Licuanan out of CHED?

MANILA, Philippines - Commission on Higher Education (CHED) chair Patricia Licuanan may reportedly be replaced soon by a close associate of Vice President Jejomar Binay.

Being eyed as her replacement is University of Makati president Tomas Lopez Jr.

Licuanan, however, said in a text message to The STAR that she was not aware of such rumors.

Whispers about Licuanan’s exit have escalated in academe in the face of her absence at the two-day summit the Philippine Business for Education (PBED) organized in partnership with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) last Thursday and yesterday.

Licuanan was absent from the summit, which  gathered the presidents of the country’s top private universities, the University of the Philippines, and heads of other SUCs and local government operated colleges, and heads of professional and industry associations, and two of CHED’s new commissioners, Cynthia Bautista and Ruperto Sangalang.

However, Licuanan was the guest of honor at the opening ceremonies Wednesday night.

An invited attendee at the summit said Licuanan’s presence may not really be that important since she is known to be on the way out.

“She would have been persuaded to stay even just for the first day since this is a very important summit,” the guest said.

Chito Salazar, PBED president, was unconvinced of Licuanan’s reported impending departure from CHED.

“I am not aware of any development like that,” he said. “She is not here because she was just too busy.”