May 27, 2005

Philippine Reformer Quits Under Pressure

By MARTHA ANN OVERLAND

A senior education official in the Philippines who recently resigned his post says he stepped down because lawmakers had stymied his efforts to reform the country's higher-education system.

The Rev. Rolando V. de la Rosa, former chairman of the government's Commission on Higher Education, said there had been "excessive political intervention" following his efforts to close 23 poor-quality nursing colleges. When Father de la Rosa's resignation was announced last month, a spokesman for