Term extension stirs row at Pangasinan school

SCREENGRAB from www.psu.pha

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan—Unrest is brewing at the Pangasinan State University (PSU) here after its president, Victoriano Estira, who, his critics said, had just retired, called for the organization of new faculty associations in its nine campuses.

In a memorandum on July 28, Estira directed campus executive directors to assemble regular faculty members and organize faculty associations in preparation for the organization of a PSU federated faculty association.

“This memorandum is fraudulent because the [university] president or the management cannot call for the organization of unions and faculty associations because we already have an existing one,” said Dr. Renato Salcedo, PSU Faculty Association (PSUFA) press relations officer.

Salcedo said PSUFA is registered with the Civil Service Commission (CSC) and the Department of Labor and Employment as the sole collective negotiating agent of PSU faculty members.

He said Estira had called for the organization of a new faculty association because he was not comfortable with Dr. Lorna Urbiztondo, PSUFA president, who had filed a string of administrative and criminal cases against him.

The faculty association president sits as voting member of the PSU Board of Regents (BOR).

“This is an attempt to control the faculty association for him to have one vote. He needs the vote either to extend himself until 2015 or have somebody who is his minion elected as PSU president,” said Salcedo.

“Besides, Estira had retired on Dec. 18, 2013 and we wonder why he is still there,” Salcedo added.

In an audit report on PSU posted on the Commission on Audit website, COA had recommended that Estira cease functioning as university president because he had already retired.

Estira denied that he had retired. “No, I did not retire. My appointment, which was approved by the BOR on June 19, 2011, is up to June 18, 2015,” he said.

He said he had asked the CSC to allow him to finish his term until June 18, 2015, beyond his mandatory retirement on Aug. 26, when he turns 65.

Estira confirmed calling for the organization of a new faculty association, saying Urbiztondo’s group did not conform with the provisions of the Higher Education Modernization Act of 1997.

“This is a multicampus university and the law says that if it is a multicampus, it should be a federation of faculty associations in the colleges. Each campus should have its own set of officers,” Estira said.

He said the BOR had advised Urbiztondo’s group, through a resolution, to defer the conduct of the election until the group conforms with the law.

“But they were defiant. They insisted on holding the election in July. So, I issued a memo calling for elections for the faculty associations in the campuses,” he said.

“To my mind, that is my duty. So that in the next board meeting, we are now ready to present somebody who is justly and impartially elected faculty regent.”