DAY ONE SITUATION | Due to a lack of chairs, seven Grade 7 students take their snacks on the floor inside their classroom at Jose Abad Santos High School in Manila in this photo taken around 10 a.m. during recess on Monday, the first day of the school year. (Photo by JANE BAUTISTA聽 / Philippine Daily Inquirer)
MANILA, Philippines 鈥� The Inquirer stands by the veracity of the video posted on social media by its education beat reporter Jane Bautista on Monday, the opening of classes, about the situation in a classroom at Jose Abad Santos High School in Binondo, Manila.
The news desk takes issue with the 鈥檚 (MPIO) statement issued eight hours after Bautista鈥檚 report, calling the post 鈥渇ake news鈥� and saying the students were made to sit on the floor for a 鈥減sychosocial activity鈥� as part of their 鈥済eneral orientation.鈥�
In reaction to the MPIO statement on Tuesday, the president of the Jose Abad Santos High School Faculty and Employees Association, Nestor Reyes, issued this statement in Filipino:
鈥淭he situation captured on video that has now spread on social media cannot be considered fake news. It is just one of the problems faced by the teachers, students, parents and the school administration on the first day of classes. It did not just happen now but in past school years. Let鈥檚 take a broader view of the problem instead of spreading the notion that it was fake news.鈥欌��
The statement about 鈥減sychosocial activity鈥� in the classroom was not mentioned by the teacher to the Inquirer reporter when she entered the room until she left after 15 minutes. The Inquirer counted 27 chairs and 43 students.
In fact, when the teacher was asked if the students were on the floor because there were not enough chairs, she said yes. There was another teacher present who heard that answer and can attest to it.
The school principal later explained to the Inquirer, hours after the video was posted, that 鈥渢here was just a miscommunication with the janitors who were cleaning but the chairs are enough.鈥�
The teachers, the principal said, 鈥渏ust lacked the initiative to get them, but the rest, they have enough chairs.鈥� This statement was included in the story that came out the following day.
The MPIO statement posted on Monday night was later taken down by that office on Tuesday afternoon.
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