N.B. – This was published in Asian Correspondent (August 31, 7:40 p.m.) where I write a column (Philippine Fantasy).
Eleven nominees are running for president of the Philippines’ national university. The six-year term of the current UP President, Dr. Emerlinda Roman, will end on February 9, 2011.
The Board of Regents (BOR), at its meeting last August 27, accepted the nominations of 11 candidates. The short announcement was uploaded the day after (August 28) in the university’s website. The nominees are the following:
- Alaras, Consolacion R.
- Azanza, Patrick Alain T.
- Briones, Leonor M.
- Cabral, Esperanza I.
- Cao, Sergio S.
- Diokno, Benjamin E.
- Diokno Ma. Serena I.
- Pangalangan, Raul C.
- Pascual, Alfredo E.
- Teodosio, Virginia S.
- Velasco, Luis Rey I.
Among the 11 nominees, many Filipinos (especially those who are not connected with UP) may be more familiar with Briones, Cabral and Benjamin Diokno as they held Cabinet positions under past Philippine presidents. Students, professors and alumni of UP, however, may also know the candidates who served or continue to serve as professors – Alaras, Azanza, Serena Diokno, Pangalangan and Teodosio. Two candidates are currently chancellors of the biggest campuses of UP – Cao (UP Diliman) and Velasco (UP Los Baños). According to his LinkedIn account, Pascual is currently president of the UP Alumni Association and is therefore a member of the BOR representing the alumni.
Analyzing their credentials, all candidates clearly excel in their chosen fields (e.g., language, business, finance, economics, human resource management, labor, law, history, entomology, medicine). They are apparently respected by their peers. As high-ranking officials of UP, however, Cao and Velasco have a proven track record in management and can claim to have deeper working knowledge of UP. The same may also be true for Serena Diokno who once served as vice president of UP.
Much as one is tempted to scrutinize their track records (within and outside UP) this early, it may be prudent to suspend judgment and wait for them to present their vision statements.
Based on UP’s timetable, the nominees’ fora where they are expected to present their vision statements and to answer questions from the UP community will be held from September to October in the different constituent units (Diliman, Manila, Los Baños, Baguio, Visayas, Mindanao and Open University). A forum to be done via video-conferencing, for example, is scheduled at UP Diliman on September 24.
The presentation before the BOR and the interview with BOR members are scheduled on November 8. The BOR will then meet on November 26 to elect the next UP President on or before December 3. Update (September 1, 3:50 p.m.): UP released an updated schedule.
The UP BOR has 11 members. Commission on Higher Education (CHED) chair Patricia Licuanan currently serves as the chair of the UP BOR, with UP President Roman as co-chairperson. The members are Sen. Edgardo Angara (chair, Senate Committee on Education, Arts and Culture), Rep. Juan Edgardo Angara (chair, House Committee on Higher Education), Alfredo Pascual (president, UP Alumni Association), Judy Taguiwalo (faculty regent), Clodualdo Cabrera (staff regent), Cori Alessa Co (student regent), Abraham Sarmiento, Francis Chua and Nelia Gonzalez. The last three were appointees of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
There is much importance given to the presidency of UP as the latter is the country’s national university. It is widely perceived to be the one of the three best universities in the Philippines (the other two being Ateneo de Manila University and De La Salle University-Manila).