Representatives from the Makabayan bloc, accompanied by various sectors of the College of Arts and Letters (CAL), filed Wednesday a House resolution calling for a congressional inquiry into the long-delayed construction of the Faculty Center.
Kabataan Rep. Raoul Manuel, Gabriela Rep. Arlene Brosas, and ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro called for the House of Representatives to direct the Committee on Higher Education and Technical Education to investigate the matter, and for the House to support CAL in its fight for better spaces.
Ever since the Faculty Center was engulfed in flames in 2016, the college has been left without a proper home. For nine years, the college has been settling with piecemeal solutions such as being cramped to the small CAL New Building, professors making Acacia dorm their office, and having a few classes relocated to Palma Hall and the Student Union Building.
Students mainly bear the brunt of this lack of spaces. A 90-person class from the Department of English and Comparative Literature was condensed to a 48-meter room, shared Franchesca Reyes, CAL student council chairperson.
CAL’s town hall meeting on Sept. 30, 2024 with the UP Diliman administration bore some fruit as the college was given temporary spaces. In an interview with the Collegian, CAL Dean Jimmuel Naval stated that the following were granted to the college next semester:
- Three big rooms in Melchor Hall’s west wing.
- DiliMall’s 4th floor as a “student activity center” for recreation.
- Four rooms in the Student Union Building.
The Faculty Center will also open its doors next semester, but to CAL’s dismay, it will remain as a building for offices and conferences, despite the administration’s initial promises that it will remain CAL’s.
Naval also said that the UP Diliman administration agreed to hasten the construction of the new CAL building, promising to make four floors usable by 2026. But, as the CAL community stressed, this is not enough.
CAL argued that having their own building is still the best possible outcome for the college. The groups cited Section 3 of the UP Charter which indicates that the university shall “protect and promote the professional and economic rights and welfare of its academic and non-academic personnel.”
The resolution also seeks to ask for accountability and transparency from the UP administration, calling for them to address the cause of this severe delay.
In their 2023 report, the Commission of Audit flagged the university for its poor infra planning, especially projects from 2016 to 2021. This includes the first and second phases of the Faculty Center which cost P675 million.
“Lahat ng mga state universities and colleges dapat ay mag-fulfill sa kanilang mandato na i-provide ang quality education. At kasama dyan ay ang pagtiyak ng welfare ng iba't ibang sectors, including the faculty and the students,” Manuel said.
The lack of student spaces is not limited to UP alone—it extends to state universities and colleges all around the country.
Kabataan Party-list first nominee Renee Co shared that in Cebu Normal University, 75 percent of classes are still held online due to the disproportionate ratio between available campus space and the student population.
This means that the P24-billion budget cut to education, and the P2.08 billion axed from UP, will only worsen the situation for public school students nationwide. CAL and Kabataan Party-list, however, believe that winning the battle for CAL will pave the way for similar changes in other universities.
“Pero eight years na, hindi ba dapat within the eight years ay na-reconstruct na yung Faculty Center at hindi napupunta yung bigat sa atin? Isang malaking sampal siya sa hanay ng sa kaestudyantehan at faculty na mapasahanggang ngayon, tayo pa rin yung naghahanap ng mga solusyon na dapat naman ay tinutugunan ng UP administration,” Reyes said. ●
