Leadership dispute grips Univ. of Cagayan Valley

TUGUEGARAO CITY  – University of Cagayan Valley, Inc. (UCV), one of the Cagayan Valley‘s oldest educational institutions has been rocked by a leadership dispute among the stockholders.

University officials, however, said they remain “committed to institutional integrity, peace and stability within its academic community” and will ensure “continued delivery” of quality education. 

UCV President Esther Susan Perez-Mari said in a statement on Tuesday that the university’s responsibility “extends beyond leadership positions or internal disagreements.”

Article continues after this advertisement

“Its foremost obligation is to protect an educational institution built through years of dedication and service, and to safeguard the interests and future of students,” she said.

FEATURED STORIES

NEWSINFO

NEWSINFO

NEWSINFO

Perez-Mari’s presidency had been dogged by the election of her replacement which she has challenged. 

The feud erupted when the Securities and Exchange Commission sitting en banc released SEC En Banc Case No. 05-26-612 on September 24 which ordered UVC to conduct a regular stockholders’ meeting and election within 45 days.

The SEC observed that UCV had failed to hold a stockholders’ meeting since 2010, leaving the previous board in a holdover capacity for over 15 years.

On October 29, a regular stockholders’ meeting elected a new board of directors with Caridad Andrews as president, Roland Rey as chairperson and Joy Perez Cue as vice president, which is being contested by Perez-Mari.

Article continues after this advertisement

“UCV respects the authority of the SEC and the courts and will pursue any available remedies only through the procedures provided by law,” Perez-Mari said.

The election results are now subject of a petition for review filed by Perez-Mari’s group of officials. 

Article continues after this advertisement

“The UCV has filed a Petition for Review under Rule 43 with the Court of Appeals challenging the SEC En Banc decision and seeking injunctive relief, including a temporary restraining order, which is currently pending,” Mari-Perez said. 

“The SEC decision must, thus, be accurately described within the scope of the matters it actually resolved. It should not be represented as a final judicial adjudication of every distinct issue arising from the pending intra-corporate controversy, ” she said. 

Students have so far remained neutral about the dispute. UVC has a student population of around 18,000.

Formerly the Cagayan Colleges Tuguegarao, UVC was granted official university status in 2010.

On September 2010, Dr. Victor Perez was installed as the first university president and was succeeded by Perez-Mari. 

Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.

Your subscription has been successful.

UVC’s original founders, Caridad Ventura Perez and Atty. Dr. Matias Ponce Perez, Sr. put up the Cagayan Teachers College to address a post‑World War II shortage of teachers in Tuguegarao on April 1948.