PNU students, faculty want new president appointed

Wednesday, June 05, 2006

By Jonathan M. Hicap, Reporter

STUDENTS and faculty of the Philippine Normal University held a vigil outside the campus on Tuesday to protest the election of former governor Lutgardo Barbo of Eastern Samar as the new university president.
In a manifesto, the Kabataan para sa Sambayanan at Mag-aaral (Kasama), a coalition of student organizations, said the board of regents made a mistake in its selection process.
Joyce Caubat, Kasama convener, said that based on the information the group got, Barbo ranked fifth among the nominees. Other candidates for the presidency were Dr. Esther Ogena, Dr. Twila Punsalan, Dr. Rosa Maria Llanes and Dr. Carolina Danao.
Caubat said of the final three candidates, only Ogena, Punsalan and Llanes qualified.
The Manila Times called the office of Barbo at the university, the country’s top school for teachers, but staff employee Vic Gainsan said he was in Bulacan for an official event.
“Since the [selection] process is the main problem, it is clear that the main concern and the source of dismay of the students is not the personalities involved but the undemocratic process itself,” the school group said in a press statement.
The school faculty has already submitted a report to the board of regents, which is expected to announce a decision on Wednesday.
Kasama said the “screening committee must reevaluate its standards, set a better, and scientifically correct methods in computing data and ranking of the aspiring candidates.”