The University of the Philippines Cebu hosted the 2026 Visayas-Mindanao State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) Faculty and Staff Summit on August 12–14, 2026, bringing together faculty and staff union leaders, representatives, and education advocates from state universities and colleges across the Visayas and Mindanao to discuss pressing concerns affecting public higher education.
Organized by the ACT Teachers Party-List, ACT State Universities and Colleges, and the All UP Academic Employees Union–Cebu Chapter, the summit was the second in a series of island-wide gatherings aimed at strengthening dialogue and solidarity among SUC faculty and staff. About 70 delegates from the regions of the Visayas and Mindanao participated in the three-day gathering at UP Cebu.
The summit provided a venue for participants to share their experiences and examine common concerns involving the welfare and working conditions of SUC personnel, public sector unionism, academic freedom, and democratic governance in state universities and colleges.
The first day featured the Visayas-Mindanao Conference on Academic Freedom, highlighting the importance of protecting academic freedom and advancing the rights of education workers in public higher education.
Discussions on the succeeding day focused on labor issues and public sector unionism, including the situation of SUCs in the Philippines, collective negotiation agreements, and opportunities and challenges in public sector unionism. Participants also tackled the implications of internationalization and marketization in public universities, with discussions examining global trends and the national push for internationalization and commercialization of SUCs.
The summit also explored democratic governance in SUCs, highlighting the role of faculty and staff in university decision-making and the value of participatory governance in addressing challenges faced by public higher education institutions.
On its final day, the summit featured a legislative consultation with ACT Teachers Party-List Representative Antonio L. Tinio on the situation of SUCs, providing participants an opportunity to raise concerns and recommendations on policies affecting faculty, staff, and public higher education.
The afternoon program also featured the General Education Movement (GEM) Consultative Assembly, which discussed the implications of the Commission on Higher Education’s Reframed General Education Curriculum Component (RGECC) on academic disciplines and universities. The assembly included discussions with faculty and student representatives, as well as Rep. Tinio on House Resolution No. 999, which calls for an investigation into the RGECC and urges broader consultation with faculty organizations, discipline-based experts, and students.
The assembly culminated in the launching of the General Education Movement, nomination of conveners, and signing of a Unity Statement.
Anchored on the recognition that faculty, academic workers, and administrative staff are essential to the delivery of accessible and quality public higher education, the summit sought to strengthen collective dialogue and develop shared positions and policy proposals concerning the rights and welfare of SUC personnel.