In April of 1966, the Institute of
Planning separated from its Mother Unit National
College of Public Administration and Governance,
then known as the (Institute of Public Administration) as the
Board of Regents appointed Dr. Leandro A. Viloria as the
Institute of Planning’s Director, and Professor Federico B.
Silao as its Acting Secretary. In August that same
year, Dr. Viloria was sent abroad on a Colombo Plan
fellowship. Appointed as Officer-in-Charge of the Institute
was Dr. Abelardo G. Samonte of the College of Business
Administration. Meanwhile, other professors also started to
leave for abroad also through the Colombo Plan. Professors
Asteya M. Santiago and Geronimo V. Manahan were both sent to
Australia to pursue their Masters in Town and Country
Planning at Sydney University. Through the persistence of UN
Consultant Mr. Walter G. Faithfull and Prof. Silao in
lobbying at the Budget Commission, funds for the Institute
were made available that December. Mr. Faithfull, who had
finished his term in May 1966 and had gone back to
Australia, was requested by the government to return for
another assignment of one year.
In 1967, Mr. Faithfull
returned to the country to assist in the establishment and
building up of the Institute. Initially, the teaching
function of the Institute was performed within the regular
academic program of the College of Public Administration
where faculty members of the Institute handled College
graduate courses dealing with planning concepts and
techniques. By the end of 1968, the first batch of scholars
sent abroad had all returned after obtaining their Masters
degrees: Professors Villoria, Tito C. Firmalino, and Gerardo
S. Calabia from the University of British Columbia in Canada
and Professors Santiago and Manahan from Sydney University.
In February the following year, Prof. Silao departed for
Australia to pursue his Doctorate degree in Town and Country
Planning also at the Sydney University. New recruits to the
faculty in 1967 included Professors Lita S. Velmonte, Cesar
O. Marquez, Rosario D. Jimenez, and Cynthia D. Turingan.
In June
1968, the United
Nations Development Program (UNDP) assistance commenced just
as the Institute was beginning to expand and develop its
programs of applied research, consultation, graduate
education, and in-service training. The special fund
allocation with government counterpart paved the way for the
posting of UN experts and consultants here, funding faculty
fellowships, purchase of library books and equipment, and
the full operation of the Institution’s mandated functions.
One of the
experts involved was Mr. Frank Martocci, who made
significant contributions to the enhancement of the details
of the UNDP assistance.
In August 1968, Mr. Faithfull arrived in Manila as the
project manager for the Special Fund project. He was
supported initially by a team of seven experts consisting of
a regional planner, two physical planners (one for urban
planning and another for rural planning), a land and
development economist, an expert in the legal aspects of
planning, an expert in planning control and implementation,
and an urban sociologist. For the duration of the
three-phased project, Mr. Faithfull was succeeded by 18
other international experts.
With the return of
three of its staff from graduate training abroad, the
Institute started offering the full-fledged graduate program
in Environmental Planning in the academic year 1968-1969.
This one year program led to a degree in Master in
Environmental Planning (MEP). As conceived, the MEP program
was meant to stress the comprehensive nature of planning and
to cover all phases of the planning process as it is carried
out at various levels of government.
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The program was given a
boost when, in February 9, 1968, then-Executive
Secretary Rafael M. Salas issued Memorandum Circular 156
authorizing and urging all government agencies and
government-owned corporations to sponsor their employees
who wanted to undergo graduate education or training in
planning at the Institute.
At about this time, the
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began to engage in a
series of research activities, the first being a
bibliographic survey of Philippine literature on planning.
Its first major consulting work was a project undertaken
jointly with the National Planning Commission and the U.P
College of Public Administration to introduce performance
budgeting in two pilot provinces, Laguna and Tarlac.
Other major researches
and projects conducted between 1968 and 1969 were the Cebu
City Squatter Rehabilitation and Relocation Survey; the
Feasibility Survey of the Port of San Fernando in La Union;
the WHO-UP Health Planning Curriculum Development; the Color
Trol Land Use Coding System; the Location of Employment
Study; the Feasibility Study for an Industrial Estate
Project in Sapang Palay; as well as the groundbreaking
development of the four-year development plan for the
National Library which led to a major overhaul of the
country’s chief repository of knowledge.
In that same year,
three faculty members were sent abroad on a Colombo Plan
fellowship: Roque A. Magno and Lita S. Velmonte, both to the
University of Sydney, Australia. Prof. Cesar O. Marquez was
sent to Oxford Polytechnic in the United Kingdom.
The year 1969 was a
landmark year for the Institute. The Institute witnessed its
first graduates of its Master in Environmental Planning
Program, Mr. Teodoro T. Encarnacion and Mr. Marcelino S.
Tabin, climb onto the stage during the commencement
exercises.
Other milestone events
during the year included the founding of the Philippine
Institute of Environmental Planners (PIEP) on October 16 and
the publication of the maiden issue of the Philippine
Planning Journal (PPJ).
Throughout all these
years, the Institute continued to operate in a 120 square
meter room housed with the College of Public Administration
building in Padre Faura, Manila. New additions to the
faculty included Professors Cesar O. Marquez, Tito C.
Firmalino, and Ma. Eloisa F. Litonjua.
On June 9, 1969, the
U.P. Board of Regents approved the appropriation of funds
for the construction of a four-unit Marcos type
pre-fabricated building in the Diliman Campus for the
temporary offices and classrooms of the Institute. Later
that year, then U.P. President Salvador P. Lopez, released
the funds for the construction. It was also that year when
Mr. Jose R. Valdecañas joined the faculty of the Institute.
Meanwhile, the joint
Centers for Regional Development Studies (COREDES) and the
Advisory and Coordination Council on Regional-Urban
Development (ACCORD) centers were established under a
Memorandum of Agreement between U.P. and the Presidential
Advisory Council for Public Works and Community Development
(PACPWCD). The ACCORD centers housed a library of maps,
data, and other materials for use in regional centers.
The 70’s pushed
onwards. The year 1970 was marked with the transfer of the
Institute on February 2. The year also saw Prof. Cynthia
Dionisio Turingan leaving for Rehovot, Israel to pursue a
diploma program in Comprehensive Regional Planning at the
Settlement Study Center. That year, the Institute decided to
shift to a trimestral system. Dr. Ramon C. Portugal was
welcomed as the Institute’s newest faculty member.
As early as 1971, a
number of issues were already being raised with regard to
the adequacy of the MEP curriculum for training prospective
planners of the country. These concerns were triggered by
the increasing proportion of fresh graduates and
self-supporting students enrolled at the Institute. Also,
more and more students with social science backgrounds were
entering the program, in contrast with the predominance of
engineers and architects in the early years. The need to
strengthen the program to cope with this new trend was
therefore felt. For students with inadequate background and
experience, a new course on Supervised Environmental
Planning Practice (E.P. 292) involving internship of 240
hours in an appropriate agency was instituted. Despite this
major improvement, however, the MEP curriculum was still
found inadequate by many.
In April 1971, the
Institute was given authority to conduct evening classes. A
graduate scholarship was also offered for the first time.
The Institute’s fellowship program was made available to
qualified Filipino students. There were four fellowship
grants covering tuition and monthly allowances that were
offered in June. Mr. Gabriel Ma. J. Lopez was selected as
the first I.P. fellowship grantee. Meanwhile, the two-year
MEP part-time program was launched to enable working
students and professionals to pursue the course. In May that
year, Professors Rosario D. Jimenez and Yolanda M. Exconde
departed for Rechovot in Israel for a one-year fellowship in
Comprehensive Regional Planning at the Settlement Study
Center. That year, the latest to join the Institute’s
faculty included Dr. Primitivo C. Cal, Dr. Benjamin V.
Cariño, Dr. Ramon C. Portugal, Prof. Jose S. Gutierrez, and
Ms. Eloisa F. Litonjua.
In 1980, the Institute
revised its curriculum to accommodate fields of
concentration that were consistent with the government’s
thrusts: Urban Planning, Regional Planning, Estate Planning
and Development, and Public Works Planning and Development.
This was a move towards the eventual transformation of the
Institute into a Center for Human Settlement Studies. In
1981, the Institute changed the title of its degree program
from Master of Urban and Regional Planning (MURP) to Master
of Arts in Urban and Regional Planning (MAURP).
During the eighties,
student enrollment steadily grew, reaching a total of 283 by
1984. Anticipating further growth in student population, the
Institute saw that it was imperative to provide more space
for faculty, students, and staff. In early January 1981, a
Memorandum of Agreement was inked between the Institute and
the then Ministry of Public Works whereby the latter would
build a three-storey building in the IEP compound for the
use of both entities. By June, the building was completed
for occupancy.
In June, the Institute
formally launched the Ph.D program in Urban and Regional
Planning. As conceived, the program consisted of common core
subjects which every doctoral student was required to pass.
The doctoral candidate would then proceed to write a
doctoral dissertation and enroll in additional courses as
necessary to specialize in urban and regional planning. The
following year, the Institute of Environmental Planning was
renamed School of Urban and Regional Planning. Prof. Roque
A. Magno joined the faculty that year.
By the end of 1984, the
Institute’s training unit had already completed SCURP VIII,
which focused on the planning and management of urban
settlements. Its major undertakings that year included,
among others, Town and Planning Assistance Programs in
consortium with the Ministry of Human Settlements, the Bohol
Integrated Area Development Project, and the Redevelopment
of the City of Manila. Two more were recruited into the
faculty: Professor Donato A. Endencia in 1984, and
Professor Victoria A. Eugenio the year after.
On September 1, 1986,
Dr. Leandro A. Villoria stepped down after 20 years and five
months in office, and Prof. Asteya A. Santiago assumed the
deanship.
