by Giana Bacordo
Everyday, Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) students, faculty, and staff pass through campus entrances watched over by its security guards. From greeting students on their way to class to regulating campus traffic, security guards are a constant in the Atenean experience. Beyond their posts, they are a part of the relationships that make up the university community, becoming familiar faces in the daily routines of students and staff alike. Now, the campus reality as students know it is set to change, as the guards face a transition that may separate them from the places and people they have come to know.
Since their contract began in 2011, Megaforce Integrated Security Agency (MISA) has provided its security services to ADMU. Following the university’s standard security bidding process, they will now part ways, with MISA being replaced by the Leopard Security and Investigation Agency (LSIA) and officially ending its 15-year tenure. While some guards have opted to remain under MISA, others have applied for absorption into LSIA and will continue working at ADMU under a new agency.
After 15 years of securing everyday student life, the MISA guards face uncertainty as the school navigates its transition to a new security agency. The departure of the MISA guards has only highlighted the magnitude of their presence at the sprawling Ateneo campus. With the consistent service they bring day after day, the turnover has brought to light their important yet often invisible labor. Between the community they have fostered at ADMU and the current precarity of their employment, those who have safeguarded campus security now face a vulnerability of their own, with decisions being made that may fundamentally alter their employment.
Contributions to Community
Their constant presence has provided a sense of familiarity to Ateneo that many students take for granted. Whether that be the ID and bag checks, the assistance of lost students, or providing security during campus events, they have had a great part in overseeing the university’s daily operations. With many of these familiar faces being reassigned elsewhere, there will be a palpable loss felt by many of those on the ADMU campus.
The service of these guards has also been demonstrated in crisis. Just in July 2022, during the shooting incident at Ateneo’s graduation ceremony, guard Jeneven Bandiala laid down his life in defense of the student body. His courage only exemplifies the risk that every guard takes day by day just by showing up to work and the gravity of the responsibility that is entrusted to them, sometimes at the cost of their own lives. The responsibility they represent, whether during moments of crisis or everyday mundanities, shows that their labor is essential in maintaining a safe campus environment.
However, it is not only through the big gestures that the guards make their presence felt. It is also through their steadfastness through every encounter — through the sight of familiar faces and friendly greetings each morning — that all students can feel assured that they are safe inside their campus.
Community is demonstrated through the small but meaningful relationships formed between students and guards. As testified by one guard, one of their favorite parts of their job is knowing that they are able to help the students, not only in their studies or in their welfare but also in day-to-day company. In this way, the guards’ contribution to Ateneo should not only be reduced to the security services they provide but also be extended to the community they’ve helped sustain.
Letting Go
The shift was prompted by Ateneo’s routine security bidding process, through which various agencies bid and compete for the opportunity to provide security services to the university. Following this, the contract was officially awarded to LSIA in lieu of MISA.
However, this change does not necessarily mean that all of MISA’s guards will be leaving their station at the university. Some personnel have been chosen to be absorbed into LSIA to continue serving on campus, while others staying with MISA will be reassigned to different posts and locations.
Nevertheless, the change was largely unforeseen, even by the guards employed at ADMU. As shared by Ate Phaona, one such guard currently stationed at the Formation and Learning Center (FLC), “‘Yung nakaraang month, alam natin na ongoing ‘yung security bidding, pero expected namin na kami pa din. Last month namin nalaman na nakuha na ng Leopard ang kontrata.”
With this abrupt shift have come many uncertainties for those employed — or previously employed — under MISA. With it came the prospect of having to leave the support systems that have sustained them and their families for years behind. For Ate Phaona, MISA had helped her provide for her family, given her employment opportunities, and helped her meet her family’s needs through financial assistance, including loans.
This uncertainty also extended to where the guards would actually work next. Those who chose to remain under MISA would have to pursue other assignments and duties outside of Ateneo, while those who applied for absorption into LSIA would have to depend on their acceptance into the agency. Ate Phaona was among those who applied and were accepted, allowing her to remain stationed at ADMU. Yet, as she explained, it was not their choice alone: “May choice kang pumili [kung gusto nilang magpa-absorb o hindi], pero choice din nila kung pipiliin ka o hindi.”
Even those who were successfully accepted and absorbed into LSIA faced apprehension regarding their continued employment, even if they would still be stationed at Ateneo. Ate Phaona described fears among the security force that they would eventually be let go after orienting their replacements, or the new guards not coming from MISA. Although an orientation helped ease some of their concerns, they still faced some fears regarding their adjustment to the policies and management of LSIA, particularly with the departure of several of their senior officers. Nevertheless, she remained hopeful that they would be able to manage the adjustment.
In her three years at the university, Ate Phaona has grown familiar with many of the students who attend classes day after day, fostering a sense of familiarity. Students greet her with “Hi, Ate,” exchange fist bumps, and share miscellaneous stories about their day. Staff members, meanwhile, have provided various forms of assistance, from those employed at the cafeteria giving food, the Campus Ministry Office (CMO) offering donations such as notebooks, to the parents who give gifts that help her support her family.
As a single mother to a two-year-old, the support given to her by the various members of the Ateneo community has helped her sustain their lives. However, while the guards have become familiar faces at ADMU, Ate Phaona’s testimony has shown that their future on campus remains uncertain, even as preparations for the upcoming turnovers and farewell initiatives begin. Even though this change affects their employment, the people who depend on them, and the relationships they’ve built on campus, the community’s efforts to recognize them and their contributions show that their labor will also be remembered in the care and familiarity they’ve offered countless members of the Ateneo community.
Send-Off
Staff and students alike have coordinated to bid the guards of MISA farewell. Recently, the Ateneo Multi-Purpose Cooperative (AMPC) held a donation drive to support affected security guards, with the funds raised from this initiative going primarily toward food essentials such as rice. Through this, Ateneans were encouraged to give back to the guards who had already given so much to the community, supporting affected guards amidst the transition. For those who were facing uncertainty in their assignments, the program offered a form of material assistance, a recognition that the transition has practical consequences for these personnel.
Aside from this, the Office of Student Activities (OSA) and the Council of Organizations of the Ateneo (COA) in the university’s college hosted a thanksgiving program and surprise send-off event at the Manuel V. Pangilinan Center for Student Leadership building. Guards were also given words and tokens of appreciation during the dinner program. This, however, was not only an initiative of the admin — many students were also present to express their gratitude for the years-long service that many of the guards provided. It served as an opportunity for various members of the Ateneo community to acknowledge those who have watched over them during their time on campus.
Beyond the university’s college community, the senior high school have likewise taken the opportunity to show their appreciation for the security force that has helped protect safety on campus. Through their daily service, they’ve reached thousands of students across all levels of education in Ateneo.
One initiative that brings this connection to the forefront is Dear Ate Kuya Guards, a community-led campaign at ADMU to honor and thank the MISA campus security guards ahead of the turnover. Through this program, students may send gratitude letters, farewell notes, and other miscellaneous well wishes for the personnel. On this, organizer Robert Lance Chua shared, “‘Yung mga everyday dialogues and conversations, ‘yung kamustahan, iyun ang nagpapakita sa atin na they’re part of this community. It creates a personal connection, a personal relationship, that we’re able to see na very grounded ang respect natin. Ang respect na yun would stem from the fact that we treat them as our kuyas, we treat them as our ates, we treat them as our family members.”
As LSIA takes over campus security in Ateneo on November 1, Ateneo and its constituents will enter a new chapter regarding its security operations. The transition may change the familiar faces seen every day and the policies governing their service, but the value of the labor that has helped sustain campus life will not be diminished. The departing MISA guards have contributed to the sense of community that students and staff have come to associate with Ateneo. If the ADMU community comes to recognize the guards in this way, that same recognition must evolve into an upheld concern for their dignity, security, and livelihoods.
