SCREENGRAB FROM FILIPINO NETIZEN’S FACEBOOK PAGE
The student who was caught on video “mopping” the floor using the Philippine flag turned out to be from the University of the East (UE), the Manila-based school confirmed on Thursday as it deplored the boy’s “utterly disrespectful deed.”
In a statement, UE president and chief academic officer Ester Garcia said the video—which has gone viral and reaped indignation from netizens—was that of a high school student and taken during a break in between classes on Tuesday.
“The UE community deplores, in the strongest possible terms, the said utterly disrespectful deed which was done inside one of our classrooms in the high school department. The act was committed, video-recorded, and posted online all within Feb. 9, 2016,” Garcia said.
Upon learning that the video had spread on social media, the school formed a disciplinary committee and called the students involved together with their parents and guardians to “investigate what happened and to assess the appropriate sanctions,” she added.
“In less than an hour after we got a word of the situation last Tuesday, the university’s high school department convened the disciplinary committee composed of faculty members and coordinators with the assistance of our legal counsel,” Garcia said.
The UE official said what the boy did was “far removed from the education our institution imparts and the values we uphold” and that the school officials “share in the frustration of those who were offended by the video-recorded act and continue to appeal to the public’s calm and patience.”
The statement did not give other details about the student and was silent on the disciplinary measures being imposed on him.
It was issued by the university a day after the Department of Education (DepEd) said it was conducting its own investigation on the matter.
Desecrating a flag is punished under the Flag and Heraldic Code of the Philippines with a maximum prison term of one year and a fine ranging from P5,000 to P20,000.
But Education Assistant Secretary Tonisito Umali, who announced the DepEd probe, said the offender may be spared from criminal prosecution if he is aged 15 or below, under the amended Juvenile Justice Law.