Volume LXXXVIII, No. 3 • October 25, 2016 THE OFFICIAL STUDENT PUBLICATION OF THE UNIVERSIT Y OF SANTO TOMAS Manila, Philippines
Faculty union dispute brewing Faithful urged to preserve Marian devotion in La Naval de Manila feast THE LAITY were called to preserve the tradition of Marian devotion, during the celebration of the feast of La Naval de Manila at Santo Domingo Church in Quezon City last Oct. 9. “Ang isang mabuting bagay, gaya ng inyong debosiyon, ay hindi dapat tinatapos. Ito ay dapat ipinagpapatuloy,” Fr. Rolando Mactal, O.P., prior of Santo Domingo Convent, told devotees of Our Lady of La Naval after a two-hour procession on the streets around Santo Domingo. Mactal highlighted the Blessed Mother’s role in salvation, saying Mary intercedes for Christians. It would not be possible for man to enter heaven without her help, he said. In a homily, guest priest Fr. Edgar Dantes called on the faithful to accept God’s love the way the Blessed Mother did. “God’s love is the kiss that can break the curse of sin in our lives. His love transforms us into who we should we be. When we surrender to God’s love, we become like Mary,” he said. The image of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, also known as Nuestra Señora del Santísimo Rosario de La Naval de Manila, is the oldest ivory carving in the country. In 1907, it became the first local Marian image to be canonically crowned. The feast of La Naval honors the Marian intercession linked to the 1646 victory of Filipino and Spanish troops over Protestant Dutch invaders. With only two trading galleons to fight 15 Dutch warships, the Filipino and Spanish forces asked help from Our Lady of the Holy Rosary to win the battle, vowing to walk barefoot in procession to the old Santo Domingo Shrine in Intramuros. KATHLEEN THERESE A. PALAPAR
A DISPUTE is brewing at the UST Faculty Union (USTFU), with professors up in arms at the possibility of losing at least P50 million in salary hikes under a plan to charge a three-unit incentive pay to tuition increases. The head of the Arts and Letters Faculty Association (Alfa), lawyer Danielito Jimenez, is calling on USTFU President George Lim to resign for allegedly agreeing to the deal with the UST administration, without the consent of the 1,500-strong union. Sought for comment, Lim hit back at Jimenez, saying: “He does not know that I wrote a letter to UST last August challenging the tuition increase figures given to us.” “We were only given figures and we have not agreed to any of them. Those discussions are better left for the CBA panels to take up in due time,” said Lim. Against non-diminution of benefits USTFU secured the three-unit incentive during negotiations for its 2011-2016 collective bargaining agreement (CBA) that lays down salaries and other terms and conditions of work. As part of measures to adjust to the K to 12 transition, the administration agreed to cut the full-time teaching load of tenured professors to 21 units from 24 units without reducing pay, on a staggered basis up to 2017. Faculty members led by Alfa President Danielito Jimenez and former USTFU vice president Rene Luis Tadle said it was understood the three-unit incentive pay would be shouldered by the administration. During the USTFU general assembly last Sept. 30, however, it was revealed that the three-unit incentive pay, initially for professors and associate professors, would instead be drawn from tuition increases in Academic Years 2014-2015 and 2015-2016, 70 percent of which, by law, should go to salaries and other benefits. Drawing the three-unit incentive from tuition hikes that should automatically go to salary adjustments would run afoul of the principle of “non-diminution of benefits” guaranteed by the Labor Code, Jimenez, a labor lawyer, insisted. Grievance complaint filed In a grievance complaint dated Oct. 10, Jimenez hit Lim for refusing to challenge the administration, and pointed out that faculty negotiators did not agree to such an arrangement during the CBA talks in 2014. Lim’s position “seems inimical to the best interest of the USTFU membership and may even amount to an impeachable offense for LA NAVAL DE MANILA. Devotees stand before the enthroned image of Nuestra Señora del Santísimo Rosario , La Naval de Manila last Oct. 1 at Santo Domingo Church, Quezon City. ALVIN JOSEPH KASIBAN
Lack of faculty researchers reason for low QS rating By ROY ABRAHMN D.R. NARRA
TOP RESEARCHERS in the University are blaming low research output for UST’s failure to advance in the annual Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) world university ranking. UST however should improve its research profile as part of its academic mission, not because it wants to impress QS. Clarence Batan, director of the Research Center on Culture, Education and Social Issues, attributed the low QS rating to the lack of faculty members doing research. “The simple reason why we have a low rating is because we have not evolved
yet to become a research university. The Commission on Higher Education requires 20 percent of tenured faculty members to become researchers. We have not fully reached that point,” he said in an interview with the Varsitarian. UST landed on the published ranking of the QS world university rankings this year, even as it stayed in the same bracket for the fourth consecutive year. UST was placed in the 701+ bracket along with De La Salle University, and behind the state-run University of the Philippines and Ateneo de Manila. UP jumped to the 374th place this year from the 400410 bracket last year, while
Ateneo de Manila held on to its spot at the 501-550 bracket. In the QS research category, UST received two out of five stars, which is described by QS as “low.” For UST to become a premiere research university in Asia, all faculty members should do research, Batan said. “[It] may be too e x t r e m e b e c a u s e the only requirement is 20 to 30 percent, but that is the minimum requirement. There is no policy telling you that if you
have 100 percent … that it is a sin,” Batan added. But there should be a proper definition of a “researcher” in the UST, as the theses of undergraduate students and their advisers have also been counted as part of research accomplishments. Rating PAGE 5
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Ched seeks state funding for quality education in SUCs THE COMMISSION on Higher Education (Ched) is asking the national government to set aside a higher share of the national budget to fund quality education in state universities and colleges (SUCs). “We are not used to spending that much on education that’s why it needs a total mind shift. We need to invest on this,” Ched Chairwoman Patricia Licuanan said in an assembly with student leaders and presidents of SUCs at the House of Representatives last Sept. 29. Licuanan urged the government to invest particularly in research of public higher education institutions. “Some of the public higher education institutions go into [research and development] in a very serious way. We have to invest on them so that we also do well in [international] rankings,” she said. In accordance with the 1987 Constitution, the education sector was given the lion’s share of Ched PAGE 10