New UP chancellors named

MANILA, Philippines — The University of the Philippines Board of Regents has reappointed the chancellor of its Manila campus and selected new top officials for its campuses in Visayas and Los Baños.

According to the office of the UP student regent, selected chancellors were Carmencita Padilla for UP Manila, Clement Camposano for UP Visayas and Jose Camacho Jr. for UP Los Baños (UPLB) in Laguna.

Padilla was reappointed to a rare third term to head the campus in Manila, which operates the Philippine General Hospital.

A professor of pediatrics, Padilla was formerly executive director of the Philippine Genome Center prior to her first selection as UP Manila chancellor in 2014.

Meanwhile, the UP BOR selected anthropologist and UP Diliman education professor Camposano over incumbent chancellor Ricardo Babaran, who was vying for a second term.

Camposano, who is also the president of the Philippine Studies Association, obtained his undergraduate degree in political science and history from UP Visayas. He has master’s degree in political science and doctorate in Philippine studies (anthropology) from UP Diliman.

In his vision paper, he presented a five-point agenda of building on strengths in teaching, research and public service; deepening engagement with various communities; leading towards meaningful change in education; defending and promoting diversity and inclusion in UP campuses, and reinvigorating democratic governance in the university.

“Nothing compares to knowing people who toil in the trenches,” he said, referring to his experience as an educator of anthropology and sociology.

“My perspective therefore comes not from the upper reaches of the professoriate where we might engage in distanced contemplation, but from somewhere less tranquil and more modest, where roots and route keep me grounded and shape what comes into view,” he added.

For UPLB, the board selected economics professor and graduate school dean Camacho over Eclaro Academy president Patrick Azanza and incumbent chancellor Fernando Sanchez, who sought a third term.

Camacho, who has a doctorate degree in economics from Kyoto University, is chair of the technical working group on graduate education of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED).

In his vision paper, Camacho pushed for the “future proofing” of UPLB to sustain relevance “by developing methods, approaches and framework to minimize the cost and impacts of shocks of future events.”

“UPLB will continue as a bastion of innovation, knowledge-generation and as a center for lifelong-learning and public service initiatives. Its cutting-edge research will be utilized for the influence and benefits it shall cause people as they enlarge opportunities to pursue their goals for recovery, development and social transformation,” he said.

The three chancellors will serve a term of three years ending in 2023.

According to the UP Charter, the chancellors are in charge of the administration of each of UP’s constituent universities: campuses based in Diliman, Manila, Los Baños, Visayas, Mindanao, Baguio and Cebu, as well as the UP Open University.

The chancellors are selected by the 11-member BOR, the highest policymaking body of the university system. The board is co-chaired by CHED chairman J. Prospero De Vera III and the UP president Danilo Concepcion.