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Constituents unite against “corrupt” PSU prexy

URDANETA CITY, Pangasinan (Nov. 17) — Another mobilization that will eventually oust the state-run Pangasinan State University (PSU) president might answer the chronic problem of corruption in the university.

This was the statement of PSU Student Regent Jonathan Mones in an interview with Nordis on the corruption issues at PSU.

Mones said the 10-month old movement to oust PSU President Dr. Rodolfo Asanion and implicate other high officials of the university would not cease as long as corruption allegedly committed by the officials continues.

The corruption controversy that sparked a multi-sectoral movement called “F9” in the campus has taken front seat as the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) conducts a probe to dig deeper into the issue. F9 was coined after the sectors in the campus forged alliance on February 9.

This November, NBI has responded to the complaints filed in May through a manifesto by over 1000 individuals from the administration, faculty, non-faculty and students. The manifesto stated cases of graft and corruption, falsification of public documents, cronyism and other malpractices the complainants claim to be committed during Asanion’s term.

In 2001, PSU signed a contract with Quedan Corporation to finance its Corn Productivity Incentive Program. The program aims to assist about 1, 500 corn farmers by providing technical and financial aid. The farmers in return would have to sell their produce to the university and the latter, to the San Miguel Corporation.

The loan amounting to P20 million was used to buy four tractors and a corn drying facility which the complainants claim were “grossly overpriced”. The remaining P2 million was not enough to finance the programs’ other aspects such as seeds and fertilizer, the complainants added.

Amortization was relied to a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) forged between the university and a Japanese firm at PSU Sta. Maria Post Harvest Facilities. No installment was paid yet however, bloating the loan to about P27 million at present.

The president allegedly denied the Commission on Audit’s (COA) attempt to audit the project saying it was a “private negotiation” with Quedan Corp. Three booklets of financial receipts are “missing” as claimed by Narciso Castro, the university cashier who was said to have bribed the COA Auditor.

COA said thousands of money could have been extracted but cannot be verified, as there were no receipts to mirror this. The complainants added, at least P1.5 million had been channeled from regular income (tuition and miscellaneous fees) to support the project.

Other officials involved in the project are Vice President for Research and Extension Artemio Rebugio, and professor Simeon Cabansag who was designated as Director and acting Administrative Officer in PSU Sta. Maria.

The complainants said Rebugio allegedly ordered an Administrative Officer who refused to release the payroll for the Post Harvest Facility because of ‘dubious’ signature. The officer suspects the signature was “forged” by no other than Rebugio.

Cabansag on the other hand “used” the agreements between a Japanese firm to buy himself four cars.

NBI in a press conference ensured there would be no “whitewash” in the investigation. The case, pending at the NBI’s Legal and Evaluation Department has been transferred from NBI Dagupan who held the case sometime in May. It is now awaiting attention from the Ombudsman to take up the case.

Fees from students

Meanwhile, SR Mones relates he is more concerned with the funds coming from the tuition and fees paid by students being used to suspicious projects led by the university president. Mones said when the P500 developmental fee was installed first semester in 2003, the students already feared the accumulated fund might be used for fraud.

Being the representative of the students in the Board of Regents, Mones said there was not much impact because most BOR members are allied to the president. A movement coming from the students and the ranks of teaching and non-teaching personnel could alleviate the situation, he added.

Mones resented the “recurrent problem of low budget in education allotted by the government”. He suspects the P500 developmental fee was implemented to augment meager budget in Miscellaneous and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE).

A member of the National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP), he proposed that the matter should be taken up to the streets and led by the students to call the top officials to step down from office.

The F9 mobilization in March led by PSU Lingayen, San Carlos, Bayambang and Urdaneta has directed the administration to allocate P1.2 million for student’s welfare, Mones claimed.

He added, student councils are having hard time collecting the accumulated fund from developmental fee as the mobilization ignited a friction between them and PSU officials. Likewise, a number of contractual instructors who participated in the March rally were forced to resign.

However, Mones counters there are no regrets wherever the case may come to a halt as long as a broad alliance has been created inside the university. He said, this might serve as a milestone to the students’ struggle for quality education that transforms students to leaders not quite alike Asanion and his agents in their venture to rob the state university of its rather scanty funds. # Jong de la Cruz for NORDIS

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