UP president distances self from frat brods

University of the Philippines President Danilo Concepcion on Friday denounced the posts attributed to his fraternity brothers at the Upsilon Sigma Phi who allegedly made racist and misogynistic remarks against women, LGBTQs, Muslims and Lumad.

Concepcion claimed that the leaked messages, which were posted in a private chat group “do not represent” what his fraternity had “stood for all these years.”

“Let me be absolutely clear about this: I will not protect any fraternity brother who may be found culpable of these kinds of offensive acts,” he said in a statement on Friday.

“We will not tolerate misogyny, sexual harassment and bullying or any form of violence against women and other groups in this university.”

Concepcion said any such offenses, would be dealt with to the full extent of the school’s judicial and administrative remedies.

Sexist remarks

The leaked chat, which had thousands of exchanges that spanned for at least two years, included various threats, such as suggesting genocide against Muslims and indigenous peoples, and sexist remarks, such as that women’s mouths were only to warm a man’s penis.

It also had mentions of favors from “senior brods,” including UP Executive Vice President Ted Herbosa.

In a statement, Upsilon said they were taking the accusations seriously and would relay any pertinent information to the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs to ensure accountability.

Calls for sobriety

The frat, however, called for “sobriety,” claiming that there was a “concerted effort to besmirch” their reputation on their centennial year.

Concepcion said he also instructed UP Diliman Chancellor Michael Tan to expedite the probe into the brawl between members of the Upsilon Sigma Phi and Alpha Phi Beta (APB) in the campus last week.

The clash, which was caught on a closed-circuit television camera, took place at Palma Hall, where most students take their general electives. It later escalated to a reported car chase inside the campus, where hooded men allegedly hit a vehicle with baseball bats until its windows were shattered.

During the protest on Friday, Tan assured students that more security officers would be deployed in the campus, also following the alleged kidnapping of the handler of a Twitter account called “iskolarspeaks,” who had called out Upsilon in his posts.

Fear gripped students on Thursday night following information that the student was  abducted by men on a black Toyota Vios while walking to hit  dormitory at 10 p.m.