Sen. Cayetano questions decision to forgo UPCAT for the third straight year

Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano criticized University of the Philippines (UP) administrators for their decision to scrap the University of the Philippines College Admission Test (UPCAT) this year during a Monday privilege speech.

“Kapag walang UPCAT, dalawa ang biktima dito, ‘yung bata and ‘yung university [If there is no UPCAT, there will be two victims: the students and the university]. Why? Because UP gets 23.41% of the budget of all the state universities,” Cayetano said 

Cayetano, a graduate of UP, said that the absence of the UPCAT has dramatically decreased the number of students from the Philippine Science High School (PSHS) who are admitted to UP, from the original 97 to 99 percent of exam takers to the current 60 percent.

Since specialized schools like PSHS typically do not provide the high grades that the nation’s top state institution demands, Cayetano argued that the UP administration should not base its college admissions decisions on the grades of student applicants.

Cayetano added that basing the college admission from the students’ final grades should not be used as a barometer, because it fails to really get the “best of the best” students.

“Kung titingnan mo ang grades, you will not get the best of the best. I take this personally, kasi pinapatay nila ang pangarap ng mga bata,” Cayetano said.

Cayetano also pointed out that UP is not implementing the “Iskolar ng Bayan Law,” which automatically exempts a top class student from the university’s entrance exam.

“The best of the best are not getting in kasi nga mali ang sistema,” Cayetano alleged.

Cayetano’s observations gained support from Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, who is also a product of UP.

The best way to accept students in UP, Zubiri said, is through the UPCAT.

“I have people who come to me and complain that they are top of their class in certain schools but they weren’t able to get into UP. And others, I have heard, were able to get in but not top of their class. So is there palakasan system there? I do not know,” Zubiri said.

Last week, UP Office of Admissions Director Francisco de Los Reyes confirmed that the premier state university was suspending the UPCAT for the third consecutive year, citing the “continuing health risks and operational hurdles posed by in-person exams” due to the COVID-19 pandemic.