A Dearth of Nominees for the U.P. Presidency thus far is revealed at the Sixth U.P. Sectoral Regents' Forum

(Dr. Ma. Serena Diokno with U.P. President

Emerlinda R. Roman, DBA)

(U.P. Diliman Chancellor Sergio S. Cao, Ph.D.)

(Dr. Patrick T. Azanza)

By Chanda Shahani

Only three individuals have emerged so far to throw their hats in the ring in the search for the next President of the University of the Philippines (U.P.) to replace outgoing U.P. President Emerlinda Roman whose term ends on February 9, 2011 according to information gathered by the Diliman Diary during the Sixth U.P. Sectoral Regents' Forum held at Faculty Center, U.P. Diliman on August 11, 2010.

The three individuals are U.P. Diliman Chancellor Sergio S. Cao, U.P. Diliman History Professor Ma. Serena Diokno and U.P. Diliman College of Education Senior Lecturer, Dr. Patrick Azanza

Dr. Cao is a professor of business administration from the U.P. Diliman College of Business Administration (CBA), Dr. Diokno was former Vice President for Academic Affairs of the U.P. System and Dr. Azanza is concurrently the CEO of WinSource Business Solutions.

“We need more nominations. Please encourage more people to send in more nominations. There is no need to get the immediate consent of the nominee, as the U.P. Administration itself will contact the nominees to find out if they agree to accept the nominations,” said Faculty Regent, Judy Taguiwalo, who along with Student Regent Cori Alessa Co and Staff Regent Clodualdo “Buboy” Cabrera, organized the forum.

According to Regent Taguiwalo, as of August 6, 2010, only Chancellor Cao and Dr. Diokno were confirmed nominees. However, Dr. Azanza, who attended the forum, confirmed to the Diliman Diary that his nomination was being submitted to the BOR, which is acting as the Seartch Committee for the next U.P. President.

The criteria for the selection of the next U.P. President and the procedure for the submission of nominations can be found at the U.P. website at: http://www.up.edu.ph/features.php?i=213

The last search process for the U.P. President in 2004, which ended with Dr. Roman being selected by the BOR in 2005 produced a total of eleven (11) nominees including Dr. Roman (http://www.up.edu.ph/oldsystem/search_candidates.htm).

Former Student Regent Marco de Los Reyes who cast his vote in 2004 in favour of Dr. Roman was the resource person. He shared the criteria, process and experience in the previous search. Staff Regent Clodualdo Cabrera provided the rationale and objectives of the Sectoral Regents fora while Student Regent Cori Alessa Co presented the criteria for nominations, the process and schedules for the 2010 Search for the Next UP President while Faculty Regent Taguiwalo made the Synthesis and Closing Remarks. The Emcees were U.P. Diliman's University Student Council Chairperson Rainier Astin Sindayen and All U.P. Academic Employees Union General Secretary Professor Melania Lagahit-Abad.

The objectives of the forum were to help prepare the informed participation of the university sectors in the search process through the sharing of information and experiences and to elicit suggestions and comments related to the selection process.

Former Student Regent de Los Reyes said that the search process is a chance for democratic governance as well as a chance to practice democracy. He said that while he voted for Roman, the issues in 2004 essentially boiled down to the BOR's having to choose between an acceptable U.P. insider such as Dr. Roman over former Ambassador Edgardo Espiritu, who was seen as an the personal choice of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, an unpopular president; and who embodied Malacañang interference in U.P.'s much-cherished academic freedom.

He said that despite the passage of the U.P. Charter (R.A. 9500) in 2008, which brought down the number of Malacañang Regents from five to three and added a Staff Regent, the governance structure still remains the same. Moreover, the U.P. Charter under Roman demonstrates how powerful a U.P. President could become. He also said that he is forecasting that the selection of the next U.P. President will “show cliques at play.”

He said that in the eleven-person BOR, former U.P. President Edgardo J. Angara and now Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Education, Arts and Culture and who represents the Senate in the U.P. Board of Regents will be joined by his son, Rep. Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara (Aurora, LDP) who sits in the BOR by virtue of his position as Chairman of the House Committee on Higher and Technical Education. The two Angaras represent a voting bloc not sympathetic to President Benigno S. Aquino III, and would be expected to vote according to other relationships they have developed within the BOR itself.

Moreover, a breakdown of the votes by the Diliman Diary shows that Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and BOR Chairperson Patricia Licuanan is currently the only representative of the new administration since the three “Malacañang Regents” - Regent Abraham Sarmiento, Regent Francis Chua and Regent Nelia Gonzalez were reappointed by former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo before the constitutional ban on midnight appointments kicked in on March 10, 2010. While Executive Order (E.O.) # 2 of President Aquino effectively overturns all midnight appointments as defined by certain criteria (See Diliman Diary, August 4, 2010: http://diliman-diary.blogspot.com/2010/08/with-president-aquinos-eo-2-three-3-up_04.html), R.A. 9500 itself allows the Malacañang Regents to simply renominate themselves to President Aquino for reappointment, thus allowing themselves to reinvent themselves as Aquino appointees. In reality, however, observers say that the three Malacañang Regents are close allies of President Roman and can be expected to vote for her personal choice for the next U.P. President.

The three sectoral regents – Faculty Regent Taguiwalo, Student Regent Co and Staff Regent Cabrera can be expected to vote along certain set principles and ethics that reflect the common concerns of their constituencies and can be assumed to constitute a voting bloc in their own right.

The Alumni Regent – Alfredo Reyes – has an independent voting record and can be considered a wild card in the votes cast for the next U.P. President.

If the two Angaras close ranks with the Roman bloc, then a minimum number of six votes will have been reached to constitute a majority to elect the next U.P. President.

Conventional wisdom would indicate that Roman would favour Chancellor Cao, a colleague of hers from CBA, but who is actually a professor of mathematics from the U.P. Diliman College of Science (before he switched to CBA), and who was groomed by his more senior colleagues within CBA to assume a series of high-level positions within the U.P. System.

But it is more complex than that. The history of the last five U.P. Presidents would illustrate there are several interlocking relationships that link themselves backwards from the Presidency of Dr. Roman (2005 to the present), Francisco Nemenzo, Jr. (1999-2005), Emil Q. Javier (1993-1999) and Jose V. Abueva (1987-1999). These relationships are based on professional relationships, ties through blood and marriage and also fraternity relations. The combined impact of all these relationships indicate that Dr. Diokno and Chancellor Cao may actually be co-nominees representing the same convergence of voting blocs.

For example, there is a clear University of the Philippines at Los Baños (UPLB) bloc involved that transcends the current BOR composition. Dr. Roman graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture from U.P. Los Baños while Regent Nelia Gonzales is a leading member of the UPLB Alumni Association. Former U.P. President Emil Q. Javier taught at UPLB for many years. Even Senator Angara is a graduate of UPLB. On another level, former President Nemenzo is the second cousin of former U.P. President Abueva. On yet another level, former President Abueva's son, Jonas is married to President Roman's daughter, Regina. However, President Abueva was a close professional colleague of Dr. Diokno when he was U.P. President and she was Associate Dean of U.P. Diliman's College of Social Sciences and Philosophy (1992-1998). Dr. Diokno was the Director of the Third World Studies Center (1995-1999) which was founded by former President Nemenzo in 1976 when he was the Dean of the then College of Arts and Sciences of U.P. Diliman. The TWSC was founded, along ideological lines,  to "gradually reinsert radical thinking into a severely traumatized university environment," according to author Patricio N. Abinales in an essay written in the book, "Revisiting Marxism in the Philippines" (Anvil Publishing, Inc., 2010).

But perhaps the convergence of interests between seemingly ideological opposites repesented by former President Nemenzo (an avowed Marxist) and Dr. Roman (who holds a doctorate in business administration from U.P. Diliman and has been at the forefront of commercializing U.P. assets) is best illustrated by narrowing in on key members of Pan Xenia fraternity of U.P. Diliman, which is is “an International Honorary Fraternity dedicated to the promotion of interests in foreign trade and the establishment of higher standards and ideals of business ethics” and counts among its fraternity alumni former President Nemenzo, three other former U.P. Presidents, Onofre D. Corpuz, Emmanuel V. Soriano and Carlos P. Romulo and eleven deans of the CBA (1929 to 1998: http://iskwiki.upd.edu.ph/index.php/Pan_Xenia_Fraternity) before two women deans headed the CBA – former Dean Elvira Zamora (1999 to 2001) and former Dean Erlinda Echanis (2001 to 2010), who was replaced by the current CBA Dean, Dr. Ben Paul B. Gutierrez. The CBA faculty therefore represent another imortant clique within the structure, but so do the so-called "radicals" represented by Dr. Nemenzo and Dr. Diokno.

The blurring of the seeming ideological divide was best symbolized when President Nemenzo who was set to retire on February 8, 2005 made an impassioned plea to the BOR in favour of Dr. Roman, which had the result of breaking a series of split votes between Roman and Espiritu which resulted in a vote of 7-5 in favour of Roman, who was then selected as the U.P. President.
Dr. Diokno does not suffer the handicap that former Ambassador Espiritu did of being seen as an outsider who was an unpopular president's choice. Like Chancellor Cao she is a career academician and a consummate insider who enjoys the support of the convergence of interlocking interests currently running the U.P. System.

However, nominees such as Dr. Azanza and others who are outsiders to the interlocking interests represented by Dr. Diokno and Chancellor Cao still have an even chance of getting a real democratic decision by the BOR on each of their cases even if the three Malacañang Regents refuse to step down voluntarily and resign as E.O. # 2 already provides for their automatic removal and even if the affected BOR members renominate themselves, President Aquino is not obligated to act on the nominations if there are other competing nominations to the BOR by President Aquino coming in from other quarters outside the BOR.

Admittedly, there is one other wild card. It is the Supreme Court, which in a related development, has turned down the petitions of Justice Assistant Secretary Jose Arturo de Castro and Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority director Eddie Tamondong for a restraining order (TRO) on Executive Order # 2, which revoked the midnight appointments made by former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

The SC did not immediately issue a TRO but ordered Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr, the sole respondent in the petitions for a TRO, to comment on the separate petitions of de Castro and Tamondong for a non-extendible period of 10 days.

This means Malacañang could proceed with the implementation of EO # 2, which was signed by President Benigno Aquino III on July 30.

Meanwhile, Student Regent Co said in the forum that the Call for Nominations which began on 15 July 2010 will end on 25 August 2010 with the Evaluation and Screening of Nominees on 27 August 2010.

(Chanda Shahani is the Editor of the Diliman Diary)

U.P.'s Staff Regent says "Swiss Challenge" rules will apply to Ayala Land, Inc.'s proposed privatization of the U.P. Integrated School Property

Staff Regent Clodualdo "Buboy" Cabrera

(Source: Facebook page
of Laban PGH Movement)

By Chanda Shahani

It's confirmed. "Swiss Challenge" rules will apply in the evaluation by the University of the Philippines (U.P.) Board of Regents (BOR) of the unsolicted proposal by Ayala Land, Inc. (ALI) to take over the U.P. Integrated School (UPIS) along Katipunan Avenue, Quezon City and transfer UPIS to the now non-operational Narra Residence Hall located inside the U.P. Diliman Campus, also in the same city.

According to U.P. Staff Regent Clodualdo "Buboy" Cabrera, the proposed conversion of the 20 hectare UPIS property was an unsolicited proposal submitted by ALI and discussed as part of the agenda of the May 27, 2010 BOR meeting held at Quezon Hall at U.P. Diliman.

Under the Swiss Challenge system as it is practised in the Philippines (See Diliman Diary, May 26, 2010), the government grants the original project proponent a predefined advantage through a point system in a competitive bidding process. This allows third parties to make better offers or "challenges." The original proponent then has the right to match a superior offer (http://tinyurl.com/3yow9r8). 

Cabrera said the proposal was still in its preliminary stages, and thus not enough time had elapsed for other interested competitors to submit their own proposals; given that the BOR was still in the process of evaluating and reacting to the original ALI proposal.

Here are some of the details of the ALI proposal as it currently stands: 

• ALI is proposing a 25-year lease agreement for the UPIS property
• U.P. will get 10% of any commercial building lease revenues
• U.P. will also get 15% of any land lease revenues
• Total leasable office space areas would equal 12,000 square meters
• Total gross leasable retail areas would equal 50,000 square meters
• All told, the entire leasable area under consideration equals 62,000 square meters
• ALI is proposing an overall compensation package to U.P. of PhP 177 million over the entire 25-year period

Regent Cabrera said that he did the math, and found out that the revenue accruing to U.P. came to a measly PhP 9.00 per square meter per month. The Diliman Diary validated the math by dividing PhP 177 million by 25 years and further dividing the product by 62,000 square meters to get a total compensation of PhP 114.00 per square meter year for U.P. Dividing that figure by 12 to get the monthly figure, we got PhP 9.52 per square meter per month for the coffers of U.P.

By way of comparison, Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) accredited properties in Libis, Ortigas and Makati City charge anywhere from a low of PhP 250.00 per square meter per month to a high of PhP 600.00 per square meter per month. If ALI wins the Swiss Challenge, ALI as the building developer, with U.P. concurring, is expected to apply for PEZA accreditation as it has already done so for the the 37.5 hectare North Science and Technology Park, located along Commonwealth Avenue in Diliman where the U.P.-Ayala Land Technohub is located. Even the U.P. Ayala Technohub, which is run by the Ayala Foundation, Inc., and located along C.P. Garcia Avenue, enjoys PEZA status.

According to the PEZA website (http://www.peza.gov.ph/) PEZA benefits include income tax holidays for up to four years, a special 5% tax on gross income (after the income tax holiday), payment exemptions.. Foreign investors will also be granted a permanent residency status upon initial investment of USD 150,000 to any sustainable, local enterprise. These are particularly attractive to business process outsourcing (BPO) companies, given the proximity to quality graduates from U.P. Diliman and elsewhere which will help drive the need of BPOs for comparatively cheap but skilled knowledge economy-based human resources. Since BPO workers are given comparatively higher starting salaries than their counterparts in other industries, ALI's business model hopes to capture back some of the disposable income spent by call center agents and their bosses by ensuring that there enough restaurants, convenience stores and other retail outlets. This is why a mixed-use site is being envisioned, and not just office spaces.

But the bottom-line, said Regent Cabrera, is that U.P. can do much better than the ALI proposal as it now stands, in terms of revenues obtained by U.P. He said that he is not even in favor a Swiss Challenge as he thinks that the UPIS property can be put to better use by constructing dormitory facilities for students or other essential university structures. In fact, a huge secondary market for bedspaces, apartments, houses, etcetra exists now precisely because of the university's inability to provide safe, decent and affordable housing to the entire population of students who needs this service.

Other critics have criticized U.P.'s decision to mimic the overall outsourcing boom in the country by attracting facilities that cater to the low-end call center and outsourcing market which represents a "dumbing down" of the job offerings being promoted by U.P. to U.P. graduates within U.P.'s vicinity. By way of comparison, India, which is the world leader in outsourcing, has already made the shift from BPO development to Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO) development. KPO are processes that demand advanced knowledge, analytical interpretation and technical skills as opposed to BPO work which typically entail standardized routine processes and data entry kind of work or sales or order fulfillment work. Given the high level of capabilities of the typical U.P. graduate, there is clearly a mismatch between the types of jobs being offered and the students' capabilities.

In other developments:

The search process for a new U.P. President to replace U.P. President Emerlinda Roman may be said to have already begun by way of Faculty Regent Judy Taguiwalo's recent submission to the BOR for  a proposal to initiate the search process for a new UP President as President Roman's term ends on February 2011. During the 2004 search, the BOR members were already provided relevant documents related to the search process as early as February 2004, Regent Taguiwalo said in an email message to the Diliman Diary. Based on the search process in 2004, the search for a new U.P. President should commence this June and the election should be in November, she added.

(Chanda Shahani is the editor of the Diliman Diary. He has a master's in entrepreneurship (M.E.) from the Asian Institute of Management and is a former business page reporter from the Philippine STAR).

U.P. Board of Regents March 24 meeting at Quezon Hall is disrupted by U.P. Students leading to no quorum at all

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Students from the University of the Philippines (UP) and the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) today merged their protest actions to seek emergency allocation from the government for state colleges and universities, a press statement released by the Office of Kabataan Kabataan Party-list Rep. Mong Palatino and other reports said today.

UP students from the Diliman, Los Banos, Baguio and Manila campuses held a rally this morning to block the UP Board of Regents from approving additional fees in the university, including a P100 hike in PE fees and P1,000 to P2,500 per unit hike in graduate classes.

The students were able to successfully block two UP regents from entering Quezon Hall resulting in a lack of quorum for the BOR meeting. This was independently confirmed by Staff Regent Clodualdo "Buboy" Cabrera in a text statement sent to the Diliman Diary.

Even U.P. Los Banos Chancellor Luis Rey Velasco was not spared. He was splashed with paint by irate students for his role in denying Student Regent Charisse Banez permission to enroll in continuing residency which is a precondition for her to continue fulfilling her functions as U.P.'s Student Regent.

According to Rain Sindayen, Chairperson-elect of the UP Diliman University Student Council, “This is an initial victory for UP students. The main issue here is that the BOR has no right to table or vote on the proposed fees in the absence of a student representative in the BOR.” The UP BOR unjustly ousted UP Student Regent Charice Banez last month on trumped up technicalities. As a result, students have been stripped of representation in the BOR.

By lunchtime, the UP students welcomed the contingent from 21 PUP campuses nationwide in a rally in front of the Commission on Higher Education office inside the UP campus to protest the 1,700 percent tuition hike proposal in PUP.

Sindayen said, “They have done it in UP but we will not allow the passing of the absurd tuition hike in PUP. We call on all Iskolars ng Bayan to unite.” The UP BOR had already increased tuition in UP in 2006 from P300 to P1,000 per unit.

The U.P. Administration gives its side

Meanwhile, the U.P. Administration gave its version of events which it headlined in the government-owned and tax-payer-funded U.P. System website (http://up.edu.ph/features.php?i=195):

"A meeting of the University of the Philippines’ Board of Regents was scheduled for 9 a.m. March 24. It did not take place because the entrances were blocked by around 150 protesters."

"The main issues being raised by the protesters were: the disqualification of Ms. Charisse Bañez as Student Regent because she is neither enrolled nor on leave as required by the students’ internal rules; and the nullification of the election of Dr. Jose Gonzalez as director of the Philippine General Hospital."

"These matters have been brought to the courts by the interested parties themselves, and the courts are hearing the cases."

"According to Vice President for Legal Affairs Theodore Te, UP respects the right to protest but has the duty to ensure the safety of the Regents. The main reason for the cancellation of the meeting was the possibility of physical injury to the Regents."

"Speeches had become inflammatory. The car of one regent was blocked and paint was hurled at it. The Chancellor of UP Los Baños was assaulted as he alighted from his car in the parking lot in front of Quezon Hall. Paint was thrown at his person and at his car. He was pushed by one protester."

Faculty Regent Judy M. Taguiwalo told the Diliman Diary in a text message that only U.P. President Emerlinda Roman and Malacañang Regent Nelia Gonzales were actually able to make it to the BOR board room. The other two Malacañang regents, Abraham Sarmiento and Francis Chua were prevented by students from entering into Quezon Hall.

"The students said, "No student representative, No BOR meeting," Regent Taguiwalo said, in apparent reference to the February 25 decision of the BOR to nullify the right of Student Regent Charisse Bañez to vote in any BOR meeting beginning with the December 18, 2009 BOR meeting.

Emergency budget allocation

“We demand an emergency budget allocation for state colleges and universities to prevent these tuition increases from being implemented. Poor budget allocation for state colleges and universities has resulted in school administrations’ passing on the burden to students,” said Vencer Crisostomo, Kabataan Partylist Secretary-General.

Crisostomo said that the past ten years saw a consistent decrease in the budget allocation for SUCs in line with the state policy of privatization and commercialization of education. “The government has been gradually washing its hands off of the responsibility to subsidize public education. As a result, SUCs are resorting to income-generating schemes and commercial ventures with private entities at the expense of students,” Crisostomo said.

“UP, for instance, requested for P18 billion in the 2010 budget but was granted barely P6 billion. PUP, on the other hand, suffered another budget slash from its 2009 budget at P704 million to P661 million in 2010,” Crisostomo said.

All major SUCs, he added, have zero budgets for capital outlay which is supposed to be earmarked for their operational expenses. “To compensate for these losses, school administrations are hiking tuitions. An emergency allocation for SUCs is imperative to stop tuition hikes,” he said.

Meanwhile, almost 250 private schools have also submitted their proposal to the CHED for tuition hikes as high as 20 percent.

A nationwide protest against tuition increases is set on March 29, coinciding with the PUP BOR meeting scheduled to approve the PUP tuition hike.

The U.P. Board of Regents' Clash of Civilizations: Democracy vs. Victory-at-any-Cost?

                                    (Artwork by: Pam Liban)

The Diliman Diary has been furnished with several letters and position statements from the Faculty Regent Judy M. Taguiwalo, Staff Regent Clodualdo “Buboy” Cabrera, Student Regent Charisse Bernadine Bañez  and concerned U.P. Faculty, Reps, and Staff over the issues of the opposition by the U.P. Administration of the eligibility to vote in the U.P. Board of Regents of Student Regent Bañez.

Other issues hanging in the balance and depending on Bañez's eligibility to vote are  the selection of Dr. Jose C. Gonzales as Executive Director of U.P. PGH, the unresolved appeal of U.P. Diliman Sociology Professor Sarah Raymundo to the Board of Regents to grant her tenure, and the validity of the appointment of 27 individuals by the BOR last December 18, 2009 with the official title of Artist with corresponding grades or ranks. The appointment of the U.P. Artists was announced officially by the U.P. Administration on its own website last December 18, 2009 at: http://www.up.edu.ph/features.php?i=170

The letters and position statements have been provided by Faculty Regent Taguiwalo through Silverio Cabellon, Jr., M.D., Chair of the Board of Governors of The University of the Philippines Medical Alumni Association (UPMASA).

In view of significant reader interest on the matter, we are posting the letters and position statements below without comment because they are compelling enough to make them rise above mere "propaganda." However. in light of our policy of providing balanced content, we will also provide updates of the side of the U.P. Administration and other important viewpoints as they are made available.

Here are the letters and position statements:

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE BOARD OF REGENTS

CONCERNED UP FACULTY, STUDENTS, REPS AND STAFF

JANUARY 29, 2010

THE UNIVERSITY IN CRISIS

A crisis is well underway when people who make up an institution are responsibly aware of shared values that facilitate the attainment of their common goals and recognize that the same values are threatened. The issues being raised by various sectors in the different constituent units of the University of the Philippines System are sufficiently alarming for they cast considerable doubt on the UP Administration's commitment to good governance and democratization.

The Large Lecture Class Scheme (LLCS) which converts the regular class size of every General Education subject from 30-40 to 150-200 in UP Los Banos will be effective by the first semester of AY 2010-2010 according to a memorandum released by Chancellor Luis Velasco on January 4, 2009. This decision was arrived at without substantive and participative consultation with students and faculty. The LLCS has ushered in the largest, most relentless opposition in UPLBs recent history.

In January 14, 2009, Dean Enrique Avila of UP Visayas Cebu College (UPVCC) announced the suspension of the UP Visayas Cebu High School (UPVCHS) admission test in consonance with his proposal to phase out the secondary institution. The reason for this drastic move is UPVCC's bid for becoming an autonomous constituent unit of UP, hence the need to rechannel resources.

Both cases reveal the setbacks of commercialization espoused by the Roman Administration and the violation of the principles of democratic governance which the University is supposed to uphold. When proposals are turned to decisions made behind closed doors, and when the same decisions bear the effect of the abolition of educational institutions in the case of UPVCC and the contractualization of labor or even job loss for the untenured faculty; and the steady decline of general education on account of large class size in the case of UPLB, any university aiming for survival must rethink its dogmatic commitment to rationalization schemes.

A series of huge and furious protests earlier this month were undertaken by hospital staff, students and concerned faculty from the Philippine General Hospital, UP-Manila and UP-Diliman to condemn the refusal of President Emerlinda Roman to install Jose C. Gonzales PGH Director. The vigorous protests based on sound arguments and just ground resulted in the swearing in of Dr. Jose C. Gonzales as the PGH Director, duly elected by the Board of Regents on December 18, 2009.

UP students across the nation are outraged by what they claim as a systematic violation of their right to representation in the University's highest policy-making body. The various charges against Student Regent Charisse Banez, now under appeal, have also been used to threaten her of a denial of participation in the BOR. This situation is reflective of the Administration's proclivity to silence the voice of the studentry in crafting decisions that greatly shape the quality of education.

The long and drawn-out tenure application of Sociology Professor Sarah Raymundo, that had gone through the process of appeal and denied twice by the offices of the Chancellor and the President have elicited the most unyielding objections from local and international scholars, students and university unions. Professor Raymundo's has proven that when the university institutionalizes and proclaims its academic standards, the public stakes its claim on it. Her tenure application has exposed not only the arbitrariness of the tenure process but also the Administration's disposition on not granting permanency on activist professors. Despite the series of denials from different administrative levels, Professor Raymundo's case has not been discussed in a manner that is substantive and observant of the procedures approved by University bodies.

The cases stated above are by no means disparate. They are testimonies to the crises of good governance and democratization that plague the UP system. They raise fundamental questions, beyond political stakes, on our ability as members of an academic institution to oppose grave abuses of discretions and to assert that the ideals of a democratic institution should be actualized. It is in the spirit that we call upon the Board of Regents to heed our call to question the corporatist claims of the Roman Administration. There is no better time other than this moment of crisis to take another look at another vision of our pact to good governance and democratization.

=============================

Offices of the Faculty, Staff and Student Regents

University of the Philippines

Diliman, Quezon City

Protest Against Deliberate Refusal of President Emerlinda R. Roman to Install Dr. Jose C. Gonzales as the PGH Director, Duly Elected by the Board of Regents January 6, 2010

We, the Regents representing the faculty, staff and students of the University, call upon all concerned members of the University of the Philippines community, particularly those from the Philippine General Hospital, to express their united condemnation of President Emerlinda R. Roman’s illegal, undemocratic and unfair refusal to install Dr. Jose C. Gonzales as the PGH Director who was duly elected by the Board of Regents last December 18, 2009. We call upon everyone to protest this blatant violation of the University’s standards of good governance.

We wish to remind President Roman that the Board of Regents at its December 18, 2009 meeting duly elected Dr. Jose C. Gonzales as director of the Philippine General Hospital. The Office of the Secretary of the University in its January 4, 2010 notification of the decisions of the BOR on appointments of UP officials included the appointment of Dr. Gonzales as PGH director.

Despite these facts, President Emerlinda R. Roman issued Memorandum No. PERR-2010-001, dated January 5, 2010, appointing Chancellor Ramon L. Arcadio as Officer-in-Charge of PGH. This memorandum cannot supercede a BOR decision and is therefore in direct defiance of the BOR. President Roman cannot fill up a position that is not vacant. We shall be taking steps to hold President Roman legally liable for possible violation of the University Charter that she is obligated by her oath of office to uphold

We acknowledge that one Regent has expressed his intention to protest the election of Dr. Gonzales. The presence of such protest, however, cannot overturn the decision already made by the BOR. By refusing to implement a duly approved decision of the BOR, President Roman has prejudged by herself alone an issue that should also be decided by the BOR as a body at its regular meeting. She has no legal or practical justification to withhold implementation of a BOR decision as the term of the previous PGH Director has already expired

We regard President Roman’s January 5 memorandum refusing to implement a BOR decision to appoint Dr. Gonzales as PGH Director as a very dangerous precedent. Here is one individual member of the Board, by the mere issuance of a memorandum, exercising a power that effectively frustrates the implementation of a duly authorized decision by the BOR.

We should not allow such autocratic actions to be exercised without resistance. We call for the immediate withdrawal of said memorandum and for the recognition of Dr. Jose C. Gonzales as the duly elected PGH Director starting January 1, 2010.

Faculty Regent Judy M. Taguiwalo (SGD) Staff Regent Clodualdo “Buboy” Cabrera (SGD)
Student Regent Charisse Bernadine Bañez (SGD)


=============================


What happened during the January 29, 2010 UP BOR meeting?

Judy M. Taguiwalo
January 31, 2010

January 29 was the first BOR meeting for 2010. And the start of my second year as Faculty Regent.

The weeks prior to the meeting were hectic as I prepared my report on my 2009 stint as Faculty Regent and received appeals from faculty, staff and students from all constituent universities of UP, with UP Baguio and the Open U as the only exceptions

When I arrived at Quezon Hall at around 8:30 that morning (the BOR meeting was set at 9 am) scores of students, faculty, REPS and staff from Diliman, PGH, Manila and Los Banos were already there. They circulated a statement entitled “A University in Crisis”. (see below)

The BOR meeting started with CHED Chair Angeles presiding. President Roman, Malacanang- appointed Regents Sarmiento, Chua, and Gonzales, Alumni Regent Pascual, Staff Regent Cabrera, Student Regent Banez and myself were present.

The agenda of the meeting was approved with the inclusion of the UP Cebu High School issue in other matters. The minutes of the December 18 BOR meeting was also approved.

Regent Sarmiento protests the December 18 election of new PGH Director

The first item placed on the agenda for discussion was the protest of Regent Sarmiento dated January 29, 2010. Regent Sarmiento protested the election of Jose Gonzales as PGH Director on the grounds that “The Student Regent is not only under suspension but is in fact not a student as defined by the University. Ms. Banez tried to register for the second semester but (sic) was only on November 17, 2009 that she tried to register…… “

The “Final Prayer” of Regent Sarmiento’s written protest was:

“….the election of Dr. Jose Gonzales as Director of the Philippine General Hospital is hereby declared null and void on the following grounds: that an unqualified person claiming to be the Student Regent, although she is not even a student, Charisse Banez was allowed to vote for Dr. Gonzales giving him winning margin

“….the Board declare that the Student Regent be deemed to have ceased, the Student Regent not being a student

“…and items taken up by the Board at the 1252nd meeting on December 18, 2009 including the appointment of the University officials under B of the agenda, without considering, as a vote that of the Student Regent because she is no longer a student of the UPLB, she being thus is no longer a regent, she being no longer a student, all remain approved.”


The Alumni Regent, Staff Regent and I voiced our position that the issue of the Student Regent voting last December 18, 2009 was resolved when the Board voted on the motion of President Roman. In that meeting, the UP President presented the December 15 letter of the Chancellor of UPLB (received by her office on December 17) informing her of the non-student status of the Student Regent on account of her failure to register for the second semester of Academic Year 2009-2010. The UP President also presented the December 17 memorandum of Vice President for Legal Affairs Theodore Te on the status of the Student Regent. The memorandum stated that “considering the information given by the UPLB...that the incumbent SR is not enrolled during the second semester, even for the purposes of residency”…then, “this would be a ground to declare the position vacant”. When asked, VP Te confirmed that under the UP Charter, the BOR has the power to prescribe rules for it own governance.

Discussions ensued in an executive session and at some point the SR was asked to step out while the rest of the Regents deliberated on her status. Then President Roman moved that the SR be allowed to sit in the meeting as an observer. I and several other Regents objected to the motion as it was the first time that the Student Regent was informed of the letter of the UPLB Chancellor and the December 17, 2009 memorandum of Vice President Te. I said that the Student Regent has not been given the chance to consult with a legal adviser regarding her status and due process requires that she be given the opportunity to do so. The Staff Regent said that this was an alarming precedent as a charge could be raised against any of the Regents on the actual day of a meeting set to decide on contentious issues and that Regent would be disenfranchised without the chance to prepare for his/her answers. The Alumni Regent also objected stating that even if the allegations raised against the SR were true, the hold over rule, meaning the incumbent continues to sit until a replacement is named and qualified, would allow her to remain as a voting member of the board.

The SR was called in and Chairman Angeles informed her that the Board would take a vote on whether she would assume an observer status or continue as a voting member of the Board. Right before President Roman’s motion was put to a vote; it was clarified that a YES vote would mean that the SR sits on the Board as an observer until the issue about her enrolment is settled and a NO vote, that she continues as a voting member until the same issue is resolved. The SR was allowed to vote on the motion she continues to be a regular voting member of the Board unless the Board decides to make her an observer as proposed in the motion. In a secret voting, with all of the nine (9) Regents present casting their votes, four voted YES and five voted NO. The motion was not carried so the Student Regent continued to sit as a voting member of the Board at the December 18 meeting.

Regent Sarmiento participated in the voting on the SR’s status and did not question the propriety or jurisdiction of the BOR deciding on the fate of the SR’s participation in the December 18 meeting. Neither did he object when the SR was asked to return to the meeting and participated in the voting on the motion of President Roman. Regent Sarmiento subsequently also participated in the voting for the new PGH Director where Dr. Jose Gonzales was elected by a vote of six (6) while then incumbent PGH Director Dr. Alfiler (who had already served a total of two consecutive terms) garnered five (5) votes. [1] It was only after the remaining items in the agenda were voted upon and when the meeting was about to be adjourned that Regent Sarmiento expressed verbally his intent to protest the election of the new PGH Director.

January 29 protest of Regent Sarmiento: Latest attempt to prevent Dr. Jose Gonzales from assuming the position of PGH Director

We, the Sectoral Regents and the Alumni Regent, were not against discussing the current status of the Student Regent prior to deliberating on the matters on the agenda for the January 29, 20101 meeting. But we found it highly irregular that the question on the status of the Student Regent during the December 18 meeting, which had already been decided was being revisited for the purpose of nullifying the election of Dr. Gonzales as PGH Director.

The irregularity of the protest on the status of the Student Regent by Regent Sarmiento tying it with the election of the PGH Director, who was not the choice of President Roman, Regent Sarmiento, Regent Gonzales and Regent Chua, is better understood by what occurred after the December 18 meeting. The term of outgoing PGH Director Alfiler was to end on December 31, 2009. There was no issuance of the appointment of university officials right after the BOR meeting on December 18, when previous BOR decisions on appointments were announced on the same day as the BOR meetings (e.g. October 21 OSU Memorandum on Appointment of University Officials and November 23 OSU Memorandum on Appointment of University Officials). When I inquired about this failure to issue a similar memorandum on the December 18 decisions of the BOR on the appointment of University Officials, the Secretary of the University said that because it was the last working day of the year, the issuance would be made on January 4, 2010. This clarification was not consistent with the fact that the December 18 decision of the BOR on the appointment of UP Artists was posted on the UP official website on December 18 itself.

The memorandum on the appointments of new university officials made during the December 18 meeting came out only on January 4. Early on that day, Dr. Gonzales was informed by the UP Manila Chancellor that he (Dr. Gonzales)would take his oath of office at 2:00 pm of January 4. But prior to the scheduled oath-taking, the UP Manila Chancellor sent a message to Dr. Gonzales that his oath was reset for January 5 as President Roman wanted to meet with them in Diliman that afternoon. There was neither an oath taking on January 5 because on that day President Roman issued Memorandum No. PERR-2010-001, appointing Chancellor Ramon L. Arcadio as Officer-in-Charge of PGH. The Sectoral Regents immediately issued a statement dated January 6 protesting the deliberate refusal of President Roman to install Dr. Jose C. Gonzales as PGH Director, duly elected by the Board of Regents. There was an emergency meeting held at the Manila Hotel in the afternoon of January 6 attended by Chairman Angeles, President Roman, Chancellor Arcadio and Dr. Gonzales. At noon time of January 7 at the height of the protests of PGH personnel, medical students and staff against the refusal to install Dr. Gonzales as Director, the formal notification of appointment of Dr. Gonzales dated December 18, 2009 was sent to the UP Manila Chancellor. At two in the afternoon of that day, Dr. Gonzales took his oath before the Chancellor with other university officials and staff of PGH in attendance.

One cannot but surmise, given these series of events, that some very powerful people are intent on preventing the installation of Dr. Gonzales as PGH Director. The protest of Regent Sarmiento was clearly aimed at nullifying the election of the PGH Director but it has been overtaken by events. The fact is Dr. Gonzales has taken his oath of office for a fixed term of three years and has actually discharged his duties for more than three weeks. He cannot be removed or suspended except for cause as provided by law. Moreover, an appointment once made and completed, is not subject to reconsideration or revocation.

When a Regent moved for a vote supporting Regent Sarmiento’s protest against the Student Regent’s participation in the December 18, 2009 meeting and nullifying the appointment of Dr. Gonzales, the Staff Regent, Alumni Regent, Student Regent and I protested. But there was no more room for discussion as one of the Regents insisted on putting an end to more talk and to proceed to the voting. I asked for a break and conferred with the other Sectoral Regents and the Alumni Regent. We discussed the consequences of participation in the unlawful removal of an elected University official, without cause and without due process, as proposed by Regent Sarmiento, and the subsequent election of another PGH director in spite of the fact that the post is not vacant. I decided that I could not countenance being part of a process which was clearly aimed at reversing the decision on the choice of the PGH Director made last December and which could be considered illegal. It left me physically ill. I opted to leave the meeting.


The Staff Regent, Student Regent and Alumni Regent after a while also left leaving the meeting without a quorum.
We are open to deliberating on the status of the Student Regent but it should not be used to overturn a decision not palatable to the powers that be
Let me reiterate: we, the Sectoral Regents and the Alumni Regent, were open to a discussion of the current status of the Student Regent prior to deliberating on the matters on the agenda for the January 29 meeting. But what we found highly irregular was that the question on the status of the Student Regent involved the nullification of decisions of December 18, in particular the selection of the PGH Director, undermining the integrity of decision-making processes in our institution.
Our university faces a range of burning issues which we as Regents, through our collective wisdom, must deliberate and decide on. But we must do so with the highest respect for due process and respect for decisions, especially on appointments, arrived at by the Board even in the rare case that the decision goes against the wishes of the highest executive official within or outside UP.


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[1] Senator Mar Roxas and Rep. Cynthia Villar voted through signed letters sent to Chairman Angeles and President Roman, respectively.