Baguio
Court Orders SLU to Re-admit Student Council Prexy
A student council president was initially
denied admission this semester by his university in Baguio
City, even if faculty members were
in favor of his retention. He recently won the first round of his legal
battle when the court ordered his university to allow him to enroll.
BY ARTHUR L. ALLAD-IW
Northern Dispatch
Posted by Bulatlat
BAGUIO CITY — A
student leader of the Saint Louis University (SLU) here (246 kms from
Manila),
who was denied admission this semester, won the first round of his legal
battle.
Executive Judge
Iluminada Cabato-Cortes of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) here granted an
order for SLU to admit the student leader.
Last June 22, Supreme
Student Council (SSC) President Arthur Leonard B. Odsey filed for
temporary restraining order which the RTC granted. He then processed his
enrolment papers. His fellow SSC officers and other students cheered when
he enrolled.
In the case he filed
for injunction, Odsey also sought damages amounting to P3 million
($56,327.45, based on an exchange rate of P53.26 per US dollar) and almost
P50,000 ($938.79) in attorney’s fees and litigation expenses against
respondents SLU and the dean of its College of Natural Sciences (CNS).
Odsey’s non-admission
was supposedly due to his failing grades in three subjects last summer.
Real reason
In a statement, the
SSC believed that the non-admission of Odsey was because of his active
involvement in student actions against the policies of the administration.
The SSC cited as examples the protests against tuition increases and the
pending court case against such. They added that the non-admission is a
harassment aimed to silence Odsey which they claimed is still the
legitimate student council president.
Odsey got failing
grades in Clinical Taxology and Clinical Pharmacy and got an incomplete
grade in Pharmacology which he later completed.
CNS Dean Gaudalia
Reyes who was allegedly advised by the guidance officer that Odsey should
not be admitted, initially left the decision-making to the faculty
members. After hearing from Odsey why he failed the two subjects, the
faculty decided to admit him.
However the dean did
not honor the faculty members’ decision. On June 13, three days after the
last day of enrolment, Odsey appealed for the dean to allow him to enroll
but she stuck to her decision.
Earlier, the SSC
noted that the guidance counselor claimed that Odsey could not be kicked
out because of his behavior but he could be kicked out due to his failing
grades. They alleged in their statement that the failing mark is to ensure
his non-admission. Bulatlat
BACK TO
TOP ■
PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION ■
COMMENT
© 2006 Bulatlat
■
Alipato Media Center
Permission is granted to reprint or redistribute this article, provided
its author/s and Bulatlat are properly credited and notified.