PNU students walk out of classes

STUDENTS of the Philippine Normal University walked out of their classes and held a noisy protest on Friday after the board of regents reaffirmed the election of Lutgardo Barbo as the new uni­versity president.
At a special meeting, the board upheld its decision on June 24 to appoint Barbo as president with a term of four years.
The minutes of the meeting, which contained the decision, was signed by Nenalyn Defensor, chairman of the board and commissioner of the Commission on Higher Education.
Faculty members and candidates for the office Dr. Ester Ogena and Dr. Twila Punsalan submitted documents to the board to show that the formula used by the selection committee to come up with the “final ranking of the candidates deviated from the generally accepted principles of statistics.”
Dr. Minda Sutaria, chairman of the selection committee, was invited to shed light on the matter while the board maintained that the formula used by the committee was “credible.”
The board said Barbo met the qualifications set by the Civil Service Commission and that his being a lawyer, based on a CHED resolution, is equivalent to having a master’s degree.
The board said Barbo has managerial and administrative experience, having served as provincial governor of Eastern Samar for three terms and chairman of the provincial school board. --Jonathan Hicap

RP ranks third in Canadian math tilt

By Jonathan M. Hicap, Reporter

THE Philippines has placed third among 20 international teams that participated in the 2006 Euclid Contest of the Canadian Mathematics Competition, an international correspondence examination.
The team of the Mathematics Trainers’ Guild-Philippines scored 263 points, the second highest among Asian countries that included China, Hong Kong and Singapore.
First place went to the Indus Center for Academic Excellence of Troy, Michigan, with a score of 278, and second place to Taylor’s College of Selangor, Malaysia, with 269 points.
Abegail Ceralde of the Zamboanga Chong Hua High School got the highest score among the members of the Philippine team, placing her in the 89-98 point bracket.
Those who scored between 86 and 88 points were Emmanuel Lance Christopher Plan of the Ateneo de Manila High School, Darren Mendel Sy of Chiang Kai Shek College and Raymond Tan of the Jubilee Christian Academy.
Ramon Inigo Marfil of the Philippine Science High School and Bonvin Nuqui of Philippine Cultural High School got scores between 80 and 85.
Those who scored between 76 and 79 points were Alvin Belleza of Ateneo de Manila High School, Calvin Bernard Lim of St. Stephen’s High School, Luke Wicent Sy of Hope Christian High School, Mark Benedict Tan of Xavier School, Joanna Jane Tan of Jubilee Christian Academy, Daniel Andrew Tan of Grace Christian High School, Virgil Gabriel Garcia of Philippine Science High School-Main;
Nellie Margaret Chua of Chiang Kai Shek College, Jeremy Alvin Chua Yap of Jubilee Christian Academy, Jonathan Aldric Chua of St. Jude Catholic School, Davin Carlos Choi of Chiang Kai Shek College, Aileen Gail Versoza of San Beda College-Alabang, Miguel Isidro Carino of Ateneo de Manila High School, Augustine Elmar Tejada of Ateneo de Manila High School, Chiara Rosario Lanuza of the Philippine Science High School-Main, John Mark Egida of Philippine Science High School-Main, Andrew Vincent Yap of Xavier School, Anna Patricia Miravite of Philippine Science High School-Main and Ezra Jed Mabenta of Bohol Wisdom School.
Dr. Simon Chua, MTG-Philippines president, said the Philippines will send more teams to international math competitions in the coming weeks. Chua was the first Filipino to receive the Paul Erdos Award, an international award for mathematics.
Link: Manila Times and ABS-CBN News Online

31 PNU officials resign over issue of presidency

THIRTY-ONE officials and faculty heads of the Philippine Normal University, including a vice president and three deans, resigned from their on Thursday to protest the inaction of the board of regents over petitions to replace the new university president.
“Hindi na kami umaasa na magbabago ng desisyon ang BOR [We no longer see the BOR changing its decision],” said Maria Lourdes Santiago-Agustin, prefect of discipline of the PNU Center for Teaching and Learning.
The school heads submitted their resignation on Thursday to the board, a copy of which was obtained by The Manila Times.
The faculty said the board “failed to see the merit of our case.”
The resignation was promp­ted by the appointment of the lawyer Lutgardo Barbo as PNU president. The faculty and students alleged that the selection was tainted with “political influence.”
They claimed that Barbo was not in the list of top three candidates submitted by the selection committee to the board.
A staff at the PNU president’s office told The Manila Times on Thursday that Barbo was in Bulacan for an official function.
Among those who resigned were Dr. Estefania de Guzman, vice president for academics; Dr. Adelaida Gines, dean of the College of Arts and Social Sciences; Dr. Evangeline Golla, dean of the College of Science; and Dr. Paquito Badayos, dean of the College of Languages, Linguistics and Literature.
Dr. Twila Punsalan, director of the Center for Continuing Education and Educational Leadership, one of the five candidates for the presidency, also resigned. The other candidates for the presidency were Dr. Ester Ogena, Dr. Rosa Maria Llanes and Dr. Carolina Danao.
“It is equally unfortunate that the [PNU] presidency is met by issues of legitimacy, credibility and politics. But we cannot be faulted if we remain unwavering in our position that the entire search process is tainted with abnormality,” the faculty members said in their letter.
Others who resigned were Rebecca Espana, university registrar; Dr. Lolita Nava of the Center for Research and Development; Guillermo Roman, director of the University Press; principal Benilda Santos, department heads, center heads and coordinators.--Jonathan Hicap

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.”

Book board exec answers raps

Saturday, July 01, 2006

By Jonathan Hicap, Reporter

AN official of the National Book Development Board said the unsettled cash advances amounting to P325,­930.45 were made by former members. He said the pre­sent members have no unsettled cash advances.
The unliquidated cash advances date from the term of the former board members who served in the late 1990s, said Director Wilfredo Castillo of the board secretariat.
In a report issued earlier, the Commission on Audit rebuked the board for profligacy, saying it had spent P370,923.36 for food in meetings, P407,388.96 for prepaid cellular-phone cards, P134,365 for seven air conditioners and P32,990 for a TV set.
In the report the commission noted that the book board failed to take austerity measures, resulting in excessive expenses. For instance, the report added, “the cost of meals for each meeting participant amounted to as much as P603.26, which is excessive.”
Castillo denied the charge. The board’s secretariat, he said, has corrected the practice. He added that the present board’s budget for the monthly meeting is only P5,000 for 8 members, one board secretary and 12 members of the secretariat, including the drivers.
The Manila Times tried to get the side of the book board, but Chairman Dennis Gonzalez was not available. He failed to return the call of the reporter writing the story.
In the letter, the board secretary said, Gonzalez “presides over board meetings usually once a month and does not do day-to-day management of the agency.”