‘ERR ON THE SIDE OF CAUTION’: UPV admin reacts to dormers’ complaints on food supply

By Joseph B.A. Marzan

University of the Philippines Visayas (UPV) Chancellor Ricardo Babaran responded to concerns raised by stranded students in Miag-ao town, particularly those currently staying in the dormitories, on their food supply.

Students residing in the dorms, or dormers, have voiced their concerns regarding the new memorandum issued by Dr. Babaran on April 16, 2020 mandating them to buy and eat food only at the UPV Employees’ Cooperative (UPVEC) located inside its College Union Building, starting April 20.

It also provided subsidies for students to support students for food and other expenses, however this was only limited to undergraduate students.

The stranded students included 132 dormers and 111 who rent boarding houses outside UPV premises.

The memorandum was issued as part of UPV’s responses to the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and in line with stringent measures implemented by the provincial and municipal governments.

In a statement released through UPV’s official Facebook page on April 20, Dr. Babaran explained that allowing the students to cook inside the dormitories was a temporary “stopgap” measure.

“The approval for cooking specifically at the UPV dormitories in Miag-ao was a temporary measure, a stopgap, granted initially to a group of students, which later on became a mode of food provision for all the stranded residents. About 2-3 weeks into the emergency, the task force considered withdrawing the permission to cook inside the dorms but gave way in consideration of requests of students to continue with the setup. The university eventually agreed to allow cooking to continue until April 14, 2020,” Dr. Babaran said.

The UPV’s Office of Student Affairs (OSA) released an indorsement on March 16, temporarily allowing students to cook in their dormitories.

UPV suspended classes since March 13 due to the growing number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country.

 

‘STUDENTS WERE CLEARLY INFORMED’

Dr. Babaran said that he met with the students before the issuance of the memorandum to clarify its intent and contents with them.

“In several meetings, this was made clear to students that food would have to be sourced from somewhere eventually since the dormitories do not have proper kitchens. The decision to altogether discontinue cooking at the dormitories in Miag-ao was again discussed with student dormitory representatives on 15 April 2020 and the directive was issued on April 16, 2020. As another concession for the students, the cooking arrangement was extended until April 19, 2020 in order to use up the food supplies purchased by the students themselves,” he said.

Dr. Babaran said UPV would rather “err on the side of caution” than endanger students’ health, and would take responsibility for implementing the memorandum.

“In this public health emergency, the UPV administration would rather err on the side of caution than endanger students’ health from unsafe or unhealthy food provided by new or uncertified suppliers. While the University shall continue to ensure that everyone is consulted in the decisions that affect its constituents, it might be best for everyone to bear in mind that not all suggestions and proposals shall ultimately be harnessed in the final arrangements, guidelines or directives it issues if the best interest of both students and personnel and the University at large is considered. This is how democracy works. The mark of true leadership is owning decisions made and not passing the buck, as it were. At this point the undersigned, as Responsible Officer for this crisis along with members of the UPV Management Committee and the UPV COVID 19 Task Force as a whole are ready to own this arrangement,” he said.

 

STUDENTS’ REACTIONS

On April 17, the UPV University Student Council (USC) published an open letter to the Chancellor via Facebook and Twitter.

The letter was signed by Residence Hall Assistants, Student Dorm Representatives, and UPV USC Chairperson Adrian Camposagrado.

They strongly denounced the imposition of the memorandum, asserting that students had not been properly consulted prior to its issuance.

“We, stranded students, Residence Hall Assistants together with the UPV-USC strongly denounce your imposition because it is being enforced without prior consultation to the constituents affected by your decision. We have been vocal about opposing your proposal for the last couple of meetings but it seems that our democratic rights as representatives of the dormitory are being shut down by enactment of unconsulted decisions,” the letter stated.

On April 18, a ‘Unity Statement’ was published by Pagbutlak, the official publication of the UPV’s College of Arts and Sciences, on its official Facebook and Twitter accounts.

The statement was crafted by stranded dormers, Residence Hall Assistants, faculty members, and the UPV USC.

The statement confirmed that there was a dialogue with the chancellor on April 17 regarding the memorandum.

“The meeting began with the dorm representatives’ final appeal to extend the cooking operations within the dorms until the end of the ECQ. Unfortunately, no amount of appealing and pleading was enough to change the Chancellor’s decision. Thus, the dorm representatives asked for clarifications regarding the contents of the memorandum, in order to gain a better understanding of the proposed system and to determine whether the proposed system would be more beneficial,” it had stated.

It had stressed that dormers were left with a state of anxiety, worry and distress as questions weren’t being answered properly.

“While majority of the questions received non-committal answers such as “I don’t know” or “We’ll tackle that issue when we get there” in the end even the questions answered by the Chancellor failed to convince the dorm reps of the plan’s viability. This has left the dorm representatives and dormers in a state of anxiety, worry and distress. Dorm representatives were also told by their dorm managers to surrender cooking materials in compliance to the memorandum by the Chancellor. Furthermore, we were told by the Chancellor during our dialogue that donations such as vegetables/perishables except non-food for stranded dormers will be refused to give way to the admin plan of the [UPVEC] providing us food.”

The statement also stated that the chancellor was also unsure in letting students stay beyond April 30, or the end of the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) in Iloilo.

“We were not given full assurance with our status of staying in the dormitories even after the ECQ will be lifted after April 30th. What we received was an announcement that stranded students are asked to be reunited with their families once the (semester) will be over. Thus, adding worry to us for we are yet to be tested all just to be sure that we are not carrying any signs or symptoms of the virus and there was no clear guidelines nor memorandum regarding sending us home to our respective families especially for students living outside Region 6 where we still have to endure paying expensive transportation (plane or boat) tickets.”

The UP’s Board of Regents at UP Diliman in Quezon City also decided on April 16 to end the Second Semester for Academic Year 2019-2020 on April 30.

In the end, the unity statement echoed the demand of the dormers to let them cook in the dorms, as it benefits their well-being and poses lesser risks.

“We demand Chancellor Babaran to once again consider our pleas and allow us to continue cooking. It is one of the few activities that allow us to maintain our mental and emotional well-being, it is the only method that best allows us to preserve our financial stability without needing a subsidy, it is the only method that best allows us to keep the possibility of COVID infection to a minimum and allow the easiest way to practice contact tracing.  We, the stranded dormers wish to help other UPV constituents and workers, but we cannot do so at the risk of our own health, safety, and financial stability. If the UPV administration cannot provide clear and concise answers to our questions, worry and anxiety will prevail. Moreover, we stranded dormers have also helped with the creation of [Personal Protective Equipment] masks and volunteered our time and effort to help those who are vulnerable in our own simple ways.”

 

MEETING

The students again raised their concerns during a meeting on April 20 with UPV Vice Chancellor for Administration Mary Ann Gumban and UPV OSA Director Agustin Huyong.

Prof. De Guzman reiterated the chancellor’s reasons for the imposition of the memorandum.

“The best option for us in the administration is to provide you with cooked food and the subsidy coming from the donations until April 30, 2020. We just want to make sure that you won’t get infected from going to the ‘banwa’. Also, you are free to spend the categorized subsidy given in any way you want,” she said.

During the meeting, representatives of UPV’s post-graduate dormers also appealed to include them in the subsidy, however, Prof. Gumban said that the memorandum will continue to be implemented.

Subsidies for undergraduate students, which were categorized into full and partial subsidies based on financial vulnerability, were also released after the meeting.