UP president asks constituent units to accept cross-enrollees from UP Tacloban

University of the Philippines (UP) president Alfredo Pascual has issued an urgent request to UP constituent universities to allow students from UP Tacloban to cross-enroll for the second semester.

 

Pascual asked the heads of the other UP units Wednesday to temporarily waive the requirements for cross-registration of students from UP Visayas-Tacloban campus "in light of the "emergency situation" caused by typhoon Yolanda.

He also asked them to accommodate the students' transfer to other UP campuses in time for the start of classes.

 

"We will address any issue that may arise from this arrangement in due course. In the meantime, let us ensure that our students from UPVTC do not lose this semester," Pascual said in a memorandum.

 

UP has seven constituent universities aside from UPVTC: UP Baguio, UP Diliman, UP Los Baños, UP Manila, UP Cebu, and UP Mindanao. The seventh unit, UP Open University is a distance education institution.

 

Classes in the two UP campuses in Leyte--UPVTC and the UP Manila School of Heath Sciences in Palo--were canceled after several school buildings and facilities were destroyed by the typhoon, UP Student Regent Krista Melgarejo told GMA News Online in an interview.

 

Tacloban City was among the areas that suffered the most damage when typhoon Yolanda barreled through Visayas and Southern Luzon last week.

 

Photos posted on the UP Visayas Facebook page showed buildings in the Tacloban campus with the roofs blown off and windows shattered. Several uprooted trees and other debris also filled the campus.

 

The university's iconic Oblation statue, however, was able to withstand the strong winds brought by the typhoon.


It remains proudly in place at the center of the campus, as shown in some photos.

 

Melgarejo said the Office of the Student Regent has been coordinating with other university officials to locate UP students studying in the Leyte campuses who have been reported missing after the typhoon.

She, however, did not state how many students are missing.
 

UP Mindanao (UPMin) announced on its Facebook page Thursday that students from UPVTC  are welcome to cross-register to their campus.

School officials are also in the process of looking for host families who can temporarily accommodate the students, it said.

 

Melgarejo said that, as of Friday, university officials have not yet set a date for when classes in the Leyte campuses will resume since several structures in the campuses will need to be rebuilt.

 

"Hindi pa nasasabi kung hanggang kailan magtatagal yung set-up (na mag-aaral sa ibang campuses yung) mga students dahil marami pang kailangang ayusin sa UP Tacloban at UP Palo. Ang concern ngayon is makapag-cross-register na kaagad yung students para hindi sila mahuli sa klase," she said.

 

The Student Regent said that in addition to extending enrollment assistance to students from UPVTC, university officials are also coming up with ways to help students from other UP units who have been "indirectly" affected by the typhoon because their families are in areas affected by typhoon Yolanda.

 

Officials in UP Diliman, for instance, have encouraged affected students to write letters asking for the extension of tuition payments, the issuance of food stubs, and assistance with dormitory concerns.

 

"Syempre hindi lang naman yung mga UP students sa Tacloban ang na-apektuhan ng bagyo kasi may mga students rin tayo sa ibang campuses na yung family nila ay based sa Leyte at sa mga probinsyang binagyo,"she said.

"Apektado rin yung mga students na ito indirectly kasi baka mahirapan na silang makakuha ng allowance o baka nawalan na talaga sila ng pera, kaya kailangan rin silang tulungan," Melgarejo added.

 

She said the OSR and the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs are ready to provide further assistance to the affected students. — JDS, GMA News