The tricycle drivers and laundrywomen have long been a part of the UP Visayas community in Miagao since the campus opened in 1989.  The drivers ferry faculty, staff and students around the sprawling campus and the town proper. The laundrywomen service the students staying at the dorms as well as residents living in the staff houses.

Workers of the UPV Employees Cooperative (UPVEC/Coop) welcomed the collaboration with the UPV Administration to provide food services to students and campus residents during the enhanced community quarantine. The Coop management acceded to the request of UPV administration to continue its operations even as strict adherence to government guidelines on health and safety during the health emergency was seriously taken into consideration.

“During disasters, the most basic needs are to be attended,” says Dr. Johnrev Guilaran, clinical psychologist and assistant professor of the College of Arts and Sciences, UP Visayas during an orientation for the frontliners of the university’s six dormitories at the Miagao campus.

UP Visayas is continuously endeavoring to assist its students who are stranded in Miagao and Iloilo City campuses who wish to return to their places of residence now that the Second Semester has ended. Chancellor Ricardo Babaran has directed the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Administration and the OSA to take charge of the whole initiative.

UP Visayas has started distributing 3D-printed face shields to local government units and its institutional partners in Panay and Negros since last week as part of the university's contribution to the efforts against COVID 19 pandemic.

Officials of UP Visayas led by Chancellor Ricardo Babaran are turning over one month of their Representation and Travel Allowance (RATA), honorarium or other additional benefits to UP, Magbubunga Tayo! to sustain the UPDanay donation drive and relief efforts during the current public health emergency.

Dr. Philip Ian Padilla with his UP Visayas team of Public Health experts and ThinkWell Philippines are optimistic that Western Visayas can transition with caution to General Community Quarantine based on the Policy Note No. 2 (Public Health Data Analysis and Recommendations for Western Visayas as of April 30, 2020) they have issued.

The UP, Magbubunga Tayo! and UPdanay fund campaign ran by UPV Foundation Incorporated (UPVFI) will now be focusing its relief operations towards addressing the needs of the members of the UPV internal and external communities who are seriously affected by the public health emergency that required an enhanced community quarantine.

The bayanihan spirit is vibrant in UPV, as seen in various initiatives undertaken by UPV alumni, students, other constituents, as well as some members of the community. It has been three weeks since community quarantine measures have been imposed in the Province of Iloilo. Nonetheless, cash and in-kind donations have been flowing in, thanks to the initiative of benevolent people, whose sense of solidarity and genuine empathy for those affected, outweigh the desire for personal convenience. What lies ahead of April 14, the day that the Enhanced Community Quarantine order is set to end, still remains uncertain. But we find comfort in knowing that the UPV community teems with social consciousness, unwavering spirit and genuine empathy, necessary in coping with a global pandemic such as COVID-19.