Parents of Colegio de San Agustin (CSA) slammed the Dasmariñas Village Association (DVA) for its “No Sticker, No Entry” ruling that has led to the suffering of students, who are forced to walk and be exposed to unnecessary dangers due to the policy.
In an interview, several parents raised the issue of DVA’s strict policy that has forced the students to walk from the gate of the subdivision to the school, as their vehicles are prevented by DVA’s security guards to enter the premises.
“What if something happened to our child, or if there’s an emergency?” said one concerned parent, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisal from DVA.
“My child carries a heavy backpack so walking to school is an additional burden for him,” said another parent.
Some parents said they have to leave their homes around 4 a.m. so their children would not be late for school, as they were diverted by DVA’s security guards to the Lumbang Gate, where traffic is heavy in the early hours of the morning, contributing to the traffic congestion in the Magallanes portion of Edsa.
“Needless to say, our children are already tired even before school starts,” another parent said.
Other parents complained about the rude and arrogant behavior of DVA security guards.
In August 2017 the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board, through its arbiter, lawyer Joselito Melchor, issued a cease-and-desist order to stop the DVA from implementing its No Sticker, No Entry policy and other unreasonable restrictions against CSA-bound vehicles of students, parents, teachers, school staff and guests. According to the parents, however, and based on the CSA timeline report from the school’s legal counsel, the DVA continues to implement its repressive policies, totally ignoring the HLURB’s immediate effectivity of the CDO.
The parents said the DVA should already be cited for contempt and should be penalized with the corresponding penalty fees and confinement without compromise, especially because of the hardships DVA has put on the school and its student body for more than six months.
At the same time, some of the parents and teachers have also criticized the CSA administration for not taking a harder and more confrontational stand against DVA’s security guards’ “gestapo” tactics and handling of the traffic, preventing the cars of CSA students, parents, school authorities and guests from using several gates and roads to enter the CSA school premises.