SENATE HOLDS PUBLIC HEARING ON UP CHARTER BILL
"Pass UP Charter in time for UP centennial"--Kiko

Majority Leader and Independent Senator Kiko Pangilinan today called on the Senate to expedite the passage of the UP Charter Bill in time for the State University's centennial in 2008 during the public hearing for the said measure.

SBN 132, or an Act to Strengthen the University of the Philippines as the National University, was ratified in the Senate in the 13th Congress but was not passed due to a lack of quorum in the House of Representatives. Sen. Kiko, principal author of the UP Charter Bill, refiled the measure this July at the start of the 14th Congress.

"The State University is currently working under an outdated Charter, and come next year, UP will be observing its 100th foundation year. It will be tragic for our beloved Alma Mater to enter this new chapter without a relevant, empowering Charter," Kiko added.

"The passage of the UP Charter would allow UP to avert further decline in terms of equipment and infrastructure. We need to move swiftly on this to also deter the exodus of State U's top professors and scientists to private schools, or worse, abroad," Kiko urged.

The UP Charter allows for UP's exemption from the Salary Standardization Act, tax exemption and incentives for donation, and greater autonomy by removing Malacañang's power to appoint the UP president and other sectoral representatives. It also provides safeguards for asset utilization and/or disposition including the creation of an independent trust committee to recommend and advise the BOR on permissible investments, higher BOR voting requirement for contracts involving P50 million and above, the increase of salaries of its teaching and non-teaching staff and the redesigning of its current curricula, among others.

"The alumni, the students, the academe and other stakeholders, who also joined today's hearing, waited long enough for the new charter that will strengthen UP with institutional and fiscal autonomy. It was a shame how 14 years in the legislative mill went to waste when the measure was not passed last Congress. I thus appeal to our fellow legislators to expedite the passage of this measure," Kiko said.