LAOAG CITY—A teacher at the Philippine Science High School-Ilocos Region Campus (PSHS-IRC) is being investigated after some of his students voiced out on social media his alleged sexual misconduct, a campus official said.
The management of the PSHS-IRC said it had taken “appropriate action in ensuring that justice would be “swiftly and properly” served to those who came out to have been abused by the involved faculty member, according to campus director Ronnalee Orteza in a statement Wednesday, Sept. 15
The school’s management said a formal complaint was lodged against the teacher but did not disclose details about the alleged instances of sexual harassment.
“We would like to reiterate that the campus condemns sexual harassment in all forms,” PSHS-IRC said.
According to the school, the welfare of the students involved would be the primary consideration of its management, saying that a “psychological debriefing” would be provided to the minor victims.
The incident had sparked conversations across social media platforms in the past days after students and graduates of the country’s premier science high school asked for accountability over the incident.
The school said it acknowledges the “power of social media as the easiest recourse to raise concerns and for these to be acted upon [but] processing incidents through the proper forum is important for justice to be swiftly and properly served while upholding due process and the rule of law.”
At least 282 concerned alumni also issued a statement calling on the school administration to “preventively suspend and file criminal proceedings” against the suspect.
Members of the PSHS-IRC graduating class of 2022 said they would boycott all academic activities until a final resolution to the investigation is reached, and all the victims are acknowledged.
In a separate statement, the official publication of the PSHS in its main campus in Quezon City expressed support for the victim as it demanded the “implementation of effective systems to protect sexual assault and harassment victims [as it] is imperative to create a safer environment all.”