Student councils and organizations from Bulacan State University (BulSu) condemned Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) chair Prospero de Vera III for publicly endorsing candidates from the Uniteam slate during a voters’ education forum.
In the seventh episode of “PILIPinaSkolar Halalan 2022,” a platform co-organized by CHEd, De Vera released a poster of the Uniteam candidates, particularly the Marcos-Duterte tandem and seven other senatorial candidates he was supporting.
As of press time, the Facebook page of PILIPinaSkolar Halalan 2022 was no longer accessible.
“There is no place for administrators of the education sector—more importantly in higher education—to convey support for candidates with a record of violence and greed, as well as those who violated human rights and forcibly revise history,” the BulSu student government said in a statement on Saturday.
In a memorandum dated March 18, De Vera endorsed the initiative to CHEd’s central and regional directors, and presidents and heads of public and private higher education institutions.
“Our mission is to encourage youth to exercise the right to suffrage, expose disinterested information of the aspirants … and aid in the decision-making of the youth to pick the best choice from the variety of contenders,” De Vera said.
Based on a screenshot of the forum posted by a netizen, De Vera was shown speaking in the forum with more than 1,000 viewers, side by side a poster endorsing Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte. INQ
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