The CCTV Hullabaloo

Photo by Mark Sherwin Vardeleon

I am not buying the university’s reason for the installment of the CCTV’s in every street, hallway, and classroom. According to the report of the Varsitarian (V) entitled “FMO installs CCTV cameras”, the CCTV’s were installed to heighten the security in the campus. Probably, the recommendation of the Management Association of Security and School Officials (Masso) last May which is to install the cameras in “strategic locations” inside campuses was also considered. In Camille Anne Arcilla’s article in the V, it was said that Masso president Eduardo Masangcay verbalized that “student will now think twice about doing anything bad or illegal if there are CCTV cameras.” Here now sparks a question on whose “security” Masangcay was referring to. Is it the university’s property, students, or both? 

I understand that the UST is a public place where basically anyone, including snatchers, hold uppers, etc., can easily infiltrate but what I cannot comprehend is why do they have to extend it to the classrooms? Hardly any unauthorized person can enter the buildings as one has to pay tribute to the presence of the guard by swiping their ID’s before proceeding. One reason that I see is that probably it is a way of catching the artistic few (or those who believe themselves to be artistic) who vandalize the university’s property or the libido incontinent people who do PDA inside the classrooms.

Installing surveillance cameras inside the classrooms is clearly a violation of the right to freedom and privacy of the students. Arguments such as the “if-you-don’t-do-bad-things-you-have-no-reason-to-worry-about” may be raised but the mere thought of complete surveillance (except in the comfort rooms. I have yet to find out if they still also plan to install ones there) is like bringing us back to the Orwellian times.

A friend once told me in the middle of the hallway that she had wedgie. (Not that we were very indiscreet with those talks but you get the point) “Why don’t you fix it then?”, I said quickly. “With the entire CCTV team watching you, fixing a wedgie now is like fixing a wedgie in PBB where everyone watches you.”, she replied. I had no problems fixing a wedgie in public but at that time, I saw how some of the students’ usual activities were limited by the presence of these “wards”. In a sense, it is a form of controlling the students. Even if the students are not doing anything wrong, one still needs that little privacy to do those little innocent things that need not be seen by the camera.

Two days ago, our batch coordinator posted a status via Facebook reminding the girls to sit properly since a lot were “nakikitaan” in the CCTV. Since then I had the idea that the CCTVs actually intend to monitor not only the security of the students but also their actions. For fairness sake, the “security upgrade” must cover all sectors of the university which include the faculty rooms, the Dean’s offices, the administrator’s offices, and the seminary. The implementation of this policy should not be a one way street but rather must extend to all so that maximum efficiency may be achieved.

If administrators of UST want to implement changes as big as this, a public consultation with the entire student body and faculty would be a good method to hear their opinions regarding the matter. In another article from V, the UST Faculty Union vice president for grievances Reynaldo Reyes shared that no consultation with the faculty was done by the administrators prior to the implementation. In our Law on Persons class in high school, I’ve learned that a policy cannot be implemented without promulgating it first. In the same spirit, the administration should’ve informed all of the changes so that the input from the students and faculty may be considered. They must be partners that work together to solve the issues and refrain from being dogmatic in their policy-making.