Ex-CHEd chair takes up cudgels for Licuanan

Former Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) Chair Ester Garcia on Wednesday defended the embattled leadership of the agency and appealed to its bureaucracy to preserve its autonomy.

In an open letter, Garcia sought to dispute what she called “lies and half-truths” being peddled by some people in the commission.

“I have tried to keep quiet during all these controversies regarding the chairmanship mainly because of my personal policy not to intervene in the offices I have left. However, I cannot keep my peace any longer,” she wrote in her letter.

“I appeal to the CHEd bureaucracy and the commission to help maintain the autonomy of CHEd and shield it from too much political interference. That is the intent and spirit of Republic Act of 7722,” she said.

The law, aimed at ensuring CHEd’s independence, specifies a fixed term of four years for its chair, currently held by Patricia Licuanan, who has been told by Malacañang to refrain from attending Cabinet meetings because of “irreconcilable differences” with President Duterte. Licuanan was appointed by President Benigno Aquino III in 2014.

Also barred from the Cabinet meetings was Vice President Leni Robredo, who subsequently resigned as housing secretary. Unlike the low-key Licuanan, Robredo has been a vocal critic of Mr. Duterte, particularly his war on drugs and his allowing the burial of the dictator Ferdinand Marcos at Libingan ng mga Bayani.

Last week, several officials of the commission, led by Executive Director Julito Vitriolo, signed a manifesto urging Mr.  Duterte to sack Licuanan, appoint an officer in charge who can serve as his alter ego and represent the agency in the Cabinet.

The manifesto underscored the importance of the commission being represented in the Cabinet so it can craft and implement programs consistent with the new administration’s program development for the higher education sector.

Vitriolo also said the commission would be “in limbo” if Licuanan insisted on staying as head of CHEd.

Garcia emphasized that no chair of the commission had ever resigned due to a change in administration, noting that former Chair Angel Alcala did not leave his post when President Joseph Estrada took over in 1998. He only left when he turned 70.

Alcala did not resign when then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo took over in 2001 and finished her four-year term. “The others who resigned did it for other reasons, not change of administration,” said Garcia.

She noted that all throughout her stay in CHEd—from November 1994 to May 2003—the chair did not attend Cabinet meetings except for Secretary Ricardo Gloria, as head of then Department of Education, Culture and Sports while being ex-officio CHEd chair.

“Over the years, the CHEd had functioned well even without being part of the Cabinet. Many policies on various issues affecting higher education were promulgated without any problem,” said Garcia.