However, Cuevas maintained that REPS should not do mainly administrative work, as they are mandated to come up with researches and do extension work.

HRDO Recuitment and Appointments Division Chief Ellen Cornel also said that REPS should be stopped from doing clerical and instead be “made to work” on research-intensive jobs even at the start.

Disenfranchised rights

Regarded simply as support personnel to the faculty, REPS are often not recognized in their own research, said Dr. Leticia Tojos, vice president of the REPS Association.

Tojos disclosed that when a college assigns a professor as project leader, REPS become the leader’s support staff doing the conceptualization, data collection, analysis and write-up. The project leader then edits and submits the output to the UP administration with his or her name as the principal author.

A former REPS who requested anonymity said that this “culture” has been ingrained in the academe. “Minsan nilalagay lang sila sa acknowledgment page o bilang research assistants” (Sometimes they are merely mentioned in the acknowledgment oage or as research assistants), she said.

But, according to UPD Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Lorna Paredes, while the REPS might do the “dirty work,” professors direct the research. She added that REPS can hardly be considered as equal with the faculty, except for the three Marine Science Institute “research faculty” who research and also take a teaching load of at least six units.

“Not that I am pulling down the ranks of REPS, but still I would say that the responsibilities of REPS and faculty are different. For one thing, they (REPS) don’t hold students,” she said.

According to Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Occupation Index, lower ranking REPS such as the University Extension Associate I and University Research Associate (URA) I provide assistance in the conduct of research and routine laboratory experiments. Only when they are promoted to University Extension Specialist V and University Researcher V are they expected to become leaders and consultants.

Slow-paced promotion

Tojos also lamented that REPS with a minimum requirement of an undergraduate degree and Civil
Service Eligibility have “nowhere to go” after salary grade (SG) 24, even after completing post-graduate studies.

The Salary Standardization Law, which fixes the salary for different positions in government, limits the REPS from attaining higher salary level and also provides that the REPS start with as low as SG 10 or 12, equivalent to P11,000. It also sets a ceiling salary for REPS at SG 24, similar to rank-and-file administrative employees, or SG 26 for some technical specialists like the law reform specialist.

To address this salary gap, the salary of REPS should be adjusted equivalent to SG 30, the highest salary for faculty, Tojos added.

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