THE SAMAHAN ng Progresibong Kabataan on Thursday condemned the decision of St. Paul University Philippines in Tuguegarao City in Cagayan to expel students behind a campaign seeking transparency.

The SPARK said SPUP ‘twisted’ the incident to its favor to evade accountability.

“The Sisters of SPU twisted everything to justify their baseless accusations, employed a corrupted version of due process\ and even threatened students with criminal and cyber libel cases for posts made in Facebook and Twitter, all in the name of protecting their long-standing reputation of profiteering and hypocrisy,” the group said.

It added that the school used its autonomous accreditation status as an excuse to prevent the Commission on Higher Education from interfering.

“As if such status accorded to them by the CHED is a free-pass to abuse their clientele,” it said.

SPARK urged students to demand transparency amid the supposed repression from SPUP administrators.

“We urge all students who participated in the email barrage to demand transparency from their school administrators led by Sr. Merceditas Ang, to keep their principles intact. Your fight for your future and welfare was not only principled but entirely justified,” it said.

“We deplore the heartless expulsion of our fellow students and the continued repression of those who have escaped the cruel clutches of administrators of SPU,” the group added.

The students who were kicked out launched an email and social media campaign calling for an academic freeze; a transparency report on school fees; the removal of erroneous fees; non-mandatory enrollment for the summer term; and the retention of all faculty and non-teaching staff.

The school sald the expulsion was warranted because the students “besmirched the reputation of the school and its administrators and faculty.”

“The social media postings of the students have put SPUP in [a] bad light and besmirched the reputation of the school and its administrators and faculty,” SPUP said in a statement.

Those acts were considered major offenses under the student handbook and are punishable by exclusion, the school added.