PERSONA NON GRATA – It appears the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) is keen on passing a resolution declaring the Pangasinan State University (PSU) president Dexter Buted persona non grata in Pangasinan for repeatedly snubbing the fact-finding investigation in aid of legislation being conducted on the reported anomalous implementation of the university’s On-the-Job Training (OJT) program.

Buted, a former board member of Batangas province with roots in Ilocos Norte, has made it known that he has no plans of attending any hearing of the SP. Not even the threat to declare him persona non grata will compel him.

So if the SP proceeds with its plan, Buted will be the second official who will be declared persona non grata by SP.  The first to get the ire of SP was then OIC provincial director Marlou Chan in 2013. Fortunately for Chan, that declaration did not affect his chances to get promoted to become chief superintendent.

It will be recalled that PC Major Jose Bandong, then chief of police of Dagupan during the incumbency of then Mayor Cipriano Manaois, was also declared a persona non grata by the city council of Dagupan during the martial law era. But the declaration affect his career? Not at all. He still earned his star rank after leaving the city.

My good friend Jimmy Laking, editor of the Midland Courier in Baguio, was also declared persona non grata by the municipal council of his hometown La Trinidad. He fought back and filed a case against all the council members before the Ombudsman, and won. Today, my drinking partner Jimmy, a journalist of note in Baguio, is an elected councilor of La Trinidad.

In the case of Mr. Buted, will the persona non grata resolution of the SP affect his career and standing as an educator? We will know it soon when the resolution will finally reach the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd).

But beyond the declaration, PSU, the lone state university in Pangasinan, cannot and should not isolate itself from the rest of the provincial government. After all, it is still a community in the province. – Leonardo Micua

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