those in power," the petition signed by Ateneo students read.
"We cannot sit idly by and do our modules, ignoring the fact that the Philippine nation is in shambles."
— Franco Luna
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