This was confirmed by Undersecretary Gamaliel Cordoba of the Office of the President in a memo to Gen. Ricardo Fernandez de Leon, president of the MSU System in Marawi City, following the addition of Dr. Adjarail Hapas as the seventh and final aspirant for the position.
Hapas has passed the scrutiny of the search committee of the Presidential Management Staff (PMS) for the job.
The MSU Tawi-Tawi and the colleges in Sulu and in the cities of Marawi, Cagayan de Oro, Iligan and General Santos make up the MSU System.
Incumbent chancellor Eddie Alih has been serving as MSU Tawi-Tawi chancellor on holdover capacity since a month ago. He has served two full five-year terms since 1996.
Aside from Hapas, the other aspirants for the post are Alfredo Motolo, Aida Hadji, Nassir Kadil, Jamil Ismael, Hussein Hashim, and Alih.
All aspirants hold masteral degrees with the exception of Hapas who holds a doctoral degree in both Philippine and Asian studies from the University of the Philippines.
Hapas has also served as vice chancellor for research of MSU Tawi-Tawi during the past nine years.