UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT Fr. Jose Ramon Villarin, SJ, initially felt surprise at business tycoon Manuel V. Pangilinan’s “complete and total disengagement” from the Ateneo.

In an interview with The GUIDON, he said, “I knew about [the disengagement] from someone from Channel 5 asking me if it were true and I said ‘What?’”

“I was in a meeting so I was all the more shocked to find [the news] actually in the public domain,” Villarin added.

In a letter that circulated September 21, Pangilinan cited irreconcilable differences with the university over the Reproductive Health (RH) bill and mining, which led to Pangilinan’s parting ways with his alma mater.

He also mentioned in the letter that the plagiarism and first mining blow-up incidents led him to the decision.

Villarin formally responded last September 25 in a letter addressed to the university community.

He said in the letter, “As we accept this decision with sadness, we honor it with profound respect… Let us continue to accord him the gratitude and respect he deserves as an exceptional alumnus and leader.”

After the disengagement was made public, former University President Fr. Bienvenido Nebres, SJ resigned as an independent director for the Pangilinan-led Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT).

Moreover, the university’s stand on mining is contrary to the corporate position of Philex Mining Corporation, a company owned by Pangilinan.

In 2010, Pangilinan’s Ateneo commencement speech was found to contain passages lifted from speeches by US President Barack Obama, J. K. Rowling and Oprah Winfrey, among others. He then resigned as the chairman of the Ateneo Board of Trustees.

“Last straw”

Villarin said that there was not much he could have done regarding Pangilinan’s decision. “It was a unilateral thing.”

He also said that they were able to solve the first mining issue sometime in March. “We were able to work that out, so I thought that this last one was workable too, but it seemed to have been the last straw that broke the camel’s back.”

He added, “I was sad, of course, because MVP is a good friend. We were doing a lot of things together in the last few weeks.”

Like Villarin, Sanggunian President Gio Alejo was surprised upon learning of Pangilinan’s decision.

Alejo said in an email interview, “It became clearer, though, while I was reading the letter that there were really issues that seemed too deep to heal at that point which eventually made him decide to disengage from our school.”

He recognized Pangilinan’s passion in helping students, not only in athletics but also in other aspects of student life.

Moving forward

Pangilinan was also the sole benefactor of the Ateneo Blue Eagles for many years.

Men’s basketball team Head Coach Norman Black, affiliated with PLDT, offered his resignation before the end of the basketball season, but stayed on to finish the season with a nod from Pangilinan.

Villarin said that Pangilinan had extended other forms of assistance to the university in many other ways, citing help given to the Ateneo Debate Society as an example.

Pangilinan had likewise supported the Ateneo College Glee Club, student leadership programs and the erection of the new Rizal Library. The student activities center that carries his name, the Manuel V. Pangilinan Center for Student Leadership, was also put up through his generosity.

Villarin acknowledged the significance of Pangilinan’s assistance and the effects of his departure. “I guess I’ll have to work harder to get new sources to support the things that used to be supported [by MVP].”

Despite this, Villarin said that he was most committed to support Ateneans.  Actually, I’m more driven and I’m actually heartened… [because] you can see Ateneans rising to the challenge. That’s something that’s really heartwarming. They love the school eh, I mean young Ateneans and old Ateneans.”

He added, “It’s very real. It’s not just some romantic thing. So when we go to these trials, they come, they help.  So I’m counting on that, I’ll be counting on that in the next few years.”

Sanggunian Vice President Ian Agatep also had similar sentiments. “A lot of big changes would be happening… Surely there will be, but as time progresses, it’s also about [recognizing] other leaders who come into the picture, who also care about how an academic institution works such as this university.”

Villarin said that he could not disclose the plans and strategies to marshal resources from alumni and other allied groups as of the moment.

Last October 15, however, a memorandum was released to announce the establishment of a Basketball Endowment Fund for the men’s, women’s and junior’s basketball programs. A team that will be headed by Fr. Nemesio Que, SJ is being established.

Causes for disengagement

In his letter, Pangilinan mentioned reading the “Jesuit Paper” handed to him by Philippine Provincial of the Society of Jesus Fr. Jose Cecilio Magadia, SJ as the reason for his disengagement.

The paper, entitled “The Golden Mean in Mining: Talking Points,” was written by the Society of Jesus Social Apostolate of the Philippine Province of the Society of Jesus.

In the nine-page document, nine ethical principles from Catholic Social Teaching were applied to mining. It also proposed a general approach and specific responses to the Executive Order No. 79 on mining released by Malacañang.

Pangilinan responded to the paper by saying that the mining act sees such as a tool for national progress, and for the Church to say otherwise is contradictory.

He also said in the letter that Filipino frailty, not businesses like mining, should be blamed for “failure to manage one’s affairs.”

Lastly, he pointed out that relentless scientific study must be done to understand the workings of the universe.

“Every human attempt at progress I dare say will have some impact ‘at the expense of the environment’—even the building and maintenance of places of worship and of education,” he said in the letter.

In addition, Pangilinan expressed disagreement with the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippinese stance on the RH bill.

Following the declaration of support for the passage of the bill by 192 faculty members of the Ateneo, Villarin released a memorandum on August 20 saying that the university is officially together with the Catholic Church in not supporting the bill’s passage.

Editor’s Note: This article was first published in The GUIDON’s October issue. Last November 26, Villarin released a memo announcing that he and Pangilinan have been “meeting in an effort to move forward and create a more open and constructive partnership.”