This interview with UP presidential nominee Benito M. Pacheco was conducted by the Collegian editorial board on November 15. This has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Philippine Collegian (PC): In 2016, you were also nominated for the position of UP president. You were not selected then, so, why did you try again this time?
Pacheco: The main reason is that in the last six years, especially the last three years during the pandemic, I realized that as an ordinary faculty member, longer term jobs came to be not in any surreal way. It’s just that the experience is very jarring. It may just be a natural thing that this time my proposal could carry the day. And as I said in the forum, wala namang masama sa take two.
PC: You said your experience was jarring, as a faculty member during the pandemic. From your experience, what do you think should be the future of UP education?
Pacheco: In the old days, 3 years ago, we were so proud that we have big campus and many buildings and we all cared about our rooms and laboratories where we can physically experience facilities, but with remote learning, physical space was not everything. Realistically, the pandemic opened my eyes how to combine the new normal and learning in both environments as well as taking advantage of our own flexibility when the situation calls for it.
Not everything is new. Many of these things have evolved in the past. But now, it’s been jarring in a sense that it has been accelerated, like our use of UVLê. We were so hung up with physical attendance in class when we could have allowed students to be present online. Rather than be trapped with the limitations of time for a term of president, you could lead the community envisioning further, farther, and longer. Mas longer and farther reaching ang vision ko.
PC: Speaking of vision, you also talked about democratic access to UP. How will you further democratize UP admissions?
Pacheco: Accessibility of information and details about options in campus, starting from there, sana, ma-open up natin. Also, what if we come up with a formula from every city and municipality to send students to study in UP. I don’t want to call it a quota, I want to call it a local competition. Admissions should not be based on academic grades alone. We also have to reset the admission parameters so that we don’t unintentionally put too much advantage on those who are very well-prepared to take the exam.
PC: You also planned to remove the maximum residency rule (MRR), adding that students should pay if they exceed the average number of semesters to complete a degree program. That still sounds like MRR. Any clarification on that?
Pacheco: Wala na dapat stigma na mag-gap year o kaya pagiging part-time student. Free tuition must continue for those in low-income families, especially if the extension of stay is for these uncontrollable reasons. Secondly, yung iniisip ko ay magbabayad ka na ng tuition only if babaguhin mo yung major because you will take a lot of resources. In that case, you are requested to donate. It’s not going to be a return of MRR. They are welcome to extend one more year basta mag-contribute sila.
PC: Moving to the topic of resources, how do you plan to complement the UP budget from UP’s own resources, like lands, for instance?
Pacheco: We have to sit down and have a common and shared understanding of what we have and eventually, make them part of our shared vision. There could be academic core zones that could be temporarily used for something else. But if the need arises na ititigil na ang activities in this part cause we agreed that this is part of the academic core zone, then it should prevail. Kung minsan kasi, in-allow na forever nang na-encroach ang pagiging academic core zone dahil binigyan ng exceptions.
In any case, intelligent group naman tayo because we are a university. Kailangan pag-usapan clearly in the same language which are those zones, what are academic activities, what could be temporary exceptions, so the core is not violated in the long run.
PC: In your vision paper, you also floated the idea of admin staff or REPS to serve as faculty members. How do you envision that to be implemented?
Pacheco: There are mainly REPS who are really very qualified to be teachers. Some admin staff are very experienced and also with advanced degrees and training. A person who is very well-versed with auditing, both by advanced degree and experience, how come she could not be a lecturer in business? I think she could be. It’s not going to be wholesale. My plan is for those who are qualified and willing.
Maybe not all of them would want to or qualify immediately but many of them can become instructors, assistant professors, lecturers—they would have corresponding qualifications as others who we would put. And that their main job in the office would not prohibit taking additional assignments as a lecturer. I am very optimistic about this.
PC: How should UP be under a Marcos presidency?
Pacheco: We have had many UP presidents who are apparently not from the same political party as the president, but they showed their conviction. We should have shared visions. If the shared visions are so well–discussed and none of us would be extremists ideologues. In that way, we elevate the level of discourse.
PC: Do you think UP should be a social critic?
Pacheco: Being a critic is collared in other people’s lenses as people who cannot say anything good. A true critic knows how to pick out the most-appreciated things but also the deficiencies or what is lacking. The same spirit, but I would only use the term “social examiner.”
PC: How will you assess President Danilo Concepcion’s term?
Pacheco: We’re open to appreciate what is there. We may have an impression of what is lacking and some that we would appreciate. I appreciate that during his term, he really did a serious job in getting more capital outlay budget. What can I say, that’s really useful. I like to dwell on the infrastructure-building program of the president. I’m sure he wanted to do more. I would decline to comment on the other aspects. ●
