Camposano secures rare third term as UP Visayas chancellor

ILOILO CITY — Dr. Clement C. Camposano will serve a third term as chancellor of the University of the Philippines Visayas (UPV), extending his leadership beyond UP’s ordinary two-term limit.

The UP Board of Regents (BOR) approved his reappointment during its 1,412th meeting on Sept. 24, UPV confirmed.

His new term begins Nov. 1.

Camposano, a native of Leon, Iloilo, is UPV’s 11th chancellor.

The regents first appointed him in September 2020 and reappointed him in October 2023 to a second term that ends Oct. 31.

He was nominated this year alongside Dr. Joefe B. Santarita, a professor and former dean at the UP Diliman Asian Center who previously taught at UPV.

Under Section 18 of Republic Act 9500, the UP Charter of 2008, the UP president nominates a constituent university’s chancellor after consulting its sectors, and the BOR makes the final choice.

The case for an exception

Position papers supporting Camposano’s third term argued that several circumstances, taken together, justify his continued leadership.

They cited his administrative performance, the risk of disrupting reforms still being consolidated, UPV’s expanding responsibilities within the UP System, and an assessment of succession risks.

The papers argued that accomplishments or unfinished projects alone would be insufficient to justify an exception.

Among the developments they cited was UPV’s first ASEAN University Network-Quality Assurance (AUN-QA) certification, awarded to its Bachelor of Science in Fisheries program in 2023, along with expanded external assessments of academic programs.

The papers also pointed to the elevation of the Graduate Program Office into the UPV Graduate School in 2022 and the subsequent creation of the Master of Science in Sustainability program.

They linked the case for continuity to UPV’s participation in the Archipelagic and Ocean Virtual University, a UP System initiative drawing on fisheries and ocean expertise.

What the rules allow

The UP Charter leaves the determination of a chancellor’s term to the BOR and does not itself impose a numerical term limit.

The ordinary two-term limit and the exception for “highly exceptional cases” come from university policy.

Official board records show that the regents restored the exception in September 2005 and expressly applied it to chancellors.

Earlier third-term appointments include Raymundo Rovillos at UP Baguio, Carmencita Padilla at UP Manila, and Melinda dela Peña Bandalaria at UP Open University.

Padilla’s third term was approved in September 2020, at the same meeting where the regents first appointed Camposano.