CHED maintains stance on PUP president's ouster

MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) is not backing down from its ouster of Dante Guevarra as president of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) and its bid to find a new permanent head of the state school.

In a statement issued Wednesday, CHED said Guevarra’s term ended last July 5 when he reached retirement age.

“At age 66 with no valid reappointment granted by the PUP Board of Regents, he is deemed retired from the service by operation of law. For him to be given a reappointment for a second four-year term, he should have complied with the following provision of the law governing the Boards of State Universities and Colleges which is Republic Act No. 8292,” CHED said.

The said provision, CHED noted, mandated that for one’s term to be extended, a president of the college or university beyond the age of retirement but not later than the age of 70, he or she should have his or her’s performance “unanimously rated as outstanding, and upon unanimous recommendation by the search committee for the president of the institution concerned.”

At its meeting last July 4, the PUP Board of Regents, headed by CHED chair Dr. Patricia Licuanan, heard the evaluation report on Guevarra’s performance during his first four-year term. Since Guevarra did not receive a unanimous rating of “outstanding,” the board did not proceed to vote but instead designated Edicio de la Torre, one of the regents representing the private sector, as officer-in-charge.

Guevarra filed a case and was granted temporary restraining orders by two Manila regional trial court judges - a 72-hour TRO by Judge Amor Reyes on July 6 and another TRO by Judge Silvino Pampilo on July 8.