Matty

Amateur Writer | Professional Dork | Occasional Dungeon Master | Certified Halaman | He/him.

[Lala Rimando @lalarimando]

THE ATENEO COMMUNITY SPEAKS:

Then the floor was opened to questions and comments.
To a grieving community who has been waiting for this face-to-face moment with the university leaders who have kept mum for a week after a devastating incident that have gripped the entire country, it was their chance to be heard.

Raw emotions and pointed questions came one by one.

CALL FOR MATEC VILLANUEVA'S RESIGNATION:
The first to take the mic was incoming Sanggunian President Jedryc Romero, carrying a petition signed by over 3,000 students and alumni demanding "hard accountability."

He turned directly to the stage and targeted University Marketing and Communications Office Director Matec Villanueva for her handling of the narrative.

"I think it's time to consider relieving Ms. Matec Villanueva," Romero stated flatly, “or at the very least, there should be a deep reevaluation of how we should communicate and talk to the community.”

The line was met with thunderous applause from the faculty, students, and parents in the crowd, completely breaking the clinical decorum the administration had attempted to maintain.

Villanueva first came to public's consciousness when she moderated the June 15 press conference where she atrociously controlled the flow, even announcing that live streaming was not allowed "without the university's consent".

She famously shut down a student journalist's valid question about the school's safety protocols.

THE CALL FOR FR. BOBBY'S RESIGNATION:
The confrontation moved higher up the chain of command when an attendee directly challenged Fr. Bobby Yap’s moral authority to lead the university following the tragedy. The attendee asked point-blank whether his own conscience told him that he could remain as President of the institution in the wake of such catastrophic operational oversight and communication failure.

FR. BOBBY'S DEFENSE:
Fr. Bobby explicitly refused to step down, calling a resignation too "dramatic" for the current timeline: "Right now, Divine's body is still here, we're still dealing with the Baterbonias, we're still helping, we've been talking to the Adili family… I talked to my provincial, I followed his order. At a certain point, I will face that question, but what I'm saying is I can't make that dramatic move now because there are so many things going on."

THE FACULTY'S VOICE:
The faculty refused to accept the administration's clinical, legalistic responses. One professor stood up, directly addressing Fr. Bobby:
"We teach our students in these very classrooms to stand up for the truth, to reject structural hypocrisy, and to hold power accountable. Yet, the moment a crisis hits our own backyard, the leadership hides behind legal jargon, PR filters, and crisis committees. You are undermining the very values we are hired to teach."

THE STUDENT GRIEVANCES:
Student leaders spoke with palpable anger, calling out the communication vacuum that left the student body isolated for days.
"You left us completely in the dark for a consecutive week while social media did your job for you. We didn't find out the truth from our administrators; we found out from leaks. We came here today in flesh and blood because we want a university that values human lives over institutional reputation."

Here's the rub: "Stop managing our grief like a corporation handles a bad product launch," the student said.

PARENT'S OUTRAGE:
Parents in attendance expressed deep betrayal over the security failures and the lack of operational oversight during off-campus camps. One mother said:
"We trust this school with our children's lives and futures based on the promise of Cura Personalis. When an emergency like this happens, we don’t need a polished, legalistic press release issued days late. We need absolute honesty. If our children aren't safe under your protocols, your prestige means nothing."

STAFF & COMMUNITY EXHAUSTION:
A staff member highlighted the internal cultural rot caused by top-down secrecy: "The silence from the xxx and Blue Eagle gym management down to the central administration made us feel complicit. We work here every day, and we had to face the questions of crying students while you locked yourselves behind closed doors to consult lawyers. The moral leadership of this university has completely collapsed."

FAILURE OF ACCOUNTABILITY:
Faculty and student leaders sharply dismantled the administration's clinical terminology. One speaker took the mic and directly challenged the panel's legal euphemisms:
"What you call lapses are what we call wrongdoings."
The audience roared in agreement, rejecting the university's attempt to downplay institutional negligence.

DOUBLE STANDARDS:
The audience repeatedly pointed out the double standards in how the athletic department was being handled during the active investigation.

A faculty member of the political science department called out the selective enforcement of consequences: "You keep saying accountability, but you didn’t even preventively suspend Tab Baldwin and the other coaches. Kung kami ’yun [teaching staff], ginawa niyo agad yun

DISCONNECT IN TRAINING:
Parents and community members questioned the basic operational oversight and the necessity of the fatal beach drills. A worried parent asked point-blank: "Why do the players need to do water activities when they are basketball players?"
Another snapped: "How many more people have to die for us to actually do something?”

SHAMING OF STUDENTS:
The emotional toll of the administration's week-long silence extended far beyond campus walls, leaving ordinary students to face public hostility alone. One student shared a chilling personal account of the real-world backlash: "I was wearing an Ateneo shirt when I got off the train. I heard someone say, 'Naku, papatayin din yan'."

MATEC'S TOXIC TONE:
Attendees also targeted the defensive, unapproachable nature of the university's public relations machinery, specifically calling out the PR strategy. A media studies alumnus noted: "Why is Matec Villanueva so defensive during the presscon? She looked like she wanted to intimidate the press rather than be accommodating."

CONDEMNING ADMINISTRATION'S ARROGANCE:
The structural divide between the executive offices and the actual community at Leong Hall became a central focus. A faculty member summarized the atmosphere perfectly when addressing Fr. Bobby and the board:
"When you face us, there is a sense of superiority."
Another lectured them: "No more lies."

BROKEN COMMUNICATIONS INFRASTRUCTURE:
Communications professionals within the Ateneo community expressed deep frustration that standard emergency frameworks were completely non-existent.
An alumnus expert stood up to state: "My concern is in crisis communications, and the need for protocols that should have been in place even before this happened."

IGNORING INTERNAL EXPERTISE:
A professor from the Communications Department delivered a stinging reminder that the administration bypassed the very brilliant minds they employ to teach these strategies:
"We are the center of excellence for practically everything. You have experts in crisis management, you have experts in communication. So, please do remember in the future not to keep this to yourselves. Reach out to us, we teach it for a living."

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