A CEBU-BASED university instructor who faced online backlash after a video of him provoking students to harm themselves went viral is ”no longer connected“ with the University of Cebu (UC).
On Friday, March 15, 2024, a video surfaced on the UC Confessions Facebook page, managed by students and alumni. In the video, a teacher can be heard provoking students into harming themselves, adding that it would be his “greatest pleasure.”
“Og moambak mo sa building ingna akong ngalan kay ganahan ko ana (If you jump from a building, call my name because I would love that.) I would love it g’yud kong mo-suicide mo (should you commit suicide),” said the teacher.
The teacher, whose identity remains undisclosed by the video owner and UC Banilad administration, was also observed laughing after uttering such remarks.
The 57-second video, first uploaded on Tiktok, was quick to spread on Facebook, as it had 14,600 reactions, 3,100 comments, 9,800 shares and 467,000 views as of Monday, March 18, or three days after the video was uploaded.
“This is just a teacher from (the) University of Cebu Banilad. We tried telling some teachers about him but they never really believed because anak daw ni siya’g like maestra dira sa school nya bright sad daw ni siya kaayu na teacher, currently med student ni siya actually but he admitted openly a couple times na sadist daw siya,” reads a portion of the video caption.
(This is just a teacher from the University of Cebu Banilad. We tried telling some teachers about him, but they never really believed because he is supposedly the child of a teacher at the school, and they say he’s also a very bright teacher. Currently, he’s a medical student, but he openly admitted a couple of times that he’s a sadist.)
Social media users have condemned what the teacher did, saying it is dangerous to say harmful things and provoke students to commit suicide and that the professor lacked any sort of morals.
“Kakuyaw ba ani (this is so alarming),” said one social media user who shared the original video.
“This is so wrong to tell students na mag-suicide (to commit suicide),” said another social media user.
The video, however, does not show what transpired before the teacher made the remarks.
Probe and counseling
The UC administration has now launched an investigation into the incident.
Candice Gotianuy, president of the UC Medical Center, in her official Facebook account, announced that as of March 18, the male teacher is no longer connected with UC and that his mother, who was a teacher, has also followed suit.
She also suspended classes for one week for the affected students, announcing that 30 psychiatrists, psychologists, guidance counselors and Student Affairs Office staff will stay at UC Banilad this week. Each concerned student will be reporting to a counselor.
“The legal team will reach out to the individuals concerned to document their experience. We are putting this incident on record. The faculty is in full agreement that his actions are absolutely unacceptable,” Gotianuy said.
The investigation is being conducted to understand the context and circumstances of the incident.
Psychological impact
In an exclusive interview with SunStar Cebu on March 18, Maryjun Delgado, chairperson of the department of psychology at the University of San Jose Recoletos, said what the professor did was dangerous since suicide is a delicate issue, especially with the younger generation and students who are often scared of failing in school.
Delgado added that any of the students present could potentially have mental health issues, and when told by their professor to commit suicide, there was a risk the student would actually do it.
Delgado said talking about suicide is dangerous without any sort of responsibility behind it, and teachers should be accountable for what they say in front of their students. / RJM , WBS
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