By Merlina Hernando-Malipot Until the Office of the President acts on it, the post of CHED (Commission on Higher Education) executive director will remain vacant, CHED officer-in-charge Prospero De Vera III said. Following the resignation Karol Mark Yee in January, De Vera said the Executive Director (ED) position is currently “on hold” until President Duterte formally accepts his resignation. “All matters are being done by the deputy executive director… that’s the hierarchy on the administrative ,” he said in an interview. CHED officer-in-charge Prospero de Vera III
(RTVM / MANILA BULLETIN) While the ED position is on hold since Yee has stopped reporting to CHED, De Vera clarified that Atty. Julito Vitriolo – who was dismissed by the Ombudsman – cannot return to his post. “The President has not given us a piece of paper and more important, because the decision of the Court of Appeals (CA) has not reached finality,” he said. The complainants have 15 days to file a motion with the Supreme Court, and the said 15 days have not lapsed, he added. Citing death threats and harassment as well as “ongoing legal and political challenges,” Yee submitted his resignation letter dated January 30, 2018 addressed to the President through Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea and the newly designated De Vera. Yee has tendered his “irrevocable resignation” from his position as Executive Director IV effective January 31, 2018 following the resignation of CHED Chairperson Patricia Licuanan also in January. He was appointed by Duterte in July 2017. Since his appointment last year, Yee noted that “there have been ongoing legal and political challenges that have since constrained” the full exercise of his authority and duty. He replaced Vitriolo – who was then dismissed by Office of the Ombudsman for gross neglect of duty, grave misconduct, inefficiency and incompetence in January 2017. However, when the Court of Appeals' 12th Division later on reversed the Ombudsman decision in August, Yee’s appointment was once again in a limbo. Malacañang, then, advised CHED that “the decision or order of the Ombudsman remains executory notwithstanding any other decision or order of the CA which has not yet attained finality.” It was then reported that Vitriolo took over the Executive Director’s office and Yee had to “share a space” within the Office of the Chairperson. Yee noted that “despite the circumstances,” he tried to work with “utmost ability” to “tirelessly support the programs of the president.” However, Yee noted that during his appointment, he has “been at the receiving end of unceasing harassment and of relentless threats against my life and person, which has caused me great personal and psychological strain, that has ultimately made it extremely difficult to further proceed.” Prior to his appointment as executive director, Yee served as program director of CHED’s K to 12 Transition Program, mobilizing efforts to support higher education institutions and personnel affected by the implementation of K to 12 from 2016 to 2021. As the ED, Yee was in charge of the executive office that serves as clearinghouse for all communications received from internal and external sources. Overseeing the coordination of the agenda items and providing secretariat support to the Chairperson, in collaboration with the commission secretary in the preparation and documentation of the major meetings – was also among his tasks.