Accents
On the UP presidency
Columnist Randy David wrote in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Nov. 14, on the knotty, now circuitous, now delicate process in the selection of the next UP president. Says he: “A UP president who intends to govern effectively has to earn the respect of this highly contentious community.” Very well said. And offhand, may I say that Prof. Randy David, whether a nominee or not to the position, is himself a presidential timber of worth to head the University of the Philippines, the UP that others aptly call the University of the People, the institution that is being supported by your taxes and mine.
The next president will succeed Prof. Emerlinda Roman, the first woman to assume the UP presidency in 2005 and who will have completed her term middle of 2011. To show the scope and magnitude in the selection process, I wrote a column, Lunch with the “presidentiables” that was printed in the now defunct Visayas Examiner. That was in 1999 when Dr. Francisco Nemenzo Jr. bested seven other aspirants to the position. Read on:
Lunch with the ‘presidentiables’
It was an intimidating presence. The I.Q. per square inch in that small air-con room adjacent to the UPV cafeteria in its Iloilo City campus could shame Congress and Malacanang – at least on the table occupied by the eight nominees to the UP presidency. Call them the country’s intellectual giants and the appellation would fit to a T. In alphabetical order, as seated in the dialogue cum public forum last June 17 at the UPV auditorium, they were: Dr. Manuel Alba, Dr. Ledivina Cariño, Dr. Amador Muriel, Dr. Francisco Nemenzo, Dr. Nestor Nisperos, former Sen. Leticia Ramos-Shahani, Dr. Gerardo Sicat, and Dr. Reynaldo Vea. It was a power lunch for a hefty gathering of doctorate degree holders. The former woman senator called attention to her name, preferring her Ph.D. to be recognized rather than her being a senator of which she was a three-termer.
Time was much too limited in both the forum and the luncheon cum press-con that followed. Some of the nominees had to catch their flights for Manila, and there was no way to gauge who among them has the most substantial answer to a question. Best to leave the thorough grilling to the members of UP’s Board of Regents, the ones mandated to elect the UP president. Nevertheless, the dialogue was a good exercise on democratic consultation, the UP being a strong exponent thereof.
Earlier in the open forum, a booming voice questioned the integrity of UPV as to the management of research being undertaken in the Miag-ao campus. It was columnist, Rodolfo “Ompong” Legaspi, who was cut short for being out of order, but not before he had thrown some “brimstones.” Fellow alumna, Kagawad Perla Zulueta, couldn’t help going to the microphone to stop the avalanche of cutting denunciations from law alumnus Ompong. (Among the audience of faculty, alumni, and students, the Kagawad was a stand-out, as “pearly” looking as she was during the grand reunion ten years ago.)
I found the one-on-one before and after the press-con more fruitful for the questions I had in mind. Does the principle of recall apply to the UP President? No such rule, said Dr. Nemenzo. So, if in the first year of administration, the President is found to be incompetent? “Then we will have to suffer,” the former UPV Chancellor replied. “Not if you’re the one chosen?” but there was no chance for this follow-up since many others were vying for his attention.
For a minute, to confirm our guess, we approached Dr. Rey Vea who was indeed the activist we heard so much about. Dr. Vea had survived the years of living dangerously under the Marcos dictatorship. A Philippine Science High School valedictorian, he is an outstanding engineer and the youngest among the nominees.
Dr. Manuel Alba (the “hometown boy,” valedictorian of Iloilo High School, was Manny to us, his classmates in college in some elective subjects) told us to write about the “presidentiables” and the day’s proceedings. That would turn out rather heavy considering the nominees’ sterling qualifications and what each envisions for the country’s premier university.
Suffice it to say that the Board of Regents is confronted with a brilliant list of candidates. They will elect the UP President on June 30 which is a week from now, and if we have to believe political analyst Amando Doronila, it is an election more difficult than choosing the President of the Philippines. Far be it from a predictable changing of the guards. And so as we wait with bated breath, we can only end up with the usual conclusion, “May the best man or woman win!”
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To date, there have been talks that the next UP President could be another woman, and that is Dr. Judy Taguiwalo, 60, who now sits as faculty representative in the present Board of Regents. Dr. Taguiwalo is a professor in UP’s Dept. of Social Work and Community Development. She graduated from the Negros Occidental High School and entered UP at age 15.
Noteworthy to quote Anne Marxze D. Umil in The Courage and Commitment of Judy Taguiwalo, Bulatlat.com, March 16, 2010: “…Judy Taguiwalo is an inspiration to a new generation of Filipino activists, particularly women activists. Her world view is shaped by our nation’s history – a history that not too many Filipinos had the courage to confront nor the opportunity or inclination to take part in. She insists on correcting mistakes and learning from them.”
The UP presidency has been lorded over by the male of the species. Why not another woman president? Especially one with the courage, commitment, and qualifications of Judy Taguiwalo. After Prof. Emerlinda Roman, we harbor high hopes that Dr. Judy Taguiwalo will be the second woman president of UP.*
Email: lagoc@hargray.com
