U.P. Student Regent Charisse Bañez files TRO vs. U.P. President Emerlinda Roman and Allies

   (From left to right: Student Regent Bañez and President Roman.

   Sources: http://www.flickr.com/ and http://www.up.edu.ph/)

By Chanda Shahani

Tit for tat. The Student Regent Charisse Bernadine Bañez has now decisively answered the tax-payer funded University of the Philippines (U.P.) administration's attempts to disallow her vote cast as a member of the Board of Regents (BOR) in favour of the narrowly won selection of Dr. Carlos Gonzales as U.P. Philippine General Hospital (PGH) Executive Director with her own application for a temporary restraining order (TRO) on February 22 before the Quezon City Regional Trial Court (RTC) praying that she continue the unhampered exercise of her functions as Student Regent for 20 days or until the RTC resolves the issue with finality.

The hearing for the possible granting of the TRO is set on Feb 24, 2010, at 8:30 am at the sala of Judge Ma. Luisa Quijano Padilla, RTC QC Branch 215 and the decision is expected within the day. The granting of the TRO is seen as being especially urgent since the next scheduled BOR meeting is set on the next day, or on February 25, 2010 and the granting of the TRO would essentially determine whether Bañez remains as a voting member of the BOR or effectvely has her status whittled down to being a mere observer by the implementation of a BOR resolution penned by the U.P. administration removing her right to vote as a member of the BOR.

In her prayer, Bañez asked that “Immediately upon the filing of this application, this Honorable Court conduct an ex-parte hearing on plaintiff’s application for the issuance of a Temporary Restraining Order effective for twenty (20) days, restoring the parties to their last peaceable and uncontested status before the controversy started on January 29, 2010, and prohibiting and enjoining the defendants from: (a) disallowing the plaintiff, as Student Regent, from attending, participating in, and voting in the meetings of the Board of Regents; and (b) exercising her office as Student Regent.”

Bañez is citing the following facts and issues in support of her right to relief in court which, if successful, would result in a permanent injunction agains the implementation of the resolution of the BOR adopted in its 1253rd meeting held on January 29, 2010 disallowing her from participating in and voting in BOR meetings:

• The Resolution of the BOR disallowing Student Regent Bañez from participating in, and voting, in the meetings of the Board of Regents is invalid because there was no quorum in the 1253rd meeting of the Board of Regents held on January 29, 2010 and the votes cast in that meeting were invalid.
• While the BOR is composed of eleven (11) members, in the 1253rd meeting of the BOR held on January 29, 2010, there were nine (9) members of the BORs who were present, namely: Chairman Eduardo Y. Angeles, President Emerlinda R. Roman, Regent Abraham F. Sarmiento, Regent Nelia T. Gonzalez, Regent Francis C. Chua, Regent Alfredo E. Pascual, Regent Judy M. Taguiwalo, Regent Bañez and Regent Clodualdo E. Cabrera.
• Of these nine (9) members of the Board of Regents, there are three (3) Regents with expired terms, namely: Regent Sarmiento, Regent Gonzalez and Regent Chua.
• Regent Sarmiento was appointed by Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo as an “Acting Member” of the BOR on September 29, 2008.
• Regent Gonzalez was likewise appointed by President Arroyo as an “Acting Member” of the BOR on March 18, 2008.
• Regent Chua was appointed by the President as an “Acting Member” of the BOR on January 1, 2008.
• Citing Sections 16 and 17 of Executive Order (E.O.) 292 or the Administrative Code of 1987 Bañez stated that the President of the Philippines shall exercise the power to appoint officials as provided for in the Constitution and laws; and that the President may temporarily designate an officer already in the government service or any other competent person to perform the functions of an office in the executive branch, appointment to which is vested in him by law, when: (a) the officer regularly appointed to the office is unable to perform his duties by reason of illness, absence or any other cause; or (b) there exists a vacancy;
• E.O. 292 also states that in no case shall a temporary designation exceed one (1) year. However, Regents Gonzales, Chua and Sarmiento had already exceeded the one-year mark for their temporary designations as “Acting Members” of the BOR when they voted on January 29, 2010 to disqualify Bañez's eligibility to vote as a member of the BOR.

Ironically, the designation of Regent Sarmiento as an “Acting Member” of the BOR by President Arroyo had already long expired when he manifested his intention on the December 18, 2009 BOR meeting to file a protest against the appointment of Dr. Gonzales who was selected over outgoing PGH Executive Director Carlos Alfiler by a majority of the BOR (six (6) votes to five (5) votes) on the ground that Student Regent Bañez was not qualified to vote in the said meeting.

In her February 22, 2010 Complaint for Injunction with prayer for issuance of a writ of preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order, filed before RTC QC Branch 215, Student Regent Bañez said that for the purpose of determining attendance and quorum in the 1253rd meeting of the BOR held in Quezon Hall on January 29, 2010 at U.P. Diliman, only six (6) Regents should be counted, namely: Chairman Angeles, President Roman, Alumni Regent Pascual, Faculty Regent Taguiwalo, Staff Regent Cabrera and Student Regent Bañez.

In her complaint, she said that when Regents Taguiwalo, Cabrera and Bañez left the meeting, there were only three (3) Regents in good standing who were left, namely: Chairman Angeles, President Roman and Alumni Regent Pascual. She said that when the motion was put to a vote, there was no longer a valid quorum for the meeting. She added that the votes cast by Regents Sarmiento, Gonzalez and Chua were invalid votes because their terms as Regents have already expired after twelve (12) months from the dates of their appointments as acting members of the Board of Regents.

Even if the presence of Regents Sarmiento, Gonzalez and Chua were counted for the purpose of determining quorum, still, there was no quorum when the motion on the status of the Student Regent was voted upon because Regent Pascual was inside the toilet when the actual voting took place, the complaint read in part.

The complaint alleges that contrary to what is reflected in the draft minutes of the 1253rd meeting of the Board of Regents that Regent Pascual was present in the meeting when the motion and voting on the status of the Student Regent took place, the facts are that Regent Pascual went to the toilet before the motion was made and put to a vote. Upon his return to the meeting, he was surprised to find out that the motion and voting has already taken place in his absence.

Bañez said that there were only five (5) members of the Board of Regents who were present when the motion and voting on the status of the Student took place, namely: Chairman Angeles, President Roman, Regent Sarmiento, Regent Gonzalez and Regent Chua. Clearly, there was no valid quorum of six (6) when the motion and voting on the status of the Student Regent took place.

She is asking the court to to declare as invalid the resolution of the BOR to disallow her to participate in, and vote, in meetings of the Board of Regents “approved” in the 1253rd meeting of the Board of Regents held on January 29, 2010 and that the BOR should also be permanently enjoined from implementing this resolution.

The Diliman Diary has exercised due diligence in attempting to get the U.P. administration's side in the past. In an email dated February 23, 1010, the Diliman Diary asked Attorney Theodore Te, Vice President for Legal Affairs of U.P., to comment or react to the factual and other allegations contained in Bañez's complaint. However, as of press time, Attorney Te had not replied to the Diliman Diary's email.

On February 12, 2010, the Diliman Diary had earlier emailed the Facebook account of Dr. Lourdes Abadingo, the Secretary of the University, asking her to verify “upon very good authority” that “in the last meeting of the BOR (January 29) there was a quorum when the decision to disqualify the Student Regent was made. Is this claim by that authority accurate in view of the fact there was supposed to have been a walkout by some regents resulting in no quorum at all?”

In reality, the “very good authority,” who claimed that there was indeed a quorum when the decision to disqualify the Student Regent was made was no less than U.P. President Roman when she replied on February 8, 2010 to an email query on the matter to Dr. Silverio Cabellon, Chairman of the University of the Philippines Medical Alumni Society of America that, “In the last meeting of the Board (January), there was still a quorum when the decision to disqualify the Student Regent was made. This can be attested by the Secretary of the Board.” However, to date, there has been no reply or response by Dr. Abadingo to the Diliman Diary's query as to whether or not there was a quorum of the BOR when some mebers of the BOR tried to remove her as a voting member of the BOR.

The Diliman Diary also tried emailing Dr. Cristina Pantoja Hidalgo, U.P.'s Vice President for Public Affairs, on February 12, 2010 for clarifications on U.P.'s statement on its own website at http://www.up.edu.ph/features.php? stating that the Student Regent was no longer eligible to act as a Student Regent with full powers and responsiblilities or to at least be put in touch with the author if the statement which President Roman said in her email to Dr. Cabellon was uploaded by Office of the Vice-President for Public Affairs; but Dr. Hidalgo has not replied to the Diliman Diary's email query to date.

With the filing of this case, Bañez could have potentially plunged the entire BOR into a crisis by asking the court to disqualify the three other “Acting Members” of the BOR whose terms of office have long since lapsed. However, she is instead asking the Court to conduct an ex-parte hearing on her application for the issuance of a Temporary Restraining Order effective for twenty (20) days,“restoring the parties to their last peaceable and uncontested status before the controversy started on January 29, 2010,” or in other words, maintain the status quo.

If the TRO is granted, then Bañez effectively will be allowed to vote on the draft BOR resolution removing her right to vote as a Regent in the BOR and if it is not granted, then President Roman's assertion that there was a quorum and a majority vote existed to remove her right to vote as Student Regent effectively removes Bañez's one vote in favour of the narrowly won selection of Dr. Carlos Gonzales as PGH Executive Director over outgoing PGH Executive Director Carlos Alfiler.

The potential elimination of Bañez's vote as a bona fide voting member of the BOR potentially creates a hung jury of five (5) remaining votes for Gonzales and five (5) votes for Alfiler and could reverse a de facto acknowledgement by Quezon Hall, published by on U.P. own website at: (http://www.up.edu.ph/features.php?i=176) that Gonzales is the Executive Director of PGH which is based on the premise that six (6) and not five (5) Regents voted for him.

A removal of Bañez's eligibility to vote could pave the way for the U.P. Administration to immediately implement Memorandum No. PERR-2010-001, issued byPresident Roman dated January 5, 2010, appointing Chancellor Ramon L. Arcadio as Officer-in-Charge of PGH, thus removing Dr. Gonzales as PGH Executive Director. Dr. Gonzales continues to acts as the Executive Director of PGH despite the existence of President Roman's memo.

The Roving Gourmand: mag:net café: Undiscovered Eats in an Eclectic Atmosphere

By Chanda Shahani

For a weekend evening treat, fellow Diliman Diary writer Paul Lee and I decided to reexplore mag:net café in front of Miriam College on Katipunan Avenue right besides Rustan's Supermarket and check out if they had any cuisine worth remembering. We're glad we did!

We were pleasantly surprised at the welcoming ambiance and attractive décor once one steps off Katipunan Avenue into mag:net café. The second floor, where the restaurant-cum-bar is located, is tidy and tastefully decorated without clutter. There is room for tables to be placed far enough apart that one does not feel as if dining back to back with those at the table behind. One of the tables even had the words emblazoned on it: “I am what you think I think I am.” This was certainly food for the mind to accompany the food for the body.

In the ground floor is an art gallery-cum-bookstore with various titles ranging from best-sellers to Filipiniana as well as an extensive magzine collection. It was also stocked with Original Pilipino Music CDs.

The food was more than ample, nicely prepared, and extremely fresh. For the appetizer, we tried the fish and chips (PhP 135.00) which is a crispy friend fish fillet spiced with logarashi and potato chips and accompanied with mayo dip and we found it to be moist and slightly sweet with a succulent batter coating. But the pièce de résistance was very definitely the mag:net pizza (PhP 140.00) which we both shared. The toppings were amply overlaid with a unique mix of longganisa, sisig and kesong puti and the combination of the spicy longganisa, slightly fatty sisig and salty kesong puti was filling and a great feed for two hungry writers. Barely any room left for dessert – not!

For dessert, we tried the Chocolate Nutella Banana Turon (PhP 95.00) which is Cavendish rolled with lumpia wrapper topped with halo-halo ice cream and sprinkled with sesame seeds. The overall taste was warm, slightly fuzzy to the taste, but not overly sweet. A perfect comfort food dessert to round off the heavier dishes we had tried earlier!

The waiters and staff were helpful and pleasant without being intrusive. Prices were average for the Katipunan area, and we both felt as if we received very good value for our money. Also noteworthy are the heavier campus meals with prices ranging from PhP 125.00 to PhP 250.00 which puts this into the category of a great place for students to bring a date for a night out.

On Monday evenings they have “Happy Mondays,” where bands play and there are live poetry readings. There is also an extensive cocktail selection, and beer and wine are also served.We will definitely be back, and do recommend mag:net café to others.


mag:net café
Katipunan Avenue:
In front of Miriam College, beside Rustan’s Supermarket
Quezon City , Philippines
For reservations call: 929-3191
Website: http://www.magnet.com.ph/
Contact: Mr. Rock Drilon
Email: rock@drilon.com

Pinoy Movie Review: "Paano na Kaya?"

Ni Vida Llevares

Mula sa matagumpay nilang teleserye na “Tayong Dalawa” at ang kasalukuyang namamayagpag din sa ere na “Kung Tayo’y Magkakalayo”, muli na naman nating masisilayan ang pinakasinusubaybayang tambalan ng henerasyon ngayon sa isang naiibang pag atake sa pelikula, sina Gerald Anderson at Kim Chui. Handog ng Star Cinema at ABS-CBN Productions, sa direksyon ni Ruel Bayani ang pelikulang “Paano na Kaya?” ay iikot sa istorya ng dalawang matalik na magkaibigan na magagawang mahulog ang loob sa isa’t-isa. Ang pelikulang ito ay siguradong magbibigay ng ligaya at kilig lalo na sa mga natatanging tagasubaybay ng tambalang Kimerald kung tawagin.

Kilala sa kanilang mahusay na pagganap ng matinding drama sa mga nasabing teleserye sa telebisyon, isang magaang na drama naman na may halong kaunting komedi ang kanilang gagampanan sa pelikulang ito. Para sa maraming panatiko ng pelikulang pang pag-ibig, ang istorya ng pelikulang ito ay tipikal, napakapayak at inaasahan na ng marami, maging ang pagtatapos. Walang naging kakaiba at bukod-tangi na maaaring ipamalita ng sinomang nakapanood nito. Marami din ang nakapuna ng hindi pagkakaugma ng mga linyang ibinabato sa naturang pelikula ng mga tampok na artista. May mga litanyang sana ay isinalin na lang sa tagalog upang mas nagkaroon ng bigat habang binibitiwan. Naging kapuna puna din ang mabilis na pagikot ng istorya mula sa paggiging matalik na magkaibigan hanggang sa mahulog ang loob ni Kim kay Gerald. Inaasahan pa naman ng marami na tatagal sa paggiging magkaibigan muna ang dalawa bago maging magkasintahan. Sa ganitong paraan lalong napagiibayo ng mga tampok na artista ang makapagbigay ng kilig at higit na kaabang-abang na mga eksena. Subalit sa humigit kumulang dalawampung minuto ay agad ng nakaikot ang istorya sa paggiging magkasintahan ng dalawa. Ang nabigyan ng higit na atensyon at pokus ng pelikulang ito ay kung papano maipaglalaban nina Mae, ang karakter na ginagampanan ni Kim at Bogs, ang karakter naman ni Gerald ang kanilang pagmamahalan sa muling pagpaparamdam ng dating kasintahan ni Bogs na si Anna na ginampanan naman ni Melissa Ricks.

Ang istorya ng “Paano na Kaya?” bagamat tipikal ay nabigyan pa rin ng mahusay na pagganap ng mga artistang kasama dito lalo na ng mga bidang sina Kim at Gerald. Malaki pa din ang naging kontribusyon ng mga teleseryeng kanilang nauna ng ginawa katulad ng “Tayong Dalawa” sa mahusay nilang pag arte sa kabila ng hindi kagandahan ng istorya nito. Kung hindi rin dahil sa kasikatan at husay sa pag arte ng mga bidang ito, posibleng marami na ang nagsipaglabasan ng sinehan kahit nasa kalagitnaan pa lamang ang nasabing pelikula. Idagdag pa ang espesyal na partisipasyon ng isa sa pinakamahusay na aktres ng pelikulang Pilipino na si Zsa Zsa Padilla sa istorya bilang ina ni Gerald. Nakapagtataka lamang na sa kabila ng tagumpay na nakamit ng kanilang teleseryeng “Tayong Dalawa” na kanila na namang pinagsamahan at sa direksyon na din ni Ruel Bayani, hindi pa rin naging kasing bigat ng ibang mga pelikulang pang pag-ibig ang “Paano na Kaya”.

Maaaring isa sa posibleng dahilan ay ang madaliang paggawa ng istorya para sa dalawa na isinabay na din sa kanilang namamayagpag na kasikatan. Lalo na at katatapos pa lamang ng kanilang naunang teleseye at kasisimula naman ng pinakabago nilang programa sa telebisyon, ang “Kung Tayoý Magkakalayo”. Ang ganitong uri ng pelikula ay maaaring maikonsidera na hindi na higit na pinagisipan pa sa dahilang marami naman na ang tagasubaybay ng mga bidang sina Kim at Gerald. Ibig sabihin lang ay kahit ano pa ang istoryang ipalabas at kanilang pagbidahan ay tiyak pa ding panonoorin ng kanilang mga tagahanga pati na ng maraming kabataan. Malaki din ang naitulong ng suportang ibinibigay sa kanila ng ABS-CBN pati na ng Star Cinema kung kaya’t sila ay parating nakikita sa telebisyon para ipaganiyaya ang kanilang pelikula.

Sa kabuuan, hindi naman masasabing walang kahit anong buti ang pelikulang ito sa panlasa ng mga manonood. Hindi ka lang dapat umasa ng higit sa maaari mong maisip lalo na at napanood mo ang kanilang dati at kasalukuyang teleserye na may maganda at kakaibang istorya. Ang nagdala pa din ng pelikula ay ang kakayahan ng dalawa na umarte at bigyang hustisya ang karakter na kanilang ginagampanan. Maaaring masabi pa din ng sinumang nakapanood ng pelikula na kung maganda lang ang istorya at panulat ay papatok pa din itong tiyak sa takilya.

(Vida Llevares is a freelance writer who writes for the Diliman Diary. She is currently based in Cebu City)

U.P. Officials Remain in Administrative Limbo as Board of Regents Members dispute facts of January 29 Meeting

(Japanese Oiginal Poster of "Rashomon" released on 

August 25, 1950 in Japan. Source: http://www.wikipedia.org)

By Chanda Shahani

The 1950's Japanese cult classic film, "Rashomon" is about the rape of a woman and the apparent murder of her samurai husband through the widely differing accounts of four witnesses, including the rapist and even a narrative through a medium representing a dead man. The stories are mutually contradictory, leaving the viewer to determine which, if any, is the truth as the story unfolds in a series of flashbacks as the four characters recount the events of one afternoon in a grove.

But now in 2010, some 3,000 kilometers away from Japan at the University of the Philippines (U.P.) at Diliman, several U.P. officials are being left in administrative limbo as members of the U.P. Board of Regents (BOR) perform their own version of "Rashomon." Some regents are disputing the assertion of U.P. President Emerlinda Roman that the BOR actually met at 9:00 a.m. as a corporate body on January 29, 2010, constituted a quorum and proceeded to vote to remove the eligibility of Student Regent Charisse B. Bañez to participate in BOR proceedings on the premise that she is no longer a U.P. Student and therefore no longer a Student Regent. All of this supposedly took place before several Regents walked out.

This version is being disputed by other Regents who say that the walkout itself removed any possibility of a quorum and consequently, any ballotting to remove the Student Regent never took place due to the lack of a quorum. If Roman's version holds sway, then the implication is that Bañez's votes on any issue from December 18, 2009 onwards would no longer be valid, as she was no longer a Student Regent on that date. If the dissenting Regents' version carries the day, then Bañez remains on board as a voting member of the BOR.

50,000 STUDENTS, PGH DIRECTOR AFFECTED

One potential casualty in this debate would be the more than 50,000 U.P. students who would be deprived of a representative in the BOR, as personified by the Student Regent. Republic Act 9500, or the Charter of the University of the Philippines requires that there shall be one Student Regent chosen by the students from their ranks in accordance with the rules and qualifications approved in a referendum by the students.

Another potential casualty would include the legitimacy and binding selection of U.P. Philippine General Hospital (PGH) Executive Director Dr. Carlos C. Gonzales who was chosen by a vote of six (6) to five (5) over by the BOR last December 18, 2009 over outgoing Executive Director Carlos Alfiler. The potential elimination of Bañez's vote as a bona fide voting member of the BOR creates a real dilemma for Quezon Hall because it would result in a hung jury of five (5) remaining votes for Gonzales and five (5) votes for Alfiler and could reverse a de facto acknowledgement by Quezon Hall, published by on U.P. own website at: (http://www.up.edu.ph/features.php?i=176) that Gonzales is the Executive Director of PGH which is based on the premise that six (6) and not five (5) Regents voted for him.

On the one hand, if Quezon Hall continues to maintain that Gonzales remains the Executive Director, then it also impliedly acknowledges the legitimacy of Bañez's vote as a Student Regent which contradicts its other claims, also on the U.P. website, that Bañez is no longer a U.P. Student or a Student Regent. On the other hand, by pushing its own interpretation of existing rules to remove Bañez, Quezon Hall could be seen as setting the stage to undermine a majority decision of the BOR for Gonzales by implementing President Roman's yet-unacted-upon January 5, 2010 memo installing U.P. Manila Chancellor Ramon L. Arcadio as Officer-in-Charge of PGH (please see Diliman Diary, February 5, 2010).

Roman has not officially declared whom she voted for in the December 18, 2009 balloting for the PGH Executive Director Position. According to the Manila Times.Net (http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/top-stories/8673-new-pgh-director-takes-oath-of-office) those who voted for Dr. Gonzales were Student Regent Charisse Bañez, Faculty Regent Judy Taguiwalo, Alumni Regent Alfredo Pascual and Admin Staff Regent Cabrera. Sen. Manuel “Mar” Roxas 2nd also sent a written vote in favor of Gonzales.

Alfiler, however, received votes from U.P. President Roman, as well as Regents Abraham Sarmiento, Nelia Gonzales and Francis Chua and Rep. Cynthia Villar of Las Piñas City through a letter.

PRESIDENT ROMAN'S VERSION OF EVENTS

In the meantime, Dr. Silverio Cabellon, Chairman of the The University of the Philippines Medical Alumni Society of America (UPMASA) forwarded to the Diliman Diary an email to him by President Roman dated February 8, 2010 claiming that, “In the last meeting of the Board (January), there was still a quorum when the decision to disqualify the Student Regent was made. This can be attested by the Secretary of the Board.”

An email sent by the Diliman Diary to the Facebook Account of the Secretary of the University, Dr. Lourdes Abadingo, on February 12 asked Dr. Abadingo “if there was a quorum when the decision to disqualify the Student Regent was made. Is this claim ... accurate in view of the fact that there was supposed to have been a walkout by some Regents resulting in no quorum at all? On behalf of our readers a clarification on this question would be very much appreciated.” To date, there has been no reply by Dr. Abadingo to the Diliman Diary independently confirming the claims of President Roman.

OTHER REGENTS HAVE DIFFERENT ACCOUNTS

Other regents are openly disputing Roman's claims that the BOR met on January 29 and voted to disqualify the Student Regent before four regents walked out resulting in a lack of a quorum. These regents were: Faculty Regent, U.P. Professor Judy M. Taguiwalo, Staff Regent Clolualdo E. Cabrera, Alumni Regent Alfredo E. Pascual, and Student Regent Bañez.

According to Staff Regent Cabrera in a February 12, 2010 email sent to Dr. Cabellon, the BOR never voted to disqualify Bañez: “Gud am! Bago ako lumabas ng BOR room natitiyak ko na walang naganap na botohan para idisqualify ang student regent sa nakaraang Jan. 29, BOR meeting.”

A more detailed account of what happened was given by Faculty Regent Judy M. Taguiwalo on January 31, 2010:

“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 Bañez 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.”

“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. Bañez tried to register for the second semester but (sic) was only on November 17, 2009 that she tried to register…… “

“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, 2010 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.”

THE UNIVERSITY STUDENT COUNCIL OF U.P. DILIMAN ISSUES A STATEMENT

The University Student Council of U.P. Diliman said in a February 5 statement that, “Currently, even President Roman and the Malacanang appointees in the BOR have their own interests in making the SR position vacant. They have currently cited the ratified CRSRS to discredit our SR (Student Regent), but we must not forget that nine months ago, they had explicitly violated the same document when they kept our SR from representing us in the Board for two months. They have proven to us that they can implement the rules when it suits them; they disregard the same rules when it is in conflict with their interests.”

“Their interests lies in the Directorship of the Philippine General Hospital and the micro-privatization of PGH. The PGH Directorship became a highly-contested position during the BOR vote-casting last December 2009, such that some members of the BOR who lost in the vote tried to move to rescind and invalidate the decision to appoint Dr. Jose Gonzales as the new PGH Director, in order to field their own bet. Pres. Roman even issued a memorandum in January to hold the oath-taking of Dr. Gonzales but was defeated by the mass movement in UP Manila. Now, despite the decision of the BOR to permit our SR to participate and vote in the December BOR meeting, they are now moving to invalidate all BOR decisions since November where our SR have participated, including the votation for the PGH Directorship.”

“The ill motives are clearly laid down in front of us. We shall be disenfranchised of our right to representation as Ms. Bañez is attacked and discredited just so the few can secure their interests in the BOR. This move from the administration to discredit our SR is a curtailment of our right to genuine representation as they are aware that Ms. Bañez does not have a successor and that the GASC (General Assembly of Student Councils) shall not convene until April 2010 to select a new SR.”

“They have proven once again, that for the powers that be led by Pres. Roman and the Malacañang bloc, self-interest gains more weight than our fundamental right to be represented. They have committed a grave disrespect not only to Ms. Banez and the institution she represents, but as well as to the University that expects a transparent and democratic governance from its administration.”

OTHER U.P. OFFICIALS AFFECTED BY BOR FALLOUT

Other issues affected by a successful removal of Bañez that could potentially result in a hung jury, according to Faculty Regent Judy M. Taguiwalo are the selection of a new Chancellor for U.P. Mindanao and the appeal to the BOR by U.P. Diliman Sociology Professor Sarah Raymundo for tenure after her appeal was previously turned down by President Roman and U.P. Diliman Chancellor Sergio Cao.

U.P. ADMINISTRATION CITES CONDITIONS FOR STUDENT REGENT SLOT VACANCY BUT DOES NOT CLEARLY ESTABLISH INCAPACITY

On February 4, 2010 the U.P. administration said in the U.P. website with a headline entitled, “Further clarifications on the issue of the Student Regent and other matters” that Bañez was not qualified to sit as Student Regent:

“There is no irregularity involved here. Regent Sarmiento had indicated his intention to file the protest as early as December. The protest was included in the agenda of the January 29 meeting. This Agenda was unanimously approved by the Board. It therefore came as a surprise to the rest of the Board when some regents chose to leave the meeting when the protest was being taken up, resulting in the absence of a quorum.”

“… As of 29 January 2010, Ms. Bañez has not enrolled for residency and is not on leave of absence. She is not a bona fide student of the University, as defined by the CRSRC, and thus not qualified to sit as Student Regent, an Office whose occupant, under the UP Charter, must come from the ranks of the students.”

U.P.’s website said that in 2009, the students overwhelmingly ratified the Codified Rules for Student Regent Selection (CRSRS) through a referendum called for the purpose.

Article I, section 6 of the CRSRS defines a bona fide student as one who is “taking up academic units for bachelor’s degree, masters’ degree, doctorate degree, non-degree (sic), or certificate courses in the university, including those who are on residency status or on leave of absence (LOA).” Article III, section 1 provides, as part of the qualifications to be nominated, current enrollment at the time of his/her nomination. Article IX, section 7 provides for grounds to consider the position of SR-elect or the incumbent SR vacant, to wit:

• permanent disqualification from the university;
• incapacity to enroll or file an LOA the following semester (underscoring supplied by the U.P. website
• death, illness or any other cause which prevents him/her from discharging functions

But clearly, Bañez has not been permanently disqualified from the University which is a specific act known as “dropping a student from the rolls,” and requires the Secretary of a student’s college to undertaken the necessary action. If this had already occurred, then U.P. would have cited this as one of the conditions currently existing in the case of Bañez in order for the position of Student Regent to be declared vacant.

Additionally, the mere fact that Bañez showed up for the January 29, 2010 BOR meeting and had the necessary energy to participate in a “principled walkout,” along with other Regents showed that she was neither conclusively dead nor so grossly ill such that she was not able to discharge her functions as a BOR member.

The bone of contention rests on the second condition being cited by the U.P. administration which says that Bañez’s “incapacity to enroll or file an LOA the following semester” necessarily leads to her disqualification. However the burden of proof rests on the U.P. administration through U.P.’s Legal Office to show that the condition of “incapacity” existed in the case of Bañez. One well-known online dictionary defines the legal term of incapacity as "the quality or state of being incapable; especially: lack of physical or intellectual power or of natural or legal qualifications (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/incapacity). Additionally, while the CRSRS requires that a student be currently enrolled at the time of nomination, it is not clear about what the Student Regent's status must be during the entire term of the Student Regent's incumbency. This is a grey area leading to a possible test case.

Moreover the mere fact that Bañez has not been dropped from the rolls of the University which means that she is still a U.P. student nor had any pre-existing mental or physical conditions that would render her unfit to function as a regent highlights the challenge that U.P.'s legal department faces to credibly justify the U.P. administration's policy to remove the Student Regent as a U.P. student and as a regent

Bañez has also filed an application and appeal for Residency and then an LOA, both pending the approval of the UPLB Chancellor Luis Rey Velasco even before the January 29 BOR meeting. Contrary to the claims of the UP administration, Bañez says that she has never withdrew her application for residency.

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Drop by The White Hat in Shangri-la Mall and have your frozen yogurt served by your favorite Blue Eagles.

Part of the proceeds will be donated to AHON (Acts of Hope for the Nation) Foundation to build more libraries for public schools.

Date: Saturday, February 13, 2010

City or Province: NCR - NATIONAL CAPITAL REGION

One Picture is Worth a Thousand Words: U.P. Faculty Regent releases Copy of Roman memo on UP PGH Director

(To enlarge the picture just click on it)

(Source: Faculty Regent Judy Taguiwalo)

By Chanda Shahani

It's now confirmed. Quezon Hall tried to very aggressively reverse the selection by the University of the Philippines (U.P.) Board of Regents (BOR) of Dr. Jose C. Gonzales last December 18, 2009 as the next Executive Director of the Philippine General Hospital (U.P. PGH) by appointing an OIC and justifying the removal of a critical vote in favour of Dr. Gonzales – that of Student Regent Charisse B. Bañez – by claiming that she is neither a U.P. student nor a U.P. Student Regent.

This has elicited a firestorm of protest from several quarters, resulting in a flip-flopping by Quezon Hall on its attempt to appoint an OIC to replace Dr. Gonzales.

The Diliman Diary has just received a copy of Memorandum No. PERR-2010-001, issued by U.P. President Emerlinda R. Roman dated January 5, 2010, appointing Chancellor Ramon L. Arcadio as Officer-in-Charge of PGH (please see picture). This memo was emailed by Faculty Regent Judy M. Taguiwalo to the Diary.

An interpretation of the memo would show that BOR Chairman Eduardo Y. Angeles summersaulted on his tie-breaking vote cast in favour of Dr. Gonzales after the BOR received a December 23, 2009 letter of protest from Regent Abraham Sarmiento questioning Bañez's eligibility to vote as a Regent. Angeles did this by asking Roman to appoint Dr. Arcadio as PGH OIC, as the memo claims.

Adding to this deadly brew are two public statements posted by the U.P. Administration on its website – one on January 29, 2010 and the other on February 4, 2010 which openly challenge the legitimacy of the U.P. Student Regent. Observers question the timing of the public statements as they were both issued before the BOR had a chance to constitute a quorum to decide on the December 18 protest of Regent Abraham Sarmiento questioning Bañez's eligibility to vote as a Regent.

Bañez's vote is being seen as especially critical in the selection of the new Executive Director of PGH, as the term of office of the outgoing Executive Director, Dr. Carmelo Alfiler, expired last December 31, 2009. The BOR voted by a vote of six (6) to five (5) to select Dr. Gonzales

Last January 29, four Regents walked out of a BOR meeting set to discuss the protest of Regent Sarmiento, among other issues. These regents were: Faculty Regent, U.P. Professor Judy M. Taguiwalo, Staff Regent Clolualdo E. Cabrera, Alumni Regent Alfredo E. Pascual, and Student Regent Bañez. The walkout resulted in a lack of quorum, forcing the postponement of the meeting.

Faculty Regent Taguiwalo informed the Diliman Diary in an email that the December 18, 2009 BOR meeting resulted in a unanimous BOR decision to vote for the appointment of U.P. Artists. However, Bañez's vote is seen as being critical in other unresolved issues. “There are a number of pending concerns in the BOR which could go through the division of the house. These include the appointment of a new UP Mindanao Chancellor where there are two nominees including the incumbent and of course the appeal of (U.P. Diliman Sociology) Professor Sarah Raymundo.” Raymundo is appealing to the BOR the decision of President Roman denying her tenure.

The attempt by Quezon Hall to remove Bañez's eligibility to vote has come to symbolize the lack of a voice that U.P. students have in running the university.

An editorial of the Philippine Collegian, the official student newspaper of U.P. Diliman said that “we cannot afford not to have a student representative.”

“The delay in her (Bañez's) residency application notwithstanding, Bañez was democratically selected through a fair and democratic process by the students of the university. She was a student enrolled at the university at the time of her nomination, and has sought to remain so, though UPLB (U.P. Los Baños) has denied her LOA request. Most importantly — though other members of the BOR may not agree — she has a proven “track record reflective of [her] commitment to serve the university.”

“If the only “solution” to the resolution to the problems concerning Bañez’s status as a student is to remove the SR, we reject it. If the BOR refuses to let our representative into its hallowed halls, then we the students will stand at the fringes of the seat of power, outside every BOR meet held without an SR, to assert, defend, and uphold our rights and welfare.”

An Open Letter to the BOR from UP Faculty, Students, REPS and Staff dated January 29, 2010 and entitled “The University in Crisis” said that,

“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.”

If Quezon Hall succeeds in removing Bañez as a voting Regent, then the position effectively remains vacant resulting in a realignment of the vote within the BOR as the Chairman of the BOR, Eduardo Y. Angeles, only votes in order to break a tie in a vote. If Bañez is removed, then the number of votes in favour of former PGH Executive Director Alfiler are five (5) and the votes for Executive Director Gonzales are four, considering that Chairman Angeles would only vote in the event of a tie, which would no longer be present.

The memo of President Roman states that the issuance of the appointment of Dr. Gonzales has been held in abeyance. This, however is belied by the facts on the ground. By all indications, Dr. Gonzales remains as U.P. PGH Executive Director – for now.

Despite the memo of President Roman, the website of the U.P. administration (http://www.up.edu.ph/) came out with a special feature on February 6, 2010 and entitled, “Normal Operations as Usual at PGH, says UP Manila Chancellor.” The feature said that:

“The Philippine General Hospital (PGH) is conducting normal operations, contrary to a GMANews.TV online report stating that the directorship row is paralyzing the country’s biggest government tertiary hospital. PGH is a unit under the general supervision of UP Manila.”

“UP Manila Chancellor Ramon Arcadio clarified that new PGH Director Jose Gonzales has been given a full appointment with a term that started January 1, 2010 to end on December 31, 2012. On January 7, Gonzales took his oath before Chancellor Arcadio in the presence of the UP Faculty and Staff Regents, UP Manila officials, and members of the All UP Workers Union. Prior to this oath taking, Gonzales was sworn in by UP Board of Regents Chair Emmanuel Angeles on December 21, 2009.”

“Gonzales was also informed by the Secretary of the University and the Board of Regents (BOR) that on Dec. 23, 2009, a Regent filed a letter of protest in connection with the selection of the PGH Director. This issue will be subsequently resolved by the BOR.”

“Since assuming his post, the new PGH director is fulfilling his regular duties. He nominated the hospital’s deputy directors whose appointments were approved by Chancellor Arcadio. They are Dr. Charlotte Chiong for Health Operations, Dr. Reynaldo Ang for Administration, Dr. Virgilio Novero for Fiscal Services, and Ms. Rita Tamse for Nursing Operations.”

“The process of appointing the chairs of the hospital’s 14 clinical departments is ongoing. Gonzales and UP College of Medicine Dean Alberto Roxas started interviewing nominees February 3. The new department chairs are expected to be appointed shortly.”

“Gonzales has also been attending usual activities at the university and the hospital, such as flag ceremonies, meetings, receiving visitors and gracing other events.”

“Every three years when a new director takes over, a transition period takes place when an outgoing director gives way to the incoming one. This is normal in any institution with or without a controversy,” the chancellor explained. “This is also the time when the new members of the executive team are appointed in preparation for a planning seminar to chart the institution’s thrusts and directions,” he added.

The chancellor also stated that, contrary to reports, patient services in all units of the hospital were never halted as a result of the controversy over the directorship.”

Dr. Gonzales is a renowned thoracic and cardiovascular surgeon and was the former Chair of the PGH Department of Surgery in 2001-2004. He is a member of the UP College of Medicine Alumni Class of 1972. He was former Director of the Regionalization Program of the UP College of Medicine.

The Empire Strikes Back: The U.P. Administration Breaks its Recent Silence on the Issue of the Student Regent

                    Darth Vader: “You Don’t Know the Power of the Dark Side!”

                               From: Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

Editor's Note:

In line with its policy of balanced coverage, the Diliman Diary is posting below the official and unedited statement of the University of the Philippines (U.P.) Administration with respect to the issue of the Student Regent Charisse B. Bañez as posted on its website at http://www.up.edu.ph/ on February 4, 2010. We have given equal coverage to the proponents of the eligibility of Student Regent Bañez to vote in earlier posts.

We do so, because our readers would require nothing less and would want nothing but access to as much information as possible before making up their minds on this burning issue which has consequences on other issues that are up for decision by the U.P. Board of Regents.  Thus the single question of the eligibility of Student Regent Bañez to vote in the last BOR meeting dated December 18, 2009 and subsequent BOR meetings thereafter will have a large impact in view of the fact that the potential elimination of Bañez's eligibility to vote effectively amounts to a hung jury in the selection and thus appointment of Dr. Jose C. Gonzales as Executive Director of U.P. PGH.

Considering that six (6) Regents including Bañez voted for the selection of Dr. Gonzales, and five (5) Regents voted for outgoing PGH Executive Director Dr. Carmelo Alfiler, then if Bañez's elimination is sustained upon appeal and beyond the U.P. Executive Department's mere say-so, then the vote is now 5-5 and the conditions exist for Quezon Hall to unilaterally appoint another individual who did not necessarily win the original vote.

However, questions have been raised that if Bañez would be eliminated as a voting member of the BOR; would this not also invalidate the appointment of 27 individuals who were recommended for the rank of U.P. Artist as approved by the BOR on December 18, 2009? The answer to this rests on how many Regents voted in favour of the U.P. Artists and this needs clarification. Another issue that remains unresolved with the existence of what effectively amounts to a hung jury within the BOR is the pending appeal of U.P. Diliman Department of Sociology Sarah Raymundo to the BOR for tenure after this appeal was denied by U.P. President Emerlinda Roman and U.P. Diliman Chancellor Sergio Cao.

The Diliman Diary will continue to provide updates to this story as it continues to develop.

FEBRUARY 4, 2010 STATEMENT:


FURTHER CLARIFICATIONS ON THE ISSUE OF THE STUDENT REGENT AND RELATED MATTERS


Thursday, February 4, 2010

The Student Regent and the Issue of Due Process

A question has been raised to the effect that the Student Regent was deprived of due process when the issue of her qualification to continue as Student Regent was taken up by the Board of Regents in its December 18, 2009 meeting.

During this meeting the BOR Chair asked Ms. Charisse Bañez whether she was enrolled for the second semester 2009-2010. She replied that she wasn’t. She was then asked why she had not enrolled, and she replied that she was in Manila at the time and could not go to UP Los Baños because of her tight schedule.

This meeting took place a month after the deadline for late registration in UP Los Baños (November 17). Clearly therefore, Ms. Bañez was neither enrolled nor on leave of absence during the meeting. These two grounds (plus “permanent disqualification from the University”) constitute the bases for considering the position of Student Regent vacant.

Because she was neither enrolled nor on leave, Ms. Bañez ceased to be a UP student, and therefore ceased to be Student Regent.

There is a precedent for the disqualification of a UP Student Regent. In its 1134th meeting on August 26, 1999, the Board of Regents decided that since Mr. Ferdinand Zafranco had been deemed permanently disqualified from UP for failing all his academic subjects, he ceased to be the Student Regent. He was replaced by Mr. Dennis Longid.


The Protest Filed by Regent Abraham Sarmiento

The protest filed by Regent Abraham Sarmiento has been described as “irregular” because it involves the nullification of the decisions made by the BOR on December 18, including the appointment of the PGH Director.

Before the adjournment of the December 18 meeting, Regent Sarmiento said that he was going to protest the appointment of the PGH Director. It was clear then that the basis for his protest was the Student Regent’s having voted on the matter when in fact she was no longer qualified to be Student Regent.

It has been argued that the Board of Regents decided on her fate when the motion for her to sit as observer was defeated. It is precisely this which is the “prayer” of Regent Sarmiento’s protest letter. This letter reads partially thus:

“I pray accordingly that:

The protest be hereby given due course, and the election of Dr. Jose G. 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 Bañez, was allowed to vote for Dr. Gonzalez giving him winning margin.

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

There is no irregularity involved here. Regent Sarmiento had indicated his intention to file the protest as early as December. The protest was included in the agenda of the January 29 meeting (III, A). This Agenda was unanimously approved by the Board. It therefore came as a surprise to the rest of the Board when some regents chose to leave the meeting when the protest was being taken up, resulting in the absence of a quorum.

U.P. Fair 2010 Schedule of Events

                    (Artwork by: Rodel Tinio)

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Resisit Temptation Please! UP Fair 2010

Type: Music/Arts - Concert

Start Time: Thursday, February 11, 2010 at 7:00pm

End Time: Friday, February 12, 2010 at 3:00am

Location: Sunken Garden, University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City

February 11 lineup:

Parokya ni Edgar, Kamikazee, Franco, Moonstar88, 6 Cycle Mind, Pedicab, Imago, Callalily, Sugarfree, Alamid, Itchyworms, Ciudad, De Lara, Silent Sanctuary, Hilera, Stonefree, Spongecola, Blue Boy Bites Back

Tickets at P90.

RAKESTRA UPFAIR 2010

harmony amidst chaos

Type: Music/Arts - Concert

Start Time: Friday, February 12, 2010 at 7:00pm

End Time: Saturday, February 13, 2010 at 3:00am

Location: Sunken Garden, UP Diliman, Quezon City

February 12 lineup:

Silent Sanctuary and Sugarfree with the Manila Symphony Orchestra, Kamikazee, Typecast, Sponge Cola, Valley of Chrome, Imago, 6cyclemind, Slapshock, Mayonnaise, Moonstar88, Itchyworms, Pedicab, Giniling Festival, Chicosci, Hilera, Franco, Soapdish, April Morning Skies, Imbue No Kudos, Boy Elroy, Syato, Bloodshed, Sin, Blueketchup, Cog, Protein Shake

Event: YOUTHSTOCK UP Fair 2010

"rock, roll, rights!"

Start Time: Saturday, February 13 at 7:00pm

End Time: Sunday, February 14 at 3:00am

Where: Sunken Garden, UP Diliman, Quezon City

February 13 lineup:

Sandwich, Gloc9, 6cyclemind, Chicosci, Pedicab, Imago, Itchyworms, Soapdish

Tickets at P80.

3 stars an a SUNday UP fair 2010

LR4 on 214

Type: Music/Arts - Concert

Network: Global

Start Time: Sunday, February 14, 2010 at 7:00pm

End Time: Monday, February 15, 2010 at 3:00am

Location: Sunken Garden, UP Diliman, Quezon City

February 14 lineup:

Rico Blanco, Sugarfree, Sandwich, 6cyclemind, Imago, Itchyworms, Callalily, Silent Sanctuary, DeLara, Paraluman, Pedicab, Blue Ketchup, Soapdish, Markus Highway, Ciudad, Aurora, Tanya, Ernville, Up Dharma Down, Chicosci, Kjwan, Giniling Festival, Moonstar88, Zelle, Stonefree, Top Junk, Brownman Revival, Rocksteddy

Ticket price: Not available

February 2010 Events at the U.P. College of Music

For more information on other Events in the Diliman area and beyond, please check our February, 2010 Calendar of Events. To submit an Event, please email particulars to: dilimandiary@yahoo.com Attention: The Editor

February 2, 2010 - UP Faculty Regent Asked to Resign as Union Officer, Conflict of Interest or Anti-Unionism? - Bulatlat

UP Faculty Regent Asked to Resign as Union Officer, Conflict of Interest or Anti-Unionism? - Bulatlat

(Artwork by: Rodel Tinio. This article is syndicated with permission from its creators. To read the article, please click on the link above).

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)


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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.

A Review of a Chamber Theatre Production of "The Yellow Shawl" and "May Day Eve"

By Mar Anthony Simon dela Cruz

The theatre production of the late National Artist for Literature Francisco Arcellana’s “The Yellow Shawl” and the late National Artist for Literature Nick Joaquin’s “May Day Eve,” presented by the Department of Speech Communication and Theatre Arts (DSCTA) of the University of the Philippines at Diliman, uses the theatre chamber approach to staging a play.

Dr. Belen Calinciogan, the director and also the DSCTA Chairperson, explains, “Chamber Theatre uses the prose (short story and novel) as it is written to show us and to tell us: It uses the narrative form while it borrows from the dramatic form…In a chamber theatre production, these “lines” would be spoken as direct address by the persons acting out the roles. Dramatic elements in the form of inner monologues are spoken by the character as reflective thoughts.”

Tragedy is the theme of the two classic short stories, arguably the best of their times. In “The Yellow Shawl,” the protagonists are haunted by the past and fragmented by the present. It is a three-part story. In the first part, the man (Nico Paolo Arguelles) describes the apartment and his anxiety while waiting for the girl (Danica Paola Romero): a bare vestibule, a tall wall mirror, the deafening silence, and the sound of approaching cars that makes him sit up from the bed every time he hears it. This is a man frustrated in love.

The girl arrives and picks up the narrative in the second part. Here the scene begins to show the gravity of the situation as the man pleads, “I can't get you out of my heart any more: I can't unlove you,” and the girl keeps seeing “the reflection of the shawl spread like a wing above him.” The third part, the story of the yellow shawl, takes back the audience to the girl’s painful past.

Arguelles’ performance was decent at best. While he gave a good portrayal of the male character, he lacked the man’s frustrations and agony in the first part and the intensity and desperation in the second part. Some narration and dialogues were also inaudible. Romero clearly outshone her partner. From the awkward smile when she entered the stage to the pain in her voice to the moment when she broke down, she was portraying a broken woman.

The narrative-dialogue transition was almost seamless, as if spectators were reading Arcellana’s original text. The play succeeded in representing the illusion of actuality, a major objective of the chamber theatre. Particularly impressive is the narrative-movement interaction in the scene where the woman “sees him place the bag on top of a wall table beside the doorway and then raise his arms and very carefully drape the shawl so it wouldn't rumple…”

The stage design was minimalistic and appropriate to the tone and atmosphere of the story. The design team used a framed crumpled opaque material in place of a real mirror. This worked in highlighting a crumbling relationship. The director also used the film by Mirana Medina to present the third part of the story, a clever stylistic device to show the woman’s past.

”May Day Eve” follows the folkloric tradition of Joaquin’s work. It centers on the superstition that one may see his or her future spouse by reciting an incantation infront of a mirror in a dark room while holding a candle. Agueda (Therese de Silva) tries it and sees Badoy (Gary Torres), her future husband. Years later, she tells her daughter she saw the devil that night. And years later, old Badoy tells his grandson he saw the witch that night. This implies a marriage gone wrong. Again, the tragedy is the frustration in love. Agueda and Badoy’s marriage is doomed from the beginning, and calling each other a devil and a witch only shows how they detest each other.

De Silva successfully channeled a bold and liberated girl ahead of her time, while Torres delivered a strong and empathic performance as Badoy. Professor Emeritus Leticia Tison stole the scene as the old Anastacia. Lance Jericho Reblando and Althea Dulcinea Flores both gave a charming performance as the little boy and the little girl, respectively.

A reading Joaquin’s short story may lose a reader somewhat; since its plot is somewhat difficult to follow, but Calingacion made it easier for the audience to grasp the story by making a smooth transition from one scene to another (borrowing the fade in-fade out film technique). The costumes provided an authentic late 1800s atmosphere and every props had a life of its own (the mirror, the candle, the poster-bed, the chair).

On the downside, some of the narrators were not able to deliver a stirring narration. They lacked the snap to complement the energy of the scene. Some were hesitant, looking at each other, as if afraid they would not deliver the lines perfectly in chorus. As one spectator commented to the Diliman Diary, “Parang high school.” The opening scene was also rather weak. The team could have used lively music to go with the dancing. After all, the young women in the story are enjoying the company of men who are “simply bursting with wild spirits, merriment, arrogance and audacity…”

Despite the flaws, the chamber theatre adaptations of “The Yellow Shawl” and “May Day Eve” is a commendable initiative, adding a whole new dimension and experience in reading great stories by Filipino writers.

“The Yellow Shawl” and “May Day Eve” were staged by Speech 124 (Introduction to Chamber Theater) students on January 28 and 29, 6 p.m., and January 30, 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. at the Teatro Hermogenes Ylagan, Bulwagang Rizal, UP Diliman. It was in celebration of DSCTA’s 50th anniversary.

(Mar Anthony Simon de la Cruz is a freelance writer who writes for the Diliman Diary. He is currently based in Diliman, Quezon City).