Here is an email from a parent that is currently being spread around…

I received this email from a friend and I want to share it with parents as this concerns us all. This is really scary that it could happen to anyone’s kids….What is happening to these kids?

Here is the email:

Dear Ateneo parents, students and STOYA members,
Three months back, I found out that an "OPEN PARTY" organized by
students of the Assumption was booked at our village clubhouse. In
this event, the venue meant for 300 pax was packed with as many as
800, due to the zealousness of its organizers to maximize its
earnings. Many of the attendees had no recourse but to spill over to
the parking area. That night, a nasty brawl occurred right outside the
venue, and the security incident report outlined the destruction
caused to the clubhouse facilities, the sight of inebriated teen-agers
holding bottles of liquor roaming the streets, and the discovery of
used condoms on the park grounds and alleys the following day. (You
can verify this yourself.) We were on an out of town trip when all
these happened and I could only imagine the chaos that went on.
Last January 16, 2009 my son Marcel Piezas, a 2nd year Ateneo student,
pleaded with me to allow him to attend an "OPEN PARTY" organized by
3rd year Poveda High School students at Greenmeadows. I warned him
about the untoward incidents in our village but due to his persistent
pleas, reassurances, acceptance of certain conditions (e.g. curfew)
coupled with guilt trips of being labelled an outcast once denied of
participation, I succumbed to his appeal.
That night at around half past eleven, I found myself praying for
Marcel’s protection, possibly owing to vague intuition, not knowing
what was going just a stone’s throw away.
At around 11:30 p.m., after having danced with around three other
girls, Marcel asked for a dance with Ms. A (name withheld). The dance
was uneventful except for the part where she asked Marcel if she could
take a picture of them, which my son agreed to. Immediately after the
dance, Marcel thanked her, and excused himself since his 12 midnight
curfew was fast approaching. He and his classmate B (name withheld)
proceeded to exit the dance hall to meet four other classmates who
were already at the parking area.
Three meters from the exit, two teen-aged boys came out of the hall
together with Ms. A, the girl Marcel just danced with, blaringly
asking, "Sino ang nangbastos sa pinsan ko? Kayo ba? Kayo ba?" It seems
that, Ms. A pointed out my son to the two boys, wilfully or otherwise,
prompting them to pull his shoulder and start punching him on the
head, which caused a laceration and multiple hematoma. The two boys
shouted invectives at Marcel (e.g. "Sabihin mo sa nanay mo, malansa
ang kaniyang puk_", "pu__ ina mo, gusto mo mamatay?", etc.) and
repeatedly slapped him. After a while, the group of three had swelled
to five (5). They were joined by other boys (names withheld). A few
seconds more, and the crowd had expanded to around twenty (20), arm to
arm, they formed a circle around my son. They continued to punch,
slap, insult and spit at my defenceless son. One of them even ordered
him to kneel down and apologize, which he did, even if he knew he was
not guilty of anything, if only to stop the beating. After his
apology, he was punched hard on the mouth, causing a cut on the lower
lip, and three front teeth to turn mobile.
There were big bodied bouncers hired during the party, and some
village guards manning the gates. Neither of them lifted a finger to
help my son. All they uttered was "Tama na yan." The lone defender of
Marcel was a school mate, Boy B (name withheld), who at that instant,
lived out the Atenean dictum of "being a man for others". At the
expense of enduring a few blows himself, he pleaded with the boys and
tried to convince them that they have the wrong guy, and that Marcel
was a good boy, incapable of the accusation they were throwing at him.
The mauling miraculously stopped for around 15 seconds (probably
around the same time I was praying for him) which gave another brave
classmate the chance to grab then bloody Marcel by the arm and pull
him out of the circle of tormentors. They ran for it and left in a car
with their other classmates who were too stunned and traumatized
themselves. Minutes after escaping the assailants, Marcel continued
receiving phone calls through his mobile phone, wherein he was
harassed and taunted. The calls and text have persisted until a week ago.
After our preliminary investigation, we discovered that the aggressors
are members of TGF or "The Good Fraternity", a loose group of high
school students (boys and a few girls) who frequent the party scene,
SOME of whom are reputed to be bullies, war freaks, alcoholics,
possibly drug users, and carriers of deadly weapons such as guns,
knives, tasers, etc. Apparently, some of them use this strategy of
bullying helpless-looking boys in the guise of being gallant men
saving a damsel in distress for having been "disrespected" . The exact
same scenario by the same people happened to a fellow Atenean at a
different party a few weeks earlier. Many other boys from other
schools have experienced beating from the same group for the most
senseless reason as having been ogled at or having flexed biceps and
triceps to the annoyance of the bullies.
What happened to Marcel was a nightmare not only to him but to
ourselves as parents. My husband who is working in Canada can only cry
in helplessness at not having been around to defend or at the very
least comfort him.
I cannot sleep soundly knowing that our sons and daughters are prone
to being swallowed by profligacy. Did you parents know that kids
nowadays dance "spooning" style? Did you know that there are mobile
bars for rent that serve "mocktails" or full fledged cocktails and
beer in bubble containers to our young teen-agers unmindful of the
alcohol prohibition for minors (ask Sober Club, Elation, Party Fuel,
Club Fishbone, Booze, Event Shaker, On the Rocks, etc.). I even heard
that open parties are now being used by pushers as their market for
mood altering wares. I didn’t even know that the Greenmeadows party
that Marcel attended was entitled "Lust", which is one of a series of
seven parties named after the seven deadly sins. I was shocked at
having found out the organizers’ preference for their party names.
I have vowed to make this an advocacy. We are filing a complaint with
the authorities about the matter, not only to seek justice for my son,
but to stop this culture of violence and immorality among the youth.
I would have wanted to treat this as privately and as quietly as I can
but recent developments have forced me to do otherwise. I came across
this blog site which made my stomach turn at seeing how insensitive,
frivolous, and unprincipled the authors of this entry and its
supporters are. Log on and read for yourselves:
http://c24others. multiply. com/journal/ item/40/Read_ this  (<– this link is no longer acceptable as the owner has restricted it to private access. See below for the content)

Rumors are spreading like wildfire and the ugly misinformation is
causing yet another trauma on my son. Some rumors are going around
about his being too drunk to have control of himself, thus the
molestation. To correct the defamation being spread, and to give these
STOYA boys who have a lot of growing up to do a piece of my mind,
allow me categorically say that:
1) My son NEVER molested anyone and we can prove this to the hilt. The
bloggers didn’t even give him the benefit of the doubt by adding the
world "allegedly". They wrote it as if it were a fact. Instead of
supporting your fellow Atenean, you are pushing him towards the
furnace by spreading this lie.
2) My son, who, for one week after the assault, endured nightmares and
anxiety attacks over possible retaliatory acts by perceived
sympathetic blue blooded members of TGF NEVER squealed on any one to
the APSA. He bore his psychological injuries which far outweighed the
physical wounds with dignity and bravery. He never even brought up the
incident with his football coach who benched him during two crucial
games for having missed a week’s practice clueless that Marcel was
waiting for the contusions on his head to heal. For all I know, he was
also possibly avoiding aggressive tussling, inevitable in the sport,
which might stir fearsome memories. He felt so down but didn’t want
his coach to think he was making excuses for his absences.
3) I never complained verbally, or in writing, to APSA regarding what
happened to my son knowing that STOYA per se, is not the enemy. I
simply wrote a letter of excuse for Marcel’s two-day absence while he
was recovering from the trauma.
4) I never accused STOYA of harassment when they approached Marcel in
an effort to convince me to tell Mr. Dennis Dator of their innocence
regarding the mauling. I simply felt that it is futile to make that
appointment since I never filed a complaint against them in the first
place.
5) To say that "it can only take ONE person to destroy a party. All
he/she needs to do is to tell his/her parents to call up the school,
name names and say drugs or what not has been going around" reeks of a
distorted sense of values. It’s as if parties are the end all and be
all of life’s existence. Never mind if a person gets hurt…the show
must go on! Besides, I never did what they accuse me of doing.
6) Do you honestly think that this line "The police can always be
ordered to go to a party to end it" is preventive or is it a curative
solution to a done disaster which only takes a few minutes to happen?
Hunky bouncers and security guards were around when Marcel was beaten
up. What good did they do?
7) From STOYA: "Pucha, everyday people DIE due to far more worse (sic)
incidents than mere fist fights and now people start making this such
a HUGE deal since it happened to someone close to them?"
Response: What if the blow on Marcel’s head were a tad stronger than
they were causing brain damage? Would that be big deal enough to
warrant your attention?
8) From STOYA: "don’t call us insensitive and immoral for promoting
alcohol under the age of 18. You’ve never had a shot of vodka or a
cold glass of beer? Don’t be a hypocrite and lie. It’s part of high
school"
Response: The law is the law and it was created for a reason, and it
is meant to be adhered to, otherwise suffer penalties.
9) "Also, It’s the parents’ choice to allow their children to go and
do these things so if you have a problem with parties, don’t allow
your children"
Response: Parents unwittingly allow their children to attend these
parties without the knowledge of the imminent dangers that abound in
such parties, thus, my cause of letting it be known. No matter how
well we try to raise our children, they sometimes make the wrong,
stubborn choices and succumb to peer pressure thinking that what is
prevalent is "cool", or is acceptable.
10) STOYA, your entrepreneurial spirit is partly admirable. "Dreams of
creating seven parties in 10 months". However, if your ventures are
money making, may I ask if you give out receipts to your patrons? Do
you pay taxes to the BIR? Maybe this is another angle worth looking at.
Dear STOYA boys and supporters, I hope you broaden your minds a little
bit more and see where concerned school authorities and parents are
coming from. You, our dear boys are gifts from God entrusted to us for
guidance and moulding. Our commitment to our Maker, and to the Giver
of life is to lead you back to Him in life eternity. It’s true that
life is full of risks, that life is well lived if freedom abounds, and
that it is important to stand by what we believe in. But as graduating
students of a highly reputable Catholic school for which your parents
toil hard to make your enrolment possible, I would have hoped that you
had loftier beliefs that you would adamantly fight for. Year in, year
out, you learn in CLE that free will has its limitations. As minors
your care rests on those who are supposedly more ripe in wisdom. If we
can shield you from as much pain, suffering and harm as we can, we
will do so by all means because that is an expression of LOVE. You may
sulk all you want but take it like a man. Like you all said, you will
be adults in a few months time anyway. Start acting like one!
Yours truly,
MRS. CELINE PIEZAS

—-

http://c24others. multiply. com/journal/ item/40/Read_ this contents below (STOYA’s response):

“Here’s the whole story, we’ll try to keep it as short as possible:

So most of you know what happened in Lust. An Atenean got beaten up for molesting a girl (correct us if we’re wrong, but this isn’t what the entry is about). We all know stuff like these are BOUND to happen but when your parents call up your school to complain, things get ugly.

The school started investigating on students who were involved in organizing parties. As soon as we heard the news, we approached that sophomore and told him to tell his parents that we HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH IT BECAUSE THAT WAS THE TRUTH. Surprisingly, this only added to the flames as his parents felt that their son was being threatened. OBVIOUSLY, all our names popped out together with the Asylum people once the investigation began. Since we never had started GM-ing Nitro, the school decided to interrogate our brothers in 3rd year, leaving us on the sideboard. They were threatened to be expelled and what not, but after they talked to several people (parents, school officials, you name it), they replied with letters explaining that open parties are obviously out of their hands but once trouble happens in these said events, the organizers will be forced to take full responsibility facing charges from BOTH the school and parents.

It’s our graduating year and EVEN THOUGH FIGHTS NEVER HAPPEN IN OUR PARTIES, we wouldn’t want to take risks. Rumors say that school officials and parents plan on dismissing/expelling us if we pursue Nitro as to set an example of how not to treat the last days in high school.

We would like you to know that one of the things we are most proud of would be the crowd in our parties. We love you guys ’til death! The guys don’t fight, the girls actually aren’t all KJ and snobby. You make us smile and give us our daily energy; all the words of encouragement and positive feedback.

HOWEVER, it can only take ONE person to destroy a party. All he/she needs to do is to tell his/her parents to call up the school, name names and say drugs or what not has been going around. Also, the police can always be ordered to go to a party to end it. We all know for a fact that it’s illegal to drink at such an age. We’re just disappointed something like this had to happen for something not big at all. Pucha, everyday people DIE due to far more worse incidents than mere fist fights and now people start making this such a HUGE deal since it happened to someone close to them? Parties have been going on since FOREVER which is precisely why we can’t see why this had to happen NOW. We have no other intention but to have FUN when we host parties so don’t call us insensitive and immoral for promoting alcohol under the age of 18. You’ve never had a shot of vodka or a cold glass of beer? Don’t be a hypocrite and lie. It’s part of high school, face the fact! We are given the CHOICE (hence the name OPEN party) whether to drink or not. Also, It’s the parents’ choice to allow their children to go and do these things so if you have a problem with parties, don’t allow your children. It’s as simple as that! Don’t go around whining and complaining how evil the young adolescents of the Philippine society are today. You just cannot see yourselves 40 years from now telling your friends, "Pare, naalala mo ba nung nasa highschool tayo nung nag perfect ako sa Math quiz?" That’s complete bullshit. Chances are most of you will be talking about the first time you smoked up, got drunk, or kissed your crush.

Enough with the hate towards them; Who are we to say what’s right from wrong? It’s not how the world works and there isn’t much we can do.

The bottom line is: We STILL need to follow the rules because we chose to study in this school. STOYA has decided not to push through with Nitro or any other party ’til further notice due to an incident blown way out of proportion.

This completely saddens us as we never intended to make things this way. We obviously still want to make parties. HECK, Valle Verde 4 was already paid for and our Greenmeadows reservation (Expulsion 2) for April 3 has been set. SAYANG. We planned to get SOBERCLUB, ELATION AND PARTY FUEL for our last party as a thank you present to all our supporters and friends! Our dreams of creating 7 parties in 12 months are most likely not to push through! Eight if you would even include Dipsomania. Although it would be too early to say that this would be the end for STOYA’s parties, We would like to thank you all for supporting us and hearing us out! Just remember that life is such a precious gift so we should all make the most out of it.

To sum it all up, people will never believe in the same things. This is what makes Earth a more challenging yet exciting place to live in. A famous quote goes, "If you want to fail, try pleasing everyone." But what’s important is that you believe in something and stand by it, and we believe in creating the best parties which will make your high school stay a one worth remembering! With the school and parents breathing down our necks, doing this has become immensely difficult and one thing we surely don’t believe in is making half-assed parties. Once again, we’d like to thank you for all of your support, this isn’t the last you’ve heard from STOYA…we’ll all be 18 and legal next school year anyway. :)

Repost this entry if you wish.

We’re kinda sad now but you can cheer us up by bringing ALL YOUR FRIENDS to ASYLUM on FEB 20 in the GREENMEADOWS CLUBHOUSE. Naghahatak kami ’til death and we can guarantee a minimum of 500 people. :> So, congrats in advance, Blacklist! Libre after ah. =P”

Much love,

STOYA ’08-‘09