At the 1370th Meeting held on 28 April 2022, the Board of Regents approved the appointment of Atty. Leo B. Malagar as Chancellor of UP Cebu. He succeeds Atty. Liza D. Corro, UP Cebu’s First Chancellor from 2016 to 2021.
Before his appointment as Chancellor, Atty. Malagar was the Assistant Secretary and Deputy National Statistician of the Civil Registration and Central Support Office of the Philippine Statistics Authority.
Who is Leo B. Malagar?
Leo Balverde Malagar, or Dodong Leo to his family and friends, came from humble Cebuano roots. He lived in Lilo-an town in northern Cebu and was raised by a jeepney driver and sari-sari vendor parents. His modest upbringing instilled in him the importance of education, honor, and excellence. Malagar finished his studies at UP Cebu where he earned a degree in Political Science.
He worked as a graduate assistant at the UP Law Center and was a member of the Board of Regents in the UP System while studying his Bachelor of Laws at the UP College of Law in Diliman. He proceeded to take his Master of Laws at the University College London and his Executive Master of Business Administration at the Asian Institute of Management. His areas of specialization are information technology law, telecommunications law, industrial and intellectual property law, and international economic law.
As a student, he was known to push and advance the interest of students, particularly the democratization of the access to UP education in Cebu and the entire UP system, it was then he was chosen and appointed as UP Student Regent.
Atty. Malagar expressed the importance of the role as Chancellor underscored by his journey as someone who came from a poor family. He is an alumnus who is willing to give back and return the service to his alma mater that molded him to rise from poverty and defy the misfortunes commonly faced by children from poor households.
What’s next for UP Cebu?
Back where it all started, homegrown Malagar envisions a bright future for UP Cebu. While wrapping up with the Philippine Statistics Authority, Atty. Malagar has been working ahead of his effective date as Chancellor, he has begun talks with the different sectors and is already putting his vision for the unit into action.
He mirrors UP President Danilo L. Concepcion’s vision of institutionalizing the culture of compassion for the unit. Emphasizing dialogue, transparency, and most importantly inclusivity in all decision-making.
Malagar in his vision paper wrote that “To be a truly relevant national university in the service of our People, we must inculcate and instill in ourselves the values of compassion and genuine concern for the welfare of others by providing, among others, various forms of community, public, and volunteer service, as well as scholarly and technical assistance to the government, the private sector, and civil society while maintaining our standards of excellence.”