PLEASE FAX OR SEND AN E-MAIL - CONTACT DETAILS OF EACH SENATOR ARE INCLUDED BELOW.

OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES Quezon City

11 July 2003

Dear Friend or Fellow Alumnus/Alumna:

When the senate resumes its session on July 28, one of the more important bills it will be facing on its agenda will be Senate Bill 2587, sponsored on the floor by Sen. Francis Pangilinan, which seeks to revise the 96-year old Charter of the University of the Philippines (UP).

Created by the American colonial government in 1908, UP remains the country's oldest, largest, and best public university, serving some 55,000 students all over the archipelago in seven constituent universities spreadout over a dozen campuses.

But as it approaches its centennial, UP is facing harder times than ever. Many of its top PhDs have left for better-paying jobs in the private sector here and abroad. Its laboratories and libraries badly need to be modernized. Its share of the education budget is barely enough to make endsmeet.

This is why we need to revise the UP Charter, to make it more responsive to the needs and realities of our times, and to allow UP to compete successfully with the region's best.

What does the new Charter seek to achieve?

First, its seek formal recognition by the government of UP as the national university of the Philippines, to set it apart from the hundred-plus other state universities and colleges, in the way that the University of Tokyo, the University of Malaya, Chulalongkorn University, the National University of Singapore the Australian National University, Seoul National University,and Peking University are seen in their respective countries,
in a category of their own. This recognizes UP's unique academic mission and its
unique teaching and research capabilities.

Second, with recognition as the national university, UP wants to be freed from the shackles of the Salary Standardization Law, which has kept UP faculty salaries pitifully low. A full professor in UP makes a maximum of about P30, 000 a month; in La Salle, that can go high as P94,000. UP used to be able to set its own salary scale, but the SSL ended that.

Third, the new Charter further democratizes the composition of the Board of Regents which already counts a Faculty Regent and a Student Regent among its members with the inclusion of a Staff Regent to represent non-teaching staff, who account for about 9,500 of the university's 14,000-strong work force.

And fourth, UP wants the authority to develop and use some of its own resources to augment what it gets from the national government. These resources include about 25,000 hectares of land, much of which is lying idle, and is actually costing UP money to maintain. There is little incentive to develop them, because proceeds cannot be plowed back into UP programs and projects something the new Charter should allow. We also plan to generate income from our best resource, our brains, through a progressive and equitable intellectual property rights policy.

We need the support of all Filipinos, UP alumni and non-alumni alike, in getting the new Charter bill passed in the Senate. If SB 2587 is not passed now, it might take another decade to get this far. In the meanwhile, UP can only stagnate and slide farther into mediocrity.

This bill has already passed the House; it just needs to pass the Senate. Your personal endorsement as a valued member of the community can go a long way toward convincing the Senate of the need to pass SB 2587 now.

If you believe, as we do, that UP deserves a better future and a better deal so it can better serve the Filipino people, please sign the statement below, and return this form to us. We will take care of forwarding your signature to our Senators. Thank you for your support.

Yours sincerely,

FRANCISCO NEMENZO President

IF YOU WANT THE SENATE TO KNOW THAT YOU FULLY SUPPORT THIS SB 2587, PLEASE PRINT THIS LETTER, SIGN IT, AND SEND THIS TO:

Sen. Francis N. Pangilinan 5th Floor, Room 526, Senate of the Philippines GSIS Bldg., Financial Center, Roxas Blvd., Pasay City, Philippines

YES, I believe that the University of the Philippines deserves my support as the national university, and that SENATE BILL 2587 SHOULD BE PASSED NOW.

NAME: PRESENT POSITION/DESIGNATION: INSTITUTION: SIGNATURE:

_____________________________

DIRECTORY OF THE SENATE

Sen. Edgardo J. Angara Address: 5th flr., Rm. 504 Senate of the Philippines
GSIS! Bldg., Financial Center, Roxas Blvd., Pasay City Telefax: No.:
552-6601 loc. 5572 email: edgardo_angara@hotmail.com

Sen. Joker P. Arroyo Address: 5th flr., Rm. 518 Senate of the Philippines
GSIS Bldg., Financial Center, Roxas Blvd., Pasay City Fax No.: 552-6790

email: office_sen_jokerarroyo@yahoo.com

Sen. Robert Z. Barbers Address: 5th flr., Rm. 502 Senate of the Philippines
GSIS Bldg., Financial Center, Roxas Blvd., Pasay City Fax No.: 552-6601 to
80 loc. 5586 email: rcbarbers@yahoo.com

Sen. Rodolfo G. Biazon Address: 5th flr., Rm. 527 Senate of the Philippines
GSIS Bldg., Financial Center, Roxas Blvd., Pasay City Telefax No.: 552-6772
email: flushes_0619@yahoo.com

Sen. Renato L. "Compañero" Cayetano Address: 5th flr., Rm. 505 Senate of
the Philippines GSIS Bldg., Financial Center, Roxas Blvd., Pasay City Fax
No.: 552-6898 email: companerocayetano@hotmail.com

Sen. Noli "Kabayan" L. de Castro Address: 5th flr., Rm. 517 Senate of the
Philippines GSIS Bldg., Financial Center, Roxas Blvd., Pasay City Telefax
No.: 552-6787 email: kabayanndc@info.com.ph

Sen. Franklin M. Drilon Senate President Address: 6th flr., Rm. 606 Senate
of the Philippines GSIS Bldg., Financial Center, Roxas Blvd., Pasay City

Fax No.: 551-2993 email: fmd@sendrilon.org.ph

Sen. Luisa "Loi" P. Ejercito Estrada Address: 2nd flr., Rm. 209 Senate of
the Philippines GSIS Bldg., Financial Center, Roxas Blvd., Pasay City
Telefax: 552-6744 email: OSLPEE@hotmail.com

Sen. Juan M. Flavier Senate President Pro-Tempore Address: 5th flr., Rm.
525 Senate of the Philippines GSIS Bldg., Financial Center, Roxas Blvd.,
Pasay City Fax No.: 552-6869 email: jmflavier@pacific.net.ph

Sen. Gregorio B. Honasan II Address: 5th flr., Rm. 503 Senate of the
Philippines GSIS Bldg., Financial Center, Roxas Blvd., Pasay City Telefax:
552-6793 email: sgbhii@info.com.ph

Sen. Robert S. "JAWO" Jaworski Address: 5th flr., Rm. 512 Senate of the
Philippines GSIS Bldg., Financial Center, Roxas Blvd., Pasay City Fax No.:
552-6776 email: senjawo1@pacific.net.ph

Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson Address: 5th flr., Rm. 523 Senate of the Philippines
GSIS Bldg., Financial Center, Roxas Blvd., Pasay City Fax No.: 552-6743

email: ping_lacson_gov@yahoo.com; senator_pm_lacson@yahoo.co.uk

Sen. Loren Legarda Leviste Senate Majority Leader Address: 6th flr., Rm.
603 Senate of the Philippines GSIS Bldg., Financial Center, Roxas Blvd.,
Pasay City Fax No.: 551-7763 email: llegarda@info.com.ph ;
legis@info.com.ph

Sen. Ramon B. Magsaysay, Jr. Address: 5th flr., Rm. 507 Senate of the
Philippines GSIS Bldg., Financial Center, Roxas Blvd., Pasay City Fax No.:
552-6773 email: ramon@magsaysay.com

Sen. Teresa Aquino-Oreta Address: 5th flr., Rm. 511 Senate of the
Philippines GSIS Bldg., Financial Center, Roxas Blvd., Pasay City Fax No.:
552-6741 email: senate@i-manila.com.ph

Sen. J! ohn Henry R. Osmeña Address: 5th flr., Rm. 509 Senate of the
Philippines GSIS Bldg., Financial Center, Roxas Blvd., Pasay City Fax No.:
552-6700 email: jho117@attglobal.net

Sen. Sergio R. Osmeña III Address: 5th flr., Rm. 520 Senate of the

Philippines GSIS Bldg., Financial Center, Roxas Blvd., Pasay City Fax No.:
552-6768 email: SRO3@yahoo.com

Sen. Francis N. Pangilinan Address: 5th flr., Rm. 526 Senate of the
Philippines GSIS Bldg., Financial Center, Roxas Blvd., Pasay City Fax No.:
552-6747 email: kiko@fplaw.com.ph ; kilosko2001@hotmail.com

Sen. Aquilino Q. Pimentel, Jr. Address: 6th flr., Rm. 601 Senate of the
Philippines GSIS Bldg., Financial Center, Roxas Blvd., Pasay City Fax No.:
552-6713 email: aqp@compass.com.ph ; pimentel@compass.com.ph

Sen. Ralph G. Recto Address: 5th flr., Rm. 519 Senate of the Philippines
GSIS Bldg., Financial Center, Ro! xas Blvd., Pasay City Telfax No.:
552-6897 email: senrgr@belltel.ph

Sen. Ramon B. Revilla Address: 5th flr., Rm. 506 Senate of the Philippines
GSIS Bldg., Financial Center, Roxas Blvd., Pasay City Fax No.: 552-6769
email: revilla@pacific.net.ph ; ramonrevilla@hotmail.com

Sen. Vicente C. Sotto III Senate Minority Leader Address: 5th flr., Rm. 510
Senate of the Philippines GSIS Bldg., Financial Center, Roxas Blvd., Pasay
City Fax N! o. 551-5255 email: vstlegis@pacific.net.ph

Sen. Manuel B. Villar, Jr. Address: 6th flr., Rm. 602 Senate of the
Philippines GSIS Bldg., Financial Center, Roxas Blvd., Pasay City Fax No.
552-6734 email: media_center@yahoo.com

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Senate Committee on Education,Arts and Culture Chairperson : CAYETANO,
Renato "Compañero"

Vice-Chairpersons : PANGILINAN, Francis (Acting) OSMEÑA, Sergio III Members
: MAGSAYSAY, Ramon, Jr. BARBERS, Robert DE CASTRO, Noli "Kabayan" RECTO,
Ralph REVILLA, Ramon OSMEÑA, John ANGARA, Edgardo B! IAZON, Rodolfo
AQUINO-ORETA, Teresa EJERCITO-ESTRADA, Luisa "Loi" HONASAN, Gregorio
JAWORSKI, Robert

Ex-Officio Members : FLAVIER, Juan LEGARDA LEVISTE, Loren SOTTO, Vicente
III

:: Bing Friday, August 01, 2003 [+] ::
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