AN open letter said to be containing over 3,000 signatures of Ateneo de Manila University students, alumni and faculty is calling on the school’s administration to fire its marketing and communications head Matec Villanueva.
The call was made on June 16 by Jedryc Romero, president of the student council, Sanggunian ng mga Mag-aaral ng mga Paaralang Loyola ng Ateneo de Manila, at a town hall meeting, with the school’s president Fr. Bobby Yap, SJ, and Villanueva herself seated beside him.
The demand for Villanueva’s head was a fallout from Ateneo’s failure to properly attend to the crisis following the fatal drowning of two members of the Blue Eagles basketball team, Rene Baterbonia and Divine Adili, during a boot camp session in Dipaculao, Aurora province.
Critics, including the Sanggunian, professors and former athletes, attributed Ateneo’s initial response to the crisis — via press releases — to the marketing and communications office.
Public backlash flooded social media regarding the administration’s lack of transparency and empathy over the tragedy.
At the town hall meeting, Romero, the first to speak, said:
“I express my deepest apologies to our athletes because I really feel like the Sanggunian could have done so much more in this very trying time to support one another as a community... When this happened, we couldn’t even know how we could contact our athletes. We don’t have the means to check even on failures outside the men’s basketball team. And for that, I’m profoundly sorry and I hope we can all move forward [from] this challenge together... that we can work together as a community in order to make [it] safer and to make our spaces more inclusive.
“Fr. Bobby and our administrators, I don’t have questions. I think the faculty has raised the very important questions already...
“I bring with me the letter, which was also acknowledged earlier, signed by more than 3,000 members of our community — alumni, students, and faculty — calling for accountability and justice... I think this commitment is something that needs action and requires change, perhaps even a change in leadership.
“And given that one of the key lapses that have happened in this past week is in relation to communications... I will not shy away from mentioning an office in the name... I think it’s time to consider relieving Ms. Matec Villanueva of her position [as head of Ateneo’s University Marketing and Communications Office]...
“At the very least, there must be a deep reevaluation of how we communicate, how we talk to our community.
“One last thing I want to say is the call for openness. This is not the first time the community had open letters... We are not here just because we are angry... We’re here out of love... but there’s a need to change in how we do things, and Sanggunian is one of the stakeholders that will be with you... but with that comes genuine accountability.”
Athlete alumna agrees
Sarah Hugo, Ateneo alumna and former member of its women’s volleyball team, posted on her Facebook page: “I agree... Definitely one of the main reasons I left the volleyball team. She [Villanueva] and the University Athletics Office have always prioritized the university’s interests first and never the well-being of the students/athletes (unless favorite or rich athlete, lol).
“The irony is that Ignatian values are such a big part of what we are taught in Ateneo (and I have always been so proud of this), yet I never really experienced those values in the way they treated me when I was still a student-athlete.
“I remember she had an issue before about implying that any fan who’s not an ‘Atenean’ should keep quiet, lol. Respectfully, tita, you don’t have even the slightest trace of what it means to be Atenean. Real Ateneans show compassion, empathy, and respect for others.”
On June 19, students, faculty, staff and alumni walked out of their classes and workplaces to demand accountability, transparency and justice following the Aurora tragedy.
Ron Cruz, associate professor and chairperson of the Department of Biology, read a message at the walkout:
“Lately, even before the tragic event that brought us all here, I found myself thinking more and more, ‘Ateneo, bakit ang hirap mong mahalin?’ (Why is it so hard to love you?) This is no longer the Ateneo that I learned to love in many ways.
“Where is the open joy and the freedom of movement? Where is the genuine care? If only such things can be measured in the number of turnstiles.
“Echoing the words of our Sanggunian president, how much longer do we need to keep repeating our call for transparency, for genuine presence, and companionship from our leaders?
“The tragic, untimely, unnecessary deaths of Ateneo’s sons Rene and Divine have surfaced these ugly truths, among others. We must demand justice and accountability. There must be a change in the leadership that has created this environment of distrust and weariness.
“For one, there would not be as much anger and doubt on- and off-campus if not for the inappropriate, insensitive, unsympathetic treatment by a so-called PR expert who has repeatedly proven that she is wrong to hold the post.
“If we are to genuinely start our healing, the right people must be removed.”
Spokesperson
Also on June 19, Fr. Yap issued a memo, published on the Ateneo website, forming a response and reform committee, composed of faculty and administrators who will report directly to a board crisis oversight committee, with three marching orders:
– Developing crisis management structures and protocols that will anchor our university’s future responses;
– Overseeing the task force dedicated to recommending meaningful reforms to Ateneo de Manila’s athletics system;
– Implementing transparent and supportive communication across our faculty, administrators, staff and students.
Fr. Yap has also appointed Fr. RB Hizon, SJ, as university spokesperson. Fr. Hizon is concurrently the director of the office of Ateneo de Manila’s university development and alumni affairs. TMT