CA upholds PUP president's ouster

MANILA, Philippines - The Court of Appeals (CA) has allowed the ouster of Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) president Dante Guevarra.

The CA’s special 14th division reversed an earlier ruling of Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 26 Judge Silvino Pampilo that stopped the state university’s Board of Regents (BOR) from replacing Guevarra.

“The injunctive relief is lifted,” read the 15-page decision penned by Associate Justice Mario Lopez.

The CA held that “the RTC committed grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack of excess of jurisdiction in issuing the writ...despite Guevarra’s failure to show a clear and unmistakable right to his position.”

But the appellate court clarified that its finding of grave abuse of discretion by the RTC “is confined to the propriety of the issuance of a writ of preliminary injunction.”

The CA opted not to touch on the issue of “whether the PUP-BOR properly complied with Republic Act 8292 (Higher Education Modernization Act of 1997) and its (implementing rules and regulations) in evaluating Guevarra’s eligibility for re-appointment” but told the lower court to resolve the matter “with dispatch.”

The PUP-BOR had asked the CA to stop the implementation of RTC’s order that allowed Guevarra to stay in his office beyond the end of his four-year term last July 5.

The lower court ruling had effectively prevented the board from implementing a resolution dated July 4, in which the PUP-BOR tried to appoint Edicio de la Torre as officer-in-charge.