UP Cebu pushes for autonomy

CEBU, Philippines – Going through the bureaucracy of waiting for final decisions from Ilo-Ilo or Dilliman is affecting not only the efficiency of the University of the Philippines (UP) Cebu College's administration, it also has huge adverse impacts on lives, such as a teacher's security of tenure.

Believing that, around 15 teachers from the UP Cebu College held a two-hour rally yesterday morning, asking for autonomy for UP Cebu.

The rally, held from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., was supported by the League of Filipino Students (LFS) and the Nagkahiusang Kusog sa mga Estudyante (NKE).

Henry Francis Espiritu, Assistant Professor 7, said they want several things ironed out, including loopholes on tenure and item assignments

The case of Robert Basadre, a teacher at the UP High School in Cebu, was cited.

They said that Basadre had long met the three requirements for tenure- good evaluation from students, master's degree in arts and sciences, as well as publication of a scholarly journal.

However, Basadre is still being made to sign a contract every school year. According to them, each year, the dean would just inform a teacher if his services would still be needed.

Aside from security of tenure, they are also hitting the planned restructuring program that seeks to stop the operations of the UP High School.

"Makulban ug kaldero" was how they described the effect of this restructuring on the teachers.

"Ganahan kaayo ko sa among gibuhat ganina tungod kay nakapagawas mi sa among mga hinanaing," said Espiritu. (THE FREEMAN)