Following the assumption of duly elected University Student Council (USC) President Virgilio Cortado Jr. as a Student Regent, it now turns out that the Catanduanes State University Board of Regents did not defer or hold in abeyance his oathtaking.
According to an unimpeachable source, the board chairperson, Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Commissioner Ethel Agnes P. Valenzuela, allegedly directed the deferment of the discussion of the Cortado issue due to lack of proper documents from which a decision could be based.
The issue, which was not included in the agenda and only raised verbally by either the university president or a member of the BOR, was reportedly presented as part of the other matters to be tackled by the board during the 2nd Quarter Meeting held at the Central Bicol State University on Aug. 2, 2024.
Five days after the meeting, Acting Board Secretary Atty. Nikko Rey Aicetel Manlangit-Santelices issued Memorandum No. UBSS2024-04-03 dated Aug. 7, 2024 to Cortado on the subject “Notice of Resolutions of the Board of Regents at its 221st/2nd Quarter 2024 Meeting held on 2 August 2024.”
In the memorandum, the lawyer told the student leader that during said meeting, “the CatSU Board of Regents DEFERRED and HELD IN ABEYANCE your oath-taking as president of the CatSU University Student Council until the issues on your qualification are resolved, and after the conduct of an investigation by the Board Committee constituted for the purpose to be chaired by Regent Ramil Joselito B. Tamayo.”
The Santelices memo also informed that the BOR had resolved to allow all the other elected officers of the USC, from Vice President down to the lowest officers, and the elected officers of the College Student Council of the different colleges to take their oath of office before the President.
Undeterred, Cortado took his oath of office as duly elected USC president and Student Regent on Aug. 11 and 12, respectively, before Virac Mayor Samuel V. Laynes.
On Sept. 17, he notified the Board, President Patrick Alain T. Azanza, and various university offices of his oathtaking and assumption.
Azanza, however, stated in a post that the BOR had yet to decide on Cortado’s qualifications for the positions and claimed that his oathtaking before the mayor is not sanctioned by the BOR.
The president reportedly designated the USC vice president as officer-in-charge, despite the absence of a vacancy in the USC presidency.
On Sept. 23, Cortado, through counsel, filed before the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Special Civil Action No. 0132 for Prohibition and Mandamus with an urgent motion for issuance of a Temporary Restraining Order and/or Writ of Preliminary Injunction against Azanza and the BOR.
In assailing the legality of the Santelices memorandum, Cortado said it did not state the BOR Resolution authorizing such act, with the subject not even included in the matters approved and confirmed during the board meeting.
The BOR did not only infringed on his right to due process but also encroached on the power of the CatSU COMELEC, an independent body, he stated in the petition.
The Tribune source also alleged that the BOR chairperson did receive the court summons to reply to the Cortado petition, with the CHED legal counsel reportedly concurring that it had merit.
Commissioner Valenzuela arrived in Virac on Oct. 4 for the 1 PM board meeting on the Cortado issue at the CatSU conference room and after a brief discussion with those present physically and online, administered the ceremonial oath to Cortado who then was welcomed into the board.
The commissioner reportedly said that the USC president’s term as Student Regent will be reckoned from the time he was administered his oath by Mayor Laynes, last week’s oath being ceremonial in nature only.
In a press conference the following day, Regent Cortado disclosed that, despite the case legally being moot and academic due to his assumption, the case filed before the court will continue in order to establish a precedent for the next board.
“Hindi pa ito tapos. We will look for whoever at the Board was responsible for the attack on the students’ rights and academic freedoms,” he said, adding that everyone needs to be reminded that the studentry is the biggest stakeholder of the university.
He said that Azanza’s pronouncements on his alleged disqualification is all wrong, that he was not a senator as the president claimed but a spokesperson, and he resigned before filing his candidacy for USC president.
Cortado also stressed that there was no basis for the probe or the deferment of his assumption, suspecting politics may have been the reason for the suppression of the students’ representation in the BOR.
Addressing his constituents, he assured the students that he will make initiatives to enable them to know their rights and freedoms and that the wrong that has been done to them will be corrected.
He likewise expressed his gratitude to the BOR for the long-delayed recognition but emphasized that it would not be possible to forget what happened.