An Injustice by the Ateneo de Davao University – College Office of Students’ Affairs
On August 15, 2007, nine college students of the Ateneo de Davao University were apprehended by the school’s security guard for violating the school’s ID policy. That same day the students were verbally reprimanded by the school’s Office of Students’ Affairs (OSA) Director Riki Enriquez. Allegedly, Enriquez verbally reprimanded the students and even called them “liars.” They were not formally informed of the sanctions given to them for their violation. The next day, OSA displayed “wanted posters” of the bulletin boards of the three entrances of the school, and on the OSA bulletin board. The posters displayed the “wanted” students for violating the school’s ID policy as stated in the school’s Students’ Handbook.
On August 18, 2007, one of the students featured on the poster was able to enter the campus but was publicly apprehended by the school’s guards while he was playing a volleyball game (as part of the school’s fiesta celebration). He was then escorted out of the campus by the guards.
Several members of the school’s student body and the faculty initiated protest actions against the way the violators were being humiliated and sanctioned. Some called for the pulling out of the Wanted posters, while some asked for the resignation of the OSA Director.
As of August 28, 2007 a letter by Atty. Manuel P. Quibod, Assistant Dean of the College of Law with the authority of the University President, Fr. Antonio S. Samson SJ, drafted a letter in response to the letter of complaint by Mr. Arnold Abejaron, the school’s Faculty Club president. The letter asserted that there is nothing more to be discussed as the sanctioned students have already admitted their violations and have, in fact, written letters of apology.
Although, the matter of the students’ violation is already indeed settled, the matter of the OSA’s public humiliation of the students is not. Several members of the AdDU community have pointed out the clear violation of the students’ human rights. Moreover, several of the students involved are still minors. The students were clearly subjected to unjustified humiliation that could be detrimental to their emotional well-being.
Should Enriquez resign? Probably not. But should he be reprimanded and sanctioned? Definitely.
Link: Batang Yagit, an AdDU student, reacts to the issue.
Reports of the events and incidents taken from the Atenews Special Issue dated August 2007.
6 Responses to “An Injustice by the Ateneo de Davao University – College Office of Students’ Affairs”
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28 years old from Davao City, blogging since 2004. :)
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That was indeed sad. That reminded me of how most school official treats students, being kids and all. It’s as if they’re not human beings, thinking that even if they do complain they’re just kids. As with all any other violation, it should be expressed in written form what the sanctions are. Also, even if the kids are reprimanded, the officials should remember not to publicly humiliate kids as they do have their own dignity as human beings.
I think Enriquez should resign. It is my opinion that he is not fit to be OSA director, based on this incident and others that I won’t mention anymore.
You see, OSA directors, by the very nature of their position, should naturally be pro-student. They should take care of the welfare of students. Fine, they should also take it upon themselves to discipline errant students, but that is not their primary purpose. The Office of Student Affairs should in fact be a sanctuary of students — it should be a place where students will feel they are safe and secure and protected.
Hmmm…gestapo already in ADDU ? Sir Riki used to be a teacher admired by many students…I wonder if it’s the same now.
The OSA director should always have the students’ best interest in mind. Disciplining them properly for violations made is totally different from humiliating them publicly in the process. I think it’s enough that these violators wrote letters of apology, learned from their mistakes and never do it again. I don’t think ADDU should be proud in showing off the faces of these violators at the school’s 3 entrances through these so-called “wanted posters”. What impression does it give the public upon entering the school premises about the students?
What I remembered of Sir Riki was that he was not popular in our division especially during competitions because he was against our division winning over them. He was just a teacher then not yet the OSA director. But I have nothing against him anyway.
@ Tere..taga- NS division ka no? Hehehe..Well, he was my teacher in Comm. Arts, an instructor of the ADDU Dance Troupe which was new at that time. I have nothing personal against him, too. But I knew that he attended law school briefly so he should know a thing or two about basic human rights. And Atty. Quibod, Assistant Law School Dean but acting under the authority of the President answering the complaint? I see something wrong here. The Law School is acting like the Legal Department of the school. Just because it’s a law school, it also acts as the Legal department now? The students involved are college students, so what’s the law school doing here?