By Jullan Louise Sido and Genno Gabriel Rabaya
“They tend to be so combatant and so aggressive, and sometimes information brought to the social media […] are not necessarily factual information,” said Silliman University (SU) President Dr. Betty Cernol-McCann.
During a kapehan session last Nov. 27 at the Luce Auditorium Foyer, McCann and university administrators spoke to representatives of student organizations and sectors to address current issues, including the concerns of the SU Faculty Association (SUFA).
McCann said that she is not able to fully disclose the details on the ongoing dispute with the SU administration and SUFA.
However, she revealed that the SU administration conducted a meeting with the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB) on Nov. 25 to discuss SUFA’s request to use more than the 70-percent of the tuition increment.
According to McCann, “Under the law, the subject for negotiation should only be the 70-percent. So now, they want to go beyond that, and definitely, that will put us in a bind as a university.”
She also noted that the request for an across-the-board salary increase might lead to tuition increases for all year levels.
Moreover, McCann explained that the increase would not be equitable according to the faculty members’ rank and “base pay.”
“If there is an across-the-board increase of ₱ 2,000 per month, that will be enjoyed by an instructor of the same amount all the way to the full professor. Now is that fair? They say ‘be fair’ and with discretion but actually it has to be equitable,” she said.
McCann also assured that SUFA’s initiatives and efforts are “part of the process” during the negotiation period.
“Please just be assured that we also expect that our faculty members to, put in quality work or quality teaching because we have our own performance evaluation,” she stated.
Alongside McCann during the kapehan were Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs and Research Dr. Margarrette Helen Alvarez, Dean of Students Dr. Edna T. Calingacion, Director Office of Media Affairs Dr. Warlito Caturay, Head of Student Housing and Residence Division Princeton Apura, and Officer-in-Charge of Facilities Management Engr. Lorena Mariño.
SUFA on McCann’s statements
However, SUFA President Jonathan Te said, “We don’t have a choice. We are the ones that are considered as weak [because of] the power difference.”
In an open forum organized by SUFA last Oct. 29 at the SU Chapel of the Evangel, the union responded to McCann’s statements on the matter.
Te noted that SUFA’s initiatives of publicizing information on social media is for “other people to be aware of what is happening right now.”
According to Te, “What we are doing is actually a challenge to the university. All these things that we have been posting, these are not lies because if it is, we would be liable.”
SUFA Vice President Karl James Villarmea also expressed how they would refer to the union’s initiatives as their passion rather than aggression.
Villarmea said, “If they call us that, I will also call them this: They are apathetic, and they are indifferent to our plight.”
He further stated that the administration should base their negotiations on the university’s principles and said, “The eyes of Silliman should always be on the prize of what our commitment says. In the vision, mission, [and] goal of the university.”
Te also emphasized that the negotiations should not be limited to the 70-percent of the tuition fee increment.
On the possible tuition fee increase, Te clarified that the university “cannot rely only on the tuition fee” and that the administration is “just going to resort to scaring the students.”
He claimed, “They [administration] have always insisted that there’s no tuition fee increase, because they would always say that when you started your schooling, you will be paying the same [amount of tuition] all throughout.”
Moreover, he expressed that SUFA has presented the suggested demands for the administration to do. “One, is that they include the audited financial statements which would mean that we would look at all other revenues,” he said.
When asked if the administration had not been doing these demands, Te responded, “Yes [they have not] because they have always stated that they want to limit the negotiations to the 70-percent of the tuition fee increment.”
