With the recent appointment of Dean Ma. Diosa Labiste, College of Media and Communication (CMC) employees, hope the new administration will address their requests for additional items and improved facilities and equipment.
During the deanship public forum last March 13, former Dean Fernando Paragas presented his term’s accomplishments, highlighting the college’s plantilla and promotion plan alongside pending renovations.
The college was able to acquire seven new faculty items and two new staff positions while processing the permanent status of four staffers, six new hires and 26 promotions, according to Paragas.
Maskom employees, however, continue to seek further boost in manpower, revamped spaces, and updated equipment within CMC.
Although the previous admin ensured all items within the college were filled, the local library and campus radio station DZUP, operating under CMC, still solicit additional permanent item allocations.
Serving more than 1,000 students and five departments, the CMC Library continues to grapple with understaffing, forcing attendants to juggle multiple responsibilities due to the mismatch between workload and available personnel, said CMC Head Librarian Gladys Florendo.
Library staff are expected to handle inventory updates, book weeding, and processing new materials and requests—all while managing regular library services from Monday to Saturday.
To resolve the lack of manpower, Palaya said that the library hired 4 student assistants to fill in administrative responsibilities in their stead. “I think kailangan namin ng dalawang full time staff if possible. Pero kung ‘di possible, kahit isa lang,” Florendo added.
Florendo emphasized the sheer amount of materials they need to sort despite having a total workforce of 10, composed only of six full-time staff members, including the head librarian, while the rest are student assistants. There are 37,000 books according to the most recent inventory; However, a recheck is needed to determine the library’s current total collection, said Florendo in a separate email exchange with Tinig ng Plaridel.
Nakalagay doon [sa inventory] na mayroong 37,000 books, pero kung tutuusin […] ‘yung mga books dito [ay] baka more or less 20,000 lang. So kaya kami nagwe-weeding to find out ‘yung total collection.”
However, DZUP Station Manager and College Secretary Ma. Ivy Claudio clarified that item requests are made through the national government following the university’s forwarded requests from its constituents to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).
“It’s a government-wide problem and the government is the biggest contractual employer kasi nga hindi naglalabas ang DBM ng new plantilla item,” Paragas shared in a separate interview with Tinig ng Plaridel.
Although DZUP has only two permanent items out of its team of 17, requests for plantilla positions remain ongoing despite the lengthy procedure.
Workplace gaps
Aside from strengthening workforces, DZUP, alongside CMC Library, is seeking apparatus upgrades due to outdated tools hindering their services.
DZUP station manager Ivy Claudio said that UP’s radio station needs equipment updates to keep pace with the evolving media landscape. “Meron naman nang mga nabili for the past three years pero may mga naiwanan pa ring need ng upgrading,” said Claudio, highlighting that some pieces date back to 2011 when DZUP underwent revitalization.
Likewise, CMC Library Media Specialist Angela Aquino said that the library is falling behind because their collection remains in digital versatile discs (DVD), compact discs (CD) and disk-caching discs (DCD) while the current trend is leaning towards digital records.
“‘Yung TV namin, ‘yung meron pang likod na parang hunchback. Tapos ‘yung mga DVD players namin medyo parang may topak…Tapos yung mga audioplayers yun po wala po tayo niyan. To help address the issue, the college has already secured funding for new equipment and is currently awaiting procurement, according to an email exchange with Palaya.
Aside from the outdated audio-visual room, Florendo also lamented congested spaces within the college library, especially on its second floor, facing dim lighting and roof leakage.
In response to these concerns, the library requested a design plan from a College of Home Economics ID131 class under Ms. Liezl de Leon to maximize its area and accommodate the increasing demand for student space. Florendo said that the renovation is planned to be discussed with the new dean.
The planned rearrangement of rooms is still separate from the proposed P145-million renovation of various CMC facilities, such as the DZUP office, integration of CMC and Film Institute’s libraries, among others.
Sustaining support
With Labiste as the new dean, CMC employees hope to experience the same administrative freedom and support for their work space and functions.
“The [former] administrative processes are there not to hinder us but to give us an enabling environment to work towards our goals,” said Claudio.
Florendo attested alongside Administrative Assistant and All UP Workers Alliance (AUWA) Chair Jonathan Beldia that their operations were enriched due to the independence that Paragas gave.
AUWA, an exclusive union of UP employees across the UP system calling for equal workers’ rights and benefits, received support in ensuring protection of its members and permission to use the college facilities for their meetings and attend protests without sanctions, said Beldia.
Beldia hopes to establish a similar relationship with Labiste to advocate for workers’ rights regarding wages and working conditions in Maskom.
“Ang wishlist namin ay isang dekanong bukas, mulat at may pakialam sa lipunan at sa usaping academic freedom, sa usaping disinformation, [at] sa usaping impunity,” said Beldia.
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EDITOR’S NOTE: The article has been updated as a quote by Ms. Gladys Florendo has been misattributed in the original version of this post. We apologize for this oversight. The CMC Library has also requested to place additional information regarding the collaboration between the library and a class at the College of Home Economics.
