AACCUP Hosts First President’s Summit; CLSU Participates as New Quality Assurance Standards Presented

As an active member of the Accrediting Agency of Chartered Colleges and Universities in the Philippines, Inc. (AACCUP), delegates from Central Luzon State University, led by President Dr. Evaristo A. Abella, attended the first-ever AACCUP President’s Summit held at the Century Park Hotel, Manila on August 14-15, 2025. Serving as Keynote Speaker, Dr. Shirley C. Agrupis, Chairperson of the Commission on Higher Education, graced the event and provided an overview and current state of the Philippine Higher Education landscape, which, according to many, is in a crisis reflected in the rate of unemployment of college graduates. Related to this, Chairperson Agrupis presented the current data on SUC Levelling, Institutional Sustainability Assessment, Number of Centers of Excellence and Centers of Development, Agriculture and Fisheries Education, Microcredentials Policy, Expanded Tertiary Education Equivalency and Accreditation Program (ETEEAP), and the Certificate of Program Compliance (COPC) of HEIs. With the declaration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr., during his State of the Nation Address to make higher education inclusive, Dr. Agrupis also laid down the ACHIEVE agenda of CHED under her leadership as an anchor in aligning Quality Assurance across all institutions. She then recognized the importance of the AACCUP and the commitment of the SUC Presidents whom she considers as the silent heroes amid the rapid changes and the crisis being faced by the Philippine education today. Also, as a response to the agenda of President Marcos in lowering the price of rice, Dr. Agrupis recognized and mentioned the best practices of the University, particularly the rice ration and subsidy for employees and students. “CLSU has proven that it can be done, and I am putting all the concerned agencies and select SUCs together to pilot this framework to produce the P20-25/kg of rice,” said Dr. Agrupis. In his previous discussion with Dr. Agrupis, President Abella committed to the call, embracing the University’s mandate to serve the peoples and communities. The AACCUP Officials led by Dr. Milabel E. Ho, Executive Director, Dr. Anthony M. Penaso, President and Chair, along with the members of Board of Trustees were also in attendance, while participants from CLSU include Dr. Ravelina R. Velasco, Vice President for Academic Affairs, and Dr. Joan Ravago, Chief, Quality Management System Core Unit of the Quality Assurance Office.