The College of Medicine of Southwestern University in Urgello Street, Cebu City is “the centerpiece of the University,” said its officials.(CDN/TONEE DESPOJO)
CHED issues freeze order for College of Medicine
2 SWU campuses claim gov’t recognition
A month after new investors took the reins of Southwestern University, the private school in Cebu City is trying to fend off a stop order issued by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) against its medical college.
“The University … will continue accepting medical students,” said SWU’s legal counsel in a statement.
READ: CHED assists SWU students
Lawyer Godwin Denzil Manginsay said SWU would defend in court its government recognition and right to operate the medical program.
The freeze order was served last June 10 to the school in Urgello Street, causing anxiety for some 500 students, including foreign enrollees.
CHED, in its June 2 order, said it recognizes only the SWU-Matias H. Aznar Memorial College of Medicine, Inc. (MHAM) in Redemptorist Plaza.
The regulatory body directed SWU-CM not to accept students at all levels.
The order is the latest twist in a legal battle over ownership claims by Aznar heirs over the school founded by the Aznar family in 1946.
Two contending parties insist each has the Government Recognition and the right to operate the college of medicine.
Education conglomerate Phinma, which operates schools in other parts of the country, acquired majority shares in SWU last month.
Chito Salazar Jr., Phinma Education Network president and CEO, now sits as SWU chairman. The Aznar family has retained two board seats.
The CHED order signed by Executive Director Julito Vitriolo directed its regional office in Cebu to “supervise the expeditious transfer of all affected students of SWU College of Medicine Inc. to the SWU-MHAM Inc. or to any recognized higher education institution of their choice with a College of Medicine” recognized by CHED and to assist foreign students who want to transfer to secure accreditation and renewal of visas from the Bureau of Immigration.
CHED also said the university and SWU-MHAM should let the court decide on the ownership issue.
However, SWU, in a statement to medical students, said it will “defend before the proper court/s the Government Recognition issued to it as early as 1954.”
Lawyer Manginsay, in the statement, raised a question of proper identity, saying the CHED’s stop order was issued to the “Southwestern University College of Medicine Inc.,” not to the university itself.
“The SWU College of Medicine, Inc. covered by the freeze order is a different entity from your university and does not apply to Southwestern University,” the statement read.
It said SWU is the holder of the Government Recognition granted on March 9, 1954.
“This Government Recognition granted to SWU continues to exist and has not been revoked, cancelled or withdrawn, giving SWU the right to continue to offer the said medical program,” the statement added.
Cebu Daily News tried to visit the university in Urgello Street yesterday but a security guard barred entry, saying classes at the College of Medicine were ongoing.
Outside the school gate is a tarpaulin banner congratulating a graduate, Dr. Venil Bolambao, for topping the last medical board examination.
A 28-year-old foreign national who asked not to be named, told CDN she transferred to another school in Cebu City last Tuesday after she read the cease-and-desist order.
She said her friends also transferred to schools in Manila. She said she was worried that SWU’s college of medicine may not be listed in the Medical Council in her home country or that she would get help in renewing her visa, which expires next month.
The second year medical student said she had no idea about the conflict over ownership claims of two groups.
“I spent one year there. It was a waste of time and money,” she told CDN. She said she also needs to take her pharmacology subject again.
TRANSFER
In its statement, SWU apologized to medical students and their parents for its initial silence, saying it was earlier trying to find a “diplomatic solution to the confusion.”
“However, we now feel it is best to clarify things,” it said.
CHED passed on June 9 last year an en banc resolution recognizing SWU-MHAM as “duly registered at the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) since 1970 and officially recognized and authorized by CHED to operate the College of Medicine program of the SWU.”
On June 2 this year, CHED denied the motion for reconsideration filed by SWU and issued a cease and desist order.
“Your university intends to fully comply, and is in compliance, with the said (CHED) resolution. First, there are no students being accepted under SWU College of Medicine, Inc., the new College of Medicine of SWU Foundation, Inc., or the new SWU, Inc. College of Medicine,” the SW statement read.
Manginsay said SWU agrees that the conflict must not prejudice the students.
SWU, formerly known as Southwestern Colleges, was founded by Don Matias H. Aznar in 1946. It has been offering the medical program leading to the degree of Doctor of Medicine since 1951.
Phinma took over the university last month, after completing on May 6 the acquisition of 56.83 percent of the school’s total outstanding capital stock for P1.9 billion from the Aznar family. This is equivalent to 17,201 shares.
The conglomerate also operates Araullo University, Cagayan de Oro College, University of Iloilo and University of Pangasinan under the Phinma Education Network.
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