UST org's ex-adviser files administrative complaint vs. officials behind 'censorship' of viral 7-Eleven photo
The former adviser of a University of Santo Tomas (UST) campus media organization filed an administrative complaint against two school officials weeks after their office allegedly censored a viral photo.
The Varsitarian, UST’s official student publication, reported that Leo Laparan of TomasinoWeb filed a 14-page complaint against Office for Student Affairs (OSA) Director Ma. Cecilia Tio Cuison and Assistant Director Ma. Regina Arriero. The complaint was submitted through the office of the UST Vice Rector.
Laparan accused Cuison and Arriero of violating his academic freedom as outlined in the UST Faculty Union collective bargaining agreement, the university's mission statement, and various Philippine regulations and laws, including the Education Act of 1982, Campus Journalism Act of 1991, and the Philippine Constitution's provisions on freedom of speech and freedom of the press.
The journalism instructor and The Philippine STAR desk editor also asked the UST Vice Rector to preventively suspend Cuison and Arriero—and permanently replace them if found guilty of violating the policies and laws he mentioned.
"The actions of the OSA directors are not reflective of the values upheld by the University of Santo Tomas,” Laparan is quoted as saying. “I hope and pray that your good and honorable office puts the appropriate end to their abuses of power.”
Last February, UST made headlines after OSA ordered TomasinoWeb to delete a photo that, it said, has become a “source of public ridicule.”
The photo depicts students from the College of Information and Computing Sciences wearing their “Type B” uniforms—alternatives to the typical school uniform due to the upcoming tag-init or “summer”—entering the convenience store 7-Eleven.
There have been jokes that the Type B uniforms of CICS students and 7-Eleven employees are alike due to their color and design.
The OSA also directed TomasinoWeb's officers to issue a public apology.
Laparan said they stood by their decision to keep the photo but had to give in to OSA’s demand. This prompted him to resign as adviser due to the “glaring illustration of censorship.”
TomasinoWeb, which is not technically a student publication but an organization under OSA, halted its operations. According to OSA rules, organizations whose advisers have resigned must “cease to post anything until such time that a new adviser is appointed.”
TomasinoWeb resumed operations on March 8 upon the appointment of a new adviser, journalism instructor Nathaniel Melican.
Cuison, meanwhile, went on medical leave a month after the issue trended online and gained national attention.