PETITION TO REMOVE FOR CAUSE REV DR BRIAN SHAH FROM HIS POST AS PRESIDENT OF SAVIOUR’S CHRISTIAN ACADEMY AND TO CAUSE HIS LEAVING THE PHILIPPINES IMMEDIATELY (Petition by NAKEM Conferences) We, the Ilokano and non-Ilokano peoples, in the Ilocos, in the Philippines, and in the diaspora, are appalled by the injustice perpetrated by Reverend Dr Brian Shah against three Ilokano students of Saviour’s Christian Academy in Laoag City, The Philippines. We are signing this Petition in support of these students, in support of the need to preserve and promote the languages of the Philippines, and in support of the institution of Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education in the country. When Kleinee Bautista, Carl Andrew Abadilla, and Samuel Respicio were caught speaking in their own Ilokano language inside that school where they were studying, Rev Dr Shah expelled them without due process. In light of the educational policy of the Philippine government on mother language education, and in light of the basic human rights of the students, this action of Rev Dr Shad constitutes not only discrimination, but also wanton violation of the students’ linguistic, cultural, and educational rights. Not only Philippine laws protect these rights but also by international covenants of which the Philippines is a signatory. The educational practice of Rev Dr Shad is contrary to the mission statement of his school. His practice not only demeans individuals but communities as well, the Ilokano communities all over the Philippines and the world in particular. What we envision in the conscious, critical, and committed use of our own native languages is an education that not only informs our educands but also transforms them to become people of character. Rev Dr Shah’s actuation demonstrates his incompetence and insensitivity, callousness and colonial mindset, and uncaring attitude towards the people of the Philippines. He does not educate; instead, he mis-educates. In his expulsion of the students because they spoke Ilokano, their native tongue, he has not only violated their basic rights, but has demeaned the very Ilokano community from which these students come from. This is the same community that has supported his school through the years. As a person of the cloth, we are appalled that he does not understand the historicality of the Savior he believes in, the Savior who valued his people’s language, the Savior who spoke in the language of his people. It is for reason that we do not see the need to keep him in his post as President of that school. PATALSIKIN SHAH
Posted on: Fri, 23 Aug 2013 09:41:18 +0000
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