De La Salle Philippines president Armin Luistro the other day issued a baldly presumptuous call to action to — presumably all — “LaSallians” to support embattled Rappler CEO Maria Ressa.
Let’s give our all out support as Lasallians to Rappler. Let’s defend press freedom. Let’s make our voices heard. Let’s vote with our feet and stand with Maria Ressa!
— Br. Armin Luistro FSCPhoto [below] by The LaSallian
The statement failed because it was underpinned by the flawed sweeping assumption that all “LaSallians” would necessarily take the position espoused by Luistro. Luistro, in effect, makes the all-too-familiar fatal mistake that lost today’s Opposition bloc an entire nation in 2016.
Suffice to say, the LaSallian community didn’t respond too kindly to what, in essence, was a blatant insult to their intelligence delivered by their own president.
Ouch.
Lesson to administrators of educational institutions: Don’t insult the intelligence of your students.