DepEd probes case of HS grad who spoke vs ‘cheating’ on stage

Days after the video showing the incident went viral, the Department of Education (DepEd) said that it would look into the case of Krisel Mallari, the salutatorian of Sto. Niño Parochial School, whom school officials stopped from delivering her graduation speech.

In a statement, the DepEd announced Tuesday that it had tasked its legal team to coordinate with the DepEd National Capital Region office and the Quezon City Schools Division Office for an investigation into the matter.

Among other issues, the probe would focus on what Mallari had said and what she was prevented from saying and the matters discussed or not discussed in her speech “like the alleged issues on transparency on the computation of her grades.”

The investigation would also take up whether or not the school was within its rights to stop Mallari from finishing her speech.

“We shall always respect the right of our students to express freely their thoughts and feelings, in light of existing laws and the provisions of our Constitution and in a manner and forum that is appropriate,” the DepEd said.

As of Tuesday, the four-minute video of Mallari had been viewed over 1.8 million times on YouTube. The 16-year-old student of the private Catholic high school in Bago Bantay, Quezon City, caught the public’s eye when she started off her speech at the commencement exercises on March 21 by implying that she had been cheated out of being the class valedictorian.

“In the years that passed, I have studied hard in this school. I believed in a fair fight. At the end of this school year, I was only one step away from the finish line. But when I got there, the red rope symbolizing my victory disappeared. But did it simply disappear, or was it purposefully snatched away?” Mallari said.

Apparently caught by surprise, her class adviser tried repeatedly to get her to stop by taking over the microphone and thanking her. Mallari, however, refused to budge until other school officials intervened and she eventually left the stage.

In a TV interview, Mallari complained that she did not get the grades she deserved because some teachers played favorites.

For their part, school officials explained in a statement that they stopped Mallari from delivering her speech as it was “not appropriate as a ‘welcome speech,’ but [contained] rather damaging remarks against her fellow student, the valedictorian, whom she accused of cheating.”

“We continue to teach what is right and true,” they said, adding that “for this Lenten season, our school is one with Christ who was punished and nailed to the cross on false accusations.”