Robredo on Pisay controversy: It is more than just the concern of school

“Not making excuses for it, not attempting to justify it, but recognizing it for the injustice it is, and taking the necessary steps to ensure it is not repeated again,” Robredo said. (File photo: VP Leni Robredo/Facebook)

The controversy involving six male students from the Philippine Science High School (PSHS) who were accused of posting nude photos of their female schoolmates online is not only a concern of the school and its community but also the public, according to Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo.

In a statement on Wednesday, May 29, Robredo, whose youngest daughter was a graduate of PSHS, said the issue “goes to the heart of how we, as a society, must act when women are disrespected, demeaned, or abused, particularly when this is passed off as ‘boys’ having ‘harmless fun,’ and therefore ‘normal’ and ‘acceptable.'”

“What is worse, this condescension and abuse is presented as simply being ‘the way of the world,’ with those who protest dismissed as ‘overreacting’ or ‘someone who cannot take a joke,'” she added.

With that being said, Robredo stressed that it should not come as a surprise that poor treatment of women also persists in “a community of our nation’s brightest young minds” and “at the hands of even those they trusted as intimates or friends” since the problem, she said, “is not one of intelligence, but of culture.”

Robredo urged the public to “change that culture” by calling out those who disrespect and abuse women and ensuring that they are “appropriately sanctioned” for their actions.

“Not making excuses for it, not attempting to justify it, but recognizing it for the injustice it is, and taking the necessary steps to ensure it is not repeated again,” she said.

“It is my hope that this will be the principle that will serve as the foundation for the ultimate resolution of the current controversy in PSHS,” she continued.

The PSHS had announced that the six students were barred from attending their graduation rites, after some PSHS students, teachers, parents, and alumni of the school staged protests ahead of the ceremony.

In a text message to ABS-CBN News on Tuesday, Science Secretary Fortunato dela Peña said three of the students will get their diplomas, while the other three can get their certificates of completion “but only after requirements that are part of penalty are completed or served.”