MSU: Militarized State University?

WITH Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s surprise designation of Lt. Gen. Edilberto Adan as chief of the Southern Command (Southcom) already fanning discontent within an already restive military, another presidential appointment of a military man is also causing an uproar, this time in a non-military establishment — the Mindanao State University (MSU).

Police general Ricardo de Leon, who retired yesterday as deputy director general of the Philippine National Police (PNP), has been appointed by Arroyo as “interim” president of the premier learning institution in the Southern Philippines. De Leon’s appointment as replacement to Dr. Camar Umpa, whose term expired on September 1, is meant to “clean (up) the mess” in the institution brought about by alleged interference by “warlords” in the search for the next MSU head.

Like in Adan’s case, de Leon’s appointment bypassed the nominees chosen by the search committee that Malacañang itself constituted. But unlike Adan, who was also among those considered by the Board of Generals, de Leon was not even among the 21 aspirants screened by the five-member search committee.

“Gen. de Leon was not even a candidate,” revealed Jusie Roxas, a member of the search committee who is also the alumni representative to the Board of Regents and president of the MSU Alumni Association.

Of the 21 candidates, only three made it to the short list that was submitted to Malacañang. Dr. Macapado Muslim, chancellor of the General Santos City campus, was the unanimous choice of the search committee, which also included Dr. Christina Padolina of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) as chair, presidential adviser on education Mona Valisno, former education secretary Ricardo Gloria and Ponciano Intal, the university’s first summa cum laude graduate.

The other two nominees who made the cut were Dr. Nasroden Guro, dean of the College of Public Affairs, and Dr. Abubakr Otinggue Mohammad Masnar, vice chancellor for research and a former dean of the College of Agriculture.

“We were really surprised. If the president is serious in giving due recognition to MSU’s contribution to peace and development in Mindanao, she should appoint someone to the academe on the basis of merit via the institutionalized process of the search committee,” Roxas said.

This is the first time that the long-respected institutional processes observed in the academe have not been followed, a violation, he said, that the alumni and the whole MSU community are outraged of and are not willing to accept.

While it is the prerogative of the president who s/he eventually chooses to appoint by virtue of a memorandum circular issued by then Pres. Corazon Aquino, the previous appointees were all chosen from the results of the selection process.

Furthermore, all the past presidents of MSU, except for Dr. Antonio Isidro, its first president, were from Mindanao and Muslims with connections to the university by way of their academic background or membership in the Board of Regents.

“This to me is military imperialism, the way the military is being exported to all areas of civilian life, including in the academe. This is very, very dangerous,” he said of Arroyo’s way of rewarding the military as leverage so she can continue to stay in power.

One academic who learned of de Leon’s impending appointment days ahead likewise found it disturbing that “all decisions of Pres. Arroyo manifestly shows her predilection to reward those who have supported her or whom she could trust.”

“This decision also tells us Arroyo’s regard for academic institutions. By appointing a non-academic to a very important post only makes her no different from the provincial politicians who appoint their cohorts or sychopant subodinates as presidents of their province’s state universities and colleges,” he said.

Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr. also raises similar concerns. “This is bad for the morale of professional educators. This is bad for our educational system too.”

While the senator from Mindanao sees the move as yet another obvious effort on the part of Arroyo to gratify herself to the police and military, he said the more important concern is its impact on education. “Do we also want to militarize the academe?” asked Pimentel.

There was also another military man who figured in the race for the university presidency, Mangigin Magomnang, a retired general, who was designated regent-in-charge in 1986. Though he did not make the cut, Roxas disclosed that Magomnang at least went through the selection process and is himself organic to MSU, unlike de Leon.

A ranking police officer and president of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Class 1971, de Leon used to be the concurrent executive director of the Philippine Center for Transnational Crime and chief of the Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force.

Considered one of the PNP’s thinkers, de Leon introduced the “new policemen on the block,” patterned after the Japanese police “koban” system of setting up police stations at every street corner.

At the PMA, he was second captain, the second highest rank in the cadet corps. He holds a doctorate degree in police and security administration, which could be the key in his appointment based on the recommendation of national security adviser Norberto Gonzales.

That Gonzales is interfering in a purely academic affair has all the more added fuel to the outrage.

The security issue, Roxas said, is also being blown out of proportion to justify installing a military man as MSU president. “If at all, it’s an isolated problem of Marawi. But even then, it’s not like that there are goons roaming around freely in campus,” he added.

“If the justification is for a retired military man to clean up the mess, I beg to disagree,” said former faculty regent Prof. Norkaya Mohamad.

Claiming there is no messiah who is an outsider that can cleanse MSU except an insider who knows the psychosocial sensitivities of the people, Mohamad is hoping that de Leon would be “brilliant enough to entrust MSU to us.”