The Philippine Science High School’s (PSHS) Board of Trustees issued a statement today urging the public to respect the privacy of the six male students who have been accused of allegedly sharing lewd photos of their female schoolmates.
In a statement posted on its official Facebook page, the board said that they were saddened by the news involving their students, all of whom were barred from joining today’s graduation ceremony as punishment for their alleged transgressions.
“We pray to the media and the public at large to respect the privacy and maintain the dignity of our scholars, and not aggravate the issue further which unnecessarily puts those children’s future at risk,” the statement reads.
The board also said that contrary to some reports, only they have the authority to decide on issues covering graduation or scholarship termination. They said that their decision-making process is “based on extensive consultation and comprehensive facts, including but not limited to precedent cases and specific circumstances.”
The board confirmed today’s reports that they did not allow the six students to attend today’s graduation ceremony and that only three of them will be given diplomas. The school said that the other three will be given certificates of completion.
“All six students have to comply with additional requirements that are part of the sanctions given to them,” the board said. They also said that they have exerted their best effort at arriving at their decision and they asked for the public to respect this.
“We urge everyone to move forward from this incident and provide the needed support to the students and the PSHS community,” they added.
Prior to arriving at this decision, the board agreed to allow all six students to attend the graduation, but they changed their decision after it was met with outrage from students, parents and PSHS teachers.
Some of the lewd photos posted by at least one of the six students were posted online as early as 2017.
PSHS or more commonly called “Pisay” is the country’s leading public science high school system, with its main campus located in Quezon City, where the alleged cybercrimes took place. All of its students receive scholarships from the government.
Many of the reactions to the statement today were angry. Juan Pulanco wrote that he found it funny that many of the students and alumni believe that the six students shouldn’t graduate, but the group that has the exclusive authority to decide on their punishments came up with an “unjust decision.”
Cian Palami lamented that there was no mention of whether or not the victims would receive support from the board.
Another netizen named Ian Vergara said that all of the school’s employees should be vigilant to ensure that nothing similar to what the six students allegedly did would happen again.
Do you agree with the PSHS board’s decision? Tell us by leaving a comment below or tweeting to @CoconutsManila.
