Prov’l board, CHR to probe students’ expulsion; eye measures to safeguard students’ welfare By Leilanie G. Adriano Staff Reporter Without any excuse, no student shall ever be expelled for speaking his own language, at least this should be clear to all public and private schools around the world. The recent expulsion of three students by a Singaporean-managed Saviour’s Christian Academy (SCA) in Laoag which has an “English-only” policy in school took many Ilocanos—both here and abroad by surprise. As the issue went viral for more than a week now—expressing support to Grade 8 students Carl Andrew Abadilla, Kleeine Xieriz Bautista and Samuel Respicio while condemning the acts of 59-year old Rev. Brian Shah, president of SCA. An online petition is likewise circulating in social media and gathering hits after hits for his deportation. On August 13, members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan have stepped up to investigate what really transpired on July 31 when the three students were “advised to transfer to another school” for speaking Ilokano inside the school despite a stern warning from the president. SCA’s student handbook however clearly shows that “speaking the vernacular inside the campus”, which is categorized as a “miscellaneous misconduct” shall only be reprimanded. During a regular session conducted at the provincial session hall, SP member Vicentito M. Lazo, in his capacity as chairperson of the committee on education raised the issue and suggested to convene a joint committee investigation of the committees on laws and education in aid of enacting a measure to safeguard the welfare of students. As the date has yet to be finalized, Lazo said that they will be inviting the SCA management, the Department of Education-Laoag City including the students and parents to attend the joint committee hearing meant to avoid the recurrence of the same incident again in the future. Shah breaks silence On August 9, Pastor Shah broke his silence and clarified that he is not anti-Ilokano. He admitted that there may have been some lapses in due process when either he or the parents were “unaware” that the students had a 15-day period to appeal the decision deemed “final” by its school principal Cristeta Pedro who was reportedly out of the country as of press time. He clarified that the memorandum advising the students to transfer to another school was more of “defiance” when the said students continuously violated the English only policy in school amidst a stern warning. While made a personal apology to the parents and the children during a “closed door” meeting with Laoag City Schools Superintendent Araceli Pastor on August 8 and the Shah even offered to accept the students back at the SCA, some of the family members however were not yet ready to accept the apology and demand through a complaint letter addressed to Pastor that Shah be imposed with administrative sanctions and issue a public apology after a thorough investigation on the matter. CHR steps in Meanwhile, a separate investigation will be conducted by the Commission on Human Rights apparently to safeguard the students’ welfare and to cause the review of student handbooks especially in private schools under the supervision of DepEd. In a separate interview, Atty. Romel Daguimol, regional director of the Commission on Human Rights said in a telephone interview that they will also be conducting a separate investigation should there be discrimination committed by the school to the students. “This is a case involving children and we will try to look into what is the best strategy to arrive at if ever there was a discrimination of the children,” said Daguimol in a telephone interview on August 14 as he is still out of town for official business. He said the CHR will be heading to Ilocos Norte on August 19 to meet with the family of the victims and the SCA to check on facts and not solely rely on media. “We hope not to preempt the investigation as we cannot make conclusions yet,” he said. He added that the SP’s separate probe on the issue is a welcome development as the provincial lawmakers may craft a legislative measure such as an Iluko code to promote the use of the mother tongue language among its constituents. In October 2012, the La Union government through its provincial board enacted Provincial Ordinance No. 026-2012 or the so-called Iloko Code of La Union recognizing Ilokano as the local language of the province, promoting its use in appropriate public and private sectors including the Department of Education in support of the Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) which is being piloted in schools nationwide. Meanwhile, the association of Ilokano writers Gunglo Dagiti Mannurat nga Ilokano (GUMIL)-Ilocos Norte chapter and cultural advocates, promoting the use, propagation and enhancement of the Ilokano language has joined many other concerned citizens in condemning the “act of expulsion” committed by the SCA as they urged the DepEd to remove any anti-mother tongue policies both in private and public schools here in the Philippines. Among the concerns aired by the GUMIL-Ilocos Norte chapter through a two-page resolution no. 3 series of 2013 signed on August 9 by its officers and members are the following: That SCA has erred gravely and grossly against freedom of speech and expression as embodied in our Philippine Constitution, Article III, Section 4, guaranteeing against the passing of laws or statutes curtailing freedom of expression, and expression here in sense, the medium, to which the message is conveyed; That SCA has also grossly overstepped the Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights, Article 3, which guarantee everyone has a right to use his own language in public and private setting; The policy of curtailing linguistic freedom is already an outmoded and outdated concept; and this Association is hereby shocked and surprised that such policy still exists in some schools within our locality; and Prohibiting the use of mother tongue inside the campus runs counter to the educational policy of MTB-MLE. Shah issues public apology Shah, meanwhile, has issued a public apology on August 15. The said apology was sent to major news outlet in the city. In his statement, Shah said he was not against the Ilocano language as his church uses it chiefly during their services as he stressed that what happened was strictly about “campus discipline”. “It saddens me immensely that this issue of campus discipline has morphed into a war against “linguistic injustice and cultural disrespect” where I am pictured as chief enemy. I came to the Philippines in 1987 and have, since then, served as pastor, friend, and family to countless Ilocanos from all walks of life. I could never thus intentionally and willfully do anything that will demean Ilocanos—they who have accepted me as one of their own. Moved by their unparalleled hospitality, I always try, in the best ways I can, to carry out initiatives supporting local communities, especially the poor, oppressed, and marginalized. As a missionary, I fully realize the importance of the vernacular in getting the message across, and so majority of our church services are conducted in Iluko. At SCA, we take pride in a vibrant multicultural environment that has attracted students coming from various ethnolinguistic, religious, and socioeconomic backgrounds,” Shah said in his apology. He also vowed to review SCA’s policies and handbook.
Posted on: Mon, 19 Aug 2013 07:57:17 +0000
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