According to Article XIV Sec. 5 Paragraph 2 of the 1987 Constitution, academic freedom shall be enjoyed in an institution of higher learning. Therefore, to the question whether colleges or universities have the right to grant a Ph. D honoris causa to an excellent citizen in recognition to his outstanding achievement, the answer is as clear as day in the affirmative. This has been practiced not just in the Philippines but as well as all over the world. The likes of Microsoft’s billionaire Bill Gates or Apple’s greatest innovator Steven Jobs both received the awards from Ivy League Universities in the USA. Likewise, the former chief justice Renato Corona before his impeachment, was conferred a Ph. D in law by the University of Santo Tomas at the celebration of its 400th year (PDI 01/07/2012).
A certain private university decides to grant a Ph. D honoris causa on an internationally acclaimed boxer for excellence in the field of athletics in order to inspire the youth of the land to approximate his achievements. The Secretary of Education discouraged the University for doing so on the grounds that his degree could be conferred only for achievers in the academic field. The university protested on the ground of its academic freedom-the freedom to determine who can be conferred degrees. Who is right: the Secretary or the University?
On February 18, 2009, Manny Pacquiao was conferred the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Humanities (Honoris Causa) by Southwestern University (SWU) at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel & Casino in Lahug, Cebu City in recognition of his boxing achievements and humanitarian work (Wikipedia). The condition is startlingly similar to the subject in question. For one, SWU is a private university and for another, Manny Pacquiao, the recipient of honorary doctoral degree, is a world class boxer. But the SWU awarded the doctoral degree to Mr. Pacquiao not just because of his outstanding achievements in sports but as well as his humanitarian work by virtue of the university’s constitutionally protected rights of academic freedom (Art. XIV, 1987 Phil. Constitution), specifically, in this case, the freedom to determine who can be conferred degrees.
Higher education institutions (HEIs) in the Philippines can be categorized into public and private and they are both under the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) created by RA 8292. They operate as autonomous institutions in terms of developing their academic programs and conferring degrees with little or no attention to minimum educational standards prescribed by CHED (aparnet.org 2013).
Recipients of honorary degrees do nor earn the degrees through academic achievements, rather with generous and altruistic actions or lifetime accomplishments that benefit a community, nation or humanity in general (Education Portal 2013). Distinguished philanthropist, musicians, politicians, authors and scientist often receive acknowledgement for exemplary accomplishment and achievements that serve a greater good.
While many colleges and universities provide their own strict criteria for honorary candidates, typically an honorary degree may only be given to an individual with a sustained lifetime achievement, whether for a group or for single contribution. Candidacy for the degree often represents a school’s prominent vocation or pursuit. However, many institutions put more emphasis on the prolonged bearing of an individual’s accomplishment. A few schools have age restrictions or require the honoree to be present at the time the degree is conferred. Some schools allow honorary doctorate degree to be awarded posthumously, and the degree may be accepted by the honoree’s family or colleagues.
Depending on the achievement, schools may present different types of honorary doctorate degrees. Some schools may offer only a Doctor of Philosophy degree, while others bestow a degree based on the recipient. According to education portal.com (2013), a few examples include:
Doctor of Humane Letters – acknowledging academic distinction
Doctor of Laws – awarded to professionals in the field of law
Doctor of Literature – honoring extraordinary authors and journalists
Doctor of Science – recognizing revolutionary scientific research and discovery
Doctor of Fine Arts – conferred primarily to musicians, actors, architects and artists
Doctor of Humanities – signifying exemplary public service.
Doctor of Divinity – bestowed upon exceptional religious figures
Based on the above mentioned criteria, being a world’s most successful boxer itself obviously should not qualify one to receive an honorary doctoral degree. The qualifier should have a sustained lifetime achievement that has made a difference in the lives of others. Nor the selection of the degree recipient is exclusively an achiever in the field of academics as the Secretary of Education contends in the issue.
On the one hand, the private university that will exercise its right disregards the issue of public service or the public good received and to be received in the long term from the recipient’s achievement attendant to the award, rather it focuses on the fame and inspiration the boxer generates and the hero mania that grips the people momentarily. An act that will embarrass the university in the future if the once brilliant hero star turns suddenly dull. Not even Mohammad Ali, the proclaimed Athlete of the Century and the greatest boxer that has walked the Earth, received an honorary doctoral degree for his boxing feat. But Mohammad Ali was more than an athlete: he was a catalyst for change, a freedom fighter, a model for positive imitation, an inspiration to generations of people of all races worldwide (Mohammad Ali: Exemplar To The World (2013). For that, Ali deserves not just an honorary doctoral degree but the highest honor that the world can bestow him. As for Manny Pacquiao, his boxing success is definitely not a sole criterion of SWU for his receiving the honorary doctoral degree but the university forgot that he has yet to prove himself in public service, either, which he is doing now, to deserve such a great accolade. A similar instance of an undeserved reward is Barack Obama’s recipient of the Nobel Prize Award in Public Service at a time when he was just elected President of the USA. Even Mr. Obama was slightly embarrassed then, knowing that he had not proven anything yet, except briefly, when he had been an obscure lawmaker from Chicago.
On the other hand, the Secretary of Education who discouraged the conferment of the honorary doctoral degree misplaces his doubts as to the qualification of the recipient. He may be accused of having superiority complex for singling out recipients of honorary doctoral degree to be coming exclusively from achievers in the academic field. Many actors and actresses all over the world received doctoral honorary degrees in distinguished universities for their thespic capabilities. The same thing happens for musicians and other artists. What the Secretary forgot is the extent of contribution that matters a lot in the selection.
In conclusion, it is obvious that both the university and the Secretary have erred in their contention and due to their positions in the community their decisions carry a lot of weight, therefore, a more thorough investigation or research on issues is needed to avoid not just legal entanglements but as well as embarrassment.
By: Luz H. Buensuceso Teacher III-BNHS
