AFTER MORE than 500 Loyola Schools (LS) students signed a student-led petition to hold an academic strike, the Sanggunian held two emergency meetings on November 14 and November 15 to consolidate a list of demands to the LS administration. The Sanggunian requested a one-week class suspension and an academic workload reduction to give students more time to recover from the onslaught of Typhoon Ulysses.
This prompted the University administration to suspend all asynchronous activities until November 21 and synchronous classes until November 28. Faculty is also advised to keep academic requirements to a minimum and to be flexible with deadlines during this time period. To accommodate these changes, the second semester of AY 2020-2021 will be extended up to a week and a half into January 2021.
However, in solidarity with students who are still unable to submit their requirements, petition signatories pledged not to submit any academic requirements until the government properly responds to the calamities and the pandemic at hand.
The petition was initiated by Elise Ofilada (3 BFA CW), Bernardine de Belen (3 BFA CW), Patricia Fermin (3 BFA ID), Maria Larga (3 BFA CW), and Angela Cole (3 BFA CW) on November 14 to protest against the “criminally neglectful” response of the Philippine government to the recent typhoons and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Consolidating student concerns
Attendees of the first emergency meeting included Interim President Jb Bejarin, Interim Vice President Kat Moreno, the Central Assembly (CA), representatives from various organizations, and Ofilada. Meanwhile, attendees of the second emergency meeting included only the CA and Moreno.
The first meeting opened with sectoral representatives and school representatives delivering the results of their constituency checks from their respective sectors and schools.
Ateneo Resident Students Association Representative Anton Burog stated that students from various provinces are still having trouble connecting to the internet. Sports Club Sector Representative Jerard Afable added that since students from the sports sector are “overwhelmingly concerned” with their requirements amid the typhoon’s aftermath, the amount of requirements should be lessened.
In line with this, Scholars’ Sector Representative Jubert Calamba stressed that beyond students’ weak internet connection, their mental and physical well-being should also be considered. League of Independent Organizations Representative Cristina Batalla echoed Calamba and added that students should not receive deductions for submitting late requirements.
As for the Sanggunian Schools’ constituency checks, School of Social Sciences Representative TJ Alcantara, School of Management Representative Cecilia Cancio, School of Science and Engineering Enza Quimson, and School of Humanities (SOH) Representative Matt Rodriguez all reported that while many students are safe, there were still some reports of students’ homes being flooded by Typhoon Ulysses.
Rodriguez also stated that based on the SOH Sanggunian constituency check, the typhoon left 18% of respondents without food and 29% without water. He emphasized that despite their lack of access to basic needs, students were still concerned with passing their academic requirements within the deadline.
Overall, the representatives mentioned that unstable internet connection is the main issue among LS students. Rodriguez also noted that some students may have been unable to answer the constituency checks as they may no longer have access to their gadgets. Given this, the attendees called for the LS community to exercise compassion amid this crisis.
Heeding petition demands
Ofilada echoed the concerns of the officers and the representatives, reiterating that the petition was initiated to give students more time to recuperate from the onslaught of Typhoon Ulysses. She proposed to end the second quarter of AY 2020-2021 early and grant the mass promotion of students—similar to the mass promotion in the second semester of AY 2019-2020. She said that if this is not feasible, the University administration should adopt the pass-or-fail grading system and forgo all deadlines.
Ofilada added that she welcomes the suggestions of other student organizations in consolidating the demands of the student body better. However, Moreno pointed out that the petition violates data privacy as more than 500 students had given their full name, course, and year level, on a public file.
Quimson also asked whether the Sanggunian was consulted in the creation of the petition. Ofilada clarified that the intent was to gather signatories before presenting it to the Sanggunian. “That was the plan because we assumed that if we just went to Sanggu with [our suggestions], that might not make anything happen,” she said.
Nonetheless, the Sanggunian acknowledged the petition as a call for accountability from the Philippine government. The Sanggunian also recognized the validity of the petition as students have the right to self-organize and express their concerns without consulting the Sanggunian first.
To conclude the first emergency meeting, Bejarin discussed the magnitude of the calamity at hand. “At the end of the day, the crisis affects the whole community. The good for the student community is also the good for the faculty community, the administrators, and the nation that we all aim to serve,” he said.
In addressing this crisis, Bejarin emphasized that they must consider both the students’ concerns and the academic calendar to reach a compromise.
Solidifying students’ requests
In moving forward, the representatives have been tasked to gauge their constituents’ views on the petition before the Sanggunian releases their formal stance on the issue. The representatives also noted that more short-term and feasible steps should be taken in time for the supposed resumption of classes.
Given this time constraint, the CA presented the working draft of Resolution No. 14 during the second emergency meeting. The Resolution proposed a consolidated list of short-term and long-term demands to the University administration in consideration of those affected by the typhoon.
Aside from the week-long academic break, the short-term demands also called for a reduced academic load for the remainder of the quarter to allow the Ateneo community to recover from the typhoon. The request for a reduced academic load included limiting the assignments to three major requirements per class, as well as the removal of graded discussion boards, participation grades, deductions for late submissions, and group works.
The resolution also called for multi-sectoral dialogues with the LS administration to address students’ concerns. In line with this, the resolution allowed for flexibility regarding certain points, as it acknowledged that certain assignments require collaboration—such as theses, market analyses, social experiments, and theatre projects.
Before the University proceeds with the rest of the school year, the Sanggunian raised various long-term academic proposals to the LS administration based on the constituency checks and recommendations from students. The petition authors suggested a pass-or-fail grading system, an academic freeze, and a mass promotion similar to the previous promotion in the second semester of AY 2019-2020.
The Sanggunian also acknowledged the right of student organizations to implement a moratorium in their respective calendars to give students more time to recover from the aftermath of the typhoon.
Should students feel the need to express additional concerns, the Sanggunian reiterated the availability of existing Sanggunian channels such as the Sanggunian Student Rights and Welfare Desk. To prevent future calamities of similar magnitude, the Sanggunian urged the University to take a public stand against the root causes of this climate crisis and the “criminal negligence of the government.”
“The Sanggunian, true to the spirit of being persons-for-others, strongly urges the administration to continue supporting its staff, faculty members, and students through financial and psychological assistance,” the resolution called.
