If the administration’s response to grievance as to working benefits, Transnational Education (TNE) program, and employment concerns after the “Red Ribbon Day” would be rated from 1 to 10, it would be a 5 according to Prof. Gherold Benitez, Faculty and Personnel Union president.

On February 19, members of the teaching and non-teaching force of the university led a propaganda of wearing black attire and a red ribbon. Benitez, on one hand, said the Union was dismayed with the administration not listening to their grievances.

Benitez said this red ribbon campaign is their external manifestation to the administration telling they have some concerns that they think the latter failed to address.

Among the concerns of the Union are the “selective” allocation of the working incentives by the Program on Awards and Incentives for Service Excellence (PRAISE) committee, distribution of employee benefits based from the Collective Negotiation Agreement (CNA) with private companies, and addressing the Hong Kong “diploma mill” scandal where the name of Tarlac State University (TSU) was linked.

The same day afternoon, the administration called for an assembly at the gymnasium to discuss the matters with the Union and explained their side as well.

Benitez, also a faculty member in College of Arts and Social Sciences (CASS) and president of Confederation of Faculty Associations of State Colleges and Universities of the Philippines, Inc., felt, after the meeting, there were things that were answered but there were also some that were left hanging.

Other issues raised to the administration that were not or slightly covered in the assembly includes those of the faculty permanency, promotion versus hiring of non-teaching staff, and vertical articulation.

On the other hand, Dr. Myrna Q. Mallari, TSU president, welcomed the concerns and said there were no violent reactions between the administration and the Union on the event. In an interview, she said she believes everyone has the right to express his/her sentiments.

“We are one big family. We can always communicate. Ayokong meron silang [Union] concern na hindi natin ma-address,” she added.

Supreme Student Council President Miguel Paolo Nunag and members of student organizations also supported the Union’s tying of red ribbons. Students were present as observers.

Nunag, meanwhile, said in an interview that students were originally not allowed to listen but he asked to let them in. Mallari affirmed students were not invited. 

As the representative of the student body, Nunag said, he was not satisfied with what happened in the assembly.

​

‘Plagiarized’ doctoral thesis
An investigating panel was formed on December 8 following several reports from Hong Kong newspapers that a high ranking university official there plagiarized his doctoral thesis to obtain a post-graduate degree in TSU. And during the faculty assembly in February, Mallari confirmed TSU’s probe revealed that the papers were, indeed, plagiarized.

Dr. Herdip Singh, Associate Vice President in Hong Kong’s Lingnan University, was accused of submitting a dissertation similar to that of a Chinese student in Sweden’s Lund University as part of his Doctor of Philosopy in Business Administration. 

On November 12, an online press in the Chinese region, The Standard, reported that the dissertation of Singh is 96% similar.

In a closed-door meeting with Dr. Nicanor Caingat, Director of the Office of International Affairs and Studies, and Dr. Armee Rosel, former Vice President for Student Affairs, on January 22, Caingat said the probing body already had the result but he refused to give details saying they were not authorized to disclose it. The copy of the dissertation was also restricted from media.

But he said they used plagiarism software to assess the degree of similarity between the dissertations. He added that if a high percentage of similarity is obtained, the dissertation might be unauthentic.

It is a standard operating procedure for panelists to check the authenticity of the papers. However, panelist only bank on the candidates’ honesty since they are professionals, Caingat said. Candidates usually submit certificates of originality signed by them and conformed by the panelist.

The ad hoc committee to which the issue was passed was effected after Mallari signed Administrative Order 93, s. 2015 dated December 8.

The committee is composed of Dr. Lolita Sicat, Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dr. Louella Ona, VP for Research, Extension, Production, and Development, Dr. Renato Mercado, Dean of College of Business and Accountancy, Atty. Leslie Orencia, Dean of College of Law, Dr. Brigido Corpuz, Executive Assistant, Dr. Maria June M. Carlos, Dean of College of Public Administration, and Prof. Marlon Gamido, Dean of College of Computer Studies. Benitez, Caingat, and Rosel also served as members.

Mallari ordered Caingat and Carlos to appear before the inquiry conducted by Commission on Higher Education’s (CHED) Technical Panel on Transnational Education and Distance Education. 

Caingat said CHED proceeded with their separate investigation after another Hong Kong press, Apple Daily, communicated to them. Apple Daily, according to Caingat, is the first to release articles about the scandal.

Moreover, TSU administration sent a team in Hong Kong to monitor the situation and gather information early after knowing the issue, he added. Mallari said they are also coordinating with BOR to clear things up.

In addition, Caingat said Singh sent an apology to TSU for having the name of the school linked with the issue. He was removed as comptroller of Lingnan University. Singh’s diploma may be useless he said.

​

Anti-plagiarism
Dr. Lorna Dimatulac, VP for Administration and Finance, in place of Mallari, signed Administrative Order No. 94, s. 2015, dated December 11, which called for the establishment of a committee to draft policies on anti-plagiarism. Caingat said this is still in line with Singh’s case.

The order stated that TSU institutional family is called for to report all incidents of alleged plagiarism in for formal investigation. Appropriate sanctions for violations for the civil service laws and rules and related applicable legislations will be given.

Dr. Louella Ona chaired the committee. The members are Dr. Robert Marcos, Director of Production Office, Prof. Gladie Natherine G. Cabanizas, Director of Student Development Office, and Dr. Maria Elena David, Director of University Research Office. Rosel and Carlos are part as well.

In reference to Chapter 31, Section 2 of TSU Student Hand Book, disciplinary actions for cheating, such as passing a copied work, ranges from giving an automatic grade of 5.0 up to suspension and dismissal from the institution.

​

Diploma Mill?
There were articles from Hong Kong newspapers about Lifelong College being a diploma mill where a graduate of the said institution was said to have four doctorate degrees in a span of five years according to Benitez.

According to the news, he said, there was a back tracking done wherein the time of the actual enrolment was back tracked to make it so that the graduate had enrolled earlier.

The Standard also reported that their Education Bureau conducted a probe over the accusations against Singh’s “fast-tracked doctoral degree” from the TNE.

In an article released by online press South China Morning Post, another top-level official of Lingnan University, Alex Lee, is said to have helped Singh to fast-track the degree from Lifelong College that he founded.

Lifelong College is partnered with TSU along with other institution in Asia including Bulacan State University and Nueva Ecija University of Science and Technology, according to Lifelong’s official website. Lifelong College operates TSU Hong Kong office, Caingat said.

Lifelong markets the programs in Hong Kong, recruits students and is also in-charged with collection of fees, he clarified.

The TNE started in 2004 after former TSU president Dolores Matias signed a memorandum of agreement with Lifelong. 

The university, during that time, used CHED Memorandum Order (CMO) No. 1, series of 2000 on Policies and Guidelines in the Implementation of International Linkages and Twinning Programs. The programs were also approved by the Hong Kong Education Bureau.

TNE at present is operating under CMO No. 2, series of 2008 on the Policies, Standards, and Guidelines on Transnational Education.

Caingat explained that the students in Hong Kong campus are under the alternative learning system which uses online teaching and are also under blended learning where they learn both from Lifelong-based teachers and faculty members of TSU who are sent abroad.

TSU-based faculty members also sit as panelist during thesis defence and check the authenticity of the papers while TSU deans sign all diplomas, he added. Usually, four panelists are from TSU and one is from Hong Kong. Those offered abroad are also open in TSU but there were no enrolees like in PhD in Business Administration.

Caingat, who sat on post on November 2014, said it is more of a non-financial benefit for the university to offer programs overseas since TSU is being recognized internationally.

CHED provides subsidies for research, extension, scholarships to well known schools.

“It is not really an issue of diploma mill. In fact, it was not TSU which was cited as diploma mill,” Mallari defended saying these are just hearsay and allegations.

​

Old issues
Former TSU officials in 2013 faced a similar issue of diploma mill. In a January 27, 2013 post by the Philippine Daily Inquirer headed “Answer graft raps, university execs said”, the Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon asked former TSU Presidents Priscilla Viuya and Dolores Matias and eight others to file counter affidavits to a graft complaint on the TNE program dubbed a diploma mill. However, Viuya already cleared the allegations in 2013.

Former TSU executives Glenard Madriaga and Edilberto Nool, and former faculty member Romerico Dizon filed complaints in 2012, added in the report.

The Supreme Court En Banc finally dismissed appeals on the case last year according to Caingat.
 

Caingat, who is part of the defendant in the complaint, said they did not filed a counter against Nool and Dizon to pacify the issue and for TSU not to get involved in “sensationalized” mainstream media items anymore.

​

A question of reputation?
During the January interview with Caingat, he said TSU Hong Kong faced a moratorium. But according to Mallari, the major action of TSU later on is closing the partnership with Lifelong College and the programs in Hong Kong.

However, TNE is still existing, and permit is not yet cancelled. There are still students to be assisted and there will be a six-month transition period prior to the cancellation of the programs.

CHED had advised against publishing a manifesto regarding the closure of TNE as not to drag the name of TSU further. They also assured that eventually there’s a plan that delegates will go to Hong Kong Education Bureau to investigate further.

There were no cases filed against the institutions involved, nor about the plagiarism that occurred.
“But the point is the damage has been done. Are we just going to let go of it since it was already closed,” Benitez asked.

Benitez said they are concerned whether the accusations now with the TNE are true. If true, he said, the responsible party should be held accountable; and if not, then TSU should sue the Hong Kong newspaper as it dragged the university’s reputation down.

“As a future alumni of this university, kung ako po ang tatanungin, lalo na po kung alam nila yung matter with regards to the Transnational Education, paano po ako maha-hire sa kahit anong trabaho na a-apply-an ko kung alam po ng mga kumpanya sa ibang lugar dito sa Pilipinas na galing po ako sa [isang] diploma mill university,” asked Nunag during the assembly.

Mallari answered: “estudyante ka man, [o] teacher ka dito. Kung hindi ka proud maging [part of] TSU, ano ang solusyon doon? Lumabas ka sa TSU.” In a separate interview, she said so long as you love TSU, the whole community must prove the Hong Kong media wrong.

Connection to other institutions is still good, Mallari explained saying the president of Holy Angel University (HAU) in Angeles City wants to collaborate with TSU.

Moreover, she continued, Japan invited TSU, along with Batangas State University, and Bicol University, in the opening ceremony for TNE with University of the Philippines. Mallari elicited interest to Nagoya University in Japan regarding possible partnership in the field of engineering.

“We cannot go anywhere but internationalize now,” she added. Last year, TSU adapted a new vision of being a premiere university in the Asia-Pacific region.

Nunag, meanwhile, disagreed with the step to remain silent. 

“Naglalakad ka sa daan tapos sinuntok ka habang maraming nakakikita at pinabayaan mo lang. Tapos sinuntok ka ulit at pinabayaan mo na naman. Hanggang sinuntok ka na naman. Syempre kailangan mo ring lumaban,” he explained.

​

(Reports: Francis Ethan John A. Garcia, Joan Robin T. Martin, and Jahred F. Bertolfo)