The Benigno Aquino III administration saw a robust period in the development history of UP.
In the period between June 30, 2010 to June 30, 2016, the government allotted the biggest budgets for UP ever. It also got substantial grants from other national agencies. The UP budget started to increase in 2013 to P9.5 billion from P5.7 billion in 2012. By 2017, the budget had reached P13.5 billion.
These enabled the national university to build and refurbish infrastructure, fund world-class research projects and human resources development, and kick off its digital modernization.
The biggest percentage increase in the UP budget was the MOOE allocation, the budget for operating expenses, which jumped almost four times, from P0.7 billion in 2012 to P2.8 billion in 2016. The capital outlay amounted to over P12 billion for the period 2012-2016, including a supplemental release in 2012. “These were unprecedented achievements,” said Alfredo Pascual in his end-of-term report as UP President.
This period also saw the legislation and enactment of a law automatically qualifying public high school honor graduates for admission in UP. Salary standardization during this term also enabled the University to offer competitive salaries and benefits for Balik Scientists and PhDs, the term used to describe alumni who have achieved prominent stature abroad and who go back to the country to serve their alma mater.
Golden age of infrastructure and new research
Coinciding with the Philippine president’s term of office, UP President Alfredo Pascual’s administration from February 10, 2011 to February 9, 2017 was able to invest more than P9 billion in infrastructure resulting in over 100 new buildings and other structures, and 50 major renovations in the various campuses. At the UP Philippine General Hospital, some P3 billion was spent for modernizing hospital equipment.
“We set out to transform UP into a research intensive University, building new laboratories, and absorbing billions of pesos of research funding from partner departments of government. From UP’s own resources, we provided our faculty with close to a billion pesos to fund our Emerging
Interdisciplinary Research program,” Pascual said.
From other agencies such as the Department of Science and Technology and the Commission on Higher Education, as of 2016, funding for University projects had reached P6.2 billion. These included various scientific projects across the UP System and 11 projects on information infrastructure development and health innovation, and translational medicine. Specifically, the projects included anti-malaria research, dengue detection, genomics capacity building, environmental monitoring, resilient village-based systems, and cost-effective printing fabrication.
Notable among the projects was the Philippine Genome Center, launched in 2011, which now serves a key role in the government’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. It received P340 million from UP’s capital outlay to build its headquarters and P1 billion for its research.
Over a billion pesos in capital outlay also went to the National Institutes of Health for its new, 18-story building, while it received the same amount for research for three years alone, from 2013 to 2015.
The P200 million budget for the new College of Medicine building and equipment was approved about the same time. About P950 million was made available for emerging interdisciplinary research, and P50 million for research grants to Balik PhDs. The administration was also able to set aside P80 million for infrastructure and P120 million for equipment for the UP Visayas Regional Research Center.
The UP System, with its Center for Integrative and Development Studies, had more than P50 million to allocate for another set of research focused on environment, employment, economic emancipation, and education.
Aside from public-funded infrastructure projects, UP also saw a number of privately funded buildings being erected, such as the P400 million UP-BGC, the P200 million UP Manila Public Health Building, and the P100 million UP Diliman College of Arts and Letters Theater.
Faculty, researcher grants
According to Pascual, the full cost to the University of doctoral studies overseas could reach as much as P9 million per faculty member during that time, on top of the salary that the grantee kept, and the salary of his or her substitute. “In the last five years, we have awarded fellowship grants to 100 faculty members, translating to an average of 20 per year or double those in the previous administration,” Pascual reported.
More travel grants were awarded to faculty members and graduate students so that they could present their research papers in conferences abroad. “No longer tied down by quotas, we gave out over 330 grants since 2012 apart from those funded by individual colleges and universities.”
UP was able to have funds for new awards, the ONE UP Professorial Chair and Faculty Grant Awards, and to provide 800 professorial chairs and faculty grants at P120,000 and P96,000 a year, respectively,
for three years starting January 2016. Close to 600 faculty members received the grants for their distinguished performance in any two of the following: teaching, research or creative work, and public service.
The Creative Work and Research Grant was raised to P450,000 to P650,000 for a 1.5-year project enhanced to reward exemplary teachers and researchers for prolific publishing, developing excellent educational materials, and effectively using these materials in their classes in UP.
Staff benefits
With greater financial flexibility, a result of greater government funding and intensified internal resource generation, UP was able to gain a total of P3.4 billion which it used to pay for faculty and staff benefits from 2011 to January 2017.
According to Pascual, this figure was considered the biggest increase ever in such benefits, which included the service recognition pay, retirement money, rice subsidy, grocery allowance, and incentive grants.
“To the tune of P258 million, the 2014 merit promotions were the highest amount ever given
out by the University,” Pascual says. “It also benefited the most number of employees, with around 70 percent of UP faculty and staff approved for merit promotion. The promotion process started in July 2014,” he added.
Digital modernization
With increased financial resources, UP launched an ambitious digital modernization program called eUP, an integrated IT system designed to achieve administrative efficiency. The project included:
substantial investments in hardware such as servers, computers, accessories; and, future-proof fiber optic networks, and internet bandwidth which support not just the information systems but also the academic requirements of faculty and students. It aimed to facilitate evidence-based decisions,
information sharing, speedy service delivery, harmonized processes, enhanced productivity,
and personnel well-being.
Information systems were initiated for: financial management; human resource development and management; student academics; supply, procurement, and campus management; and, executive planning.
The UP bandwidth increased from 140 mbps to 5,200 mbps system-wide.
New pro-education, government policies
In 2014, Republic Act 10648 or the Iskolar ng Bayan Act of 2014 was passed, assuring top graduates from public high schools automatic admission to state universities and colleges for the next six years starting school year 2015-2016. UP subscribed to this affirmative action that favors top graduates of public high schools, subject to meeting its admission requirements.
Public sector salaries were upgraded under Salary Standardization Law 3 and 4. This had a unique impact on UP as it helped the University recruit PhD holders from abroad. Higher salaries were offered on top of incentives of P500,000 for relocating to the Philippines, and a startup research grant of P2.5 million. As a result, UP was able to welcome back 41 “Balik-PhDs”.
President Benigno Aquino III called for a better disaster risk reduction management system in the country following a series of storms in 2011. In response, the Department of Science and Technology initiated Project NOAH or Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazard, utilizing expertise from UP. With project head Mahar Lagmay of the UP National Institute of Geological Sciences (NIGS), the project was launched in the middle of 2012.
The project, a breakthrough in integrating science, engineering, and technology to manage disaster and disaster risks, would later be adopted by UP as a flagship program of the UP Resilience Institute.