Letter of support from Prof. J. Neil Garcia, UP Diliman

6 February 2011


The Board of Regents
University of the Philippines
Diliman, Quezon City

Cc: President Afredo Pascual
University of the Philippines


Dear Sirs/Ma’ams:

I have the pleasure of endorsing Dr. Rolando B. Tolentino for the position of
Chancellor  of the Diliman campus of the University of the Philippines.

Dr. Tolentino’s credibility as a scholar and professor is beyond reproach, as
his curriculum vitae and its extensive listing of publications (both critical
and creative), fellowships, exchange professorships, grants, and awards
abundantly show. Dr. Tolentino’s record as Dean of the College of Mass
Communication likewise demonstrates his estimable and capacious leadership
qualities, guided by his commitment to sustain and promote the University’s
mission to provide an excellent and ever-renewing wellspring of innovative
national education—one that will seek to address the country’s many urgent
problems, and will instill the necessary sense of national responsibility and
fellowship that presupposes and conditions such an important task.

Speaking on a more personal note, I can confidently vouch for Dr. Tolentino’s
integrity as an indefatigable researcher, critic, leader, and artist, animated
and ennobled by his unwavering commitment to national emancipation through a
truly democratic, Filipino education. We have been colleagues at the UP
Institute of Creative Writing for more than a decade now, and in all this time
I have quietly observed and admired him for tirelessly and cheerfully working
for the good of the University, always mindful of its diverse constituency as
well as its complicated and many-valenced character.

Suffice it to say that I have complete trust in Dr. Tolentino’s integrity and
abilities. I am confident he will responsibly carry out the duties and
obligations of the office of the Chancellor, always as his own person. To my
mind, he possesses in full measure the requisite critical, practical, and
affective skills to overcome the obstacles and succeed admirably in this
regard.


Sincerely yours,


J. Neil C. Garcia
Professor
University of the Philippines
Diliman, Quezon City