Justice for Crish Lanne Masancay! Justice for all the victims!

Liga ng Makabagong Kabataan-MSU Chapter
Statement on the Death of Crish Lanne Masancay
December 9, 2014

 

December 8, 2014 at around 11am, Crish Lanne Masangcay was shot by an unidentified person in the Commercial Center of Mindanao State University-Main Campus in Marawi City. He sustained 2 gunshot wounds and the reason of murder is still unknown and the suspect is still at large.

Crish Lanne, who just turned 17 years old last December 1, is a first year student taking up Bachelor of Science in Hotel and Restaurant Management in MSU-Marawi. He is from Lingig, Surigao del Sur.

Over the past years, unresolved criminal cases inside the Mindanao State University- Marawi Campus is increasing which made the campus unsafe for the students from the MINSUPALA region and from all over the country.

This increasing danger directed towards the students in the campus is a clear manifestation of weak security system in the university and lack of priority in ensuring the rights and welfare of the students.

To remember, Samuel Go III, a 4th year Agricultural Engineering student was also shot dead in the campus on June this year. Two years ago, Prof. Othello Cobal and Erwin Diaz were both murdered in broad daylight. These three (3) people were just among those who were killed inside the campus and until now, the perpetrators are still wandering freely. Justice was not delivered and served. It has never been served.

Their deaths left a chilling effect in the entire studentry. It even intensified biases and division among the tri-people constituents in the university.

As state institution, it is imperative for Mindanao State University to promote, uphold and protect the human rights of its constituents.  In the spate of murder victimizing the students, the Liga ng Makabagong Kabataan-MSU Chapter believes that the MSU Administration is fully accountable for all violence and crimes involving the students, faculty members and staff. These violence and crimes are apparently a violation of their human rights. The MSU Administration’s leniency in immediately bringing justice to the victims and its inability to put an end to this violence is intolerable and devalue human rights.

We, therefore, demand from the MSU Administration to:

• undertake transparent, accountable, and speedy actions to bring justice to the victims;
• conduct immediate investigation on the cases of murder in the campus; and
• strengthen the security mechanism centered on the rights and welfare of the students in the campus.

We are taking this stand because we believe that MSU is not mandated only to provide quality education but to secure and uphold the rights and welfare of the students.