INAUGURATION. University of the Philippines Visayas Chancellor Clement C. Camposano and UP System President Atty. Angelo A. Jimenez (front row, fourth and fifth from left) lead the inauguration of the UPV extension campus in Barangay Nauring, Pandan in Antique on Friday (Aug. 25, 2023). Jimenez said UP education must be made available to all Filipinos, the reason they established the extension campus in Antique. (PNA photo by Annabel Consuelo J. Petinglay)
SAN JOSE DE BUENAVISTA, Antique – The University of the Philippines Visayas (UPV) on Friday opened its extension campus in the municipality of Pandan in Antique that will initially offer training programs benefitting fisherfolk in the community.
UP System President Atty. Angelo A. Jimenez, in his message, said UP is serious about reaching out, as the only national university, to any remote island through its extension campuses like in Antique.
“We want to fulfill our mandate as the only national university in the country,” he said.
He said theoretically, UP education must be made available to all Filipinos, the reason why there is an extension campus in Pandan.
Through the extension campus, situated in a 900-square-meter lot donated by the Bautista family in Barangay Nauring, UP will act as a big brother or partner for the University of Antique (UA), the only state university in the province before UP came in.
UPV Chancellor Dr. Clement C. Camposano said the extension campus will put Pandan at the forefront of digital education because they will have blended or a combination of face-to-face and online classes.
“We initially envision having training programs in various fields like in entrepreneurship and sustainability, and then later to offer courses in fisheries and for the long term to make the facility part of the institutional growth in terms of new programs,” Camposano said in his message.
He added Antique is part of their future plan, even as they intend to have it as a regional center for the Sustainable Development Goal program.
The extension campus was the brainchild of Senate Pro-Tempore Loren Legarda, who allocated PHP50 million to construct the three-story building with classrooms, offices, training spaces, and a conference room.
“Today is another realization of a dream – the dream of bringing UP closer to the students of Antique and the neighboring province of Aklan. I have allocated PHP50 million for this project with the intention of democratizing education so that many may partake in the much-coveted UP education,” Legarda said in her virtual message.
She said fisherfolk; farmers; health workers; micro, small and medium entrepreneurs; and those who contribute to the thriving economy of the province will now have a chance to enhance their skills.
The senator assured that her brother, Antique Rep. Antonio Agapito Legarda, will be her partner in ensuring that the UPV extension campus will set the highest standards of education in Antique. (PNA)
