Bordado slams CBSUA prexy for playing safe

By Paulo DS. Papa

Camarines Sur 3rd District Rep. Gabriel Bordado Jr., slammed Central Bicol State University of Agriculture (CBSUA) president Dr. Alberto N. Naperi for being neutral on the bill seeking to rename the school to Governor Luis R. Villafuerte University of Agriculture” (GLRVUA) during the hearing of the House of Representatives Committee on Higher and Technical Education on Oct. 12.

Bordado said that Naperi when asked by committee chairman Rep. Mark Go about his stance on the bill replied that he will leave the decision of changing the name of CBSUA to the wisdom of the committee members.

“Iniyo man si Naperi, instead na depensaran an saiyang institusyon kun ano na man an pigparataram niya duman” he said.

Bordado claimed that prior to the hearing, Naperi sent him a text message expressing his opposition to the change of name of CBSUA to GLRVUA.

He quoted verbatim the text message of Naperi: “Our university is already known in the international arena and changing its name may have some implications. CBSUA is very unique. Using the name of Governor Luis Villafuerte reflects political affiliation, inclination. We should maintain a state of being apolitical or non partisan.”

To recall, Camarines Sur 2nd District Rep. Luis Raymund “LRay” Villafuerte filed House Bill No. 10170 “Renaming the Central Bicol State University of Agriculture in the province of Camarines Sur to the Governor Luis R. Villafuerte University of Agriculture,”

After the video of the committee hearing was posted on Facebook, students, alumni and other CBSUA stakeholders expressed their opposition to the bill. Even Naperi was forced to clarify his what he said during the hearing and he eventually issued a statement against the change of name of CBSUA to GLRVUA.

The bill passed the committee level with 65 votes in favor. Only Bordado voted against the proposed measure.

As this develops, Bordado has sought the help of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) and other government agencies that can provide clarifications on the matter of renaming the century-old CBSUA to GLRVUA.

CBSUA, originally named Camarines Sur Agricultural School was founded in 1918.

Despite his stand against GLRVUA bill, he said that he respects and even admire the late governor Luis Villafuerte for being an excellent congressman who performed efforts to make CBSUA a state university.

Bordado said that LRay should wait for 10 years after his father’s death before seeking to change the name of CBSUA to GLRVUA.