OTHER MATTERS
H. Guidance from the Board on the Offer of the Quezon City Government to Buy the Property Occupied by the Krus Na Ligas Community
Attachments:
(1) Letter of Quezon City Mayor Herbert M. Bautista
(2) UP’s comments on the original version of the bill on the Krus na Ligas (An Act authorizing the Sale of Parcels of Land in Barangay Krus na Ligas, Quezon City to its Legitimate and Qualified Residents, Amending for the Purpose Republic Act No.9500, Otherwise Known as the “The University of the Philippines Charter of 2008”
(3) The version of the bill for the 3rd reading in Congress Highlights of the Discussion
1. President Pascual informed the Board about a bill filed in the House of Representatives by former Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte, Jr. The proposed bill authorizes the sale of parcels of land in Barangay Krus na Ligas to its legitimate and qualified residents and at the same time, amends, for the purpose, the UP Charter of 2008.
2. The said bill has already passed the Third Reading. If the bill will become a law, UP will consider the condition that the valuation should be done by a third party and will not have to deal with the individual residents. If UP has to sell the property, it has to be to the Quezon City Government, which will take care of re-allocating the land to the residents. Currently, the Quezon City Government is offering to buy the Krus na Ligas property at P2,500 per square meter. However, President Pascual said that considering the highest and best use of the land, it should be valued at around P25,000 – P50,000 per square meter.
3. The primary objective of the bill is to take care of the housing needs of and to formalize the tenure of the residents in Krus na Ligas. There are many residents who are renting from the original owners of the property there. A number of UP students are bed spacers and some of the faculty and staff have taken living arrangements with the owners of the properties.
On the extent of the issue of informal settlers on UP lands, President Pascual said that there are more settlers in UP Diliman than students, faculty, and administrative personnel combined.
4. Many of UP’s projects cannot proceed because informal settlers are in the designated sites of development. The faculty and staff housing approved by the Board is still in the design phase. The plan is to relocate the housing to a place where there are no informal settlers. That would entail additional expenditures because it will involve a different terrain.
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5. Other UP campuses also have problems with informal settlers. UP Cebu cannot construct its High School building because of this problem. The same problem exists in UP Mindanao. UP respects the rights of the people who were there even before UP Mindanao established its facilities and has assured them of relocation within the campus. However, it cannot make the same assurance to those who settled there just lately.
6. Chair Licuanan and Regent Gonzalez-Montinola suggested that the President should constitute a formal technical working group to study the matter very carefully. Student Regent Pangalangan, Alumni Regent Maronilla and Regent Senator Cayetano concurred that a careful study of the situation is needed.
President Pascual said there is a team at the System level and Diliman level dealing with the Quezon City Government. He asked the support of the Student Regent and the Staff Regent on the matter.
7. Regent Gonzalez-Montinola said that it is very important to coordinate with the Quezon City Government because it was the former Quezon City Mayor Belmonte who filed the bill and the incumbent Mayor is offering to purchase the property. He also wanted to know if the Quezon City Government has a concrete plan for the other informal settlers apart from Krus na Ligas.
8. In his meeting with Quezon City Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte, President Pascual said that the Quezon City Government official expressed commitment to help UP address the problem with informal settlers in other areas of UP.
9. Student Regent Pangalangan agreed with Regent Gonzalez-Montinola that UP should know the plans of the Quezon City Government on the property because it might just be buying the land and displace the people by force. He wanted to be clarified on the legal aspect of selling UP’s property because he believes that the problem is not isolated to Krus na Ligas.
10. Student Regent Pangalangan questioned the reason of the local government for the initiative before considering a reform in the UP Charter. He wanted to see a strong justification, within the boundary of the laws, on what is best for the interest of UP and the local government.
11. President Pascual clarified that taxation is not the motivation behind the offer. The motivation is to fix the tenure of the residents in Krus na Ligas so that ownership can be established.
12. Regent Maronilla said that the prospect of selling the Krus na Ligas property requires an absolute condition, sine qua non, which means that unless the condition is satisfied, the selling cannot proceed. There are two conditions in this matter. First, the Quezon City Government cannot compel the Board of Regents to pass or to amend the Charter only for the sake of transacting the deal. Second, if the Board of Regents will sanction the sale, it will be exonerating all illegal activities in the area and it would be very difficult to delineate those who are formally settled and those who are not.
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13. Regent Maronilla requested the Office of the Vice President for Legal Affairs to conduct a thorough study of jurisprudence because Congress cannot compel the Board to sell any of the UP land assets.
14. President Pascual said that the law is just an enabling legislation for the Board of Regents to sell alienable properties but the final decision is still with the Board of Regents.
15. Regent Maronilla added that passing a resolution to amend the UP Charter might just create more problems for UP than solutions. The best way to respond to the letter of the Quezon City Mayor is to say that the matter will be endorsed to the Office of the Vice President for Legal Affairs for opinion. It would be a good idea to visit the Historical Commission to validate the historical facts involving UP during the time of President Elpidio Quirino. Senator Regent Cayetano is not comfortable making any statement regarding this without knowing the history and the repercussions of the decision.
Board Action: NOTED. The matter is for further study and discussion by the UP President with the VP for Legal Affairs.
I. Concerns of Regent Senator Cayetano:
1. On UAAP (University Athletic Association of the Philippines)
Highlights of the Discussion
1. Regent Senator Cayetano asked if the Board could be updated on the status of the UAAP games every Board meeting. The Student Regent could very quickly report the standing of UP in the ongoing UAAP Season 78 games.
2. She suggested honoring the UAAP student athletes either by inviting them during a BOR meeting or on a separate occasion by the President. She left the decision to the President on whether to invite only the champions or also include the second or third placers. She was sure that the student athletes would appreciate it that the President or the Board of Regents congratulated them.
Board Action: NOTED
2. On Internationalization
Highlights of the Discussion
1. Regent Senator Cayetano informed the Board about her conversation with the Philippine Ambassador to Spain on a possible international linkage of UP with the University of Salamanca or University of Alcalá. The Ambassador has shown strong interest to work with Philippine universities because of its rich Spanish heritage. She inquired how she could help facilitate linkages with said
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universities without getting in the way of those in charge. She is willing to offer her services to put things together.
2. Vice President Concepcion said that her office already identified the top 20 universities with whom UP has tied up with primarily to protect the linkages from issues on security and intellectual property.
3. Meanwhile, the undergraduate student mobility program (MOVE UP) is being promoted to junior and senior students.
4. Reforms like reducing the GWA requirement from 1.25 to 1.75 are being done to allow more students to qualify for the program. One of the challenges is to get students to take 15-18 units of credit per semester, which is quite difficult because some of the units in UP Diliman or in UP Manila may not have the same course requirements as the prospective collaborating university. It is proposed that the 15 or 18 units would be any of the following: thesis; senior elective; any subject that has to do with sports development, arts, or civics; and an OJT. Units earned in these subjects can be credited in UP so that students graduate on time even if they spend a semester abroad.
5. Regent Senator Cayetano said that UP has to be aggressive in approaching international linkages.
6. Regarding graduating on time and the 15-18 units, students could take a lighter load first while abroad and make up the other units during the summer. That way, the students could take in the whole environment and culture of other universities.
7. Regent Senator Cayetano asked the UP Administration to review some of its processes particularly those that pertain to international linkages. President Pascual said that this could be the function of a BOR Academic Committee.
8. Chair Licuanan reiterated the suggestion that the Faculty Regent and the Vice President for Academic Affairs organize an informal meeting that will serve as an input to the decision of forming a Regents’ Academic Committee.
Board Action: NOTED