MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A Philippine Catholic school is witholding
the diplomas of six high school boys who uploaded Facebook photos that appear
to show them kissing each other, an education official said Friday.
A day earlier, a Philippine court rejected another Catholic school’s
decision to bar five girls from graduation ceremonies because they had posed in
bikinis for photos posted on Facebook. The cases test the limits of privacy in
a conservative Catholic nation that is also among the world’s most prolific
users of social networking sites.
Department of Education officer Samuel Mergenio said in a interview
that the six boys told him they had taken prank photos to make it appear that
their lips touched. One of the boys uploaded the pictures on Facebook and
mistakenly made them available to others, Mergenio said.
The pictures were not taken at the boys’ school, Infant Jesus Academy
in the Manila suburb of Marikina, but the students were wearing school
uniforms, he said.
Mergenio said the school’s chancellor informed the department late
Thursday that the boys will be allowed to participate in the graduation
ceremonies but “the release of their diplomas will be delayed.” He said the
school did not say when the diplomas will be handed over and that he was
awaiting a formal written report from the school.
The school chancellor was not immediately available for comment Friday.
On Thursday, a judge in central Cebu city issued a restraining order
against St. Theresa’s College High School, ordering it to allow the five
students who appeared in the bikini photos to take part in Friday afternoon’s
graduation ceremonies.
The school, which declined to comment to The Associated Press, asked
the court to reconsider. The girls’ lawyer, Cornelio Mercado, said Friday that
the school was still insisting on banning the students while its motion for
reconsideration is pending.
Mercado said one Facebook photo at issue showed a girl holding a
cigarette and a liquor bottle, while others showed all five girls wearing
bikinis at a beach party early this year.
School officials took action against the girls for what they called
“engaging in immoral, indecent, obscene or lewd acts,” according to court
records. They said the students would graduate but could not participate in
activities or ceremonies.
Earlier this month, the five girls were summoned by the principal and
other school officials, “dressed down” and called “sluts” for their Facebook
pictures, Mercado said.
The judge, Wilfredo Navarro of the Regional Trial Court, castigated
school officials for calling the girls “inappropriate names” and said the
students had gone through “a psychologically and emotionally devastating
experience.” He said not allowing them to participate in graduation activities
“would indeed be most un-Christian if not entirely inhuman.”
The mother of one girl had petitioned the court on behalf of her
daughter. Mercado said the ruling applied to all five.
He said the families on Friday filed charges of “grave oral defamation”
and illegal use of photos showing minors against the school and school
officials. He alleged that the school officials had illegally obtained the
pictures because they were not Facebook “friends” of the girls and were not
allowed access.
AP
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