Atin Ito | Ontario’s First Filipino Community Newspaper – Trusted News and Stories for the Filipino-Canadian Community Atin Ito is Ontario’s first Filipino community newspaper, delivering trusted news, stories, and updates for Filipino-Canadians. Stay connected with your community.
Statements issued by the student council of Assumption College San Lorenzo and the University of the Philippines Broadcasting Association addressed to Sen. Loren Legarda. (Courtesy: Assumption Student Council – College/Facebook and UP Broadcasting Association/Facebook)
Two student groups from educational institutions associated with Sen. Loren Legarda criticized her decision to join the upper chamber’s new majority led by Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano.
The student council of Assumption College San Lorenzo issued a statement chastising Legarda, a high school alumna of the said school, for participating in the recent Senate coup that unseated Sen. Vicente “Tito” Sotto III from his leadership.
“Assumption College San Lorenzo forms leaders who are expected to act with integrity, exercise social responsibility, and uphold courage of conviction… It is in this spirit that the Council calls upon Senator Legarda to reflect on the principles she once upheld as a student and as a public figure. She is encouraged to clarify her actions, correct her course, and demonstrate renewed commitment to accountability and justice,” the statement read.
“We express our earnest hope that Senator Legarda will confront this moment with integrity and a clear sense of duty. It remains within her capacity to rebuild the trust of a community that once regarded her as an alumna of distinction. Now is the time to prove that such trust was not misplaced,” it added.
The student council also removed her image from its “Wall of Empowered Women” in protest.
Meanwhile, the University of the Philippines Broadcasting Association challenged Legarda “to reflect on the values she once claimed to stand for and to ensure that the Senate does not become a sanctuary for impunity nor a bargaining table for political dynasties seeking to preserve power.”
“More than a senator, Loren Legarda is a UP Broadcasting Association alumna who once stood within the ranks of student leadership. Her political choices now stand in contradiction with the principles of accountability, public service, and democratic responsibility that UP students are taught to uphold,” the organization posted on social media.
“At a time when institutions are being reorganized to shield the powerful from scrutiny and consequence, neutrality disguised as pragmatism only deepens public distrust… The Filipino people deserve institutions that act independently and officials willing to place democratic duty above political accommodation,” it added.
Legarda is an alumna of the University of the Philippines Diliman, where she earned her Broadcast Communication degree in 1981. — Rolando Ng III
*****
Credit belongs to: www.manilastandard.net
