Source: UP System Website
BY VIRTUE OF what eventually became a unanimous vote, the Board of Regents elected UP Diliman Chancellor Emerlinda R. Roman as the 19th President of the University of the Philippines.
Meeting last November 22 to break a previous 6-6 deadlock between Dr. Roman and Philippine Ambassador to the United Kingdom Edgardo Espiritu, the 12 regents first voted 7-5 in favor of Roman. And then, following tradition, the BOR made the vote unanimous. Ambassador Espiritu later sent Chancellor Roman a congratulatory note.
The BOR had first met on November 17 to elect the next UP President, but was unable to resolve a 6-6 tie after four ballotings. Incumbent President Francisco Nemenzo’s term will end on February 9, 2005, when he reaches 70—the statutory age limit prescribed by the University Code.
A crowd of more than a hundred faculty members, students, and alumni gathered at Quezon Hall to urge the regents to vote independently and to await the outcome. Pandemonium broke loose when news of Roman’s election was announced.
The election had galvanized the UP community, many members of which had expressed fears of a result strongly influenced by outside forces.
A number of former UP Presidents, regents, chancellors, and distinguished professors had signed a “Statement of Concern,†published November 21 in the Inquirer, decrying “patronage politics†and upholding the University as “an intellectual meritocracy.†In a resolution passed at an emergency meeting on November 19, the University Council of Diliman also pledged “to resist and reject any effort to undermine its integrity and independence as an academic institution.â€
At the November 22 meeting, according to excerpts from the minutes officially released by the Office of the Secretary of the University, several regents—President Nemenzo, Faculty Regent Sergio Cao, and Student Regent Marco de los Reyes—presented individual statements explaining their position. The voting was done, as agreed upon, by secret ballot. After the first result, Regent Nelia Gonzalez moved to make the vote unanimous, and her motion was adopted.
President Nemenzo expressed satisfaction at the conduct and the outcome of the election, urging the UP community to extend its support to his successor and to unite behind the current campaign for the passage of a new UP Charter.
Dr. Roman thanked her supporters and pledged to work for the University’s best interests.
This was the second time in the University’s history that the presidential election went past the fourth round. In 1958, a similar deadlock resulted in the appointment of a caretaker for two years.
Roman will make history not only as UP’s Centennial president but also as its first woman leader. She will serve a term of six years.
Aside from having been UP Diliman Chancellor from 1991-1993 and 1999-2002, and 2002 to the present, Roman’s experience in University administration includes former positions as Vice-President for Administration, University Secretary, Vice-Chancellor for Administration and member of the Board of Regents.
A recipient of the Gawad Chancellor as Outstanding Professor in 1995, she obtained her Ph.D. in business administration from the University of the Philippines.
Her significant accomplishments as Chancellor include the establishment of the Diliman Interactive Learning Center, the Center for International Studies, the Research Dissemination Grant, the computer loan program for faculty and administrative staff, and the computerized registration system. She established an P89.9 million endowment fund for the University’s artists and writers, as well as a fund for athletes and coaches.
During her term, six buildings including the Department of Electronics and Electrical Engineering, Gusaling Magsaysay, and the College of Music Annex, were constructed. (Arlyn VCD Palisoc Romualdo & Maria Francezca C. Kwe)
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