Former UP regent Angelo Jimenez will be the 22nd President of the University of the Philippines.
After hours of deliberations and three rounds of voting on Friday, Dec. 9, the Board of Regents (BOR) selected Jimenez for the university presidency in a vote that was reportedly declared unanimous.
Jimenez aims for the university to be a leading research university globally. Included in the plans outlined in his vision paper is a further collaboration with the government and the private sector as well as the digitalization of learning and management.
READ: 6 in the running to be next UP President
This decision came despite endorsements from multiple university sectors supporting UP Diliman Chancellor Fidel Nemenzo’s bid and a mobilization by the community at Quezon Hall as the BOR convened to vote.
READ: Student councils back Nemenzo, oppose Sanchez for UP prexy
Other nominees were:
- Catanduanes State University President Patrick Azanza
- Former 1-Ang Edukasyon Party-list Rep. Salvador Belaro Jr.
- Former UP Diliman Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Benito Pacheco
- Former UP Los Baños Chancellor Fernando Sanchez Jr.
Jimenez will replace outgoing UP President Danilo Concepcion and serve a six-year term starting in February 2023.
‘Open to dialogue’
After the BOR vote, UP President-select Jimenez addressed the crowd at Quezon Hall, saying that he will “defend academic freedom.”
“I will defend the independence of our institutions according to the law. It’s one of my most ardent devotions: to protect our freedoms,” he added.
When asked about his plans for urban poor communities on campus at risk of being relocated due to infrastructure projects, Jimenez said, “Susundin natin ang batas. Kung mayroon man relocation, it has to be in accordance with the law.”
WATCH: Pook Arboretum: Kublihan ng pakikibaka’t pangarap
On pending bills seeking to reinstate a mandatory Reserve Officers Training Corps program, Jimenez said that citizens’ military training was “not necessarily bad.”
He previously said he opposed mandatory ROTC in the Fast Talk segment of Kilatis, the UP presidential forum led by KASAMA sa UP on Nov. 25.
The UP president-elect was also asked if he would lobby to institutionalize the UP-DND Accord, an agreement protecting the university from police and military intrusion. It was unilaterally terminated in January 2021 by then-Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana
In both the Kilatis forum and an interview with the Philippine Collegian, Jimenez did not show support for institutionalizing the accord.
Jimenez answered, “‘Pag presence ng military, hindi siya police function. We have to apply international humanitarian law. ‘Pag military-grade organization, combat zone ba ‘yan, bakit kayo pumasok? May combatant ba diyan, bakit kayo pumasok?”
He added that he was “misunderstood because of yes-or-no questions.”
Jimenez then said he wanted to open a dialogue with student-leaders as soon as possible, adding that he will “always go back to” the studentry’s demands.
As the UP president-elect re-entered Quezon Hall, KASAMA sa UP Chairperson Andrew Ronquillo said to him, “Sa loob ng anim na taon na ‘yon, makakasalumuha niyo po hingil ng mga estudyante, kaguruan, kawani at mga community residents dito sa UP.”
In a statement later that evening, Student Regent Siegfred Severino said, “While we congratulate former Regent Jimenez on his election as the next UP President, we also place unto him our massive expectation that he will listen to our calls.”
Eleven votes behind closed doors
The BOR, the university system’s highest governing body, stood as the Search and Selection Committee since the selection process for the 22nd UP President began last October.
Eleven members comprise the BOR:
- Commission on Higher Education Chairperson J. Prospero De Vera III
- Incumbent UP President Danilo Concepcion
- Senate Higher Education Committee Chairperson Chiz Escudero
- House Higher Education Committee Chairperson Mark Go
- Alumni Regent Reynaldo Laserna
- Regent Raul Pagdanganan
- Regent Gregorio Pastorfide
- Regent Gladys Tiongco
- Faculty Regent Aimee Lynn Barrion-Dupo
- Student Regent Siegfred Severino; and
- Staff Regent Victoria Belegal
Regents Pagdanganan and Pastorfide were appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte, while Regent Tiongco is the first UP regent to be appointed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Jimenez will now sit on the Board for a third time after serving as the Student Regent in 1992 and a Duterte-appointed regent from 2016 to 2021.
As University President, as positioned by the UP Charter of 2008, Jimenez will serve as chief executive officer of the university in its mandate of leading the nation’s higher education and development. His term ends in 2029.
