Do graduation speeches really need prior approval?
This was the question when the speech of batch salutatorian Krisel Mallari was suddenly stopped by school officials because the one she delivered was not the approved version—an incident that triggered an uproar online.
Just a week following that incident, an alumnus of the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (PLM) College of Medicine had a similar experience with her Alma Mater.
Dr. Sibyl Jade dela Peña, now working for Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors without Borders) in Paris, had been invited by the PLM to give a keynote speech for the school’s hooding ceremonies—a special recognition ceremony for PhD and MA degree candidates.
The invitation was sent on March 11, 2015.
PLM then asked her to send in advance a copy of her speech. Dr. Dela Peña, who will be coming from Europe, responded immediately, saying she could only finish the main part of her speech during her flight to Manila.
The PLM alumnus had already prepared for her trip back to the Philippines—taking a leave, rearranging work schedules, booking flights, all at her own expense.
However, on March 25, the dean and chair of PLM’s hooding committee, Dr. Elvira Manalang, told Dr. Dela Peña they had to cancel the invitation because she could not send an advanced copy of her speech.
“As you have indicated yesterday, an advance copy of your speech is not possible until the time of your arrival in the country. In this case, we might not have ample time to meet the requirements or make necessary adjustments in preparation for the said event,” Dr. Manalang said in a letter, a copy of which was uploaded on Facebook by Dr. Dela Peña.
She also told Dr. Manalang how distressing the “disinvitation” was for her since she had made all the effort, considering her line of work, just to make time for PLM’s hooding ceremony, believing this was one of the ways she could give back to her Alma Mater.
RE-INVITED
In an update Dr. Dela Peña posted on her Facebook account, she said she has been re-invited by the school after PLM President Dr. Leonora de Jesus asked Dr. Manalang to rectify her mistake.
“Latest update – I have been re-invited as inspirational speaker. The Dean has been asked to rectify her mistake by the Univ President Dr. Leonora de Jesus. Thank you for all the support. I have just received the mail, this time there is a signatory in the mail (at least there’s a name that I can respond to now),” she said.
In an earlier interview with ABS-CBNNews.com, Dr. Dela Peña said she would have still gone to Manila even after the PLM dean’s decision to cancel her speech.
“I’m still going home because it was so last minute—I can’t change my ticket as that would entail additional costs—and I have postponed project visits until I return from the Philippines,” she said.
Dr. Dela Peña also said she wonders if the school would have done the same—cancel a scheduled speech because of an unsent advanced copy—if the key speaker was a public official.
“I’m still very upset over the whole thing. I wonder, would they do the same thing if it was a DOH USec or City Hall official?” she said.
Dr. Dela Peña believes her work can be an inspiration to PLM graduates.
“I think the new doctors of PLM deserve to be inspired by my experience in public health—having been subsidized by taxpayers of Manila. I hope they change their minds at the very least because it’s the new doctors losing out on this,” she said.
ABS-CBNNews.com had tried to reach the office of Dr. Manalang on Monday, but was told that the dean was still in a meeting and would only be able to respond later.
Dr. Dela Peña then said she “will not come to the hooding ceremonies after such a rude letter. I will only come if I can speak to the new doctors.”
Dr. Dela Peña, meanwhile, clarified that she does not represent Doctors without Borders in this case.
Source: ABS-CBN News