Baguio City (CNN Philippines) — The 27 students from the University of the Philippines (UP)-Baguio, who were earlier informed that they won’t be graduating this year due to deficiencies in their checklists, will get to wear their “sablays” (graduation sashes) after all.
UP-Baguio Chancellor Dr. Raymundo Rovillos made the announcement on Tuesday (June 23) after all eight members of the UP Board of Regents (BOR) voted in favor of letting the students graduate. It was UP President Alfredo Pascual who relayed the BOR’s decision.
Jessica Tabilin from La Trinidad, Benguet, one of the 27, said that she felt relieved upon receiving the news Tuesday afternoon.
“We were holding each other’s hands — some were holding their phones and prayed for the good news, and when it was finally announced, we cried in joy kasi sa wakas ay makaka-graduate na rin kami. Surreal ang pakiramdam kasi lahat ng classmates pati hindi namin kaklase — lahat ng estudyante sa UP-Baguio — they were cheering with us in the lobby,” she said.
[Translation: “We were holding each other’s hands — some were holding their phones and prayed for good news, and when it was finally announced, we cried in joy because we’re graduating at last. It felt surreal because our classmates and even those who weren’t our classmates — all the students in UP-Baguio — they were cheering with us in the lobby.”]
Appeal upheld
After learning that they might not be graduating because of errors in their checklists, the 27 (21 Communication Arts majors, four Language and Literature majors, and two Fine Arts majors) UP-Baguio students filed on June 15 a petition against the BOR’s initial decision.
The students have been waiting for the results of their petition and have stayed at the lobby of UP-Baguio since Saturday (June 20).
Rovillos said that the College of Arts and Communication initially appealed the students’ cases early June, but the motion was denied by UP-Baguio’s University Council (UC).
According to a previous report, the students completed the required number of units in the Revised General Education Program (RGEP), but failed to take the required courses under its “hybrid” version — which took effect in the first semester of Academic Year 2011-2012.
Related: 27 UP Baguio graduating students’ fate still uncertain
