Reaction on the KAPEKONOMIYA Forum

Photo from: UP School of Economics Student Council

Last January 10, 2014, a forum was held in the School of Economics entitled Kapekonomiya: PRobing the UP Land Use. For the first part of the forum we had two speakers, Prof. Ruperto Alonzo and Prof. Judy Taguiwalo, to speak about the issue of land use. After the talk, an open forum was held where the two speakers answered questions from the audience. For the last part, they had three student reactors who gave their own opinions on the issue and react to what the speakers said. The student reactors are USC chair, Alex Castro, SESC chair, Darrell Magsambol, and Student Regent, Krista Melgarejo.

During his talk, Prof. Ruperto Alonzo explained how there have been private sectors in UP for a long time already. Because of insufficient establishments to meet the needs of UP students, UP had cafeterias and the Shopping Center to supply the necessities of UP students. Other than food industry, establishments like photocopying shops, computer shops, hotels, etc. were built to have greater efficiency inside the university. Looking at the private sectors mentioned, it would seem that the commercialization of UP is beneficial for the students, because just like the speaker said, the land was harnessed in such a way that it serves UP’s objectives.

For the second speaker, Prof. Judy Taguiwalo, she had her talk titled A Blueprint for the Further Erosion of the Public Character of UP. According to her, with a land area of 493 hectares, around 30% of UP is dedicated to resource generation zone and science and technology parks. Included in these categories are the Ayala Technohub and the newly built UP Town Center. The thing about these buildings is the fact that it doesn’t help the students of UP in their academics which is clearly in violation of the UP Charter (RA 9500). She also mentioned how we have to rely on privatization because the government sufficient funds to support the University.

Photo from: frequency.com

          Alex Castro mentioned five safeguards in the privatization of UP. The first would be that the building should be allotted for academic purpose. We can clearly see in the example of TechnoHub that it does not in any way helps the students. In fact, the ones benefiting the most in the construction of the building are the Ayalas. The second safeguard would be student consultation.

     The third safeguard is that it should not be a substitute for state subsidy. It is said that UP only generates approximately 20% of its budget from leasing its assets like UP Town Centre and Technohub. The rest 80% comes from government subsidy and tuition fees. The thing about the statement is that the subsidy the government provides is not enough and a heavy part of the 80% comes from the tuition fees students pay. The fact that only 20% comes from leasing asset means that UP doesn’t get the most out of its assets especially knowing the fact that these establishments occupy large part of UP.

     The fourth safeguard is that the establishment should be environmentally sound. While the fifth one is that there should be transparency and accountabilities regarding funds. This is clearly violated in the case of TechnoHub where no financial reports were released.

    It was also mentioned how Ayala donated P220M to rebuild the UPIS when it was moved due to construction of UP Town Center. The thing about this is that the money given is not even enough to rebuild the school. It is heavily stressed by the student reactors that commercialization is not the answer especially with the fact that UP students are not benefitting the most from this.

    In conclusion, we can use the quote made by the USC chair, Alex Castro, which says it is not UP's obligation to facilitate earning but to promulgate learning.

Blogpost by: Carl Chan and Benson Bren C. Lagason