The future of expansion plans for Cebu Normal University (CNU) is uncertain after the University of the Philippines (UP) Cebu reaffirmed its commitment to develop its campus at the South Road Properties (SRP).

In a press statement released on June 19, UP Cebu chancellor Leo Malagar said the university has already secured funding for its SRP campus through the General Appropriations Act (GAA) of 2023 and 2024, along with additional UP System funds.

“The SRP lot has been reserved for long-term projects that align with our vision for UP Cebu’s future and our contributions to Cebu’s development,” Sun Star quoted Malagar saying. 

“Our plans are not made overnight but are the results of extensive planning and strategic funding allocations,” Malagar added. 

UP Cebu’s plans for the SRP campus include new academic buildings, an outdoor amphitheater, a carillon tower, and a multi-purpose building with a dormitory.

CNU, on the other hand, has been seeking a 2.5-hectare plot at the SRP to accommodate its growing student population. The existing 1.6-hectare CNU campus along Osmeña Blvd., Cebu City is currently accommodating over 8,782 students.

“The campus could hardly meet the absorptive capacity prescribed under relevant issuances by the Commission on Higher Education and other regulatory bodies,” CNU president Daniel Ariaso Sr. said in a letter dated May 20.

Ariaso also highlighted that CNU received P120 million under the GAA of 2024 for the construction of a new 21-story College of Medicine building, further straining the existing campus’s capacity.

While CNU initially requested a portion of UP Cebu’s SRP land, UP Cebu officials have maintained they have no plans to share the property. Efforts to reach CNU officials for comment on UP Cebu’s latest statement have been unsuccessful.

The developments leave CNU scrambling for alternative solutions to address its growing needs.

The situation has Cebu caught in the middle, unsure of how this land dispute will impact their educational opportunities.