Militant groups file criminal case vs CHEd officials

By: Marc Jayson Cayabyab - 11 years ago

CHEd chairperson Patricia Licuanan. PHOTO from ched.gov.ph

MANILA, Philippines – Militant groups filed a criminal case against Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) chairperson Patricia Licuanan and other officials for their alleged “gross neglect of duty” in handling the students’ compaints on tuition fee increases.

In a 59-page complaint affidavit, the groups accused Licuanan, and commissioners Maria Cynthia Rose Bautista, Minella Alarcon, Alex Brillantes Jr., and Ruperto Sanggalang, Executive Director Julito Vitriolo, CHED NCR Regional Director Leonida Calagui, and former CHED NCR Regional Director Catherine Castañeda, for “gross inexcusable incompetence, inefficiency, and negligence.”

The complainants are National Union of Students of the Philippines president Sarah Elago, College Editors Guild of the Philippines president Marc Lino Abila, Anakbayan national president Vencer Crisostomo, League of Filipino Students spokesperson Charlotte Velasco, student James Bryan Deang, and Rise for Education coordinator Vincent Sudaria.

The complainants said they filed complaints before the CHEd to question the proposed tuition fee increases.

“However, more than two months after the complaints have been filed, CHED has not released a final decision on any of the pending petitions, thus violating its own rules on tuition increases while also committing gross incompetence, gross inefficiency, and gross neglect of duty,” the complaint read.

They added that CHEd did not communicate with the petitioners on the status of their complaint.

The complainants also said CHEd released a consolidated report on the approved tuition fee increases for the year 2014 to 2015.

“It is thus evident that CHEd willfully and intentionally concealed such information to student complainants and groups who have arduously sought for such information, so as to bar them from seeking any form of redress or administrative remedy from the commission and let schools facing pending complaints to charge new and higher fees even without the resolving the pending complaints,” the complaint read.

The complaints also said CHEd failed to implement its resolution against the imposition of development fees, or those for school infrastructure and land development amounting from P200 to P2000. CHEd purportedly allowed school administrators to impose the fees.

The complainants said Licuanan and the other CHEd commissioners should be charged for violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act for their “gross neglect of duty,” violating the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees for their “gross incompetence,” and for violating the Anti-Red Tape Act for their “gross inefficiency” in handling students’ complaints.

“The said omission committed by CHED officials has resulted to the charging of new and higher rates during the enrollment period of schools with pending complaints, constituting grave damage on the part of the petitioners in the pending cases,” the complaint read.

According to the student alliance Rise for Education, 10 complaints have been filed before Ched against tuition hikes in De La Salle Araneta University, National University, Far Eastern University Manila, FEATI University, San Beda College, University of the East (Caloocan), University of the East (Recto), University of Santo. Tomas, National Teachers College, and Lyceum of the Philippines University.

Kabataan party-list had said of the 1,683 private HEIs (higher education institutions) in the country, 353 already applied for tuition increases for the incoming academic year, 333 of which are for the collegiate levels.