Search on for next UP president

MANILA, Philippines - Eleven candidates are competing to be the next president of the University of the Philippines (UP) System.

The successful contender would succeed Dr. Emerlinda Ramos-Roman, the first woman to become president of UP since it was founded in 1908. Her six-year term ends on Feb. 9, 2011.

The state university system comprises seven constituent universities or autonomous campuses nationwide.

These are: the flagship campus in Diliman, Quezon City; UP Manila, which focuses on medical sciences; UP Los Baños which concentrates on agriculture and forestry; UP Baguio; UP Open University in Los Baños, which focuses on long distance education; UP Visayas, the center for fisheries and marine science; and UP Mindanao.

The candidates for the presidency are: Dr. Esperanza Cabral, Health Secretary during the later years of Arroyo administration and former director of the Philippine Heart Center; Dr. Leonor Briones, National Treasurer during the Estrada administration; Dr. Ma. Serena Diokno, former UP vice president and presently a professor of History at the UP Diliman College of Social Sciences and Philosophy; Dr. Consolacion Alaras, a professor at the UP Diliman Department of English and Comparative Literature; and Dr. Virginia Teodosio, a professor at the UP School of Labor and Industrial Relations.

Also in the list are Dr. Luis Rey Velasco, chancellor of UP Los Baños; Dr. Sergio Cao, chancellor of UP Diliman; Raul Pangalangan, former dean of the UP College of Law; Alfredo Pascual, UP Alumni Regent; Benjamin Diokno, a professor of economics and Secretary of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) during the Estrada administration; and Patrick Alain Azanza, a human resource development professional.

The candidates have presented their visions in forums in UP campuses.

In his presentation, Cao wants to make the university system the leading research institution in the country. 

Azanza envisions a UP committed to research in humanities and the sciences.

Benjamin Diokno wants to raise the competitiveness of the university system and make it more relevant to national goals.

Serena Diokno wants an “engaged and a forward-looking university.”

Teodosio promises to address the deficiency in the university system’s financial resources and physical infrastructure.

Briones wants to work for the university system’s financial autonomy.