PSBA-QC president: Notice of closure illegal

MANILA, Philippines - The president of the Philippine School of Business Administration-Quezon City (PSBA-QC) maintained that an earlier notice of closure issued by the other members of the school’s board of directors was illegal and should not be implemented.

In a letter to Commission on Higher Education (CHED) chairperson Patricia Licuanan, PSBA-QC president Benjamin Paulino requested the agency not to give due course on the application for the voluntary closure of the school effective Oct. 18.

In an Oct. 1 letter attached to the petition for injunction filed this week before the regional trial court, Paulino said his lawyer is studying the filing of civil, criminal and administrative cases against Juan Lim, Jose Peralta and Antonio Magtalas “for all trouble they caused” PSBA-QC.

According to Paulino, he was belatedly notified of the Sept. 20 meeting when the decision for the school’s closure was reached by the other members of the board.

The reasons cited in the notice were business losses incurred in the past eight years, and the fact that the school is being operated by Paulino without an independent permit from CHED and without authority from PSBA, Inc.

In his letter to CHED, Paulino said the issuance of the notice of closure was illegal due to the lack of quorum in the meeting.

On Tuesday, three students – representing the four thousand students of PSBA-QC – filed a petition to stop the school’s closure, which they said would violate their right to complete their degrees.

Lawyer and former councilor Ariel Inton, a PSBA-QC alumnus, asked Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 104 Judge Catherine Manodon to pay all students enrolled at the school for the first semester a total amount of P1 million in moral damages.