Why are there food trucks in UP Diliman?

Raisa Serafica

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Why are there food trucks in UP Diliman?
They temporarily take the place of CASAA and the Beach House Tuesdays to Fridays, from 9 am to 6 pm

MANILA, Philippines – A fire destroyed the College of Arts and Sciences Alumni Association (CASAA) food court. The Beach House closed down and left the campus. So where can students of the University of the Philippines in Diliman find affordable, healthy meals?

Enter the food trucks, similar to what you find catering to workers in business districts.

The Office of the Vice Chancellor for Community Affairs (OVCCA) has allowed food trucks to station themselves at the AS parking lot Tuesdays to Fridays, from 9 am to 6 pm, to serve meals to the UP Diliman community. 

In an interview with Rappler, Vice Chancellor for Community Affairs Nestor Castro said that the move is a temporary measure in the absence of a long-term solution from the Business Concessionaire’s Office (BCO).

Temporary measure

The BCO, under the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Administration (OVCA), has the mandate to manage business concessionaires and rental rates in the campus. It is responsible for providing alternative measure to CASAA and the Beach House.

However, as of June 24, the office had failed to provide a comprehensive plan to address the problem, Castro said.  

This prompted the OVCCA and the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy (CSSP) to come up with an alternative solution ensuring enough food source alternatives for students at the state university. 

“When we decided to bring in food trucks, we have no idea where to find them. We searched online and discovered the Philippine mobile food truck association. Fortunately, the wife of its owner is actually a UP alumna. We immediately linked up and scheduled a meeting with them,” Castro said in Filipino.

Affordable meals?

However, food trucks, especially those that serve in business districts like the Bonifacio Global City and Greenfields Ortigas, are known for the relatively expensive meals.

To ensure student-friendly prices, the OVCCA and the CSSP lowered the rental rates for the food trucks.

So far, the food trucks have been positively received by students, according to Castro. In fact, on their first day, one of them had to wrap up early because its supplies quickly ran out.  

“Magpapalit-palit ang paninda ng mga food truck kada araw para hindi nagsasawa ang mga kumakain,” OVCCA posted on its Facebook page. (The food trucks will serve different menus each, so customers will have fresh choices.)

According to Castro, the food trucks will serve UP Diliman community until “BCO designates an appropriate and long term alternative to CASAA.” It is expected to run until December. Rappler.com

 

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Raisa Serafica

Raisa Serafica is the Unit Head of Civic Engagement of Rappler. As the head of MovePH, Raisa leads the on ground engagements of Rappler aimed at building a strong community of action in the Philippines. Through her current and previous roles at Rappler, she has worked with different government agencies, collaborated with non-governmental organizations, and trained individuals mostly on using digital technologies for social good.