Dagupan Vice Mayor Alvin Fernandez said the Sangguniang Panlungsod cannot and will not enact an ordinance that will ban fraternities in the city.

“The people’s right to form lawful associations or societies is clearly enshrined in the Bill of Rights of the Constitution,” Fernandez said.

The vice mayor reacted to a resolution from the Peace and Order Council of the city based on the representation of a university official that the city council is ignoring a request to pass such an ordinance.

Dominador “Boy” Rayos, director for student affairs of the University of Pangasinan, went to the SP during one of its regular sessions to ask for the enactment of an ordinance that shall expel students misbehaving in the city’s colleges and universities.

“Right then and there, we specifically told Mr. Rayos that we cannot adopt such an ordinance. The SP has no business making university policies,” Fernandez said.

The vice mayor pointed out that it is the responsibility of the schools to adopt and enforce stricter policies to ensure the safety of their students. The “No ID, no entry must be enforced by the security guards in schools any unwanted element in school must not be allowed to enter the campus,” he said.

He added that students involved in criminal activities within the campus must immediately be arrested by the campus security and turned over to the PNP.

“If the school cannot ensure the security of students within the campus area, it must write letter of request seeking temporary detail of PNP personnel within the school campus,” Fernandez said.

He said that the city council had requested Dagupan City Police chief, Supt. Edgar Basbas, to intensify police beat patrol in the city, especially in areas near universities and colleges.

Fernandez also suggested that university officials list down the productive activities of these fraternities vis-a-vis the unproductive ones and from there, determine who should be recognized in the campus.

“Is it fair to ban all fraternities for the offense of one fraternity that the school allowed and tolerated?” the vice mayor asked.

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