As part of this year’s Talakayang Alay sa Bayan program, the Interdisciplinary Studies Department organized “Bawal na ang Bastos,” a panel discussion wherein women’s rights advocates delved into the Bawal Bastos Law at the Leong Hall Auditorium last October 8. 

The talk aimed to discuss the challenges that women have faced throughout history and the panelists’ experiences in advocating for policies that protect women and victims of sexual abuse. Panelists included Senator Risa Hontiveros, International Center for Innovation, Transformation, and Excellence in Governance Chair Teresita Quintos-Deles, and former School of Social Sciences Sanggunian Representative Dasha Uy. 

However, a case of sexual misconduct disrupted the very event meant to address such issues. During the talk’s open forum, Associate Dean for Student Formation Leland Dela Cruz, PhD announced that an explicit video was sent to a female student in the middle of the event via AirDrop. Furthermore, he said that the video was sent under the alias “Risa Hontiveros.”

Dela Cruz emphasized that the act was “illegal” and urged students with information on the sender of the video to come forward and report what they know.

Public condemnation

Hours after the talk, Hontiveros commented on the incident via Twitter, calling out the sender for being “part of the problem.” She strongly urged the person to avoid such behavior, challenging the sender and all men and women to be a part of the solution to end various forms of sexual violence.

Hontiveros’ post quickly gained traction, and students and alumni alike voiced their outrage towards the incident, some calling for a formal investigation.

The following day, the Sanggunian Commission on Anti-Sexual Misconduct and Violence (CASMV) issued a statement on their Facebook page condemning the unknown sender’s actions. The statement also emphasized the need for the Bawal na Bastos Law as “many still do not understand the gravity that such acts of harassment have.” The CASMV urged members of the Ateneo community to refrain from similar acts and to help create a safe space to keep the Loyola Schools free from sexual harassment.

On the same day the CASMV issued their statement, Magis Radio was met with backlash after posting a poll that asked whether or not the perpetrator should be given the opportunity to be heard and explain themselves for the incident. The tweet was deleted that evening and the station released a statement to clarify their intentions. 

“In our attempt to open a discussion, we framed the tweet wrongly and in a way that is offensively,” the statement read. “We understand that some issues, especially this, are not open for debate.”

Administration probe

In an interview with The GUIDON, Dela Cruz said that an investigation is currently ongoing. He stated that two female students reported receiving the video via AirDrop. The incident was immediately reported to the Office of Student Services, which handles students’ security-related concerns, including misconduct and harassment.

Aside from this, the case was also forwarded to the Information Technology Resource Management Office (ITRMO) in hopes of tracking down the sender. 

According to Director of Marketing and Communications Maria Teresa Villanueva, the ITRMO deduced that the offender was an Apple user since AirDrop is only a function available on Apple devices. Furthermore, Villanueva noted that AirDrop works similarly to Bluetooth sharing, which functions based on proximity. Thus whoever sent the video was “clearly inside [the auditorium].” It was also determined that the auditorium’s walls and interference from equipment would’ve made it too difficult to send from the outside.

Dela Cruz said that no new information about the sender has been received as of late. Villanueva added that tracking the sender has been difficult because AirDrop does not keep a history of shared files.

“Whoever did it obviously knows the loopholes and the way to get around AirDrop—that much we know, but we’re not stopping [the investigation],” Villanueva said.

Villanueva assured that the ITRMO and other concerned offices will continue to investigate the case. Furthermore, the aforementioned offices will also work on crafting protocols to prevent similar scenarios from happening in the future.“Binastos tayo eh, diba? Binastos ‘yung pagkatao natin (We were degraded, right? Our very humanity was degraded),” Villanueva said. “We went there to learn and then suddenly somebody thinks [of] a sick joke.”