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When
asked on television why Carlito Puno has been replaced
by Romulo Neri as the new chairman of the Commission on
Higher Education (CHED), Neri hesitated a bit, then
offered this one-liner quote: “I, too, was surprised.”
Many,
indeed, were surprised by the appointment of Neri as the
chief of the CHED.
Some say
Neri, a ranking member of the Cabinet, was demoted to a
lesser position, while others, not necessarily in the
know, were more brutally frank with their assessment:
Puno was fired from the CHED by association.
Puno is
no ordinary person in the order of things in the
Philippine hierarchy. He is the brother of the Chief
Justice, in the person of Reynato Puno, and that counts
a lot.
Neither
is Neri. Said to be one of the favorites of the
President, the socioeconomic planning secretary is among
the chief architects of the strong economy the
government is crowing about.
By his
own right, Carlito Puno excelled in many undertakings.
He was a topnotcher in the optometry board in 1960 at
the age of 19, a class valedictorian, and cum laude,
Optometry Class 1960, De Ocampo Memorial College.
He was
also a secretary-general at the Asia-Pacific Federation
of Christian Schools; vice president, World Christian
Lay Congress; and general secretary of the World Peace
Congress.
As for
Neri, he was the head of the congressional planning and
budget office of the House of Representatives headed by
Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr., and later director general
of the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda).
He was a
University of the
Philippines
instructor and a professor at the Asian Institute of
Management.
Great
credentials indeed for the two of them, but these are
not enough for people in government to climb up the
ladder of success or suffer a steep fall.
There
were those who allege that Neri was demoted because he
criticized Finance Secretary Gary Teves for the alleged
tax collection shortfalls of the Bureau of Internal
Revenue (BIR).
Neri
himself said he had only a slight misunderstanding with
the finance secretary, and that had been already
resolved.
At one
time, Neri also commented that the strong peso
attributed to the President’s economic skills and
programs were sending worries to investors and
exporters.
These
were only speculations, but in the case of Carlito Puno,
who, as of this writing has become jobless, they say the
Chief Justice’s resolve to make the Supreme Court “more
active” in the face of charges of judicial killings must
have did Carlito in.
The
Supreme Court initiated a National Consultative Summit
on Extrajudicial Killings on July 16 and 17. Chief
Justice Puno searched for major solutions to solve
forced disappearances.
Justices, activists, militant leaders, police officials,
politicians and prelates attended the Supreme Court’s
two-day summit at the Manila Hotel to map out ways to
put an end to the string of extrajudicial killings in
the country. Bayan launched its “silent protest,” but
expressed support for the high court’s initiative.
The
summit called for truce and talks with insurgents.
“Let us
rather engage in the conspiracy of hope. . . and hope
for peace.” Puno said.
“In the
clash of arms, the laws are silent. We need to reduce
violence, create conditions conducive to less violence
based on the rule of law,” Associate Justice Conchita
Carpio-Morales said.
One
group even recommended that Republic Act 9372, or the
Human Security Act, be declared unconstitutional.
Others
countered, however, that Neri was cut out for the job as
CHED chief.
Neri
obtained his master’s degree in business administration
in 1979 at the Graduate School of Management, University
of California in Los Angeles, majoring in international
management.
E-mail: raulbvalino@yahoo.com.ph. |
