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UNIVERSITY of the Philippines president Emerlinda Roman
is confident the targeted P5-billion fund for the
centennial program of the country’s premier learning
institution is on track.
“It’s a
testament to the university’s worth to many Filipinos,
both here and abroad, who view UP as our source of
pride, as a symbol of our country,” Roman said on the
sidelines of the Grand Alumni and Faculty Homecoming and
Reunion on Saturday.
Roman
said that aside from the P2.9 billion that came from the
national government, the funds generated by the UP
campuses and alumni association “is very, very near the
target.” Roman, the 19th president of the 100-year-old
university, left Saturday evening for San Francisco in a
six-city tour to redeem pledges.
UP has
been trying to gain financial independence from the
national government, which has cut its subsidy to the
state university since 2003.
The
centennial fund campaign, designed to build up the
university’s financial endowment, is one of three
programs to improve UP’s finances.
The
other two programs that Roman’s administration
accomplished are: exemption from the Salary
Standardization Law for its faculty via the UP Charter,
and the development of the UP North Science and
Technology Park (NSTP) along Commonwealth Avenue,
Diliman, Quezon City.
President Arroyo recently signed into law the new UP
charter, which exempts the university from the SSL.
Roman
explained that the P5-billion centennial fund would go
mainly to faculty development (P2 billion), business
model development via the NSTP (P2.55 billion),
scholarship (P300 million), and athletes (P50 million).
Roman
said the money coming from the government would be spent
mainly on infrastructure.
In his
speech as most distinguished alumnus, Chief Justice
Reynato S. Puno said the UP alumni “are able to
translate achievements into real reality.”
“We do
that without any thought of time, the leisure and
pleasures of life; without disregard to hostilities;
and, without any public affirmation,” Puno said at the
Araneta Coliseum.
Since it
was established by the Americans in 1908 through the
first campus in Padre Faura, Manila, UP currently has
seven constituent universities and 12 campuses offering
258 undergraduate and 438 graduate programs.
Seven of
the 14 presidents of the Republic of the Philippines and
12 chief justices of the Supreme Court are UP alumni. |
