ASSOCIATE DEAN for Academic Affairs Eduardo Calasanz confirmed on February 27 that incumbent Sanggunian President Dan Remo is currently on an academic leave of absence (LOA).
However, Calasanz declined to provide The GUIDON any documents concerning Remo’s LOA out of respect for Remo’s privacy.
Calasanz said Remo requested for an LOA on January 28 for “medical reasons.”
“The request was also signed by his mother and the pertinent medical certifications attached. He was given the LOA Form and the Load Revision Form and instructed to accomplish them. He said that he would ask a friend to get the forms accomplished,” Calasanz said.
Sanggunian Chief of Staff to the President Kyla Javellana, Remo’s proxy, finished filing the LOA on behalf of Remo on February 27.
In a text message sent to The GUIDON on March 2, Javellana said Remo stopped going to school late January. He was advised by his doctor to “avoid all sources of stress.”
“As school is one of them, he (Remo) decided to take [an] LOA,” said Javellana.
News about the issue surfaced on February 12 when political science senior Paolo Bañadera inquired through a Facebook status about Remo’s rumoured LOA application.
“Is the Sanggunian running right now without a president?” Bañadera asked.
He explained that he heard speculations that Remo was filing for an academic LOA due to a health condition, rendering Remo’s unavailability to fulfil his presidential duties.
Article VII, Section 2(B)(1) of the 2005 Constitution of the Undergraduate Students of the Ateneo de Manila Loyola Schools states that the vice president (VP) assumes the responsibilities of the president if the latter is absent or incapacitated to perform his duties.
At that time however, incumbent Sanggunian VP Ryan Yu was on LOA as an officer as he was a presidential candidate in the 2014 Sanggunian General Elections.
The GUIDON repeatedly tried to get a statement from Remo but received no reply.
On further queries
Several students expressed their concerns under Bañadera’s post why the student body was not properly informed about Remo’s situation.
“If he is [on LOA], should it be announced to the public, or at least, to the rest of Sanggu?” asked Christian Union for Socialist and Democratic Advancement Party Premier Enrico La Viña.
He further inquired, “Has a violation been committed if he (Remo) is on LOA and didn’t inform the public, or the rest of Sanggu?”
Sanggunian Secretary-General (Sec-Gen) AJ Elicaño agreed and said that an announcement should be made under the pretense of accountability, transparency and common decency. However, he was unsure if a violation on a legal level has occurred.
“There is, surprisingly, no provision for announcing when a position has been vacated as a result of academic leave of absence,” Elicaño said, acknowledging this as a “huge oversight” of the Sanggunian Central Board (CB) Code of Internal Procedures (CIP).
“I personally think it (transparency) should still apply, or at the very least that announcements should be made. If Dan is on LOA, rest assured the announcement will happen,” Elicaño said in a separate interview with The GUIDON held on February 12.
However, he could not give any confirmation as regards Remo’s LOA status when asked by The GUIDON on February 26.
On standard procedures
As prescribed under Title II, section 6 of the Sanggunian CB CIP School Year 2013 to 2014, CB members may apply for an LOA for a total of 45 days for the entire school year.
An officer filing for an LOA should submit a formal letter addressed to the president and sec-gen “who shall render his/her decision after two days.”
The CIP says that should the absence of the Sanggunian officer concerned is unforeseen, he or she may file for an LOA upon his or her return to office.
The CIP, however, does not have any provisions with regard to public disclosure of the LOA application of Sanggunian officers.
Editor’s Note: The original version of this article mentioned that senior history majors Irish Domingo and Micah Perez said that their History 199 professor Olivia Habana, PhD confirmed that Remo is on an LOA. The article also said that according to applied mathematics and finance senior Allan Cabrera, his Philosophy 104 professor Ranilo Hermida, PhD confirmed Remo’s LOA status. The GUIDON has since removed these details from the article as they are thirdhand information. The GUIDON apologizes for the oversight.
