The Triumph of Malice

Rare are the occasions when a community’s sense of outrage is fully captured by a document like the one reprinted here with the author’s consent . The struggle for self-respect of academics in UP has a long history, one that has been characterized by many setbacks, perhaps even some betrayals and, in the present instance, by the momentary triumph not just of mindless mischief but of relentless malice.

This columnist believes that a document like this needs to be part of the public record, not merely as archival material one might access with a computer and an internet account but as a timely testimonial available to a much bigger newspaper-reading public. Formally described as "A Report to the UP Community and Alumni" by UP President Francisco Nemenzo, the nation no less ought to be this report’s wider audience.

After all, much like the UP and perhaps for much longer than this community of hard-pressed scholars, the nation too has suffered the malice of those who claim to be its guardians and ruling authorities.

(The first part of this material was reproduced in this column last Thursday, February 26, 2004. It detailed the ten-year struggle of the UP community to have Congress amend an outdated charter so that the UP might moe competently discharge its critical functions amidst challenging and increasingly difficult times. After passing the Lower House, the Senate legislation that would make UP competitive with other universities in the region appears to have been successfully blocked by a single senator. UP President Nemenzo clarifies why, beyond that singular personality’s intransigence, the Senate no less must be held accountable for a clearly regressive act in killing the UP Charter Amendment bill. He proceeds …)

A failure of leadership

In the meanwhile, it is a tragedy that we came this close to seeing our ten-year labor of legislation succeed, only to be foiled in the end by one man’s intransigence.

But perhaps I should not have been too surprised by the machinations of this one senator, whose pettiness and petulance are legendary. What I am more deeply disappointed by was the abject failure of the Senate leadership–which had publicly promised to support the bill–to exercise its legal and moral prerogatives to bring the matter to a vote, taking cognizance of Senator John Osmeña’s tediously familiar objections.

Senate President Franklin Drilon – who was named our "Most Outstanding Alumnus" not too long ago–publicly promised the UP alumni reunion in Iloilo last July that we would have a new Charter by the end of the year. I reminded him of this personal pledge just a few days before the end of the session, and he urged me over the phone to accept further modifications, in deference to John Osmeña’s caprices. We addressed ihose concerns–clarifying, for example, what we meant by a national university. We fielded questions and considered constructive suggestions from the many senators who took time to interpellate us or express their support–including members of the opposition and non-UP alumni–whom we thank for their interest.

But no vote was ever called or taken, and the Senate leadership let valuable time slip away until it was too late, for reasons we can only divine. Despite Senator Pangilinan’s valiant effort–for which we are deeply grateful–to keep the bill alive, what triumphed in the end was malice, misinformation, and petty politicking.

I realize that the Senate had many other important bills to consider, and that its legislative agenda was upset by such distractions as the Jose Pidal exposé and the Oakwood mutiny. I do not question the right of any senator to interpellate any measure before that body. But I have no doubt that something could still have been done by a truly committed leadership to save SB 2587. With the election of a new Congress in May, we have no assurance that the new senators and congressmen will be so favorably disposed toward our measure.

We will fight on

Those who opposed SB 2587 may be pleased by this delay and even claim an albeit hollow victory, thanks to an improbable ally. That pleasure will be short-lived, as the realities of our resource constraints set in, something that our new Charter could have helped relieve.

But we will fight again, and we will fight on. We cannot yield to demagoguery and intimidation. As disappointing as the results of this struggle have been, we also learned many things, and will employ those lessons in a fresh campaign to get a new Charter – perhaps one even better than the current version – drafted and passed.

Among those lessons is my conviction that just as our legislators have always held UP accountable for its programs and its funds, so should UP hold the legislature and its individual members accountable for their acts of commission and omission. We can only pray – and mobilize – for the emergence of more responsible lawmakers and leaders who can truly help UP and Philippine higher education.

I thank all our faculty members, students, staff, and especially our alumni who gave their unqualified support to the new UP Charter, as well as the more enlightened senators and congressmen who fought for its passage. I hope we can continue to depend on you, as we face even tougher battles ahead.

We should find solace in the thought that, as long as we keep true to our core values and ideals and maintain our fundamental union as a community of scholars, the University of the Philippines will survive the worst of politics and politicians.