SHS student found not guilty of recruiting for leftist org

THE UST Senior High School has dismissed due to insufficient evidence a complaint accusing a Grade 11 student of recruiting members for a leftist youth organization.

Lance Alo, a member of the UST-SHS student council, was found not guilty of violating the University’s Code of Conduct in a resolution issued by the UST-SHS administration on Feb. 15.

The resolution was posted by Alo’s legal counsel, Vicente Topacio, on Facebook.

Alo and other council members were tagged by a parent of a UST-SHS student in a Jan. 15 complaint to be recruiters for Anakbayan, an unrecognized organization in UST.

Alo was given a copy of an incident report on Jan. 23. In his response to the SWDC on Jan. 28 and in a meeting with UST-SHS administrators on Feb. 6, Alo said he could “neither confirm nor deny his membership and role in Anakbayan given the lack of definite and clear proof indicated in the incident report.”

“We carefully examined the pieces of evidence and statements provided by the complainant and Mr. Alo. Due to the lack of sufficient evidence, the committee is convinced that Mr. Alo is innocent of the allegation,” the UST-SHS Student Welfare and Development Committee (SWDC) said in the resolution.

The UST Code of Conduct has a provision on camaraderie, which states: “The students shall join or form only student organizations whose objectives uphold the vision and mission of the University. Students shall join only organizations duly recognized by the University.”

Penalties for membership in illegal organizations include suspension, non-readmission or exclusion from the University.

Alo told the Varsitarian that winning this case was important as it fulfilled the University’s promise of “safeguarding its students from the continuous attacks on academic freedom and human rights.”

“[The University] vowed to engender the institution as a safe space for the right to free expression, speech and thought,” Alo said.

Earlier this year, the SHS administration penalized UST-SHS student Datu Zaldy “Shoti” Ampatuan with non-readmission for admitting to his membership in Anakbayan in a Facebook post.

Senior high student denied readmission for joining leftist youth group