BY DIANN IVY CALUCIN

The former officer-in-charge (OIC) of the City of Malabon University (CMU) on Friday, Sept. 9, gave a statement on the delistment of the university from the Commission on Higher Education's (CHED) Unified Student Financial Assistance System for Tertiary Education (UniFast) program.

In an interview with Manila Bulletin, Engineer Sheila Villanueva, former CMU OIC, said that they have diligently complied with the documents required for the university to be issued institutional recognition from CHED for the past two years.

"A total of 21 universities all over the country were given a notice by CHED that they will be delisted from the registry. So meaning hindi singled out 'yong move. Maraming na-review ang CHED na hindi na-comply ng mga universities (The move was not only for CMU. CHED reviewed a lot that universities failed to comply)," she said.

"There were varying cases for the 21 universities, and for CMU, it is failure to comply with the requirement for institutional recognition," Villanueva added.

She said that the requirements for acquiring institutional recognition for CMU were not fully achieved.

According to Villanueva, to achieve institutional recognition, every program offered by the university must have a program recognition.

However, in the case of CMU, three out of its 18 academic programs did not acquire program recognition - Education, Social Work, and Criminology.

She said that during her term, CMU worked hard to achieve recognition for the three academic programs.

"What we did was, for Criminology, bumili kami ng mga gamit and the laboratory, kasi very specific ang requirements. Kasi pag hindi kami nag-conduct ng laboratory, eh hindi talaga marere-cognize 'yan. For education, we also built laboratories. Eh syempre pag construction, it takes time. Inabot kami d’yan ng nearly one year. For Social Work, we needed to hire professionals, mga social worker and faculties that also have licenses to work. Ayon nasolusyunan din namin 'yon kasi, in fact, we have available manpower sa city hall. Marami rin namang social services na ino-offer ang city hall kaya iyon ang pinakamabilis naming option (What we did was, for Criminology, we bought equipment and the laboratory, because the requirements are very specific. It won't be recognized if we don't build a laboratory. For education, we also built laboratories. Of course, when it comes to construction, it takes time. It took us nearly one year there. For Social Work, we needed to hire professionals, social workers, and faculties with licenses to work. We were able to solve that as well because we have available workforce at the city hall; the city hall also offers many social services, so that is our fastest option)," she explained.

Villanueva said that the COVID-19 outbreak started to emerge at the time and it caused challenges in the process of requirement submission to CHED.

"In fact, especially for the Education program, we went personally to CHED. For the Criminology, hindi pa siya visited ng CHED despite our several follow ups kasi nagpandemic eh. 'Yong CHED bumagal 'yong proseso niya. Nawalan ng face-to-face meeting. Mayroon nga kami noong retaining o 'yong dapat i-audit ulit pero hindi na nila pinuntahan. Nag-Zoom na lang, nag-virtual, kasi napakahigpit noon, ayaw nila lumabas. So kung tatanungin, nag-comply ba? Yes, nag-comply kami during our term. Nag-submit ba kami? Yes, we did submit (In fact, especially for the Education program, we went personally to CHED. For the Criminology, CHED has not visited it yet despite our several follow ups because the pandemic emerged. CHED slowed down its process. There were no face-to-face meetings. We even have a retaining or the one that should be audited again but they didn't go. We attended virtual meetings because it was very strict that time, they didn't want to go out. So if it will be asked, did we comply? Yes, we complied during our term. Did we submit? Yes we did submit)," she said.

"We're not putting blame to CHED. Sana maintindihan natin na there are 121 local colleges and universities and in the country. Hindi lang naman nag-iisa ang CMU sa nirereview nila (I hope we understand that there are 121 local colleges and universities in the country. CMU is not only the university they are reviewing)," she added.

Villanueva also said that besides the institutional recognition, CHED also mandates specific qualifications to every university president, such as a doctoral degree.

"We were able to submit and complete our doctorate degrees by May of 2022. So meaning, 'yong nakalagay na deadline ng CHED, complied din namin 'yon, if only we were in a better situation or a better political situation (We were able to submit and complete our doctoral degrees by May of 2022. That means the deadline set by CHED, we also complied with that, if only we were in a better situation or a better political situation)," she noted.

Villanueva emphasized that the present administration of CMU should have defended the university, saying "It's just a matter of contextualizing and putting into proper order 'yong sagot sa CHED, na nakapag-comply na. Re-inform lang dapat na nakapag-comply na ang CMU substantially and 'yong qualifications ng university president ay present naman. Nasa tamang pagdedepensa lang. (It's just a matter of contextualizing and putting the answer to CHED into proper order. CHED should just be re-informed that CMU has substantially complied and that the requirement for the university president was present. It could be done by defending it right)."

"Kinakailangan lang dito ay sagutin lang ng tama ang CHED, and I guess iyon ang kulang ngayon (CHED must be answered correctly, and I guess that’s what's missing now). We're getting complicated when in fact, this is a very simple process. We just need to present in a proper way, clear way and in a contextualized manner na sasabihin lang na nag-comply na kami dapat mabigyan na rin kami ng institutional recognition, as simple as that (We just need to present properly, clear way and in a contextualized manner to say that we have complied and we should also be given institutional recognition, as simple as that)," she added.

Villanueva also said that she thinks that a part of the problem is that the people working in the current administration are mostly newly appointed and has limited knowledge on the matter.

"I think hindi naipaliwanag nang maayos ng mga person in charge sa CMU because this needs institutional memory. Papaano mo ipapaliwanag ang something na hindi mo alam? Mga bagong tao ang ipinasok nila. Like me, ako kaya kong sabihin 'yan in full detail because I'm part of the team na nag-prepare and complied with CHED (I think the person in charge at CMU did not explain it properly because this requires institutional memory. How do you explain something you don't know? They brought in new people. Like me, I can say everything in full detail because I was part of the team that prepared and complied with CHED," she said.

The former OIC also commented on what the current administration should have done when they received the notice from CHED.

"Pag humihingi ka ng konsiderasyon, makikiusap ka tapos iprisinta mo nang tama kung anong ginawa mo o hindi mo ginawa. Kung may hindi ka nagawa, hihingi ka ng pagkakataon para magawa 'yon. Mas maganda kung hindi combative ang atake. It should be in a very professional manner sa pag-transact o pagsagot sa CHED (When you ask for consideration, you must ask politely and then present correctly the things you did or did not do. If there's something you haven't done, you ask for an opportunity to do it. It would be better if the approach is not combative. It should be in a very professional manner when transacting or responding to CHED)."

Malabon City Mayor Jeannie Sandoval announced on Monday, Sept. 5, that CMU was removed from the beneficiaries of the CHED UniFast program, which will force thousands of its students to pay tuition that should have been free.

The mayor said she would hold the previous administration accountable for its negligence in requirement submission to the CHED.

Villanueva mentioned that the Association of Local Colleges and Universities (ALCU) had already petitioned to extend the requirements deadline for CMU and all the universities delisted from the program.

ALCU is one of CHED's partners in upholding quality education, consisting of 40 higher educational institutions run by local government units in the Philippines.