CHED chair defends foreign travels, won’t heed calls to resign

Commission on Higher Education chairperson Patricia Licuanan on Thursday defended her foreign travels, saying that the trips opened more opportunities to enhance the quality of higher education in the country.

In an interview on ANC, Licuanan said that her foreign trips were "hardly excessive" as she officially traveled eight times last year, of which only five were paid for by the government. She added that she traveled five times in 2016, six times in 2015, two times in 2014 and three times in 2013.

She also cited CHED Memorandum Order No. 55 which is the policy framework and strategies on the internationalization of Philippine Higher Education as one of the reasons for her travels abroad.

"Any travel by CHED officials and particularly the chair I believe has to be understood in the context of certain factors. One is the general global trend towards internationalization, the fact that internationalization is one of the mandates of CHED...So it is a policy and basically we see internationalization as a strategy for enhancing the quality of higher education in the Philippines and to preserve a reputation as a center for higher education in certain niche areas," she said.

"And all of these things had to do with very specific commitments and it is because of this travels that we are able to have joint programs with educational institutions abroad. We're able to send scholars from the Philippines to receiving countries and receive also from foreign countries," she added.

"So I think in many ways...I'm sort of a taong bahay because I don't travel all that much so basically the accusations of a travel binge and being globetrotting are excessive," Licuanan said.

Puwersa ng Bayaning Atleta party-list Representative Jericho Nograles earlier accused Licuanan of being able to go on several trips abroad by issuing the travel authorities herself.

He, however, later admitted that he made a mistake when he claimed that the said trips were not authorized by the Office of the President.

"I'm glad that Chair Licuanan clarified this and confirmed that the CHED Chair went on a travel binge for the entire year in 2017. For her travels, she was absent for 41 days, used P893,102 in government funds, and booked business class international tickets," Nograles said.

'I am in good health'

Licuanan also said that she will not resign over health reasons after Iligan City Representative Frederick Siao suggested that she should make an "honorable exit" if health issues impede her duties in CHED.

"No, I hope not. I hope I will not be forced to resign, that things will have to be so unbearable that I will have to resign," she said. "I just wanted to say that my vertigo is definitely under control, I have good health."

"There is no reason to resign for health reasons. I put in at least a 12-hour day, security guards will tell you that I'm first in and last out. So I kind of run circles around my younger staff so no I am in good health and whatever vertigo I have occasionally is under control," she added.

Licuanan, who was appointed to head the commission in 2010 and again in 2014, said that her second four-year term as chairperson will be over on July 20.

"I'm doing my job just let me finish it. It's just six months, you know. Why can't people wait?" she said. — BM, GMA News