College tosses ‘photo grabber’ case to UP chancellor

Mark Joseph Solis—the 22-year-old University of the Philippines (UP) student who earlier confessed to passing off another man’s photograph as his own after it won in a contest—has earned a brief reprieve.

This was after the committee looking into his case decided to elevate the matter to a high-ranking university official.

UP National College of Public Administration and Governance (NCPAG) dean Dr. Ma. Fe Mendoza said in an interview Thursday that the three-man fact-finding body had recommended that the case be brought before UP Diliman chancellor Dr. Caesar Saloma for appropriate action.

Mendoza said the UP-NCPAG committee had noted that there were issues on student conduct and discipline “which the college may not be in the best position to resolve alone.”

“It is in this light that I am elevating the matter to your level for your more competent resolution. The college will still help, just let us know how,” she said in a letter to Saloma.

7 contests

The 16-page committee report cited at least seven contests Solis joined from 2010 to 2012 in which he submitted photos taken by other people.

One of the competitions he entered last year when he was still taking up political science at UP was sponsored by a student organization based at the College of Mass Communication. Solis is now taking up his master’s degree in public administration at NCPAG.

According to Mendoza, the chancellor may convene a student disciplinary tribunal to try the 22-year-old student, refer the case back to the UP-NCPAG or elevate it to the UP Board of Regents.

Mendoza, meanwhile, told the Inquirer that Solis visited her last Friday to ask for her advice.

She said she told him not to hide and to face the music. “He should accept the sanction, whatever it may be, and reform. It is only through that that he can redeem himself,” she added.

Profs’ advice: Lie low

His professors also advised him to “lie low” for a while, presumably to prevent any more damage after he was soundly drubbed in the social media last month. This was after it was revealed that the photo he had submitted which was declared the winner in the Chilean Embassy’s “Smiles for the World” contest was not his but that of Gregory John Smith.

Solis was later stripped of the award, which went to Bacolod City businessman Medardo Marquez.

The controversy prompted Mendoza to form the fact-finding committee, which noted that since Solis has yet to pay his tuition for this semester, “NCPAG will have to address whether he will be given grades for his courses.”

“The NCPAG will also have to decide on the status of Mr. Solis, whether  he is still eligible to continue with his graduate studies at the NCPAG and be allowed to register in the future,” according to the report which was submitted earlier this week to Mendoza.—Julie M. Aurelio