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DRUNKEN MASTER
This "unrepentant Marxist" has actually become a very casual president who is averse to protocol, paperwork and formal gatherings. He is often caught wearing his slippers only in his office while smoking one cigarette after the other.
Nemenzo is a very simple man who prefers to live in his old house than to transfer in the Executive House where all university presidents reside during their tenure because he felt it was so big for his family.
Before he was elected president, however, fliers were distributed inside the campus about his alleged "drinking problems." While these were dismissed as mere black propaganda, some quarters asserted that Nemenzo really had a bad habit of drinking way too much.
"Palasak siya kung uminom," (He is a filthy drunkard.) said a source who requested for anonymity. "It actually became somewhat legendary when he was still the AS Dean.'
The source added that one could catch Nemenzo drunk with whiskey even in office hours back then. "If you go to his office for consultations, you could catch him beet red with alcohol."
Sgt. Ernesto Madrid or Mang Erning, his security aide since 1999, said that while Nemenzo loves to drink Johnnie Walker Black Label, he only drinks with his friends and certainly not during office hours. "Only if there is an occasion."
Nemenzo, for his part, only gave a very curt reply to these allegations. "I do not know about that. I never get drunk.'
FLAW(ED)-LESS ADMINISTRATOR
If one would ask any official or aide who works closely with him, their answers would almost always be the same: Nemenzo is a very patient, kind and understanding boss.
When asked about Nemenzo's relationship with students, his secretary, Carmencita Loyola, had nothing but praises for him. "Love na love siya ng mga estudyante na nakakasalamuha niya. Mayroon siyang kakaibang karisma na because it comes out naturally, hindi niya halos napapansin."
Mang Erning also said the same thing. "Mabait siya. Low-profile lang at madaling makibagay sa mga tao. Wala akong makitang pagkukunwari sa kanya."
Mang Erning added that after being the security aide of two former presidents, Nemenzo was so far "ang kaisa-isang hindi pa hinaharang ng mga demonstrators."
"Hindi siya nagagalit halos," said Vice-President for Public Affairs Jose Endriga, "but he can tell you straight if you fouled up. He listens to his critics very intently and is one person who can laugh at himself." Again, Endriga commended his naturalness, adding, "He is a genuine person who is never pompous and absolutely has no pretensions."
Vice-President for Administration Martin Gregorio, who has worked with him back when he was still the Dean of then College of Arts and Letters in 1976, likewise had nothing but admiration for him. "In meetings where he is Chairman, he would first give the floor to others, very consultative. But after everything has been said and done, he will make his decision no matter how controversial it is, even if it would receive strong opposition.'
Nemenzo is also widely known as an excellent academician after having written so many books, delivering keynote speeches, and finishing his Ph.D. in the University of Manchester, England in 1965. But although this much is acknowledged of him, not a few have remarked that he is having a hard time being an administrator.
"He is an intellectual superior who is now grappling with the nitty-gritty of administration. I don't know whether he is enjoying it but I do not think he is happy. He is not a political animal."
That was Faculty Regent Marita Reyes who, after working with him in the Board of Regents (BOR) for the past seven months, made the said observation.
"He is like an academician trying to be an administrator. In meetings where the discussion gets repetitive, his impatience shows sa kanyang facial expression and this is sometimes mistaken for intellectual snobbery."
Reyes said that Nemenzo's apparent lack of political skills has sometimes affected the atmosphere in discussions where the topic is a bit touchy. But she hastened to add that this was not deliberate of him because "hindi siya pa-charming at pa-nicey-nicey."
But Loyola believes otherwise. "Super-palpak ka na pag napagalitan ka. Sobrang mahaba yung pasensya niya, although he can sometimes be very frank or candid." As a matter of fact, she said that she only knows two things that can make Nemenzo flare up: one, if you talk to him in circles; and two, if you misspell his name. "He would always say that it is one of his most important possessions in life."
An encounter with this reporter, though, revealed that there is another thing that can instantly put Nemenzo into a defensive stance. This media-friendly president can turn not so friendly at all if you try asking for his Statement of Assets and Liabilities (SAL).
He would turn his back to you, walk away while muttering in a somewhat measured tone, "Why should I show it to you...It's a public document but I am not a corrupt politician." End of a really short talk.
It appears that Nemenzo is well loved by the people who worked closely with him because of his attitude. But his detractors seem to have another opinion. In all the controversial and heated debates he has gone through, three adjectives keep on surfacing: undemocratic, shrewd and "tuta"
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