Pampanga 1st District Rep. Carmelo Lazatin Jr. has asked the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) to investigate the torture of a dog allegedly involving a private school official in Angeles City.
In an Oct. 7 letter to CHEd Chairperson Shirley Agrupis, the congressman asked the agency to determine the supposed involvement of a dean of Systems Plus College Foundation (SPCF) in the violent beating of a dog inside the campus on Oct. 5.
Lazatin earlier asked the Angeles City government, the Angeles City Police Office, and the SPCF administration to investigate the matter ‘to ensure that the perpetrators are meted with the corresponding penalty for this violent act.’
In a Facebook post, the lawmaker also cited a social media video showing the dog bleeding from the head and being stuffed inside an empty water drum to suffocate. It was not clear if the dog survived the beating.
The solon criticized the violence inflicted on the animal, saying there was no justifiable reason for such cruelty even if the dog was a stray that had accidentally wandered inside the school.
On Oct. 6, CHEd Region 3 Director Maura Cristobal wrote to SPCF President Lourdes Bustamante, requesting the school ‘to require the personnel allegedly involved in the incident to submit a written explanation addressing the allegations and the circumstances surrounding the incident.’
Cristobal also asked SPCF to inform the CHEd Central Luzon office of the school administration’s actions and submit an initial report on the incident.
The CHEd regional director gave SPCF only three days to submit the written explanation and the requested information.
An SPCF student who claimed to have witnessed the beating said on social media that she and other students tried to look for the dog or its remains inside the campus but failed to find it.
SPCF has posted an official statement on its Facebook page saying that ‘an appropriate inquiry has been initiated to establish the facts and circumstances surrounding the incident.’
In a Facebook post on Oct. 6, the SPCF Supreme Student Council said: