Tag: Jerome P. Villanueva

July 8, 2015, 9:38 a.m. - A TECHNICALITY has prevented tax authorities from collecting P171.5 million from the University in a tax dispute involving UST Hospital.

The Court of Tax Appeals favored UST in a decision dated March 2, junking the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s (BIR) claim that UST Hospital needed to pay an extra P171.5 million in income taxes and a compromise penalty of P56,000. An audit found that the hospital failed to declare more than P700 million in income in 2006.

June 20, 2015, 11:31 a.m. - THE UNIVERSITY emerged as the top-performing school in the recent architecture licensure exams, with three Thomasians in the top 10, including this year’s topnotcher.

UST recorded an 88.74-percent passing rate or 197 passers out of 222 examinees, higher than last year’s 81.89 percent or 199 passers out of 243 examinees, results from the Professional Regulation Commission showed.

Last year, UST placed second behind the University of San Carlos.

March 24, 2015, 2:45 p.m. - THE CENTRAL Commission on Elections (Comelec) has withheld the candidacies of six independent bets for Central Student Council (CSC) posts following disqualification cases filed against them by Lakas ng Diwang Tomasino (Lakasdiwa), the only recognized university-wide political party this academic year.

Feb. 13, 2015, 5:10 p.m. - A TECHNICAL working group has been formed by the Committee on Higher and Technical Education (CHTE) and the Committee on Basic Education and Culture (CBEC) of the House of Representatives to draft a Magna Carta of Students, a bill that has dragged in Congress for almost 15 years.

Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman will serve as chairman of the technical working group, while Kabataan party-list Rep. Terry Ridon and Akbayan party-list Rep. Ibarra Guiterrez III will serve as co-chairpersons.

Four house bills (HB) that tackle students’ rights and welfare, namely HB 102 by Lagman, HB 1098 by Ridon, HB 2870 by representatives Diosdado Arroyo and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, and HB 4435 by Guiterrez and Akbayan party-list Rep. Walden Bello, will be consolidated by the technical working group.

In a joint meeting of the CHTE and CBEC on Feb. 11, A Teacher party-list Rep. Mariano Piamonte, Jr. said some of the provisions in the bills were “contentious and controversial,” noting that there should be equal protection for the academic freedom of the administration and students.

"I confirm the issue has been lingering for the last 15 years. [We] are not against the entire [bill]. We are against contentious and controversial [provisions] related to management rights and prerogatives," Piamonte said. "This magna carta is simply a compendium of student [rights] already expressed in the manual of regulations of higher education institutions (HEIs) [and] laws like the anti-hazing and many others."

Marc Lino Abila, president of the College Editors’ Guild of the Philippines, said the protection of students’ rights was a “paramount concern."

"The Constitution recognizes the vital role of youth in nation-building and in effect, mandates that all education institutions should inculcate patriotism and nationalism, foster our respect for human rights, and teach the rights and duties of citizenship," Abila said. Roberto A. Vergara, Jr. and Jerome P. Villanueva

Feb. 9, 2015, 9:23 p.m. - ‘ADAPTIVE architecture’ will help ease the problem of flooding on campus, the country’s top architect and urban planner said in a lecture Monday at the Faculty of Arts and Letters.

Felino “Jun” Palafox, Jr., who finished architecture in UST in 1972, said the University might want to consider elevated walkways so that students could still move around campus despite flash floods.

Jan. 29, 2015, 11:15 p.m. - THE UNIVERSITY reigned as the only top-performing school in the January 2015 licensure examination for architects, with a Thomasian proclaimed the topnotcher and three others landing in the top 10.

UST recorded an 83.42-percent passing rate or 161 passers out of 193 examinees, results from the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) showed.

This was higher than last year’s 78.71 percent, wherein 122 passed out of 155 examinees.

Topnotcher Christian Reyes led the new batch of Thomasian architects with a score of 84.80 percent.

Thomasians Andre Nicolas Alcantara and Shane Ann Estaris were tied at sixth place after scoring 82.70 percent, while Francis Michael Padua placed eight with a score of 82.5 percent.

Last year, Mapua Institute of Technology was the only top-performing school. PRC requires a minimum 80 percent passing rate and at least 50 examinees to be declared a top-performing school.

The national passing rate went up to 60.71 percent, with 867 successful examinees out of 1, 428. This was higher than last year’s 54.99 percent, wherein 793 examinees passed out of 1,442. Jerome P. Villanueva

Jan. 25, 2015, 1:50 p.m. - THE CONSERVATORY of Music Student Council (CMSC) has begun the process of amending its constitution amid budget cuts that had forced the college to reduce departments to seven from 14 this academic year.

The council will gather its officers and student senate composed of all department officers and class presidents every Tuesday from Jan. 20 to April 14 for a constitutional convention, according to a memorandum by Music Dean Raul Sunico.

CMSC Vice President Czen Reganit said the new constitution would accommodate the newly implemented seven-department scheme.

Dec. 6, 2014, 10:11 a.m. - THE VATICAN lauded the country’s efforts in ensuring spiritual readiness among Filipinos in time for the apostolic visit of Pope Francis on Jan. 15 to 19, 2015.

In a recollection for papal visit committee members held at the Buenaventura Garcia Paredes, O.P. Building Wednesday morning, Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, papal visit committee head, said Vatican officials had learned about the recollections and "faith-inspired activities" being done in preparation for the papal visit. 

THE COMMISSION on Higher Education (CHEd) has stood by its decision to remove Filipino courses in tertiary education.

In a statement released Nov. 27, CHEd proposed to use Filipino as a medium in teaching general education subjects instead.

“Filipino cannot merely be taught as a subject, but must be used in oral and written forms,” according to the statement signed by CHEd Chairperson Patricia Licuanan. “[T]he Commission shall support such aims by providing incentives to Higher Education Institutions (HEI) that opt to use Filipino in the general education courses or offer several sections of a given course in Filipino.”

Nov. 28, 10:11 a.m. - THE COMMISSION on Higher Education (CHEd) has stood by its decision to remove Filipino courses in tertiary education.

In an official statement released Thursday, CHEd proposed to use Filipino as a medium in teaching general education subjects instead.