More women at the helm of SCUs

MANILA, Philippines – Dr. Emerlinda Ramos-Roman is on her fifth year as president of the University of the Philippines System (UPS). The noted lady educator is the first woman to head the country’s premier century-old state university.

Up north, Dr. Miriam Pascua heads Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU), a multi-campus institution of higher learning in Ilocos Norte whose main campus is in Batac City. The young professor/scientist, a product (BS, master’s, and doctorate) of the UP education system, is the second woman to lead MMSU, the tenth biggest of the country’s state colleges and universities (SCUs) in terms of budget allocated by the government.

Down south in CALABARZON country, Dr. Cecilia Gascon became the first president of Southern Luzon State University (SLSU) following the conversion of Southern Luzon Polytechnic College into a university. The daughter of a soft-spoken carpenter, Gascon strove hard to earn not only a baccalaureate (BS) degree but also a master’s (MS) and doctorate (PhD) from UP Los Baños.

Farther down in Region 5, Bicol University (BU) also is now headed by a woman president Dr. Fay Lea Patria Lauraya.

Down south, Dr. Grace Rebollos calls the shots in the Western Mindanao State University (WMSU) in Zamboanga City.

Drs. Roman, Pascua, Gascon, Lauraya and Rebollos are but among the women who have risen to prominence in the country’s tertiary institution firmament women because of their outstanding achievements as academics and scientists.

This is not surprising, though, in a society like the Philippines where women have become co-equal of their “stronger sex” counterparts.

This is best exemplified by the UP System.

Dr. Roman, whose term expires next year, is the 18th to become president of UP, which was founded in 1908. Seventeen male presidents preceded her.

At present, too, women head three constituent universities (autonomous campuses) of the UP System.

Dr. Minda Formacion is chancellor of UP Visayas, whose four campuses straddle central Philippines. UPV’s main campus is in the seaside Iloilo town of Miag-ao, 41 kilometers west of Iloilo City, where another UPV unit is based. Two other UPV campuses are in Cebu (UP Cebu College) and in Leyte (UP Tacloban).

UP Mindanao (Davao City) is headed by Chancellor Dr. Gilda Rivero while Los Baños-based UP Open University (UPOU) is led by Chancellor Grace Alfonso. Dr. Cristina Padolina (new president of Centro Escolar University) was UPOU’s first chancellor while Dr. Perla Santos-Ocampo had served as UP Manila chancellor.

The other UP constituent universities are UP Diliman (flagship campus), UP Los Baños, and UP Baguio.

Other tertiary schools now led by women are Cavite State University, Dr. Divina Chavez; University of Rizal System in Tanay, Dr. Olivia de Leon; Batangas State University, Dr. Nora Magnaye; Palawan State University, Dr. Teresita Salva; Partido State University in Goa, Camarines Sur, Dr. Nita Morallo; Capiz State University, Dr. Editha Magallanes; Southern Leyte State University, Dr. Gloria Reyes; Caraga State University in Butuan City, Dr. Joanna Cuenca; and Sultan Kudarat State University in Tacurong, Dr. Teresita Cambel.

State Colleges heads are Dr. Asuncion Asetre, Catanduanes State College in Virac; Dr. Ma. Rosario Panes, Iloilo State College of Fisheries in Barotac Nuevo; Dr. Editha Genson, Naval Institute of Technology in Naval, Biliran; Dr. Venus Lammawin, Camiguin State Polytechnic College in Mambajao; Dr. Grace Lopez, Davao Oriental State College of Science and Technology in Mati; Dr. Remegita Olvida, Surigao del Sur Polytechnic State College in Tandag; and Dr. Virginia Akiate, Surigao State College of Technology in Surigao City.

Other women have become presidents of SCUs in recent years, among them Dr. Emile Marohombsar, Mindanao State University (MSU, Marawi City) the second biggest state university in terms of fund allocation (next to UP); and Dr. Paciencia Po-Milan, Visayas State University (VSU) in Baybay City, Leyte.

Some of the women educators who have risen from humble beginnings to the top posts of SCUs were products of graduate scholarship programs.

Dr. Gascon, for one, earned her Ph.D. from UP Los Baños as scholar of the UPLB-based, government-hosted Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization-Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEAMEO SEARCA).

SEARCA, headed by Director Gil Saguiguit Jr., is one of the 19 “centers of excellence” of SEAMEO, an intergovernment treaty body founded in 1965 to foster cooperation among Southeast Asian nations in education, science and culture.

Another successful scholarship program that has produced some of the country’s highly educated manpower is that of the Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (DOST-PCARRD). –Rudy A. Fernandez (The Philippine Star)