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by Patrick Quintos, ABS-CBNnews.com
A video of a batch salutatorian in Quezon City interrupted by school authorities while delivering her graduation speech has been making rounds online.In the video uploaded on YouTube, Krisel Mallari, batch salutatorian of the Sto. Niño Parochial School, was delivering a speech that was still in the early parts of her speech when the announcer suddenly interrupted her, saying, “Thank you very much, Ms. Krisel Mallari.”
“Sa bawat taon na lumipas ay puspusan ang pag-aaral na ginawa ko sa eskuwela, naniwala ko sa patas na labanan. Sa pagtatapos ng school year na ito’y isang hakbang na lang ang layo ko sa finish line, ngunit sa pagdating ko rito’y naglaho ang pulang tali na sisimbolo sana sa aking tagumpay, naglaho nga ba o sadyang kinuha?” Mallari was saying when the announcer interrupted.
Instead of stopping, Mallari proceeded with her speech, but school authorities kept insisting for her to stop and take a seat.
“Maraming tao ang nagbulag-bulagan sa isang sistemang marumi at kaduda-duda. Ngunit di ko ito tinuluran, ipinaglaban ko ang sa tingin ko’y tama, nanindigan ako bilang isang Pilipino na palaban at may takot sa Diyos. Chismis, isang piyesta ng chismis ang inabot ko ng pinagmukha nila akong masama,” she said as the announcer interrupted anew.
At one point, a teacher is seen in the video seemingly handing Mallari a paper for her to read, instead of what she was delivering.
In an interview with ABS-CBNNews.com, Mallari confirmed that the speech she delivered during the graduation rites was different from the one approved by school authorities.
Mallari said she knew that the teachers would not approve the speech containing what she really wants to say — which is about an alleged cheating incident in the school — that’s why she did not have it checked by school authorities.
“May freedom of speech naman po di ba?” Mallari said.
Mallari’s sister, Katherine, explained that even before the graduation rites, they had been asking the school to release the computation of Krisel’s grades for the sake of transparency.
However, she said that the school just kept on shrugging off their requests.
“Limang araw pabalik-balik ‘yung dad ko para kunin ang computation,” Katherine said, stressing that they are not asking for the computation of grades for the sake of school competition, but for transparency.
She claimed that there have been previous cases similar to Krisel’s, whose grades, she said, were suspiciously lower than expected, but the students involved chose to keep quiet.
“Parang naging boses nila si Krisel ngayon,” said Katherine.
She also revealed that the program for the graduation rites listed Krisel as a recipient of the Best in Religion award, but the school did not give it to the student because of her speech.
“Ano namang kaugnayan noong speech sa Best in Religion?” she said.
ABS-CBNNews.com tried to get the side of the school on Monday morning. However, according to a certain Olga Mendoza, the administrators were out for a school’s recognition day.
As of 3 p.m. on Monday, March 23, the video of Krisel’s interrupted speech already had more than 11,000 views since it was posted on Saturday.
The full text of Krisel’s speech, which she was not able to finish during the graduation rites, is also seen in the video uploaded in YouTube.
“I am Krisel Mallari, a Filipino citizen who would rather choose to fail with honor, than win by cheating,” Krisel would have said had she not been stopped during the graduation rites.
This story was re-published with permission from ABS-CBNnews.com.
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