UP Law dean Vistan chosen as Diliman chancellor

The University of the Philippines Board of Regents (BOR) on Monday selected College of Law Dean Edgardo Carlo Vistan as the new chancellor of UP Diliman.

This was announced by UP President Angelo Jimenez on Monday.

Vistan will replace outgoing chancellor Fidel Nemenzo, who served his three-year term from 2020 to 2023. Other candidates vying for the position were Nemenzo and Archaeology Professor Victor Joaquin Paz.

Prior to his appointment, Vistan served as one of the pioneer faculty members of the Angeles University Foundation School of Law in 2006. He transferred to the UP College of Law in 2015 before shortly taking a study leave for his Masters of Law program in Yale Law School in 2016. He was then admitted to the university’s Doctor of the Science of Law program in 2017.

Vistan was designated director of the UP Office of Legal Aid in 2019.

Student anger

FLASH: Binalot ng tensyon ang Quezon Hall ng UP Diliman dahil sa galit na mga mag-aaral na humihingi ng paliwanag sa Board of Regents kaugnay sa pagpili kay UP College of Law dean Edgardo Carlo Vistan II bilang 12th chancellor. @dzbb pic.twitter.com/KKqcUWD6qH

— Glen Juego (@glenjuego) April 3, 2023

Meanwhile, tension arose on campus as some students converged on Quezon Hall to ask the BOR to explain their decision to select Vistan, according to a report by dzBB Super Radyo’s Glen Juego.

The students demanded transparency on the voting and said there was no democracy in the selection process. They also said the BOR did not heed the voice of the UP Community as several student groups and faculty members expressed support for Nemenzo's re-appointment.

"Hindi tayo papayag na patuloy na magbingi-bingihan ang BOR sa ating mga panawagan! Hindi tayo papayag na patuloy na manaig ang interes ng iilan!" the UP Diliman University Student Council said in a tweet.

Mga Iskolar ng Bayan, kalampagin ang BOR sa Quezon Hall!

Hindi tayo papayag na patuloy na magbingi-bingihan ang BOR sa ating mga panawagan! Hindi tayo papayag na patuloy na manaig ang interes ng iilan!

BOR, OVERTURN THE VOTES!
PUBLICIZE THE VOTES!
UPHOLD TRANSPARENCY! pic.twitter.com/0zGXPzELJZ

— UP Diliman University Student Council (@USCUPDiliman) April 3, 2023

Members of the UP Police are already at the site, the report added. — Sundy Locus/BM, GMA Integrated News