STUDENTS from the College of Engineering of the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City yesterday replicated a page from the Holy Week passion play and decked its main building, the Melchor
Hall, in black as it called on the UP administration to uphold “transparency and democratic governance” in the election of the campus’ new chancellor.
The Board of Regents (BOR) on April 3 announced the election of UP Law Dean Edgardo Carlo Vistan II as the new UP Diliman Chancellor, a proclamation that was greeted with protests by students who questioned the selection process.
The engineering students pressed UP president Angelo Jimenez and the BOR “to listen to the voices of their constituents when shaping the direction of the University and ensuring that its policies and practices align with its mission and vision.”
Jimenez, who assumed office only two months ago, is the co-chair of the BOR, the university’s highest governing body that decides on overall policy and appointments of key officials, such as deans and chancellors of UP campuses.
The students said the UP administration must ‘’ensure that all decisions made by its governing bodies are based on openness, accountability, and the democratic participation of all stakeholders.”
To recall, Vistan’s election was marred by tension after some students converged on Quezon Hall in UP Diliman where the BOR was meeting and demanded an explanation to the selection of Vistan.
Students have decried the BOR’s failure to heed the voice of the UP community, which supports the reelection bid of Fidel Nemenzo, the son of former UP president Francisco “Dodong” Nemenzo.
The other candidate for the post is UP Archeology professor Victor Paz.
The All UP Academic Employees Union-Diliman Chapter earlier called on the BOR to show transparency on the selection of Vistan, pointing out that 85 percent of various groups representing the faculty, students, and workers supported Nemenzo’s candidacy.
Aside from the College of Engineering, units that have endorsed Nemenzo’s bid include the College of Arts and Letters, College of Social Sciences and Philosophy and the College of Social Work and Community Development.
A member of the Upsilon Sigma Phi, Vistan is the first UP Diliman chancellor to come from the UP College of Law.
