Students seek court relief to stop closure of PSBA-QC

MANILA, Philippines - Students of the Philippine School of Business Administration (PSBA) in Quezon City have filed a case with the regional trial court to stop the closure order issued by members of the school’s board of directors last month.

In a 27-page petition for injunction, students Mary Plet Paguio, Charlene Zape, and Patrick Lloret – representing over 4,000 students of PSBA-QC – said the issuance of the notice of closure dated Sept. 20 violated of their right to complete their degrees.

Named respondents in the petition were registered stockholders Juan Lim and Ramon Peralta, listed stockholder Antonio Magtalas, Commission on Higher Education chairman Patricia Licuanan and CHED National Capital Region director Catherine Castañeda.

The students filed the petition through lawyer and former councilor Antonio Inton.

Inton, also a PSBA-QC alumnus, asked the court to order the respondents to pay all students enrolled for the first semester the total amount of P1 million in moral damages.

The petitioners said that the issuance of the notice of closure, posted in the school’s website on Sept. 23 and published in The STAR on Sept. 27, caused “mental anguish, sleepless nights, stress, serious social humiliation, inconvenience, and demoralization” on the part of the students and their parents.

While the closure order indicated that students from PSBA-QC can be accepted at the PSBA Manila campus, Inton said the school would not be able accommodate all transferring students due to its “limited facilities and resources.”

He said only around 1,000 students are enrolled at PSBA-Manila.

Internal problem

The notice of closure, signed by Lim as chairman and Peralta as president, said that the school’s board of directors and stockholders representing at least 98.99 percent of the outstanding capital stock of PSBA-QC unanimously approved the closure of the school effective Oct. 18.

It also announced the termination of all academic personnel effective Nov. 8, and all non-academic personnel effective Nov. 29.

The reasons cited in the notice were business losses incurred in the past eight years. The school is being operated by Benjamin Paulino without an independent permit from CHED and without authority from PSBA Inc.

Paulino, based on documents from the Securities and Exchange Commission attached to the petition, is also a member of the school’s board of directors.

In the petition, Inton noted that the reason for closure “is more of personal nature rather than financial losses.” He said that another notice is posted within the campus, informing the students that enrollees for the second semester will still be accepted.

The issuance of the schedules of enrolment “poses a serious challenge to the allegation of financial losses and questions the integrity of the respondents in making their declaration in the notice of closure,” said Inton.

“By opening the school’s enrolment to petitioners, the school undertook an obligation to give them a fair chance to complete their courses. It cannot just take away such right whenever it pleases,” he added.

The former councilor said that if the respondents recognized the rights of the students, closure would have been the last option.

The petition noted that the legal personality of Magtalas to sit in the school’s board of directors is being questioned by Paulino.

“Petitioners understand that the assumption of authority by the respondents as directors and officers of the school has been contested and is still pending before the court,” read the petition.

“We have long recognized and respected the presidency of Benjamin Paulino. On the other hand, petitioners question the authority of respondents acting as officers and directors thereof,” it added.

The petitioners dubbed as “irresponsible, demoralizing, damaging and premature” the statements made by Licuanan, saying CHED could not stop the closure of PSBA due to the autonomy of higher education institutions.

“Without conducting an investigation, she concluded that the school is closing and the students want to transfer to PSBA-Manila, when in truth, the school is not closing as the closure is being opposed by Paulino,” said Inton.

The least Licuanan could have done was to investigate if the closure was a collective decision of the management, he said.

House intervention

Lawmakers yesterday expressed concern over the problems besetting the PSBA and raised the possibility of the House of Representatives intervening in the crisis.

Ifugao Rep. Teddy Baguilat urged CHED to intervene, noting that the PSBA is an autonomous higher education institution.

He said the school’s closure could not be done without CHED’s approval.

He said PSBA’s problems appeared to be a simple internal corporate feud that is affecting thousands of its students, including hundreds of scholars.

Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Rodel Batocabe suggested that the PSBA continue to operate while the dispute is being resolved under the auspices of CHED.– Janvic Mateo, Paolo Romero