Good morning, everyone. First of all, allow me to give my utmost thanks to our former University President, Dr. Edgardo E. Tulin, for entrusting me with this very important task as Caretaker of our beloved Visayas State University. 

I was honestly overwhelmed to hear this news from Sir Edu himself. At first, I was filled with surprise because I never expected to be delegated such a gargantuan task. But I took this job mainly because I know how important it is to continue the momentum that has been started by the previous administration, of which I was very proud to be part.

Honorable members of this administrative council, I’d like all of you to give a resounding applause to former President Tulin and his entire administration who are currently on holdover function as we await for our next Chief Steward. 

Daghan kaayong salamat Sir Edu ug sa tanan nimong kaubanan for the last 8 years! Our university is stronger than ever because you started the important groundwork of internationalizing our programs that allowed VSU to obtain greater global prominence.

As we transition to an exciting next chapter in our university’s history, I would like to assure you that I’m committed to continuing the enduring legacies started by the Tulin administration so that our next University President will be able to push it forward as we aspire for more collective accomplishments in our centennial year.

Indeed, we are pivoting to an important milestone for our beloved VSU and I hope that all of us will rally behind our next appointed leaders who will continue the difficult task of improving our operational systems, building more infrastructure for our ever-growing number of students, and push for more collaborative research engagements that will increase our overall publication performance in the coming years.

Yes, while many have been done by the Tulin administration for the past 8 years, many exciting things are yet to be pursued so that we can realize our ultimate goal of becoming a world leader in science and technology education and research innovation in this part of the Philippines.

Just like you, I’m equally excited to welcome our next administration so that we can do the proper turnover to them and allow new and productive inputs to flourish from a new set of leadership.

The Office of the University Secretary headed by Dr. Guiraldo C. Fernandez, Jr. ably assisted by our Executive Secretary Dr. Allen Gleenie P. Lambert, has successfully disseminated the public call to search for the 7th University President of VSU. 

Aside from the billboard posters that were strategically placed in central locations here in the region, we’ve also posted our public announcement on our website and have also published this in national newspapers so that we can invite as many applicants as possible from different parts of the country.

We also continue to seek your help on this public dissemination as our deadline is set on December 11, 2023, so that we can officially begin the rigorous selection process. The Chairperson of our Search Committee is headed by Dr. Raul F. Muyong, a dear friend of VSU and the former President of Iloilo Science and Technology University (ISAT-U). 

Dr. Muyong served two full terms as President of ISAT-U who advocated for one system, one policy that made way for visible infrastructures and physical development to be built across its five campuses. He is also responsible for the rapid improvement of ISAT-U particularly in science and technology programs, including its impressive performance in the licensure examinations in electronics engineering and mechanical engineering.

Our Search Committee Chairperson has just been recently appointed as Director IV of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED). With his new designation, Dr. Muyong is expected to play an important role in the campaign of CHED to ensure access and equity to quality higher education under the Marcos administration.

With these promising credentials of our Search Committee Chair, I have no doubts that we will be able to select the best candidate to serve our university in the next four years.

As your Caretaker, I’d like to request everyone to do something for VSU—and that is to pray for the best future for our ever-dearest university. Just like you, I’m also concerned about what will happen to us in the next few years now that we are still in a transitional stage. But prayers are very effective and I hope that you will include VSU’s continued and unhampered growth and development for the many years to come.

You see, transitory phases like this one can create anxieties for all of us, especially for our faculty members, our alumni, and our students. While we await our next set of leaders, may this time be used for productive assessment and collective introspection of where we want to take VSU in the future.

I pray and hope that this stage, crucial as it may be, will not lead to division just like what happened to other universities when important choices had to be made for their next set of leaders.

We need to take a proactive part in this search process but hopefully, it will not result in polarized conversations, hostile partisanship, and fragmented choices that will go beyond the actual selection process.

When all of this is over and when our Board of Regents (BOR) has already made their decision, I hope that everyone will gladly accept our new Chief Steward and unify for him/her so that we can help in building a stronger, greater and more productive Visayas State University in the 21st century.

The role of our next leader is very crucial because the groundwork for development has already been laid out for him/her by the past administrations. And I’m sure that he/she will be counting on all of us to push the boundaries of instruction, research, extension, and innovation in the next four years.

Mabuhay ang VSU ug padayon natong ampingan ang atong pinalanggang tunghaan. Thank you very much and God bless us all!

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