UP regents set to reconsider naming college after Virata

The Board of Regents (BOR) of the University of the Philippines will meet on July 25 to discuss an appeal by the student regent against the plan to rename one of its colleges after a Marcos administration prime minister.

A source told the Inquirer that student regent Rara Ramirez has lodged a manifestation to rescind an earlier BOR decision renaming the College of Business Administration (CBA) as the Cesar E.A. Virata School of Business.

“The manifestation will be brought up in the next BOR meeting on July 25 since it is only the BOR that can decide on the matter,” said the source, who declined to be identified for lack of authority to speak on the matter.

The move to rename the college after Virata recently caused an uproar at the state university, which produced many activists against the Marcos dictatorship in the 1970s and 1980s.

Virata was a prime minister during the Marcos administration from 1981 to 1986 and served as a dean of the CBA from 1960 to 1967.

Initially, the move came from the CBA, which unanimously endorsed it. The matter was later elevated to the BOR, which affirmed it.

On April 12, the BOR came out with a decision granting the renaming of the school after its members unanimously voted for it.

“No one raised an issue at that time. Now, the student regent—who was not on the BOR at that time—has filed a manifestation seeking to rescind the decision,” the source said.

The BOR is the highest decision-making body of the state university and is composed of sectoral regents and others appointed.

The source said during a meeting last month, the BOR asked for an official manifestation from the student regent as to her opposition to the renaming. This will be tackled in the July 25 meeting.

Another source added that many faculty members are also against the move.

“But the question is, if they are against it, then why did their representative, the faculty regent, not raise any issue when it was put for a vote,” the source asked.