The University of the Philippines Visayas (UPV) on Monday broke ground for its PHP20 million multipurpose building that will rise on a 1,026 square meter area within its Iloilo City campus.

“The multipurpose facility was designed to address UPV’s growing need for a versatile sports venue that supports athletic activities, physical education programs and other school events,” Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Assistant Regional Director Al Fruto said in his message.

UPV Chancellor Clement Camposano said that aside from sports events, the facility can also cater to cultural activities.

“We are developing this as a culture and heritage hub. As you can see, the old building, which used to be our old city hall, is fully restored. We have galleries in there. The improvement of this campus is part of the overall vision,” he said in an interview.

During the program, Fruto also announced that three of the 10 agreements signed by the DPWH and the state university on Sept. 6 will be for UPV.

These are for the rehabilitation of the UPV school building worth PHP10 million and the construction of a new College of Law Building amounting to PHP100 million, both in the Iloilo City campus, and the expansion of the operation of the extension campus in Pandan, Antique costing PHP30 million.

Camposano said they intend to turn the extension campus into a digital learning hub.

“We plan to create a resilience academy. The purpose is to provide training programs for our local executives, for our local officials. We plan to put them in Antique. That is why we need an additional facility,” he said.

On the other hand, the College of Law extension program at UPV is growing with around 100 students. Most of the students are from Cebu, Palawan and Mindanao.

“The market of this UP-branded law education program is actually the southern half of the archipelago. We are even hoping that in due time, we can even create our College of Law here,” he added. (PNA)