Baguio solon seeks creation of city's public university

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines – Baguio's newly elected congressman is pushing for a bill in the 16th Congress which would create the Pamantasan ng Baguio.

Rep. Nicasio Aliping, Jr., former councilor of Baguio City, said creating the public university in the city "is the answer to the clamor of citizens for an affordable education.”

"While giving allowances to students is helpful, establishing the "Pamantasan" will give better chances to indigents to finish their education," he said.

Aliping said Baguio is ideal for establishing a university patterned after the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (PLM) since students coming from places as far as Mindanao go to Baguio just to study.

Baguio has a student population of about 70,000 college students.

The university will be patterned after PLM, touted as the first institution of higher learning in the country to offer tuition-free tertiary education. PLM is also the first university funded solely by a city government and the first institution of higher learning in the country to have its official name in Filipino.

Aliping said that while he is laying the groundwork for this project, he will continue the scholarship program of his predecessor through his priority development assistance fund. (Artemio Dumlao)