Students of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines in Sta. Mesa, Manila, on Wednesday staged a protest denouncing the decision of the Board of Regents appointing Edicio de la Torre as officer in charge to temporarily replace former university president Dante Guevarra.
Led by PUP student regent Rommel Aguilar, around 50 students rallied in front of the university and condemned the board resolution on July 4 appointing De la Torre, while pushing for the extension of Guevarra’s administration.
Aguilar said De la Torre’s appointment meant overlooking other qualified members of the academe who know the culture and the system within the state university better.
He lamented that during the deliberation of the evaluation committee on Monday, Guevarra rated way below outstanding despite his good performance, which resulted in the appointment of De la Torre.
Aguilar added that the Board of Regents also failed to include a student representative in its search committee to choose those who are qualified to be the next president.
According to him, Board of Regents chairperson Patricia Licuanan said De la Torre’s appointment only meant reform in the system. She, however, failed to elaborate, Aguilar said.
On July 5, Judge Amor Reyes, of the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 21, issued a temporary restraining order stopping De la Torre’s appointment, while keeping Guevarra in his post.
Some members of the PUP faculty have questioned what they said was the lack of transparency on the part of the Board of Regents in the appointment of the next administrator. They said that there was no clear set of criteria that would serve as the basis of the appointment.
“The right people were not given the chance to ‘paint the correct picture’ during the time of Dr. Guevarra,” Amalia Rosales, dean of the PUP Graduate School, said in an interview with the Inquirer.
Despite the meager budget of the state university, Rosales said that Guevarra was able to turn things around and make improvements possible. And the fact that Guevarra was not given any explanation why he failed during the deliberation was something disputable.