Safety of classes at MSU ensured
MARAWI CITY – Civilian and military authorities met on Monday and agreed on mechanisms to ensure the safe opening of classes at the Mindanao State University (MSU) system main campus here despite the continuing offensives meant to clear this war-torn city of jihadist militants.
The 700-hectare MSU main campus here, which spans four barangays, did not sustain damage in the fighting that started on May 23, but the military expressed concern about a possible attack by remnants of Islamic State-inspired militants, according to Dr. Habib Macaayong, the university system president.
As of Monday afternoon, Macaayong said, a total of 8,139 students have already enrolled in the main MSU campus.
Macaayong said his administration hopes to enroll at least 10,000 old and new students before the scheduled start of classes on August 14, adding though that a weeklong extension was being mulled to iron out perceived hitches in the influx of students and prospect enrollees through security checkpoints along routes leading to the school campus.
Lt. Gen. Carlito G. Galvez, Jr., commander of the Western Mindanao Command, and Brig. Gen. Ramiro Rey, head of the Joint Task Group Ranao, led military authorities in meeting Monday with MSU top officials led by Macaayong and Dr. Alma Berua and Dr. Rasid Paca, university vice presidents for academic affairs and operations, respectively.
At the two-hour meeting, Galvez explained to MSU officials and stakeholders “circumstances and possibilities” in the current Marawi strife, and discussed the need for safe resumption of classes and academic operations of the school, Western Mindanao Command spokesperson Capt. Jo-Ann Petinglay said in a statement.
"The Mindanao State University is the symbol and life of Marawi City. This is the bastion of knowledge and we will have to open classes the soonest," Pentinglay quoted Galvez as saying.
Lanao del Sur Assemblyman Zia Alnto-Adiong, a member of the MSU Board of Regents, attended the meeting and batted for “holistic approach” in securing the university campus because there are campus residents who are neither school staff or students, according to Petinglay.
Adiong reportedly suggested the involvement of key MSU residents in the consultation to make them feel they also have responsibility in security arrangements inside the academic campus.
Macaayong also took exception to a media report that 45 enrollees were denied enrollment due to a “military lockdown” in this city.
The new enrollees were subsequently allowed entry when MSU officials interceded and explained to soldiers that the 45 individuals had no university identification cards because they were not yet enrolled , he explained.