VETERAN JOURNALIST and Pulitzer Prize winner Manuel “Manny” Mogato has thrown his support behind five other non-tenured UST journalism instructors who were not reappointed following the implementation of the Manila health certificate requirement.
In a Facebook post on Saturday, Aug. 17, Mogato shared his sentiments on the new policy that barred part-time and probationary faculty members without health certificates from teaching in Term 1 of the current academic year (AY).
“I hope UST will reconsider and exempt part-time teachers from getting a health certificate from city hall,” he wrote. “It’s unfair to treat journalists as contractual and seasonal employees, like mall workers who will line up every five months to secure a work permit.”
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The Arts and Letters Faculty Association (ALFA) on Thursday wrote Faculty of Arts and Letters Dean Melanie Turingan, asking her to allow faculty without health permits to teach as dialogues were still underway.
In its letter, the union said Mogato “declined to accept any teaching load this semester as a matter of principle, refusing to obtain the health permit.”
However, Mogato told the Varsitarian that he had a different reason for not teaching in UST this term.
“I am undergoing physical therapy for my bad right leg which makes difficult for walking,” he said. “I was hoping the UST admin will reconsider asking us to obtain a health certificate.”
The ALFA said it stood by its statement.
Mogato, who won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize in International Reporting along with two other Reuters reporters behind the series “Duterte’s War,” has been an adjunct lecturer at the UST Department of Journalism since 2021.
Five journalism instructors were not reappointed following the new “no health permit, no teaching load” rule implemented for non-tenured faculty members:
Philippine Star reporter Alexis Romero, Rappler reporter Paterno Esmaquel II, ABS-CBN’s Kane Choa, Philippine Star desk editor Leo Laparan II, and Business Mirror reporter Marie Carisa Ordinario.
“The unions are planning a legal remedy after a dialogue. I hope this will be resolved soon so my fellow part-time instructors can go back. Sayang naman, the journalism program will be affected,” Mogato said.
Health permits have become a requirement to operate a business in Manila after the passage of Manila Ordinance 8793, or the Sanitation and Disinfection Code of the City of Manila, in late 2021.
Manila health authorities found UST in violation of the ordinance early in 2024 via random inspection and ordered the University to comply.
