LINGAYEN— The suspension order issued by the Ombudsman against Pangasinan State University (PSU) president Dexter Buted and Marcelo Gutierrez Jr., executive director of the PSU campus in Binmaley town could not be implemented by the PSU Board of Regents (BoR).

Reason? The BoR failed to have a quorum each time it was convened to implement the decision of the Ombudsman to suspend the two PSU officials for oppression and to designate their temporary replacements.

At the last meeting, February 15, only two members of the board, Commission were present – Higher Education (CHEd) chairman Prospero de Vera III, BoR chairman, and Abono Partylylist Rep. Conrado Estrella III.

The BoR has 11 members, and six members constitute a quorum.

At the first meeting, only five members attended: De Vera, Estrella, Buted and the faculty and the student representatives. The second BoR meeting held Feb. 5 only had only four members present: De Vera, Estrella, Buted and the PSU faculty representative.

Buted and Gutierrez, suspended by the Ombudsman for nine months in its decision issued on Nov. 17, 2017, were respondents in a complaint filed by Ricardo Tapia, a faculty member of PSU Binmaley, for oppression when he alleged he was dismissed arbitrarily as a faculty member of PSU.

The decision of the Ombudsman was received by Buted on Jan. 12, 2018 and by Tapia on Jan. 16.  In that decision, the Ombudsman directed the BoR to immediately implement the ruling.

Owing to the continued failure of the BoR to meet, complainant Tapia already asked the Ombudsman on February 9 to cite the PSU BoR for contempt for failing to immediately implement the suspension of Buted and Gutierrez.

De Vera said he had already written the Ombudsman informing that the board will implement its order suspending both Buted and Gutierrez, even if they have not designated anybody yet to temporarily take their places because of the failure of the Board of Regents to muster a quorum.

De Vera said the BoR will again meet sometime in March for its regular quarterly meeting.

Tapia thought it unbelievable that the BoR could not muster a quorum in three consecutive meetings.

De Vera, however, said he is not fazed by the charge of contempt because the records will show that all the members of the BoR were duly advised of the scheduled meetings.

He added he will again write all department secretaries of line agencies who are members of the BoR to remind their representatives, usually regional directors  to attend board meetings.

Absent were representatives of the secretaries of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), Department of Agriculture and the director general of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).

Sen. Francis Escudero is also a member of the PSU Board of Regents. (Leonardo Micua)

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