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David Lapuz: ‘One prodigious fountain spouting forth brilliant ideas’

Dsvid Lapuz. From the blog of Fr. Joel Tabora, SJ
Dsvid Lapuz. From the blog of Fr. Joel Tabora, SJ
Aside from Salvador Panelo, spokesperson of President-elect Rodrigo Duterte for a month, aspirant to be ambassador to the Court of St. James and now presidential legal counsel, another appointee of incoming president Rodrigo Duterte who is creating a different kind of buzz is David Lapuz as head of the Commission on Higher Education.

There is still a confusion on the appointment of Lapuz to the government agency that oversees public and private higher education institutions as well as degree-granting programs in all tertiary educational institutions in the country because while others say the position is co-terminus with the appointing authority, there are also those who say that the head of CHED has a fixed term and that of the current chair, Patricia Licuanan, is up to 2018.

The designation of Lapuz as CHED chair was first mentioned by Ateneo de Davao President Fr. Joel Tabora, S.J. In his blog more than a week ago.

According to an Inquirer report, Tabora related: “In fact, last Wednesday, June 8, at 2:30 a.m. in a room filled with people in the Panacan Malacañan of the South, President Duterte had publicly designated Professor Lapuz, long-time professor of political science and of the life and works of Jose Rizal at the Lyceum of the Philippines, CHED Chair. To the professor’s self-deprecating query, ‘Are you really nominating me CHED chair?’ the President replied emphatically, ‘Yes!’”

I have interactions with Lapuz through our twice –a- month lunches at Havana restaurant in Greenbelt started by the eminent writer Carmen Guerrero Nakpil some years back. Mrs. Nakpil has not been active in those lunches these days and it’s her niece, artist Marivic Rufino, who carries on with keeping the group together.

I also meet Lapuz in events organized for the fellows of the International Visitors Program of the U.S. State Department.
What I noticed in those events is his abundant gift for words. He is one person who can talk for about 30 minutes without a pause. No period, no comma. That’s why in forums, moderators see to it that the microphone is given to Lapuz last because once he has it, it’s almost impossible to take it away from him.

His curriculum vitae is impressive. Be sure you have adequate time when you check it out (http://www.pcfr.info/prof-jose-david-lapuz1.html) because it’s quite lengthy.

A portion of his CV reads,”Lapuz finished his bachelor’s degree at the University of the Philippines and his post-graduate studies in International Politics and Foreign Policy at the University of Glasgow, Scotland. He started teaching at University of Santo Tomas in 1970…

“He is one of the 45 member-commissioners of the UNESCO National Commission of the Philippines (UNACOM), on the Committee of Social and Human Sciences and is a member of the UNESCO Advisory Committee on Human Rights and Poverty based in Paris. He also teaches international relations and political science at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines.”

‎The highly esteemed writer, Ofelia A. Dimalanta, in her review of one of the works of Lapuz, wrote: “Lapuz certainly has been one prodigious fountain spouting forth brilliant, fresh ideas and insights on sundry subjects particularly Rizal, foreign policy, international news and affairs, his formidable yield always rich, enriching, and boundless. ”

Dimalanta further said, “In Lapuz’s lectures and speeches, he would display the force and irrepressible energy of Juvenal (Roman satirist) one moment and the next, the urban savoir-faire of Horace (Roman writer). Certainly, all this is best captured by the readers when they finally have all the time to read him and absorb the quality of his mind, a mind vividly alive and alert to catch every every flow and flux of the goings-on in the contemporary historico-political scene and beyond.”

How about those who had the privilege of having Lapuz as a teacher?

Two of his fomer students posted in Facebook:

Chris Cahilig shared some “Fun facts about Prof. Lapuz”.

1. No. 1 requirement sa Rizal class nya ang pagsa-submit ng clippings ng kanyang published press releases sa broadsheets. The more creative ang pagkadikit sa bond paper, the higher your grade! So I embellished my clippings with fresh flowers straight from Dangwa kaya bongga lagi ang grade ko.

2 . You can write anything sa essay tests nya and you’ll still get good grades. Walang checking ng sagot na nagaganap so ang iba will write prayers, poems, lyrics, love letters, or even bad words and never ka nya masisita. He’ll even make you fold your yellow pad up to 1/8 (or 1/16). Para saan, kebs lang.

3. Makikilala mo sya ng husto sa buong sem dahil 90% ng discussion sa classroom ay tungkol sa kanya– his awards, his travels, his popular friends, and his talks. Sino nga naman ang interesado sa pambansang bayaning si Dr. Jose Rizal? Mas kapanapanabik ang kwento ng buhay nya noh!

Another student, Jojo Terencio, shared tips how to pass in Lapuz class:

“First order of the day, isubmit sa kanya ang mga paid photo and press releases about him. Pangalawa, bumili ng manila bulletin at basahin ang column nya. At isubmit na rin sa kanya. Sa prelims at finals, pahabaan ng essay kahit pasakan mo ng lyrics ng kanta o novena in between intro and conclusion di nya malalaman kasi di naman nagbabasa.”

Published inElections 2016

14 Comments

  1. chi chi

    Baka gawing curriculum ni Prof. Lapuz sa lahat ng universities ang pag-clip ng kanyang achievements, press releases, columns, all about him. Mandatory na ituro ang kanyang nakakainggit na buhay. 🙂

  2. ellenb ellenb

    i used to see this guy on tv shows on channel 4 during martial law years. this guy must be in his 80s already, do the math id president rody is 71 and he was his professor then he is at least 5-6 years older. oh well, he wants the job let’s see if he delivers. i remember his pseudo british accent before e xpounding on theories etc on national tv. then one day in the old ali mall building in shakey;s pizza outlet we found ourselves seated beside his table . he was accompanied by male teen-agers who might be his students. he must be member of that genre. he wan’t discussing ideas but we overheard a young boy say, ‘basta lilibre tayo nito ha’/

  3. jcj2013 jcj2013

    diyos kong mahabagin! kapag natuloy nga ang pag-appoint kay lapuz sa ched, delubyo na!
    una, silahis na bading ang mamang yan, delikado pahawakin ng isang departamento na kailangan ang huwaran ng mga kabataan.
    pangalawa, gurang at hukluban na (80+ na edad) kaya hindi na advisable sa kanya ang may work load tulad ng sa ched.
    pangatlo, ubod ng saltik sa utak, maraming eccentricities sa katawan (ayon na rin sa kanyang mga dating estudyante). pagtatawanan tayo ng daigdig.
    patunay lamang na malaking kamalasan ang pagkakahalal kay dutduterte. may mga balisawsaw sa utak ang pinaglalagay sa kanyang administrasyon.

  4. vic vic

    I believe it’s about time that public service position other than head of ministries and their personal Staff ( including the Chief of all ministries The President) MUST Have the Security of Tenure and remuneration and must be Non Partisan and will bet the Loyal Servants of Whoever is running the Govt or Party leading the Govt

    It is always these career Public servants that carry the Govt programs and brought them Fruition. They are the Progessionals, the foot soldiers, the bright Heads and the performers. And the elelcted Leaders may take the credits, the Nobels but without these public servants they will be akin to Generals without a command. Think of the Philippines.

  5. chi chi

    #3 “…may mga balisawsaw sa utak ang pinaglalagay sa kanyang administrasyon.”.

    Sabi ko pa naman baka si Panelo lang, hahahaha!

  6. bong bong

    “Iskul-Bukol Professor”. That is what came to mind when I read the comments of his former students. Teaching Rizal should have been opportunity to teach nationalism, value for our freedoms we now enjoy and community spirit. Unfortunately the incoming Chairman of the COMMISSION FOR HIGHER EDUCATION did none of that. It appears to me that the members of the official family of the incoming president are members of a fraternity better known as “kaibigan.org”.

  7. batangpasig batangpasig

    He might be an “exceptional” academician but does he have any administrative skills? I could not glean any from his resume. It seems to me that one of the most important skills in heading any government or business entity is to be an exceptional (without quotes this time) administrator/manager.

  8. jcj2013 jcj2013

    ‘langhiya yung sulat ni prof. lapuz kay pduts. tatak-siraulo! parang nagbasa ka lang ng mga graffiti ng mga baliw sa national mental hospital.

  9. chi chi

    Nosebleed ako sa “enlightened and illumined” letter ni Lapuz. 🙂
    For youth sakes, ma-enlighten sana si Pdutz to just retire his ex-teacher.
    If not, well, this could be the funniest admin we’d have in Pinas, pwede na rin to keep us sane via laughs for six years.

  10. roc roc

    I hope prof lapuz is not going to be like pacman na panay absent sa trabaho, o baka gaya ni digong na ala una ng hapon ang gising.

  11. roc roc

    yong curriculum vitae ni prof lapuz medyo dicey, kulang ng particulars of date. if you want to check or research kung talangang nagawa niya ang mga sinasabing nagawa nga, you’ll have hard checking dahil wala siyang details of dates na binigay. mailap siya.

  12. CHED ba kamo? Paglalaruan lang ng mga Isko at Iska ng UP itong eccentric na weirdo na ito.

    Isalvage mo na yan Digsky. Timpladang adik. LOL.

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