The BSC Board of Trustees, which is headed by De la Rosa, met the other day in Manila and unanimously voted Dr. Idris Hakim as new BSC president. Hakim replaces Hilda Babon, who served as BSC president for less than a few days.

Other members of the BSC Board of Trustees include the student, faculty, and alumni, the National Economic Development (NEDA) director general, and representatives from the House of Representatives and Senate.

"We appointed Hakim in order to address the vacancy in the position," De la Rosa said. "His appointment will help normalize the situation in the campus."

Before the resignation of Babon, the state college was in commotion for almost two weeks as student leaders led a protest rally and barricaded the school premises to oppose her appointment as BSC president.

Babon was elected to the position following a majority vote from the board, it was learned.

"We opposed her appointment because first, it was only the vote of the four members of the board that dragged her in. It was not the call of the whole community," Hambrad Aisal, BSC Student Council President, said.

"She also does not reflect the concerns of the constituents since she is not from the university," the student leader added.

Aisal said they expected Hakim to win the election since he got 56 votes as against Babon, who only got 15 votes based on the referendum conducted by the faculty.

According to De la Rosa, Babon resigned through CHED Commissioner Luningning Umar, who was the chairwoman-designate of BSC Board of Trustees.

Umar, however, relinquished her post before the start of the dialogue. Basilan Governor Jerry Salapuddin, who represented Las Piñas City Representative Cynthia Villar, also inhibited himself, it was learned.

In an interview, Hakim vowed to put the state college in a higher stature by improving the rate of passers in the professional licensure examinations.

"It has always been my desire to help improve the image of the state college," Hakim said. "Our quality of education does not fair well with other universities. With my appointment, I will try to work on improving the rate of passers through a conduct of review classes at minimal cost."

He also promised to launch income-generating measures to augment the school budget of only R35,000.

Dela Rosa believes that the new president will be effective in his new position since he rose from the ranks and could identify with constituents.

"I have high regards for Hakim, being a respected educator in Basilan," the CHED chief said.

He also hailed the gesture of Babon for sacrificing her position for the sake of unity inside the BSC.