Press Release
November 29, 2007

NERI LACKS ACADEMIC CREDENTIALS TO CHAIR CHED -- PIMENTEL

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino "Nene" Q. Pimentel, Jr. (PDP-Laban) has questioned anew the qualifications of Romulo Neri to chair the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) in the face of his apparent efforts to evade questions by the senators about the national broadband network-ZTE scandal.

Pimentel was infuriated over Neri's non-appearance at the Senate Wednesday evening when the proposed budget of the CHED was scheduled to be taken up on the floor.

"I take offense at bureaucrats who seem to believe that because they are close to the powers-that-be, they can ignore the legislature even in the performance of our duties," he said upon being informed by Sen. Edgardo Angara, chairman of a finance subcommittee, that Neri was on an official trip to South Korea.

Due to Neri's absence, the deliberation on the CHED budget was postponed. But Pimentel said the CHED chairman "will have to come here and face the music."

Pimentel said he was told that Neri is not qualified to chair the CHED because he does not have a doctorate degree in education, which is a prerequisite for anyone to be appointed chairman or commissioner of the Commission.

Appointees to the CHED are also required to have a 10-year teaching experience.

"Why is it that Mr. Neri has been named as head of CHED when he falls short of qualifications for the position? This is in defiance of the rule of law," Pimentel said.

The minority leader sarcastically remarked that Neri travelled to South Korea perhaps to be awarded an honorary doctorate degree from one of the universities there.

"He could not come back from South Korea and say he is now qualified. That degree must be earned," Pimentel said.

"In line with our functions, maybe we should communicate that matter to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo that it is not good for her administration to be perceived as one that ignores the requirements of the law which are very specific."

A former director general of the National Economic and Development Authority, Neri was named acting CHED chairman last August after he revealed that former Commission on Elections chairman Benjamin Abalos dangled a P200 million bribe to him in exchange for his favorable endorsement of the $329 million broadband project proposal of China's ZTE.

But after testifying before the Senate on Sept. 26, Neri has defied repeated Senate summons for him to return to the witness stand. Members of the Blue Ribbon Committee wanted to grill him on the extent of the President's involvement in the approval of the NBN-ZTE contract but Neri refused to talk further by invoking executive privilege.

This prompted the Blue Ribbon Committee to ask Neri to show cause why he should not be cited for contempt and face possible arrest.

News Latest News Feed