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Law dean Leonen resignation endorsed to UP Board of Regents


(Updated 10:31 p.m.) The Chancellor of the University of the Philippines Diliman (UPD) has endorsed the resignation of UP College of Law Dean Marvic Leonen to the UP Board of Regents (BOR), which has the authority to decide on the matter. In a text message circulated among UP law students Friday, the Law Student Government (LSG), the student council of the College of Law, said UPD Chancellor Sergio Cao has endorsed Leonen's offer to resign from his post in the aftermath of insinuations that he plagiarized portions of a 2004 article that he wrote. "Official communication from (Chancellor) Cao endorsed the resignation to the BOR (Board of Regents). The BOR and the UP President will decide on Dec. 17," the message read. The BOR, the highest policy-making body of the UP System, confirms the appointment of school officials, including college deans. The LSG, however, clarified that Leonen remains the college dean, until the BOR and UP President Emerlinda Roman formally accept Leonen's resignation. "The (law) faculty unanimously decided to issue a resolution urging the BOR not to accept the resignation. LSG will do the same with signatures from students," the message further read. Both Leonen and Cao were unavailable for comment as of posting. 'What's best for the institution' Interviewed by GMANews.TV, UP Professor Judy Taguiwalo who is a UP-BOR member representing the faculty said she has yet to receive the agenda of the BOR's next meeting, but confirmed that the board is indeed convening on December 17. The BOR may possibly have the last say on Leonen's case, Taguiwalo said, because the appointing powers are with the collegial body. She also explained that issues raised for the the board's resolution are first recommended by the UP Diliman chancellor to the UP president, who in turn makes the endorsement to the BOR for deliberation. "Titingnan natin ang merits niyan. I would also like to see 'yung tindig ng faculty. Kailangang may context. Tinanggap niya ang criticism at kaya siya nag-resign is to bring back the integrity, sabi niya," Taguiwalo said. (We will look at the merits of the case. I would also like to see the stand of the [law] faculty. We should consider the context. He [Leonen] accepted the criticism, and his reason for resigning is to bring back the integrity, as he put it.) "We will always be after what's best for the institution," she added. Leonen offered to resign from his post in a letter dated Dec. 7, after acknowledging that he failed to supply at least two attributions in his 2004 article titled "Weaving Worldviews: Implications of Constitutional Challenges to the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act of 1997." This came after a lawyers' group, the Philippine Social Justice Foundation (Philjust) sent Leonen a letter on Dec. 4 calling his attention to what appeared to be a case of plagiarism. Earlier in August, Leonen led 36 other UP Law faculty members in calling on Supreme Court Associate Justice Mariano Del Castillo to resign for allegedly plagiarizing portions of a decision Del Castillo penned. Prior to his appointment as the college dean, Leonen served as the legal counsel and Vice President for Legal affairs of UP. In July this year, Leonen was appointed as the head of the government peace panel in talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.—MRT/JV, GMANews.TV
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