THE ATENEO Board of Trustees (BoT) has found itself a BoT Chair in the person of Edward Go.
Go, formerly the Vice Chair of the Board, will take over the job left vacant by Manuel V. Pangilinan. He was appointed to the position after a corporation meeting last May 8. The meeting was set to elect someone to finish Pangilinan’s term which ends next year.
Go described his tenure as the new Chair as accidental. According to him, this year, he was supposed to be replaced by Ernesto Tanmantiong as a BoT member.
“I already completed four continuous terms of three years each; that means I have been in the board for twelve years now. I have decided to give way to the younger members of the board,” said Go.
Go will serve as the BoT Chair until May 2011.
The process
The Board of Trustees, the University’s highest governing body, is composed of eight Jesuit trustees and seven lay trustees.
Go said that the BoT is also mandated by the University to meet up once every quarter. “[We usually meet] on February, May, August, and November. Usually every first Saturday of the month but it can be moved depending on the President.”
In terms of electing the Chair and board members, Assistant to the President Maria Rosario Banzon said that there is no definite month of the year when they are elected.
“Usually, we announce at the beginning of every year…the members whose [terms are] about to end…so the election may happen either on February or May, depending on when the term of the member or Chair will end,” Banzon said.
The BoT is composed of 15 members. Each year 5 trustees are elected or re-elected in three batches, according to Go. Elections usually take place in February.
“Sometimes new people come in, sometimes there are those people re-elected, like what happened to me,” Go said.
He added that although his term as Chair ends next year, he could still be elected to the same position or elected as a regular member of the BoT. He added however, that he is still finding someone to replace his in the BoT, referring to his earlier plan of retiring from the board this year.
The Board Chair’s and the board members’ terms end after three years.
Responsibilities as Chair
He added that the Chair presides over the meetings, but the whole BoT still decides or plans out certain matters presented to them.
“The board is the one who decides on matters brought up to its attention and the Chair only presides over the meetings. The Chair does not actually make or conduct plans,” he said.
Hopeful year
Nebres said he was thankful that Go accepted the position of BoT Chair.
“Mr. Go has been immensely generous in giving his time, talent, and expertise in the Ateneo Board of Trustees, as member of the Finance Committee and Chair of the Basic Education committee,” Nebres said.
“I have been a member of the Finance committee long before I was a board member. I was then recommended by the president to the Board of trustees,” said Go.
According to Nebres, Go was also involved in other fields such as Ateneo sports.
“Beyond that we have looked to his guidance and leadership in important concerns of the Ateneo, for example, as member of my advisory group for Ateneo sports. We also deeply appreciate his presence at Ateneo events, big and small,” he added.
Background
Go graduated Magna Cum Laude from the Ateneo, with a Degree in the Arts and further pursued a Masters degree in Business Administration, though he was unable to finish the degree.
He is currently the Chairman of Hyundai Asia Resources, Inc. and ASA Philippine Foundation, Inc. He is a director of Metro Pacific Investment Corporation, Filipino Fund, Inc. and LapTeral Builders, Inc.
*Go was also awarded an honorary Doctorate in Philosophy in Corporate Management by the University of Baguio.
