UPDATE (as of 2:30 p.m., March 1): UP President Angelo Jimenez has formally designated Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Ma. Theresa T. Payongayong to be the UP Diliman officer-in-charge effective Friday until the next chancellor assumes office.
Today is outgoing Chancellor Fidel Nemenzo’s last day in office and UP President Angelo Jimenez has designated Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Ma. Theresa T. Payongayong to be the UP Diliman officer-in-charge starting on Friday.
The next UPD chancellor was initially scheduled to be selected on March 30, but was moved to April 27 by the new UP System leadership under Jimenez. So far, only Nemenzo has publicly announced his intention to run for the chancellorship.
In a brief statement sent to the Collegian earlier this morning, Vice President for Public Affairs Jose Wendell Capili said Jimenez will “name an OIC for UP Diliman after Chancellor Nemenzo ends his term.” Jimenez can virtually name anyone–even an outsider–to become the OIC, just like when UP Visayas Chancellor Clement Camposano was designated UP Cebu (UPC) OIC from 2021 to 2022.
Per Jimenez's memorandum, Payongayong, as an OIC, cannot act on matters involving disciplinary cases, appeals, policy formulation, and infrastructure projects as only a full-fledged chancellor can touch on those matters.
Nemenzo, nonetheless, will be serving as OIC tomorrow to represent UPD during the visit and conferment of an honorary degree to Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. Payongayong will then take the helm until the next chancellor assumes office.
Under the UP Charter, the vacancy for the Office of the Chancellor shall “in no case … be longer than sixty (60) calendar days from the date when the vacancy occurs.” Under the current timetable, UPD will not have a permanent chancellor for at least 56 days.
That rule, however, is not always followed by the BOR, and this is the second consecutive time that a chancellor post in a UP constituent university is vacant while the selection process is ongoing. From December 4, 2021 to June 23, 2022, the UPC chancellorship was vacant as former UP President Danilo Concepcion extended the search process and created a new search committee without consultation.
The search committee for the UPD chancellor was only formed on January 27, a month before Nemenzo’s term ends. In comparison, the search process for college deans must commence at least three months before the incumbent dean’s term expires. It is unclear if the same rule applies to chancellor selections.
Neither the board nor the former UP administration has explained the late start of the UPD chancellor selection process. Prior to this selection process, Concepcion created the UPD chancellor search committee in November 2019, allowing the board to select Nemenzo before then Chancellor Micahel Tan’s second term ended in February 2020.
The last day to submit nominations for the chancellorship is on Friday afternoon, and the search committee will announce the list of nominees on Monday. A public forum for the nominees will be held on the afternoon of March 20 at the Institute of Biology Auditorium. •
