By Glen Andrea Omandam
The renamed Internationalization Office will be restructured with new staff and organizational arrangements, following the appointment of a new director to address administrative concerns.
Higala International: Students from Around the World (HI:SAW) President Aria Shimabuku said this during a 36th Silliman University Student Government (SUSG) Student Assembly regular session last June 21.
She said that the office will now focus on international affairs and a new advisory system after Dr. Mae Brigitt Bernadel Villordon was appointed as officer-in-charge director last June 15.
Villordon previously served as Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and assistant to the SU President for institutional affairs.
Shimabuku explained that the office would act as SU’s Commission on Higher Education-required (CHED) Foreign Office and develop advisory systems suited to different foreign student population sizes.
“The department is set to manage the global position and standing of SU, international travel by staff and students, advisory to foreign students, and office and student organization work,” Shimabuku said.
Villordon’s plans also include the assignment of new office staff, including a secretary, advisor, and coordinators.
The office was previously called the International Students Center (ISC) and handled by former international student advisor Moses Atega.
Last year, the ISC faced no full-time secretary for three semesters, extended processing times for student visas and passport renewals, and a decrease in its monthly budget.
The office and staff changes come after recent changes in student visa policies and budget cuts to international students’ activities last 2024 to 2025.
Shimabuku explained that frequent changes in commissioners and repeated delays made it difficult to determine the exact status of their passports.
“If you’re doing different types of visas in the Philippines, you can do a third party legally just like, it’s like a service, right? But for us, we have to do it directly through the school because this is a student visa,” she said.
Shimabuku said similarly that foreign students are at risk due to new policies on late penalties on visas, despite advising efforts from the Bureau of Immigration.
According to the amended Executive Order No. 285, s. 2000, foreign students are now required to pay an ₱80,000 administrative fine upon expiration.
The former guideline placed gradual late penalties across three months, with the ₱80,000 fine serving as the final and highest penalty.
However, there is no exact date for the implementation of the new staffing and organizational changes for the office.
