Licuanan resigns as CHED chair months before end of term

MANILA, Philippines (Updated 9:13 a.m.)  — Patricia Licuanan has resigned as chairperson of the Commission on Higher Education.

 

According to ABS-CBN News, Licuanan made the announcement at the weekly flag ceremony at the CHED office in Quezon City on Monday morning.

 

She said that the office of the executive secretary had called her, prompting the resignation. Her term was supposed to end in July.

 

"It has become obvious that there are persons determined to get me out of CHED by hurling false and baseless accusations against me," she said in a televised speech.

 

In recent days, Rep. Jericho Nograles (Puwersa ng Bayaning Atleta paty-list) had accused Licuanan of going on excessive trips and of authorizing her own travels abroad, an allegation that she has countered by showing travel authorities approved by Malacañang.

 

Licuanan, who admitted traveling in business class to avoid vertigo, noted that in 2017 alone, she traveled eight times—five of which were paid by the government. She traveled five times in 2016, six in 2015, two in 2014 and three in 2013.

 

"That’s hardly excessive and all of these things had to do with very specific commitments. And it’s because of these travels that we are able to have joint programs with educational institutions abroad," she said last Thursday.

 

"My ability to attend to CHED work for health reasons was maliciously peddled on social media even if I have worked consistenly at CHED from 6:45 a.m. to after 6 p.m. on most days and would commit sick leave for only half a day in seven and a half years in office," she said Monday.

 

"What I cannot understand is how Representative Nograles got hold of my internal travel documents. Only few offices in CHED have access to these," she said of the leaked documents, stressing that these documents were "always based on official travel authority from Malacañang."

 

"Although I vehemently deny the allegations against me, it is time to resign as my continued presence in CHED is inimical to the interest of the institution. It will only serve as a lightning rod that will attract more controversies in the agency," she said. — with Gaea Katreena Cabico