Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story reported that Vice President Jejomar Binay said he was unable to finish his master of laws in UST because his thesis was stolen. The draft thesis that was lost was for his master’s in public administration studies at the University of the Philippines. We apologize for the error.
26 January 2016, 9:30 am (UPDATED, 10:30 pm) – UNITED
Nationalist Alliance presidential bet Jejomar Binay has finally spoken on the
issue of his master’s studies in UST.
On
“Ikaw Na Ba? The Presidential Interview” of radio station DZBB
Tuesday morning, the vice president said he did not finish his master of laws
in the University because he was unable to write a thesis. At the time, Binay was a human rights lawyer fighting the Marcos dictatorship.
“Nag-aral po ako. Nag-enroll po ako … iyang master of laws, LLM. Tapos ho ako sa academics. Wala ho akong thesis. Dahil sa umiinit ang ulo ng paglaban sa pamahalaan,” Binay told radio broadcaster Mike Enriquez.
Binay also clarified that he did not finish his master’s in public administration at the University of the Philippines, because his portfolio containing the draft of his thesis was stolen.
“`Yung draft ng thesis ko,
binasag `yung salamin ng aking kotse, then ninakaw `yung portfolio ko. E
noon wala pang masyadong computer, na [pwede] kang mag-back-up, tapos
nadagdag na rin `yung nag-iinit na panahon dahil sa pagharap sa mga
problema ng ating bansa,” he said.
Binay’s
camp issued a clarification last Jan. 25, saying the vice president never
claimed that he earned a graduate degree from UST.
In
a letter posted as a comment on the Varsitarian’s Facebook post
last Jan. 22, Joselito Salgado of the Office of the Vice President’s Media Affairs
Division said “the official curriculum vitae of the Vice President also
indicated that he ‘academically completed’ his master of laws. This means, he
completed his major and minor subjects but owing to his schedule as a human
rights lawyer during Martial Law, he was unable to finish his thesis or
dissertation.”
The Varsitarian earlier
conducted a check on the vice president’s UST records and was told by the
Registrar’s Office that Binay took master’s subjects in law in the University,
but was not able to finish his studies and attain the degree. The story also cited the the vice president’s website and curricula vitae posted on
two other government websites.
At
least two media outlets have previously reported that Binay finished his
master of laws degree in UST in 1980. Robert A. Vergara, Jr.
