THE PLANNED face-to-face graduation ceremony of the Unibersidad de Manila at the Philippine International Convention Center has been canceled due to government regulations on Covid19.

The school announced Friday about the sudden change in rules of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases regarding mass gatherings that prohibit the event from being held.

UDM added it has been in constant communication with the IATF and the Commission on Higher Education for the ceremony.

The program will now be held instead at the UDM Palma Hall on July 13 for the graduating batch of 2021, while the ceremony for Batch 2020 will be on July 14 and 15.

“Out of a sudden, on the evening of 8 July 2021, PICC, after meeting with its General Manager, informed UDM of its ‘new requirement’, an AUTHORIZATION TO CONDUCT IN-PERSON GRADUATION issued by the IATF. That has never been a requirement by the PICC,” UDM said on its Facebook page.

“From the get go, UDM worked and fought for an in-person graduation at the PICC on 13 July 2021. However, for reasons beyond UDM’s control, PICC suddenly required something that is not required by IATF Resolution No. 121, something that cannot be timely obtained,” it added.