UP to have own channel on Cignal TV

MANILA, Philippines — The University of the Philippines will have its own channel on satellite cable provider Cignal TV.

UP president Danilo Concepcion last week signed a memorandum of agreement with Cignal TV president and chief operating officer Robert Galang as well as chief finance officer John Andal at the new TVUP headquarters on Diliman campus in Quezon City.

“Our friends from Cignal TV recognize the value of our work and our goal to extend services to as many as possible, whether these are students looking to enrich their lessons or ordinary citizens who want to gain more knowledge and develop skills,” Concepcion said.

“What we have now is the perfect opportunity to nurture lifelong learning in our people,” he added.

Cignal TV will make the UP channel available to more than four million homes through its satellite direct-to-home service.

The channel will feature various productions of TVUP, currently consisting of almost 600 episodes of different programs covering various topics.

According to TVUP, the offerings have been a resource for students and teachers for remote and blended learning.

“The launching of the digital TVUP channel presents an opportunity to give back not once but every day for the next 365 days and beyond to the entire Filipino community who happens to be carrying a Cignal service,” MediaQuest Holdings Inc. president and chief executive officer Jane Basas said.

“We also have a responsibility to enable every single customer to become better informed and better educated so they can give back to the country as more discerning and responsible individuals,” she added.

Cignal TV is a subsidiary of MediaQuest, the multimedia arm of the PLDT Group.

Galang said the partnership would allow Cignal TV to expand its offerings to its subscribers and introduce distance learners to a new way of experiencing remote learning.

“If you want to be able to reach the most remote parts of the country, only a satellite TV provider can do that,” he said.

TVUP executive director Grace Alfonso noted how the partnership would expand the reach of their productions, which are currently available online.

“Since its inception in 2016, we witnessed the exponential growth of TVUP in service of its mandate: to create and deliver open education resources that are freely shared for everyone; nationally, serving our students and teachers, and internationally, to reach our learners in other countries,” Alfonso said.