The San Beda College Alabang excused students and staff from going to school after a 17-year-old fell from a building on campus and died

At about 12:05 p.m. on Feb. 9, a Grade 12 male student fell from the sixth floor of a building at San Beda College Alabang in Muntinlupa, according to Muntinlupa police.

A canteen concessionaire told the police that she saw the student fall to the ground after she parked her vehicle in front of the building. She immediately reported the incident and was assisted by a school nurse.

The student, a resident of BF Homes, Parañaque City, was brought to the Asian Hospital and Medical Center in Alabang for treatment. However, the student was declared dead at 1:16 p.m. by the attending physician.

In a letter on Feb. 11, San Beda College Alabang Rector and President Fr. Gerardo Ma. De Villa said students and staff who felt traumatized by the incident on campus are excused from going to school from Feb. 13 to 15.

He also apologized to the school community “for everything that may have caused you pain in the wake of the unfortunate events.”

Here is De Villa’s letter to the San Beda College Alabang community:

“Dearest Bedans,

“Peace.

“People's feelings should be respected, especially in this time of grief. I want to assure everyone that the school always has your best interest foremost in mind and sincerely cares about your welfare. For this reason, all students and staff that need time at home to process the trauma that has befallen us all are to be excused from Monday, February 13, to Wednesday, February 15, in the same way as those who stayed home yesterday, February 10, are excused. All academic work for those who wish to be in school from February 13 – 15, should not be disadvantageous to those who are at home.

“As your Rector, I sincerely apologize for everything that may have caused you pain in the wake of the unfortunate events, and I urge everybody to be guided by charity in thought, word, and deed. I pray that the virtue of charity in us may reign over the grief and disappointments – and even anger – we are going through, and may we all emerge from these experiences more resilient in facing life's traumas.

“That in all things, God may be glorified!"

After the death of the student, De Villa issued a statement on San Beda College Alabang’s Facebook page on Feb. 9.

“This afternoon, February 9, 2023, an unfortunate incident involving one of our students unfolded on campus, leading to the loss of one precious life. This incident all came as a shock to our community. No words could describe the pain we feel as we try to comprehend why such a thing happened. Our prayers are with the deceased's family as we stand with them and offer profound sympathy,” said De Villa.

He added, “School officials are currently cooperating with investigators on the matter. The School requests that all respect the family's privacy during this time of grief. We cannot foresee how this incident may affect each of us. At this critical moment, we urge everyone to remain calm and trust in the healing power of Our Lord Jesus Christ.”

One parent criticized San Beda College Alabang for its response to the fall incident.

In an open letter posted on her Facebook page, Shine Ordoñez-Ancheta said parents were “kept in the dark” about what happened to the students on campus after the fall incident.

Here is her letter:

“AN OPEN LETTER TO San Beda College Alabang:

“Dear SBCA,

“By now, social media and news publication have picked up the unfortunate incident that happened in campus yesterday (Feb.9).

“I am writing to you as a parent expressing her frustration and disappointment towards an institution that we have trusted to secure the welfare of our child.

“To be fair, nobody anticipated things like this to happen. Nobody should anticipate things like this AT ALL. But it happened. And it was a big blow to the Bedan Community.

“What infuriates me were the actions (or the lack thereof) taken afterwards.

“- First of all, you need to work on your communication with your stakeholders — and by stakeholders, I mean your student’s parents/guardian. After the incident took place and the news got wind and spread like wildfire towards the GC of each and every grade level. Nobody bothered to update us on what happened to the students in campus. We were kept in the dark and all bits and pieces of information we had to scour from one GC to another or from each others sons or daughters assuring their parents that they are in-fact okay and is now locked down in their respective classrooms and they are not allowed to go out and had to be assisted by a marshall if they need to pee/use the bathroom. Nobody took the time to assure all the parents that the children are safe. We all looked out for each other until we can’t wait anymore and decided to storm the school so we can pick up our kids so they can be removed from that environment asap.

“- Secondly, your lack of advisory/memo and resuming classes as per usual the next day is a bit calloused and crass for my taste. Still, no update to the parents or even an advisory for a debrief. All we got was that lousy press announcement from your page. May I suggest a good and reliable PR Team. Someone who is more grounded and empathetic.

“-Third, and my saturation point — you rallied the students who went to school today (even if they don’t feel like going to school today) only to have a certain ‘guidance counselor’ tell them:

“‘to not exaggerate the picture. You feel sad about it, okay. Pero if you are going to exaggerate your feelings on that one part of that picture, that is totally wrong! Kase kapiraso lang naman yung nakita nyo tapos apektado kayo buong araw. Remember, this is an accident.’”

“I don’t know how you counsel people who just experienced a traumatic event as a community, but I am sure this is not how it is done. In my vocabulary — this is called gaslighting.

“I have so many things I want to be addressed and explained with this action alone. And if that is not enough, let us also discuss how the scene of the incident was not even cordoned off from the students— I understand that maybe you cannot clean it yet for investigation purposes, but to have it out in the open and not close it off from the students who sees the ground still stained of yesterdays unfortunate tragedy. Do you even understand or have an idea of what trauma and triggers are? You continuously expose them to that incident that you can’t even acknowledge properly and yet you supress their emotion towards it? You invalidate their feelings and yet you immerse them in an environment that triggers their memory of that tragic event.

“I don’t know how to call it — hypocritical? Maybe. Ignorant? It sure feels like it.

“Have we gone backwards? In this progressive era, are the dogma laid down to us by the founders of this institution prohibiting us from understanding this situation? Because quite frankly — we can’t heal from what we do not acknowledge. Or are we just lacking our sense of humanity? Does the business side and reputation of an educational institution outweighs the importance of allowing people to grieve and mourn and process life. These are kids we are talking about. Lucky you if you are able to label all your emotions and feelings correctly. They cannot. Even adults have a hard time with this. What they need is someone to discuss it with in a safe space. We don’t even have to figure it out for them, but we can listen.

“Listen! #BedaDoBetter #AddressNotSupress.”