UP’s ‘homeless’ get dorm rooms but cost keeps them out

Gabriel Arnado from Cebu City is a Computer Science freshman at the University of the Philippines in Diliman.

He is also homeless and has been sleeping at the All UP Workers' Union office near the university's shopping center while his application for a dormitory slot is being resolved.

He is one of seven who have been staying at the union office who are either waiting to be assigned dorm rooms or are waiting to be given more affordable places to stay.

"May slot na po ako, pero hindi ko kinukuha," he told GMA News Online on the sidelines of a student protest in front of the Kalayaan Residence Hall on Friday. He said that the P3,000-a-month that the campus' new Acacia dorm is charging, was beyond his means.



He is not the only one, he said, who has been accommodated by the university's student housing program but were given rooms that they cannot afford.

The rent at UP's dorms ranges from P250 a month at Molave and Yakal dorms to P3,000 a month at Acacia. The Centennial dorm, which is also recently built, charges P1,500 a month. Kalayaan Residence Hall, which is reserved for freshmen, charges P500 a month.

Neither Acacia nor Centennial has access to the Internet, which has increasingly become a requirement for university students.

"May several cases na rin na nag-dorm na lang outside UP," he said.

Another student, who declined to be named, said he has been staying at an aunt's house in Pasig while his case is under appeal.

That comes with its own challenges, he said, because his first class is at 7 a.m., and he has to commute all the way to Quezon City.

"Sobrang bagal ng proseso, sabay yung mga options, mahal," he said.


Jhon Daniel Villanueva, who comes from Cagayan Valley, said he has been staying as a transient at the Ipil dorm on campus for P75 a night.

Eds Gabral, who is with the Stand-UP political party, said other students had to pay as transients, at around P250 a night, while waiting to be assigned dorm rooms.

Gabral added that while the university administration has resolved most of the 392 appeals from dormers, the dorms themselves are already overloaded.

He said that rooms designed for three students now house four to five.

"May pumapasok din na text na [students na galing sa] lower bracket na nalalagay sa mahal na dorm," he said.

Tuition in UP is classified into brackets depending on the annual household income of a student's family.

Dorm shortage a yearly issue

In an interview on GMA's "News to Go" Friday, UP Diliman Chancellor Michael Tan said that UP has always had to deal with a shortage in dormitory space.

"Aaminin ko na taon-taon naman ito," Tan said.

"We have 24,000 students, the number of dorm [rooms] is 3,600... Let's say 20 percent ang may kailangan ng dorm. One-fifth of that, mga 5,000 pa rin. May shortfall pa tayo na 1,500 ngayon," he added.

He said that UP Diliman was able to build two more dorms, or around 400 beds, starting in 2000. They were the first new dorms constructed since 1970, he said.

The shortfall was made worse by an increase in new freshmen.

"Compared sa last year, there are 800 more freshmen, pero hindi Lahat yan may kelangan ng dorm. Ang quota halos hindi nagbago pero ang nangyari, more students are coming to UP," he said.

This was a point that USC councilor Julian "Tolits" Tanaka, who heads the USC's Basic Student Services committee. Tanaka, citing a USC dialog with the university administration, added that the Office of Student Housing had to process around 4,000 dorm applications.

"Minsan din may miscommunication," Tanaka added, citing the case of 25 students assigned to the Molave Residence Hall who found out when they were about to move in that freshmen who were supposed to move to Kalayaan dorm were still in their rooms. "Medyo malabo pa ang lines of communication."

Tanaka, who is from Stand-UP's rival party Alyansa, said that the student council has been compiling lists of displaced students through the college student councils.

The council has also been seeking donations and options for housing for students.

"Nag-iikot na rin kami for boarding houses outside campus," Tanaka said, adding: "We're UP students, we help each other."

The council will also call on the UP administration to be "more transparent" on how it assigns students to dorms.

Although dorms are assigned on a point system according to a student's home province and annual household income, Tanaka said the University Student Council will ask for a more detailed breakdown of how applications are processed and assessed.



In the meantime, "homeless" Gabriel said there is little he can do except wait for his case to be resolved. "I'm still appealing," he said. —NB, GMA News