Touch Us Not Malacañang!

Is Gloria and her freaking office really determined to CORRUPT EVERY SINGLE INSTITUTION that is trying its best to do something good for the country?

Because if she does, then the news report I heard from ABS-CBN's "Bandila" should come as no surprise at all. No wonder her rotting administration is now targeting Pisay.

Pisay had much controversies that it had to face during the past years. From the pointless and debatable controversy about the Opus Dei teachers to the alleged breaching of several policies, it tried its very best, just like it had always done so in the past, to handle them well. This includes the recent, MOST DESTRUCTIVE controversy that it had to face - the Fabro-Mercury Poisoning Case.

It was destructive because it freaking ruined the image of every Pisay Scholar in the country. It was destrcutive because most, if not all, Pisay Scholars were questioned practically by everyone that knew about the case, if the poisoning was true. It was destructive because we had to answer YES - yes, it was true that a supposedly intelligent senior student was twisted enough to poison another person - and we had to endure the disappointment of everyone that asked the question.

This case has done its part in marring the image that this country's premier high school has long protected. And we are just happy that something was done in response to it. We are NOT PROUD of this case but just like any institution, Pisay is run by humans that make errors. And just like any institution, it is also run by humans that can correct those errors and give justice.

The Philippine Science High School has its own Board of Trustees. And it is the one that corrects the things that are insufficient to conform to the school's standard of excellence. The BOT decides upon cases like this - whether the student still deserves to remain a scholar of the Filipinos or not. But apparently, the Malacañang believes otherwise.

According to the news I've watched in "Bandila," the office of the president had inverted BOT's decision to dismiss M*nzon - the alleged student that poisoned Fabro, another Pisay student. This is so for reasons I'm not sure if the news report aired because I failed to watch the first part. In Pisay terms, when you are already a fourth year student and you got dismissed, you will be graduating not with a Pisay diploma but only with a DepEd diploma. BOT decided to dismiss M***on, thus, disabling him to graduate as a Pisay Scholar.

There are many reasons why I am now officially enraged after hearing this. Here they are:

First, Malacañang NEVER cared (well, at least not when it comes to policies) about Pisay. This is the first I've heard that they actually meddled with Pisay matters (of course, other than the pushing of other lawmakers regarding the constrcton of othe Pisay units. Other maters, if here, I'm not aware.) And what's practically wrong with this "meddling" is that it concerns inverting a decision about a "student case." I would understand that this can be just disgusting Philippine politics if this concerns people from the administration, building constructions, etc. But something as deep as a student case? There is just something wrong. Why would the president of the Philippines be too concerned about a STUDENT who received a disciplinary action due to his conduct last last year? Aren't the rice crisis and Lozada enough to be problematic about? Heck, this issue didn't even become a national issue that everyone in the country knew. Only those who give a damn or who knows what Pisay is all about cared. There are just so many national issues, why and how can the president care about something that is is such a small scale as compared to the other problems they're facing right now?

Second, why this particular student and this particular case? Oh, didn't GMA or her staff knew about the Pisay student that did not graduate with a Pisay diploma simply because he or she exceeded the limit for the number of absences? Didn't GMA or her staff knew about the Pisay students that got dismissed simply because of a failing mark in one of his or her subjects? And these were imposed because these were the rules of the school. And under the rules these, along with the case of M***on, are subject to dismissal. And as an institution that follows the rules that it has created to govern itself, so UNLIKE the government that we have now, Pisay stands by these rules and IMPLEMENTS them well. Besides, these students got dismissed for reasons far less than that of M***on's and yet Malacañang never cared. So why now? Why does it care so much now that it had to meddle with Pisay's implementation of it's own rules?

Third, since when does the Malacañang know more about Pisay students than the Board of Trustees (BOT)? Heck, Malacañang does not even know the constitution well enough to actually prevent Gloria and all other government officials from corrupting the country's money. Why then should it know more about Pisay than Pisay itself? Even if Pisay is under the DOST, it is obvious that the Office of the President know less about Pisay's rules and regulations. I would have been less surprised if the inversion came from the DOST. But from the Office of the President? What's the connection? Seriously, if there is someone more eligible to make a decision about these matters - student matters, for crying out loud - it would be none other than the school, in his case, the BOT of PSHS. The only reason why the inversion from the Office of the President would make an impact is simply because Pisay remains to be under the government (gosh, if only we could be autonomous like UP!). Otherwise, it does not have anything to do with the school.

Fourth, the case was not just disciplinary but almost CRIMINAL. It even almost killed Fabro and had mad her, until now, subject to sterility. THAT WAS MERCURY, for crying out loud! Even the average student knows how fatal that element is! This is not just about a school ego being bruised. This is not just about the stupid government corrupting another honest institution. It's about a girl trying to find justice. And for what that's worth, for a life that could have been possibly ruined, can they not allow justice to incur a punishment, even if its as simple as a 'no diploma?'

Fifth, I have long looked upon Pisay with nothing les than a beacon of excellence. And for that excellence to be ruined by a scholar or by a government, it is simply DESPICABLE. Even Solito's movie wasn't that enough to bring back the image of Pisay that was lost. No one should be called a PSHS Scholar without deserving the title. Genius is not enough. It should have with it the same amount of values expected from it. As an alumni, I do not want to be in the same league as those students sho simply did not deserve what the other alumni, including I, worked for for four years. I do not want to be in the same league as those who have chosen not to value what the school hold dear - LIFE.

Sixth, if he is innocent of the charges against him, why use the DISGUSTING politics of this pathetic country just so he can rid of those allegations? That is just plaine COWARDICE. He WAS once a student of Pisay. He knows that there are o other ways to prove innocence. So I challenge him to drop this utter stupidity of using a rotting government to save his ass and just once, become man enough to face what is thrown at him in the proper courts with due processes. For once, prove to the Pisay community that you still have dignity and that you were still the genius, which Pisay inculcated with values, that everyone thought you were.

Seventh, I DARE NOT BE SILENT ABOUT THIS. Touch us not with your filthy hands Malacañang!