Angelo Jimenez begins 6-year term as UP president | ABS-CBN

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Angelo Jimenez begins 6-year term as UP president

Angelo Jimenez begins 6-year term as UP president

Arra Perez,

ABS-CBN News

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Jimenez backs UP-DND accord institutionalization

Newly installed University of the Philippines president Atty. Angelo Jimenez (left) delivers s speech after receiving the university mace symbolic of the university leadership during the ceremonial turnover at Quezon Hall, UP Diliman on Feb. 10, 2023. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News
Newly installed University of the Philippines president Atty. Angelo Jimenez (left) delivers s speech after receiving the university mace symbolic of the university leadership during the ceremonial turnover at Quezon Hall, UP Diliman on Feb. 10, 2023. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News

MANILA — Angelo "Jijil" Jimenez on Friday officially started his 6-year term as president of the University of the Philippines.

During the turnover ceremony at the Quezon Hall in UP Diliman, Jimenez said he envisioned the university "to be at the forefront of transformative scientific, cultural, and artistic pedagogy" and "research and public service in local and global communities."

He said he wanted UP to have "global consciousness" and become future-ready.

"Ang UP ay mananatiling bulwagan ng dangal at ipagpatuloy natin ang simulaing ito tungo sa husay at dangal. Honor and excellence. But they are not enough. Aanhin ang husay at dangal kung walang malasakit at kung walang pakikipagkapwa tao?" he said in his acceptance speech.

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(The UP will remain a hall of honor and we will continue this mission towards excellence and honor. Honor and excellence. But they are not enough. What use are excellence and honor without sympathy and solidarity?)

Jimenez also vowed to tackle the benefits of staff members, including personnel and regularization issues.

Serving for a term of 6 years, Jimenez said he "will start work today" by appointing and organizing his executive team.

UP-DND ACCORD

He also expressed support for the institutionalization of the UP-Department of National Defense accord, which established guidelines on military and police operations inside the university.

He said he would discuss this with Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos, following the case of UP professor Melania Flores, who was arrested this week from her home inside the UP Diliman campus by policemen who reportedly posed as DSWD personnel.

"The issue here is building trust in our institutions. There is an existing live agreement on protocols concerning entry into campus with a fellow agency of government and it is a formal agreement, and from all the facts coming to my knowledge, it has been violated. These kinds of things do not help us in building strong institutions for the country. It has broader implications for governance as well," Jimenez said in an interview after the ceremony.

"I will seek a meeting with, at my level, [with] the Sec. of Interior (DILG), Sec. Abalos to discuss ways of how to protect this and how to strengthen our mechanisms of mutual monitoring of the agreement," Jimenez added, saying he was a signatory of the agreement when he was a student regent.

Flores, a faculty member at the UP Departamento ng Filipino at Panitikan and former president of the All UP Academic Employees Union, said she was arrested for allegedly violating the Social Security Act of 2018, specifically for failing to remit the SSS contributions of a former househelp.

But the educator-unionist said she was not aware of the charges, nor did she receive any subpoena supposedly for her to attend any hearing.

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22ND UP PRESIDENT

Jimenez, the 22nd president of the university, is a labor lawyer. He served in the UP Board of Regents - the university's highest governing body - in 1992 as Student Regent, and as Regent from 2016 to 2021.

He also served as deputy administrator of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration from 2005 to 2007.

Meanwhile, in his speech, outgoing UP President Danilo Concepcion called Jimenez his "worthy successor".

He said the study of artificial intelligence (AI), the acquisition of supercomputers through donors, hybrid teaching and learning, and new infrastructures are among those he would leave behind in the university as he stepped down as president.

"As we look out from Quezon Hall today, we can see a university much transformed, not only physically, but also in mind and spirit... I am now retiring from my post with deep pride and gratitude for this opportunity of a lifetime," Concepcion said.

The attendees at the turnover ceremony included former Senator Kiko Pangilinan, a UP alumnus who also served as student regent and chairperson of the UP Student Council.

Toward the end of the ceremony, students held a brief protest, demanding academic freedom.

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PAOCC: P210M spent since 2023 for detained POGO workers, billions in assets seized

PAOCC: P210M spent since 2023 for detained POGO workers, billions in assets seized

Katrina Domingo,

ABS-CBN News

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Foreign nationals arrested at a POGO hub in Lapu-Lapu City in September 2024 are brought to Mactan Airbase for transfer to Metro Manila. Annie PerezForeign nationals arrested at a POGO hub in Lapu-Lapu City in September 2024 are brought to Mactan Airbase for transfer to Metro Manila. Annie Perez

MANILA — The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) on Wednesday said it has spent about P210 million in the past two years for the detention of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) workers arrested since the crackdown began in 2023.

The PAOCC spends about “P35 million every 4 months” for the food, water, electricity, security officials and administrative costs for POGO workers who are awaiting deportation, said spokesperson Winston Casio.

“Roughly two years na po so we may have spent already...P210 million to end this problem,” he told Palace reporters.

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) explained that the PAOCC had to shoulder some of its costs as their detention facility in Taguig could only house up to 100 foreign nationals for deportation.

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“Ang PAOCC napakalaki ng tulong (has been a great help) in terms of housing them prior to deportation,” BI spokesperson Dana Sandoval said.

As of December 2024, the PAOCC has deported 2,121 foreign nationals working in illegal POGO hubs. Nearly 340 others are awaiting deportation, according to data from the agency.

“This does not include those who voluntarily left the country,” Casio said.

But, Casio said, PAOCC's expenses have to be seen in the context of property seized in its operations.

“We could have already gained anywhere between P20 billion to P30 billion worth of real estate properties, tangible items, cars, name it,” he said.

He said that Anti-Money Laundering Council has already ordered market valuation of seized items and properties.

Among the seized properties from POGOs that are awaiting deposition are several high-value properties in Pasay City, a hotel in Cebu, mega compounds in Tarlac and Pampanga, as well as 134 seized vehicles, Casio said.

Most of the POGO-linked foreign nationals who were either deported or awaiting deportation are from Vietnam, China, Indonesia and Myanmar, data from the BI showed.

Immigration officials are also working with various embassies so that they could shoulder the repatriation flights of their respective nationals who were involved in illegal gambling operations here, the agency’s spokesperson said.

Last year, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. banned all POGOs in the Philippines after congressional investigations and multiple raids showed that the industry was linked to several criminal activities including torture, prostitution and human trafficking.

Since the ban took effect on January 1, 2025, only 11,000 of the 33,000 registered POGO workers have remained in the Philippines, according to data from the BI.

Of the 11,254 POGO workers who stayed in the Philippines, 121 have been deported, 518 have been arrested, while 45 other voluntarily surrendered.

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