Guised under the cloak of economic revitalization, the proposed charter change (cha-cha) is being “depoliticized” to quell oppositions, the UP Diliman (UPD) faculty rank said during a forum organized by the University Council (UC) on Monday. The university administration of UP President Angelo Jimenez must recognize this agenda, the UC warned.
The crusade to rewrite the 1987 Constitution culminated recently with the Resolution of Both Houses 7 (RBH 7), geared to allow full foreign ownership of public utilities, advertisement, and education, including state universities and colleges. Jimenez appeared at the RBH 7 deliberations on March 7 at the House of Representatives, saying that he has no strong contentions on cha-cha, as of the moment.
The UC is the highest academic body in UPD composed of assistant professors and other faculty members of higher ranks.
“This is a political process, despite the Congress saying that they are tinkering with economic provisions,” said Aries Arugay, UPD Department of Political Science chairperson and UC member. “While we have heard from the university president, the UP president does not speak for the entire university.”
Jimenez became UP president in 2023 under the banner of bringing the university into the international scene. And he did just that, flying abroad 13 times to build partnerships with foreign universities. But the internationalization of UP goes beyond cha-cha.
“The government says that if we liberalize the education sector, Harvard and MIT and all other universities will go to the Philippines. I think this is a big lie,” economics Professor Cielo Magno said. “What we need to address first is the red-tagging incidents in UP. How do you expect people to look into UP if we are not safe?”
In 2021, the UC blasted three attempts at the Senate to allow full foreign ownership and control over key public services, including telecommunications and basic utilities. Despite this, all three bills were signed into law by former President Rodrigo Duterte, promising economic revamp.
But more investments do not necessarily mean more economic development.
“That’s what the papers say—economic development, more jobs, strengthened industry—but development for whom?” Magno said. “Foreign investment is not the only factor in economic development, you have to develop your human resources.”
Under the current text of RBH 7, only the foreign ownership aspect of industries will, so far, be amended. More importantly, public utility institutions such as telecommunications, which are tied to national security, will be open to foreign access.
For the UPD faculty, if the UP administration really wishes to attract international interests in the university, present concerns such as red-tagging and lack of funding must be addressed first.
“We are not saying the constitution is perfect, but there is no urgent need now to change it. It is not the monopoly of Congress,” Arugay said. “They try to make it a technical matter, but constitutional amendment should not be an elite affair.” ●
