Students cry foul, want CDO revoked

CEBU, Philippines - Medical students of Southwestern University cried foul over the Commission on Higher Education’s freeze order against the school’s College of Medicine, seeing it as oppressive and detrimental to their welfare and education.

Over 500 medical students, who were caught in the legal crossfire, are pleading CHED to revoke the cease-and-desist order against SWU College of Medicine, Inc. (SWU-CM) and issue a special order (SO) number.

CHED executive director lawyer Julio Vitriolo, representing the Commission en Banc (CEB), on June 2, 2015 issued a memorandum denying the motion for reconsideration and the CDO against SWU.

The order bars SWU, through its College of Medicine Foundation, Inc., from acceptingmedical students at all levels for lack of necessary government permit and further acknowledgeSWU-Matias H. Aznar Memorial College of Medicin (MHAM) as the duly recognized school.

The students’ education are in “peril and bleak” without the CHED-issued SO numbers and certification. The diplomas of 2015 graduates are deemed invalid and they cannot take their medical board examinations and sans CHED certification, foreign students are disqualified from renewing their student visas.

Both learning institutions, SWU-CM and SWU-MHAM, are claiming the government recognition granted to then Southwestern College since March 9, 1954 to operate a medical course leading to degree in doctor of medicine.

 Henry Ganub, who represents 40 senior clerks or 4th year medical students, said the issue has “demoralized and hampered” their studies and dreams of becoming doctors.

 “We feel being prejudiced and deprived of our hospital rotations and exposures. We did not intend to be part of this problem…we enrolled here in good faith,” he said, adding that they are seeking their basic rights to quality education.

“We, in SWU-CM, have based our decisions on valid, legal and historic documents that exist in the university archive. We feel being prejudiced and oppressed in that CHED-7 has indirectly contributed much harm to our psychosomatic distress by seemingly siding with SWU-MHAM rather than acting as neutral monitoring and regulatory body,” also read an SWU-CM student’s statement.

Linus Ettete, a 3rd year foreign student, said all of his medical colleagues are in quandary of their statuses since their visas have expired last July 15.

“We don’t want to be illegitimate and illegal in this country. We just want to study here and be doctors,” he said, adding that not only their education is in peril but also their safety being an “alien” in this country.

Aside from that, he said that if they will extend their visa without CHED certification, it will be downgraded to tourist visa, which entails about P80,000 more expenses.

An unsigned letter with no dates furnished by SWU medical students yesterday cited the communication between PHINMA and CHED.

Phinma owns majority of the share of SWU with 56.83 percent after buying it out from the Aznar family for P1.9 billion.  It took over the SWU’s management in May.

Based on the letter, Phinma president and CEO Ramon del Rosario Jr. requested CHED to immediately aid the plight of the SWU medical students.

He laid down four concerns, such as the special orders of the 2015 graduates and foreign students; expired visas of foreign students; non-issuance of the certifications of eligibility as basis to extend the visas; and foreign students cannot take US medical exams because SWU-CM was removed from the US list due to CHED’s order.

Despite the order and the issuance of CDO, classes at SWU-CM have continued.

CHED chairman Patricia Licuanan assured that they are closely working on the issue.

She said they have already written the Bureau of Immigration on the dilemma of the international students.

“The concern which involves a deviation from CHED policy, we would need a decision of the Commission en Banc and possibly an appeal to PRC,” she said, referring to the SO numbers.

A 2nd year med scholar, Tinna Aznar said the problem has been there for years but until now it remains unresolved.

“We are lost…but we will exhaust all possible measures at our end, we will not stop and we will fight to what we believe in,” she said.— (FREEMAN)