BAGUIO CITY — The Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) approved the release of P5 million from the coffers of the national government to fund the establishment of a regional research center in the Cordillera to serve as the nerve center in coming out with appropriate solutions to the problems of the region.

Dr. Ricardo Pama, president of the University of the Cordilleras (UC) here, said the establishment of the regional research center exemplifies the importance of the Cordillera to the country’s educational system, especially in terms of research and development in order to make the necessary headway to the much desired growth in economic activities.

The research center in the region will be comprised of experts from five higher education institutions in Baguio and Benguet, particularly UC, Saint Louis University (SLU), University of the Philippines College Baguio (UPCB), Benguet State University (BSU), and University of Baguio (UB).

According to Pama, the five institutions will be pooling their available technical people and resources in order to facilitate the conduct of appropriate researches to address the worsening problems of the Cordillera, especially in terms of unemployment, solid waste management, watershed management, geo-hazard and land issues, water sources, among others, so that concerned government agencies and local governments will be guided in the implementation of their respective programs and projects for the development of far flung communities.

The come-backing UC official claimed the region has available technical people and resources that need to be tapped in order to help solve the current concerns of the whole region without waiting for the national government to act on the repeated complaints being submitted for appropriate action.

Initially, Pama explained the regional research center will be based at the SLU and will be transferred from time to time to the different higher education institutions.