6 boys banned from grad rites over prank ‘kiss’

MANILA, Philippines – Different school, different students, different acts, same punishment.

In a case echoing the ‘bikini photo’ issue in Saint Theresa’s College in Cebu City, 6 students in a private school in Marikina City were barred from attending their graduation ceremonies after a prank the school administration found “damaging” to the institution’s reputation.

The Philippine Daily Inquirer reported Thursday, March 29, that the students, all senior high school boys of Marikina’s Infant Jesus Academy, were barred from their graduation and from receiving their diplomas after posting online photos of them simulating a kiss in public.

The students said the “kiss” was fake, and they used a camera trick, as part of a prank.

The boys, aged 16 to 17, and their parents, the newspaper reported, went to Radyo Inquirer to seek help via the “Isumbong Mo Kay Tulfo” show.

The school said the boys violated a school guideline banning conduct “bringing the student, his/her family and the school in disrepute,” the paper said.

The school justified the punishment of withholding the diplomas, with one of the parents saying that the school chancellor, Peter Mallonga, told them the document is “sacred.” The boys, the school said, are not yet deserving to get their diplomas.

“They will give it to the students as the punishment will not be for life. But it will take two years, three years, four years, even eight years,” the parent told the newspaper.

The school however, said the students are still graudating, and promised to give a certification that will allow them to enroll for college, the Inquirer reported.

This came after a Cebu City court issued a cease and desist order, commanding STC to allow the 2 girls involved in the ‘bikini photo’ controversy to attend their graduation ceremony. – Rappler.com