Wednesday, July 30, 2008 Mercado: Recycled; the Dancing Queen By Ram Mercado First Person
WHO shall be the next Commission on Higher Education (Ched) chairman to replace Romulo Neri?
Pampanga's favorite son, Dr. Emmanuel Angeles, chancellor of the Angeles University Foundation, is our top choice for the Ched, subject of a guessing game now in government and education circles.
Often times in life's inscrutable mysteries, the best man ends last. This is my apprehension about our best bet, Dr. Angeles, for the vacant position.
Among a few names, all leading luminaries in public life and the profession of education, the AUF chancellor was reported in the short list from which President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will appoint the next Ched chairman.
It is prudent, if not wise, for Dr. Angeles to exclude himself out of the prospective nominees. No matter how qualified he is for the exalted post, he should not even consider it, unless he can take the brickbat of being called a "recycled" official in the end days of the Arroyo administration.
It is the same advice concerned friends told resigned CDC president Levy Laus, not to take any Palace job offer, whether as consolation or as a new challenge - in the present dispensation.
Angeles has had his time serving the country at the CDC with untarnished proof of loyalty and dependability. He holds a track record of achievements like Laus who has demonstrated equal excellence and integrity.
Any appointive post for the two former CDC chief executives will open themselves to being labeled "recycled". The term connotes usability, second-hand but salvageable. The worst is that recycled items come cheap.
Well, if Angeles, like a lover obsessed with the girl of his dream, has a strong and determined desire for the Ched, by all means he should get it. I know many a man who had waited years until the object of his love had become a widow, separated, or divorced, then ran after her to finally catch his prey.
At this time, for all we know, the AUF honcho is not even thinking of the vacant position. He has his hands full with an expanding university system, additional facilities for the Foundation's medical center, now being restructured to equal if not surpass even the better hospitals in Metro Manila in facilities, service, and medical expertise.
I heard Laus had been offered a prestigious post in the government but prudence dictated his shunning away from government service after relinquishing the CDC job.
Why get "recycled" when you can shine with your own star in a work area which has defined you for ages?
Some Pampangueños are optimistic that officer-in-charge (OIC) Nona Ricafort is the next best guess to fill the Ched vacancy.
Mrs. Ricafort who was appointed OIC (acting capacity) after Chairman Neri was given the SSS post, is the wife of incoming CDC President and CEO Benigno Ricarfort.
Kung ang dalawa (Angeles at Laus) ay dapat umiwas sa pagtanggap ng posisyon ngayon dahil sa pangambang matatawagan silang "recycled", the Ricaforts should not rejoice this early - the Tagalog has a term for it - ano ba, sinusuwerte?
As I have long held, with my faith confirmed by actuality, the President has a great virtue as a person and as a politician. This is her sense of gratitude to people who stood by her in poll campaigns, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer. Look at her handpicked losing senatorial bets in 2006.
Tito Sotto has been rewarded with the National Dangerous Drug Board post; Mike Defensor, as Task Force Chief of the Naia-3; and Ralph Recto as Neda chief.
Soon Prospero Pichay will be posted in a "consolation" job, too.
My educated guess is that Tessie Aquino Oreta will be "it" as Ched chairman. Ms. Oreta was chairperson of the Education Committee in the 13th Congress, and is being recommended by a large number of schools and universities, and teachers-workers' associations.
As Ched Chairperson, she is ably qualified to steer the higher institutions to academic excellence and curriculum innovation. Include her special focus on physical education.
While the public schools (DepEd) under Tarlac's Jesli Lapus perform the traditional "Tinikling" or "Maglalatik" during field demonstrations, future Ched Chairperson Tessie Oreta can improve collegiate mass exhibitions through higher dance forms.
We shall all regale and delight watching college students perform "Macarena", "Salsa", along with reggae and hip-hop. On top of this during Prissa meets, students will sway to the "Dancing Queen" by ABBA, Ms. Oreta's signature song.
