A man stabbed to death was found inside his unit on Esteban Abada St., Loyola Heights, Quezon City, on August 16. According to a Philippine Daily Inquirer report, the victim was Winston Lou Yulon, 28. Police are still unsure of motives for the crime as of press time, though the prime theory is robbery.

Reports like this—scary as it seems—are not uncommon. Several condominiums and dormitories in Loyola Heights have reported cases of robbery and theft.

Security is one of the things any Atenean looking for temporary residence considers. The Ateneo created Dormitory Accreditation Committee in 2000 to “[establish] minimum standards to safeguard the quality of life of the students.” How does the university monitor the security in the housing facilities outside the campus?

Dorm on the rise

Like any other commercial establishment, dormitories must follow a process for its construction and opening.

Barangay Loyola Heights Chairman Caesar Marquez explains that the barangay only allows construction when the residence owners acquire a building permit from the Quezon City Hall. He adds that the barangay’s sole role is to provide the clearance that is one of the City Hall’s requirements.

“We only check if…zoning violations have been committed, or if there are complaints from the people of the barangay,” says Marquez.

After the erection of a dormitory, it will run to ADSA for endorsement to Ateneans. Associate Dean for Student Affairs (ADSA) Rene Salvador San Andres, who is also the head of the Dormitory Accreditation Committee, says, however, that way back then the quality of the “accredited” dormitories was not policed enough.

Nine years ago, housing facility owners were invited for a forum that laid out the ground requirements to be accredited. “The result of that is we will come up with a list of accredited dormitories,” he says.

Starring the rating

Once accredited, dormitories are given ratings to help students with making decisions. The guidelines for the ratings and for accreditation are finalized after a consultation with the Ateneo Schools Parents’ Council (ASPAC), Ateneo Resident Student Association (ARSA), and Department of Student Welfare and Services (DSWS).

The Accreditation Committee rates the housing facilities based on quality and quantity of amenities. Based on the former classification, dorms are given one-star, two-star, or three-star ratings.

Quality of electricity, water supply, living area, ventilation, owner supervision, fire control, peace and order, and utility personnel are some of the aspects considered in giving star ratings.

Receiving areas, smoking areas, parking spaces, and computer processing memory are also considered.

Dorms are classified as economy, regular, and luxury. San Andres explains that usually the ratings are directly proportional to the cost of facilities.

“Once you satisfy the minimum list of amenities, you are already classified as economy. If you have other additional amenities that are not required, for example, you can already be classified as more than economy,” says San Andres.

Safety first

To ensure safety among tenants, several regulations are in place among accredited dormitories—the curfew being one of them. Oracle Operations Manager Glenda Castro is particularly strict with implementing curfews to her underage tenants and to those whose parents requested for it.

Castro adds that since opening last June, the Oracle Residences has experienced an incident of theft. The culprit posed as a dormer and got inside quite easily without much suspicion from the security personnel. Before the administration knew it, some possessions of the dormers had already been stolen.

In response to the case, entrance of outsiders into the units in Oracle has become more difficult. Identification has to be presented to the guards. In addition, a biometric (fingerprint) lock on the main door of the dormitory is being used. Closed-circuit television cameras are placed around halls and all public areas, and are monitored 24/7 by security personnel.

Meanwhile, MyPlace has a ving card system to identify tenants. A ving card has a magnetic bar code attached to it , which the dormers swipe at the port of MyPlace front door, the elevator, and the unit itself. MyPlace Operations Manager Christie de Castro claims that such a system is effective because each card is unique to every tenant.

“You won’t be able to go to any floor except your own. [It] is used by the administration to control the people coming in and out of the dormitory.”

With regard to outsiders, MyPlace only allows parents of student tenants, whose faces they are familiar with, to enter their units. Friends of tenants, however, are only allowed to visit them in the lobby and not in their rooms.

Physical safety and security are not the only matters dormitories are concerned about. Former Political Science Department Chairperson Lourdes Gomez recalls encountering a college couple interested in renting out a room, but rejected the offer because she believes that the idea is plain wrong for Catholic university students.

Self-policing

Nonetheless, San Andres emphasized the importance of safety for any type of lodging. “We certify that these places comply with Ateneo standards and one of the things explicitly asked by parents is that their children are safe,” San Andres says.

Since it would be difficult to supervise all dormitories directly, owners are required to form an association. “It is more efficient to deal with the association and to let them police themselves,” says San Andres.

As a result, the Association of Student Housing Facilities (ASHF) was formed. Aside from taking charge of concerns regarding all off-campus dormitories, ASHF endorses applying dormitories to the ADSA once they comply with the ASHF and Ateneo standards.

End of the line

Not all accredited dormitories can keep accreditation status until the 2-year validity expires. Every year, a number of housing facilities lose its accreditation. This year, three dormitories lost its accreditation due to “deteriorating condition of facilities.”

San Andres cites an instance when a dormitory allowed its guards and officers-in-charge to leave as early as 10 pm. Students in that dormitory were visited by guests way past the scheduled visiting hours. The accreditation of the dormitory was taken back.

Still, San Andres describes the relationship between the off-campus dorms and the Dorm Accreditation Committee as a “win-win situation.”

“Basically what we offered them was marketing,” San Andres says.  The Office of Admission and Aid and ADSA hand out a list of accredited dorms to students who run out of slots in the University Residence Halls.

De Castro agrees with San Andres. “One of the benefits of being accredited is being able to advertise on campus.”

The marketing benefit to dormitories, however, does not come without a price. They are required to submit themselves to ADSA for announced or unannounced inspections.

The ASHF, for example, visits several off-campus residences  every semester. To ensure proper representation during visits, the ASHF is accompanied by the DSWS, ARSA and ASPAC representatives.

When complaints are filed, the Accreditation Committee writes a letter to the residence owner for an inspection. The committee, however, does not give the exact date as this will not present the “normal arrangement” in the dormitory.

Meanwhile, the Loyola Heights barangay also does its share of rounds and inspections should complaints from dormers arise.

Marquez says that help from the barangay or even the fire department may be requested during drills, though the drills are “not really required” by the Accreditation Committee.

To maintain safety and security standards and foster an environment fit for student residents, San Andres says, “If they have concerns, they [should] contact us directly.”

With reports from Luther Aquino and Drew Syling