The Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (PLM) said on Thursday, Aug. 31, that it will continue to provide free tuition to its students despite being delisted from the Commission on Higher Education's (CHED) Unified Financial Assistance System (UniFAST).
CHED released Resolution No. 285-2023 last Aug. 15, which ordered the removal of PLM from the Unified Financial Assistance System (UniFAST) as its beneficiary.
PLM President Emmanuel Leyco assured that every student will still continue to enjoy free college education and university employees will continue to receive their salaries.
It said that PLM is not exempt from CHED's determination of quality tertiary institutions, which will be beneficiaries of the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act of 2017 (UAQTE), where they can avail of institutional recognition (IR) and government subsidy amounting to P350,000,000.
PLM was given 15 days by CHED to comply with its guidelines from the day the resolution was released.
The university had to comply until Aug. 30, which it failed to meet.
One of the requirements to get IR is for the university's president to have a doctorate degree.
A local university and college (LUC) that fails to comply with the earned doctorate requirements for the university president will be delisted as a UniFAST beneficiary.
In the resolution, it said that Emmanuel Leyco of PLM has not earned a doctorate degree.
"Based on the records of CHED National Capital Region (NCR), the current President of PLM has no earned doctorate degree, which is a requirement under existing CHED rules and regulations in order for an LUC to be granted institutional recognition," the resolution read.
CHED has categorized the PLM as a local university and under LUC which is covered by the said requirements.
However, in a PLM Facebook post, it said that PLM was created by the national government through a law.
"CHED claims PLM has not complied with CHED Memorandum Order No. 32, series of 2006 (CMO 2006-32), which requires presidents of local universities and colleges (LUCS) to be doctorate degree holders," the post read.
"The requirement applies to LUCs, which are defined as being established by local government units by ordinance; in contrast, the PLM was created by the national government through a law. Even CMO 2006-32 recognized this distinction by including a provision which excluded the PLM from its coverage," it added.
Aside from having a doctorate degree, having five years of experience in a position involving management and supervision is also a requirement, which Leyco also failed to meet.
The Civil Service Commission (CSC) twice invalidated Leyco's appointment as he also failed to meet the educational requirement for the position of PLM President.
Leyco filed a petition but CSC chairperson Alicia dela Rosa-Bala and CSC commissioner Atty. Aileen Lourdes Lizada signed the decision as dismissed.
In a decision on February 13, 2020, the CSC-NCR invalidated Leyco's appointment on the ground that he did not meet the educational requirement to be a university president.
The PLM administration said it has submitted a written response to CHED explaining the circumstances that put its appointing officials outside the standards set under the executive agency's memorandum orders.
"The university maintains constant and open communication with CHED regarding this issue, and we are hopeful that CHED will recognize the unique legal position surrounding our university," PLM President Leyco said.