Angelo Jimenez appointed new UP president

FILE: University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City (Photo by Ramon FVelasquez/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0)

MANILA – A crucial chapter in the University of the Philippines (UP) is set to begin as Angelo Jimenez will replace Danilo Concepcion as the university’s president.

On Friday, Jimenez, a former member of the UP Board of Regents (BOR), got the nod over incumbent Catanduanes State University president Patrick Azanza, 1-Ang Edukasyon Party-list representative Salvador Belaro, incumbent UP Diliman chancellor Fidel Nemenzo, UP Institute of Civil Engineering founding director Benito Pacheco, and former UP Los Baños (UPLB) Chancellor Fernando Sanchez to become the university system’s 22nd president.

Jimenez served as the university’s faculty regent from 2016 to 2021 and starting February 2023, he will be joining forces with Commission on Higher Education chairman Prospero de Vera in leading the BOR as co-chairman.

Some of Jimenez’s platforms are strengthening UP’s graduate and post-graduate programs, a programmed engagement with the national government led by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and delivering digital transformation to the academe.

Asked why Jimenez won the seat, de Vera said, “Siguro mas maganda and kanyang mga sagot at plataporma (Maybe his platform and answers to our questions are better).”

The entire UP BOR interviewed each candidate for 30 minutes before they went into a vote.

It took three rounds of voting, where a supermajority must be met before the regents gave Jimenez the nod.

Nemenzo supporters

The announcement came as a dampener for supporters of Nemenzo, who staged a rally outside Quezon Hall in UP Diliman in Quezon City while the deliberation was ongoing.

Students, workers, and even vendors plying their trade inside UP’s main campus have gathered since the sun rose on Friday to persuade the regents to vote for Nemenzo.

UP Diliman Student Council chairperson Latrell Felix expressed support for Nemenzo, citing how he advanced the studentry at UP Diliman.

“Through his chancellorship, we have experienced that he’s pro-student through the dialogues and (the fact that he’s) open for communication and collaboration,” Felix said.

The student council chairperson noted how Nemenzo has been proactive in mitigating the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) at the height of the pandemic from 2020 to 2021 and how he addressed the red-tagging of student leaders inside the campus.

Even popular personalities like former vice presidential candidate Walden Bello and singer Joey Ayala graced the rally to show support for Nemenzo.

“Nobody is more qualified to fight for and defend academic freedom in UP than Fidel Nemenzo,” Bello said, even recalling the time the chancellor risked his life to air his advocacy during his time as a student activist.

People from the other UP campuses also trooped to Quezon City to join their Diliman counterparts in supporting Nemenzo.

Their efforts, however, came to no avail when UP student regent Siegfred Severino announced that Jimenez got the nod over Nemenzo and the others.

The crowd even booed when the announcement was made.

Anti-Sanchez crowd

Some of the protesters from the other campuses, especially those who came from UPLB, had another reason why they joined the pro-Nemenzo rally: their opposition to Sanchez.

The UPLB student leaders present in the rally believe that their former chancellor is the complete opposite of Nemenzo, saying the latter was anti-student.

Some of the protesters from UPLB spoke about the time Sanchez rejected about 600 requests from students who were seeking readmission to the university after failing most of their courses during their previous semesters, which according to them defeats the purpose of UP being inclusive.

They also recalled how Sanchez was seemingly mum when their student leaders were being red-tagged as allies of the New People’s Army.

While their campuses are 60 km. apart, Felix, on behalf of the UP Diliman Student Council, is one with the UPLB Student Council in opposing Sanchez’s bid.

“He had been showing that his support to the students is not that solid,” Felix said. “Even us in the UP system, we don’t want his authority or his power from that chancellorship to go up to the system.”

While they grieved Nemenzo’s loss, they took delight in Sanchez failing to get the nod as well.

Some student leaders who staged their own rally at the UPLB Carabao Park celebrated after news from Quezon City reached them that Sanchez had lost the UP presidential race.

However, one concern the student leaders are facing is the fact that Jimenez is not in favor of institutionalizing the UP-Department of National Defense Accord, which prohibits Philippine National Police cops and soldiers from arresting them inside the campus while a rally is being held, effectively keeping the campus a “safe space.”

If the accord gets lifted, police and military personnel can now directly intervene in keeping the peace and order during rallies.

Despite that, Felix said the UP Diliman Student Council will continue to air the demands of all the campus’ students to Jimenez, especially at this crucial time during the Marcos presidency.

Felix emphasized that the direction of the academic system under the Marcos presidency will be heavily influenced by the upcoming UP president.

“This UP president selection is really important for us because the next six years of the university are at stake, and we have to ensure that the next UP president will not just be pro-student but also pro-community because UP is a very large community,” he said.