MANILA — Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) Chairman Prospero “Popoy” De Vera III is once again under scrutiny as another complaint lands on the desk of the Office of the Ombudsman.

The complaint alleges the mishandling of the allocated P10.3 billion higher educational development fund intended for the free tuition and living expenses of government scholars, as mandated by Republic Act (RA) 10931, also known as the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act.

Ten Menitobong tribal student scholars from South Cotabato have formally lodged the complaint against De Vera, citing accusations ranging from negligence of duty and violation of Republic Act 11032 (Ease of Doing Business) to abuse of power and moral injury to students and educational institutions.

In their four-page joint affidavit-complaint filed on April 15, the student scholars expressed their frustration, stating, “… we strongly assert that the concerned government agencies, specifically the Commission on Higher Education under the chairmanship of Mr. Prospero De Vera III shall be held liable for his utter failure to provide and release to us (student scholars) our living allowances for the period covering SY 2021-2022, 2022-2023, and 2023-2024.”

They lamented the prolonged wait for their living allowances, which has severely impacted their studies and placed financial strain on their families.

Additionally, they called upon President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and the leadership of both Houses of Congress to address De Vera’s alleged inaction, despite adequate funding being provided by Congress for government scholars.

The complaint urges the national government and the Philippine Congress to intervene and ensure the implementation of the provisions outlined in RA 10931, particularly the disbursement of the living allowance earmarked for entitled scholar-grantees.

RA 10931 guarantees free tuition and other school fee subsidies, along with a P20,000 living allowance per semester for every student-scholar, emphasizing the importance of equitable access to quality tertiary education.

(el Amigo/MNM)

Games Sunday

(Rizal Memorial Coliseum)
11 a.m. – Ateneo vs UE/AU
2 p.m. – NU vs AdU
5 p.m. – FEU vs UST

MANILA — Vengeful University of Santo Tomas fended off College of St. Benilde, 25-15, 25-16, 19-25, 32-30, in the thrilling knockout duel to catch the last bus in the Shakey’s Super League (SSL) Collegiate Pre-Season Championship Season 2 Final Four Saturday at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum in Manila.

The Golden Tigresses wasted a huge lead in the fourth set before recovering in time behind the heroics of Regina Jurado, Jonna Perdido, and Bianca Plaza for a sweet payback in the extended quarterfinals against the gritty Lady Blazers after a tough five-setter defeat in Game 1.

UST, with a win-once bonus as the No. 2 seed, thus marched on to arrange a semifinal battle against Far Eastern U for a seat in the championship of the SSL Season 2 backed by Mikasa, Eurotel, Victory Liner, Summit Bottle Water, Peri-Peri Charcoal Chicken, R and B Milk Tea, Potato Corner, Rebel Sports, Converge ICT Solutions, Genius Sports and United Auctioneers, Inc.

Reigning champion National U, the only unbeaten team in the tourney, and Adamson is in the other pairing of the knockout Final Four today (Sunday) with the survivors advancing to the best-of-three finale starting on Friday.

Regina Jurado unloaded 16 points on 15 hits, an ace, and a block, including a bevy of clutch hits in the fourth set to show the way for UST to replicate a Final Four feat in the inaugural season.

Perdido and Angeline Poyos added 16 and 15 points, respectively, while Plaza made her presence felt down the wire with four points highlighted by the last two points for UST to win the extended duel, 32-30.

“We’re a young team against a veteran St. Benilde squad na two-time NCAA champion. Nakita nyo kung gaano sila ka-solid, ayaw talaga bumitaw. Nanalo kami sa disgrasya. Nadisgrasya namin sila sa huling palo kasi lahat ng set-up at attacks at combination play namin, nakapag-adjust sila,” said UST mentor Kungfu Reyes.

“Credits to St. Benilde. ‘Yun nga, we’re a young team and nahatak kami ng nahatak going into the semis. Malaking bagay sa amin ito lalo twice-to-beat kami, tapos twice beaten. ‘Yun sana ang branding namin.”

On the heels of a 22-25, 25-23, 25-18, 23-25, 11-15 loss in Game 1, UST imposed its will early by taking a commanding 2-0 lead only to cool down in the third set with a 25-19 defeat as two-time reigning NCAA champion St. Benilde proved its pedigree once again.

The Golden Tigresses moved on the verge of a quick 3-1 victory with a 24-21 lead in the fourth only to witness another Lady Blazers’ fightback to force a deuce and even snatch the driver’s seat at 27-26 off a Gayle Pascual hit.

Jurado and Perdido took turns neutralizing Rhea Mae Densing’s late hammers for a 30-all score before Plaza, who just subbed in the match for blocking purposes, uncorked two straight surprise attacks to lift UST to the hard-earned win.

Pascual and Densing fired 16 and 15 points, respectively, for St Benilde under the watch of coach Jerry Yee.

Meanwhile, Ateneo takes on St. Benilde in the other bracket of the classification matches with the University of the East and Arellano playing as of press time for the 5th-8th spots in the SSL Season 2 in cooperation with the Commission on Higher Education and the Philippine Sports Commission.

All SSL Season 2 games are accessible across all platforms live and on-demand through the social media pages of Plus Network and SSL with Solar Sports, Blast TV, and Aliw Channel 23 as TV partners.

(AI/MNM)

By Liezelle Soriano

FOR yet unknown reasons, the top-ranking Philippine educational institution Ateneo de Manila University made a steep dive in the 2024 edition of Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings.

From its previous perch of 351-500 in the 2023 edition, Ateneo slid into the 1001-1200 bracket, according to THE’s recent report.

The steep decline also puzzles even Commission on Higher Education Chairman Prospero De Vera III who said on Friday that their agency would look into the factors as to why the Philippine universities’ rankings suffered a sudden setback instead of climbing up in the rankings.

“We should also look at criteria/areas where they are not going up fast (or worse may have gone down) like research and compare that with higher ranked universities. Then we know what we have to improve on,” De Vera said.

De Vera added that there is a possibility that international higher education institutions have “faster score improvement” now.

“Because these HEIs are increasing investments in research, faculty development, facilities, etc. compared to Philippine HEIs, they end up ranking higher than Philippine HEIs,” he said.

Meanwhile, the University of the Philippines, which is supported by the government, also dropped from 801–100th place to 1,201–1500th this year.

The overall score decreased from 29.8 to 33.9 last year to 22.8 to 28.2, despite improvements in the teaching and global outlook categories.

De La Salle University, which had previously been included in the 1,200 to 1,500, slid into the 1,501+ category and is ranked third among HEIs with Philippine locations.

However, De Vera said that a lower ranking does not necessarily indicate a lesser score in THE’s world ranking. (ai/mnm)