The ruckus regarding impeached Chief Justice Renato Corona’s doctoral degree from the University of Santo Tomas (UST) is not a simple question of being “fair” or “favored.”
On the one hand, it is professional etiquette to respond to personal or digital inquiries, mainstream or bitstream. Had the university followed this basic rule, the controversy could have been avoided. On the other hand, in fairness to the Catholic university, it did not invoke divine guidance as the basis of its actions. For this, UST’s arguments deserve to be heard.
Win or lose, the university can still boast itself as the alma mater of Filipino national heroes Jose Rizal, Emilio Jacinto, Marcelo del Pilar and Apolinario Mabini. Weightier than these men’s record of academic excellence is that they used their intellectual capacities to promote love of country and dedicated their lives to this end. Perhaps, this is the crux of the issue regarding Corona’s doctorate.
—JULIE L. PO,
Linangan ng Kulturang Pilipino,
jlp704@yahoo.com