U.P. has a new Student Regent

(Editor's note: The following is a statement from the Facebook page of Faculty Regent regarding the new U.P. Student Regent Jacque Eroles and the former Student Regent Cori Alessa Co. Ms. Co was not allowed to vote as a member of the University of the Philippines (U.P.) Board of Regents (BOR) last November 17 in the election for a new U.P. President due to an issue regarding her academic standing as a student. The BOR decided to postpone the elections to December 3. Ms. Eroles succeeds Ms. Co and was sworn in as Student Regent during the November 26, 2010 BOR meeting at U.P. Cebu by U.P. President Emerlinda R. Roman)

Statement of Faculty Regent Judy M. Taguiwalo

(New U.P. Student Regent Jacque Eroles
Source: Facebook page of Regent Taquiwalo)

“Jaque Eroles took her oath as the new Student Regent last November 26, 2010 in U.P. Cebu. She will serve until April 2011. Jaque's record as Vice Chair of the USC of UP Diliman indicates that she will be a militant representative of the students in the Board of Regents and will advance democratic governance in the university and in opposing policies that will further erode the public character of UP.”

“We bid goodbye to Cori Alessa Co as Student Regent and acknowledge her tremendous contribution in uniting the UP students, through their Student Councils and organizations in the whole UP system in opposing the continued state abandonment of tertiary education and asserting that education is a right. We are confident that even as Cori is not part of the BOR anymore, she will continue to be a strong pillar of the youth and student movement.”

“Mabuhay ang mga iskolar ng bayan!”

(Ms. Cori Alessa Co when she was U.P. Student Regent
Source: http://tinyurl.com/28lws9v)

Update # 3: On November 19 U.P. Elections for a new U.P. President. Elections Have been postponed by the BOR to Dec. 3, 2010

Two weeks have been given by the University of the Philippines (U.P.) Board of Regents (BOR) to implement a succession process for Student Regent Cori Alessa Co, Faculty Regent Judy M. Taguiwalo said today, according to Twitter updates from Tinig ng Plaridel, the official student publication of the College of Mass Communication of U.P. Diliman.

The new Student regent should already have been installed by the next meeting of the BOR on December 3, which will have in its agenda the selection of the next U.P. President.

“Hopefully, by December 3, we will have a Student Regent on the BOR,” added Staff Regent” Clodualdo “Buboy” Cabrera, saying that with or without a Student Regent, the selection of the next U.P. President is set to happen on December 3, 2010.

Regent Co has endorsed 2nd nominee Jaque Eroles for Student Regent, but this is pending Eroles' late enrollment in the university, so this should have been fixed by December 3, if students are to participate in the selection of the next U.P. President.

Assuming the selection process goes beyond more than one round, there is also a possibility that Faculty Regent Judy M. Taguiwalo may or may not participate in the final voting for a U.P. President. Regent Taguiwalo's term ends by December 31, 2010. The Faculty Regent is selected by votation from faculty from throughout the U.P. System in a process that started on November 17 and ends today.

Update # 2 on November 19 U.P. Elections: Letter of U.P. Baguio University Registrar to President Roman on status of Student Regent Cori Alessa Co

(To enlarge the graphic, just click on it)

(Source: Facebook page of Philippine Collegian: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=712158&id=133443430005987)

Update: Outgoing U.P. Administration engineers last-minute dismissal of Student Regent Co, preventing Student participation in today's BOR election of a new U.P. President

In a stunning case of déjà vu, Student Regent Cori Alessa Co has been dismissed as a University of the Philippines (U.P.) student by the U.P. Administration at the last minute, preventing her from acting as Student Regent in today's elections for a new U.P. President by the Board of Regents, which normally has eleven members.

Regent Co's predecessor, former Student Regent Charisse B. Bañez was also prevented from voting last February 25, 2010 by the U.P. Administration, on the grounds that she failed to enroll by the requisite deadline, thus making her a former student and therefore a former Student regent when she voted for Dr. Jose Gonzales as Director of the Philippine General Hospital (PGH). Dr. Gonzales was later ousted on the strength of that one lost vote from the Student Regent. As a member of the BOR, U.P. President Emerlinda R. Roman did not vote for Dr. Gonzales.

The official reason for Regent Co's dismissal has to do with her supposed academic delinquency. She is currently enrolled in U.P. Baguio. However, the BOR itself only received notice today, on the first round of elections for U.P. President, from U.P. Baguio (through the U.P. Administration which controls the rate of dissemination of such documents). This move is therefore being seen by observers as a preemptive move to deprive some 50,000 U.P. students of representation in the elctions of a new U.P. President.

Current rules allow Student Regent Co to replace herself, and in fact Co can nominate the second nominee for the position of Student Regent, former UP Diliman USC vice-chair Jaqueline Eroles. However, there is also a necessity of acceptance by Ms. Eroles of the position, and this would require an oath-taking (normally before President Roman) which would be highly unlikely to take place until after the elections are finished.

The outgoing U.P. Administration has therefore succeeded in eliminating one critical vote from among the ranks of the eleven-member BOR in what was previously seen as a more uncertain outcome, in view of the appointment by President Benigno S. Aquino III of new Malacañang Regents last November 17. However, it is also true that two of the three Regents - former Chief Justice Renato Puno and former College of Business Administration Dean Magdaleno Albarracin are Roman nominees as well. The third new regent, Ms. Elizabeth Orteza-Siguion Reyna was not nominated by President Roman.

In a statement in her Facebook page, Student Regent Co said that: "Wala tayong ilusyon sa susunod na UP President. Ang tunay na mapagpasya sa panahon na patuloy na nasasadlak sa krisis ang mamamayan, patuloy na ginagawang inutil ang kabataan, at patuloy na isinasawalang bahala ang ating mga karapatan ay ang lakas at diwa ng ating sama-samang pagkilos. Ngayong patindi nang patindi ang bigwas sa ating hanay,hinihingi muli ng kasaysayan ang ating mapagpasyang pagtindig."

(Sources: Twitter updates and the Facebook page of the Philippine Collegian)

Announcement: U.P. Faculty, Student and Staff Regents support the U.P. College of Law Faculty

(Editor's note: the following is a joint statement issued today by Faculty Regent Judy M. Taguiwalo, Ph.D., Staff Regent Clodualdo "Buboy" Cabrera and Student Regent Cori Alessa Co in support of the Academic Freedom enjoyed by the 37 members of the U.P. College of Law Faculty who have uncompromisingly criticized the Supreme Court’s decision to exonerate Associate Justice Mariano del Castillo from charges of plagiarism based on the lack of malice or negligence on his part (in In Re: Del Castillo, A.M. No. 10-7-17-SC, 15 October 2010).

The UP Faculty, Student and Staff Regents condemn attack on academic freedom and express support for the UP College of Law Faculty

By exculpating Associate Justice Mariano del Castillo from the charge of plagiarism, the Supreme Court has shown just how far it is willing to throw all reason to the winds just to protect one of its most favored members. Not stopping at this jaw-dropping decision, it likewise issued a “show cause order” (Oct. 19), amazing in its vindictiveness, to the 37 UP Law faculty members (including the present dean and four former deans) who signed the “Statement of the Faculty of the UP College of Law” (August 9, 2010) accusing Justice Del Castillo of plagiarism. That “show cause order” states that there is “a general consensus that healthy criticism only goes so far” and that the UP Law faculty has apparently transgressed what it considers to be the limit. The Supreme Court is therefore not just reacting to any particular criticism but also claims, over and above this, that it is able to pass judgment on the “healthiness” of any kind of criticism against it. In other words, anything is “unhealthy” which shows it in a bad light.

Nothing reveals how embarrassed the Supreme Court is by its own farcical ruling than its attitude to brook no dissent on the matter. It is a fact that lawyers working in the academe would probably be the most competent and would be in the best position to testify on plagiarism amongst their colleagues in the profession. However, their honest opinion which was aired with the best of intentions, was not only disregarded, they are now being threatened with disbarment for speaking their minds.

It might be “healthy” at this point to remind the honourable justices about Section 5 in the UP Charter on “Academic Freedom” which states that, “the national university has the right and responsibility to exercise academic freedom." This guarantee applies to the UP Law Faculty just as much as any other vital part of the University.

We, the Faculty, Staff and Student Regents of the University of the Philippines therefore condemn this serious attack on academic freedom and express our steadfast support for the UP Law Faculty.

FACULTY REGENT PROF. JUDY M. TAGUIWALO, Ph.D.

STAFF REGENT CLODUALDO “Buboy” CABRERA

STUDENT REGENT CORI ALESSA CO

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. Diliman Sociology Professor Sarah Raymundo is finally granted tenure by the U.P. Board of Regents, ending two years of waiting

U.P. Diliman Professor Sarah Raymundo 

(Source: http://tenureforsarahraymundo.blogspot.com/)

The University of the Philippines (U.P.) Board of Regents (BOR) voted today by a vote of 5 in favor, 2 against and one abstention, granting U.P. Diliman Sociology Professor Sarah Raymundo tenure, ending two years of waiting for the professor, when her department initially recommended her for tenure in February of 2008, and whose latest appeal, dated January 15, 2010 finally reached the BOR. Professor Raymundo's case has gained widespread sympathy, both inside U.P. and internationally.

BOR Chairman Emmanuel Y. Angeles, who was present in the meeting, did not vote. The new Student Regent, Cori Alessa Co, who took her oath of office today, and  replaced outgoing Student Regent Charisse Bañez was able to vote; thus restoring student representation to the BOR, as Ms. Bañez was disallowed by the U.P. Administration from voting ever since December 18, 2009 (See Diliman Diary, February 25, 2010: http://tinyurl.com/36gxb9b)

The Diliman Diary observed Regent Abraham Sarmiento and Regent Nelia Gonzales exiting Quezon Hall in U.P. Diliman after the meeting. The total number of regents present in the May 27, 2010 BOR meeting were nine (9) regents, including  U.P. President Emerlinda Roman and BOR Chairman Emmanuel Angeles. There are eleven (11) regents in the BOR. However, Regent Francis Chua left before the voting began, while Rep. Cynthia Villar, representing the House of Representatives sent in a written vote, and Senator Mar Roxas, representing the Senate, did not attend or send in any vote at all.

(Faculty Regent Taguiwalo. Source: 

Facebook page of Laban PGH Movement)

The basis of the BOR decision was a motion made last January 29, 2010 by Faculty Regent Taguiwalo which was tagged by her to the Diliman Diary and which we are reproducing below in full:

"On the appeal for tenure of Prof. Sarah Raymundo

Judy M. Taguiwalo
Faculty Regent
January 29, 2010

As the Faculty Regent my mandate is to represent the faculty, both tenured and untenured, of the University at the Board of Regents.

Prof. Raymundo’s appeal has ramifications vis a vis the parameters of the right of tenured faculty to make judgment on tenure application and the right of untenured faculty members to expect fairness and justice in the tenure process and decisions. In studying the appeal for tenure of Prof. Sarah Raymundo, I am guided by the existing policies approved by the University at various levels and previous decisions made by the Board.

According to the document "Shaping Our Institutional Future: A Statement on Faculty Tenure, Rank and Promotion" (OVPAA, 2004), there are two rights at stake in considering appeals regarding the non-award of tenure, to wit, "the right of tenured colleagues to make a qualitative judgment on the candidate's performance and record and the right of temporary faculty to expect fairness, both in the process by which the tenure decision is reached and in the substance of that decision. The appeal procedure should take into account both these rights." The same document states that the consideration of tenure should be made "solely on academic grounds" and that the use of any other criteria may lead to a "violation of academic freedom" (I.F.4.a).

The UP Diliman University Council in December 15, 2008 upheld the right of all untenured faculty to be informed upon employment of the criteria for their evaluation and to be evaluated on the basis of these criteria. The UPD UC also spelled out the elements of transparency in the tenure process.

The primacy of academic standards as basis for the grant of tenure is affirmed by the Board of Regents’ decision on the case of Lorraine Carlos Salazar. In the BOR meeting of January 27, 2005 the Board reviewed the case of Prof. Salazar and decided that:

Taking note of the department’s definition of collegiality as explained by Prof Noel Morada, Department Chair, in his letter to President Nemenzo, the Board asked about the weight given to collegiality vis-à-vis Prof. Salazar’s academic credentials (e.g. PhD, international publications). The Board was not satisfied with the department’s argument that the best, though, implicit, measure of collegiality is the confidence vote of two-thirds of the tenured faculty. Since the basis of the vote is not explained in the letter, the Board could only conclude that collegiality outweighed academic credentials. The Board maintained that academic credentials should not be ignored.

Why should the BOR intervene on this matter?

As a young UP faculty member, Prof. Raymundo has spent the past nine years serving the university well and has worked hard to fulfill all the requirements for tenure . The justification provided by the Department of Sociology in April 2008 recognizes Prof. Raymundo’s academic qualifications and in fact, the Department approved her promotion from Assistant Professor 1 to Assistant Professor 2 in June 2008.

After initially providing strong justification for the recommendation to grant tenure to Prof. Raymundo, the majority of the tenured faculty of the Department of Sociology then decided to deny the grant of tenure without providing any reason. In a past case, the BOR had overruled a similar refusal by the Political Science department to grant tenure because the Board deemed the reason given (in that case "lack of collegiality") unacceptable as basis for withholding tenure to one who is otherwise duly qualified. If the BOR can pass upon the acceptability of a reason given to withhold tenure, it must pass upon the unacceptability of no reason being given for a similar act. Otherwise, the BOR is telling departments that the way to avoid BOR oversight and intervention is to simply decide without any declared reason. This gives permission for departments to become whimsical and arbitrary in their decisions on the grant of tenure to faculty.

In pursuit of the appeals process, Prof. Raymundo appeals to the University President who denies her appeal by simply asking the department to vote again and to treat the negative vote result as basis for denying the appeal, again without seeking to determine the substantive reasons for the vote. If the appeal process does nothing to determine and weigh the substantive basis for the action being appealed and instead simply repeats the action, for what purpose do we have an appeals process? Is it merely to torture the affected party with the repetition of the act being appealed?

I am thus requesting my colleagues in the Board of Regents to support the following:

• Declare as a matter of policy that the absence of any reason to deny tenure from a temporary faculty who has otherwise met the declared requirements for tenure is not an acceptable exercise of departmental autonomy that should be uncritically respected.

• Given the lack of any substantive reason declared to deny tenure in this case from the original process as well as from the appeals process and given that Prof. Raymundo met the requirements for tenure, grant the appeal for tenure of Prof. Raymundo."

However, Faculty Regent Taguiwalo told the Diliman Diary that dissenting members of the Sociology Department are expected to file a motion for reconsideration to the BOR pleading that Professor Raymundo not be granted tenure. The next meeting of the BOR is scheduled for June 2, 2010.

Outgoing Student Regent Charisse B. Bañez

(Source: Facebook page of Laban PGH Movement)

The new Student Regent Cori Alessa Co

takes her oath of office before Regent

Sarmiento, President Roman and her mother.

 (Source: Faculty Regent  Taguiwalo)