Some classes at Xavier University revert to online mode due to ‘rising criminality’ in CDO
CAGAYAN DE ORO (MindaNews / 2 September) — Rising criminality in the city has forced Jesuit-owned Xavier University-Ateneo de Cagayan to suspend some of its face-to-face college classes starting Friday.
Xavier University Vice President for Higher Education Juliet Dalagan said classes scheduled from 4:30pm and onwards will have to revert back to online mode starting September 1 until September 9.
Dalagan said their students are at risk because of the rising criminality in the city.
“In the light of the alarming criminal cases in the city, all classes scheduled from 4:30 pm and onwards shall hereby be recited online beginning September 1 until September 9,” Dalagan said in the memorandum issued to all the university’s colleges and departments.
He said face-to-face classes will resume once the school administration deems that criminality has declined.
Mayor Rolando Uy assured officials of Xavier University that crime prevention is a top agenda of his administration.
Uy said the crimes cited by the school were “isolated cases” and that statistics from the Cagayan de Oro City Police Office showed there was a decrease.
He said the city police office only recorded three crime incidents in the past week.
“We have a weekly average of seven crimes for the past three weeks. It is an all-time low,” the mayor said.
The move of Xavier University came after its Central Student Government asked that classes especially those that run into the evening be reverted to online mode due to the criminality problem.
The students cited reports of robberies, killings and kidnappings in the past week that they say endanger them.
Among them were the July 17 murder and rape of a delivery rider and his girlfriend in Barangay Lapasan, murder of a male parking attendant in front of Xavier University, and the killing of a habal-habal driver at the back of the same school last August 31.
Lt. Col. Surki Sereñas, deputy director of the city police office said they have solved most of the crimes mentioned by the students and have arrested the perpetrators.
Sereñas said the killer of the habal-habal driver has already been identified.
“If we have not prevented it, we will investigate and solve it,” he said.
The police official said 98 percent of the total index crimes in the city from January to July this year were either solved or cleared.
“From January to July, all rape cases in the city were either cleared or solved. Cagayan de Oro is still a peaceful place,” he said. (Froilan Gallardo/MindaNews)
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