MSU President Basari Mapupuno (seated, fourth from left) leads the BARMM SUC delegation at the UP-SUC Collaboration Program consultation. EVP Jose Fernando Alcantara (standing sixth from left), UP-SUC Collaboration Program head, and Chancellor Lyre Murao, TWG-BDI chair, attended.

 The UP-State Universities and Colleges (SUC) Collaboration Program, headed by EVP Jose Fernando Alcantara, held a Stakeholders Consultation with BARMM SUCs on May 8, 2024, in Davao City. This was held in coordination with the Technical Working Group (TWG) for the Creation of the UP Bangsamoro Development Institute (BDI).

Mindanao State University (MSU) System President Basari Mapupuno led the BARMM delegation, which included SUC heads from Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Cotabato, Lanao Province, and the MSU constituent universities.

The UP-SUC Collaboration team presented its Strategic Pathways for collaboration and its "patikim" offers for the Mindanao SUCs/LUCs. These offers are the Balay Pagtinabangay (The House of Collaboration) for social enterprise, capability-building through the UP Resilience Institute, ICT capability-building, Land Use Development and Infrastructure Plan (LUDIP) training, a national youth summit on the environment, "Pailaw" electrification, digital education technology, and e-library access.

Chancellor Lyre Murao, in her capacity as TWG-BDI chairperson, presented UP's "eight baskets" of offerings for the BARMM, namely, in food, health, education, the environment and ecology, information and communication technology (ICT), governance, economics, and maritime science. A ninth basket, culture and the arts, was conceived in subsequent consultations.

President Jimenez said, "I made it very clear that when we enter any place, it must be through a partnership. The local partner is at the center stage, and the university is just the backup."

The UP-SUC Collaboration Program and the TWG-BDI align with UP's strategic plans for collaboration with SUCs and assistance to the BARMM. They align with UPMin's goals for public impact and the Sustainable Development Goals of Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions, among other goals.    

UP President Jimenez, Dr. Gracita Jacinto-Ali, and MSU President Mapupuno (sixth, seventh, and eighth from left, respectively) with heads of BARMM SUCs