The Human Rights Violations Victims Memorial Commission (HRVVMC) has claimed the University of the Philippines (UP) is responsible for the delay of the planned construction of a long-anticipated Martial Law museum within its Diliman campus.
During the House budget deliberations of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), HRVVMC head Chuck Crisanto said the first step that UP needs to take is to sign the handover or turnover document from the memorial commission.
“That means they can now fully control the assets we have provided, and infuse from their own budget 50 more million to complete landscaping, the office buildings for the staff of the community maintenance office yard and workshop to move,” Crisanto said.
“Without them signing that handover document or turnover document, UP will not be allocated funds to finish the relocation. We’ve finished our part of the agreement in October 2022. We gave them the impetus to accept it in June 2023. If I look at the number of months that I have been delayed by the UP, it’s like 20 months,” he added.
The commission head, however, clarified they have been in constant communication with university leadership, including some members who “actually have been victims of that period… so their heart is in it.”
“I cannot understand the bureaucracy of UP why it takes them so long to actually accept it. In other words, like the donation of P80 million when that is something that is positive for an institution such as the university. I cannot explain their seeming foot-dragging on this matter,” Crisanto said.
He said they will try again to reach out to UP to finally settle the matter with the CHR’s assistance.
“But we do need the help of Congress in actually nudging UP to fulfill its end of its obligation,” Crisanto added.
