AIM to replace president after school loses labor cases

MANILA, Philippines - The Manila-based Asian Institute of Management (AIM), one of the region’s top business schools, will replace its president in May after the school lost various labor disputes with its professors. The institute will have a new president after the contract of current president Francis G. Estrada expires on May 15. Estrada “will not be available for extension or renewal of his contract when it expires on May 15, 2009," Jose L. Cuisia, chairman of the school’s board of trustees, said in a letter dated January 17, 2009. “We regret his decision but respect it," Cuisia said in a letter distributed to members of the board of trustees, faculty, and staff of AIM. “President Estrada has led a major and difficult re-thinking and re-engineering of AIM. He has catalyzed thinking — and action — on the strategic direction of the Institute. Under challenging competitive circumstances, and in collaboration with the academic and management team, he has placed AIM on sound economic ground." A search committee “has been convened to identify, vet, and recommend a new president and chief executive officer to the board of trustees," the letter said, adding that the body will be headed by Bro. Armin Luistro, FSC, De La Salle University president. Calls made and text messages sent to AIM were unanswered. Three days before Christmas last year, the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) ordered the school to reinstate and pay P1.94 million to Professor Felixberto U. Bustos. In November 2007, the school suspended Bustos, a treasurer and director of the AIM Faculty Association (AFA), for one year. The penalty was meted out just months after Estrada suspended Professors Victor S. Limlingan and Emmanuel A. Leyco, AFA chairman and president, respectively, for “dysfunctional behavior." This was alleged by AIM after Limlingan and Leyco, in February 2007, wrote a letter to the school’s board of trustees, seeking a P984 million salary hike for faculty and workers, citing Republic Act 6728. Under the said law, private schools are mandated to allot 70 percent of tuition increased to its workers, including professors and staff. For its part, AIM management continues to insist that the claim is baseless. In February 2008, the NLRC declared Limlingan and Leyco’s suspension as illegal. The same labor body also ruled against AIM in April last year. The NLRC told the school to reinstate and pay P1.21 million to Professor Jose Jesus F. Roces who was illegally terminated. In June 2006, Roces’ teaching contract was not renewed — despite having secured a full-time appointment — after he questioned his dean’s academic qualifications. In April last year, the school was reportedly unable to renew accreditation from Equis (European Quality Improvement System), a body that sets global standards for business education. Using its framework, Equis assesses, improves, and accredits higher education institutions in management and business administration. Its non-accreditation may discourage foreign students to study at the AIM, sources familiar with the matter told GMANews.TV. Famous for its Masters in Business Administration degree, AIM charges tuition in US dollars. - RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV