print pdf - University of the Philippines Diliman

Transcription

print pdf - University of the Philippines Diliman
UPdate Magazine
MARCH-AUGUST 2014 • Volume 1 • Number 1
UP Diliman under a
new administration
Pride of place; Boldness of vision
Cover Photo: Dr. Gil Jacinto
WHAT’S INSIDE
Pride of place; Boldness of vision
Chancellor Michael L. Tan
3
UP Diliman: resources and challenges 5
Re-engineering academics:
Dr. Benito M. Pacheco Chi A. Ibay
6
Strengthening the culture of research:
Dr. Fidel R. Nemenzo
Bino C. Gamba
8
Haidee C. Pineda
14
Creating vibrant spaces:
Dr. Nestor T. Castro Anna Regidor
16
Rediscovering naiveté
Teresa Paula De Luna
18
Academician, public servant, administrator
Improved efficiency: Prof. Virginia C. Yap
Mariamme D. Jadloc
Bibingka leadership:
Dr. Neil Martial R. Santillan
Soledad Natalia M. Dalisay
20
10
Candid conversation with an “accidental”
chancellor 12
EDITOR’S NOTE
W
e are pleased to introduce UPdate Magazine,
our platform for free and spirited discussions on
issues and concerns affecting UP Diliman (UPD)
and the nation.
As the public information and communication arm of UPD,
the UP Diliman Information Office (UPDIO) is committed to
produce and disseminate up-to-date information about and for
our community. Most recently, details on the achievements,
honors received, activities and other interesting stories on
members of the UPD community were again delivered to your
offices via the printed UPdate, our community newspaper after
three years of hiatus.
For our maiden issue of UPdate Magazine, we introduce the
new UPD administration and its mission and vision for the
community, which Chancellor Michael Lim Tan foregrounds
via his exposition of what it means by place-making vis-à-vis
the concept of space as safe, nurturing, shared, connected
and sustainable. In the essays introducing our new vice
chancellors (VCs), our VCs have interrogated and connected
the thrust of their respective offices to Chancellor Tan’s
provocation of “Pride of Place; Boldness of Vision.” Included
in this issue are two essays
written by Dr. Soledad Natalia
M. Dalisay and Prof. Teresa
Paula De Luna who provide
glimpses of Chancellor Tan
as an administrator and as an
educator.
Chancellor Tan visited the
office one afternoon in June.
He talked about a lot of
interesting stuff except his
post as the new leader of UPD. The discussion was really
interesting. We decided to annotate the recorded-meeting/
discussion and post it as the magazine’s centerpiece with one
agenda in mind: to give you a peek into the heart and mind of
UPD’s top executive officer.
We hope you enjoy our first issue of UPdate Magazine.
Sir Anril PinedaTiatco
EDITOR Sir Anril Pineda Tiatco MANAGING EDITOR Chi A. Ibay ASSOCIATE EDITOR Mariamme D. Jadloc ART DIRECTOR Denes V. Dasco WRITERS Albino C. Gamba Jr., Haidee C.
Pineda, Anna Kristine E. Regidor PHOTOGRAPHERS Leonardo A. Reyes, Jefferson Villacruz ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER Shirley S. Arandia CIRCULATION OFFICERS Narciso S. Achico
Jr., Pia Ysabel C. Cala, Raul R. Camba, Agnes P. Guerrero
2
The UPdate Magazine is UP Diliman’s platform for discussion and a bi-annual publication of the UP Diliman Information Office under the Office of the Chancellor, UP Diliman, Quezon
City. Its editorial
office News
is located
at the Villamor March-August
Hall Osmeña Avenue, 2014
UP Diliman, Quezon City, with telephone numbers 981-8500 locals 3982 and 3983, telefax (+632) 924UPdate
Magazine
1882, email address: [email protected]. The opinions expressed in this news magazine do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the University of the Philippines unless
otherwise specified in the story.
l
MICHAEL L. TAN January 17, 2014
Pride of place;
Boldness of vision
(Editorial note: Chancellor Tan’s vision paper was prepared
in January 2014, one of the requirements in the search process
for a new chancellor.)
I
have walked around this campus
many times too, as a student dating
back to the 1970s, through almost
30 years as a faculty member.
As an administrator—nine years
as the chair of the anthropology
department and three-and-a-half
as dean of the College of Social
Sciences and Philosophy—the walks
have more often been to recharge
and to renew and to declare, “This is
why I stay. This is the UP I love.”
My vision paper is a time to share
with you the many insights gathered
during these long walks, alone and
with friends, many from outside
the academe, people I have worked
with in civil society, mass media,
government, even donor agencies
where I have seen what can be done
when there is committed leadership.
Finally, I will describe my vision
for the way we can move toward
our goals, in terms of an academic
citizenship that is collegial and
informed, just and fair, and ethical,
guided by servant leadership.
UPD spaces. I envision a UPD where
spaces are safe, nurturing, shared,
connected and sustainable.
My vision of a safe campus takes
many dimensions. Foremost, safe
means secured, where we can walk
around without fear of being held
up, of being approached by “budolbudol” gangs. Security budgets
should never be compromised, even
as we look for measures beyond
guards and CCTV.
There are times too when the euphoria
turns into dismay, seeing deteriorating
buildings, littering and vandalism,
loudspeakers blaring away what
vaguely resembles music, promo
agents giving out free samples of junk
food, even, one time, skin “whiteners.”
I have always loved the sunsets in Diliman
but now sometimes I have a feeling of
dread as darkness sets in, knowing our
campus has become so unsafe.
Despair sometimes sets in hearing of
limited budgets for maintenance.
in the past, but able to work on a
bolder and more outward-looking
vision, setting our horizons beyond
our own colleges toward a Diliman
perspective, toward a One UP
system, to the nation and into the
world. That journey toward and
beyond the horizon must use tools
of research, transdisciplinary, with
varied perspectives and tools.
Physical security is also proactive, and
a major component should be disaster
preparedness. Whether in response
to crime or to disasters, UPD must
emphasize prevention and preparedness.
I will start out talking about what
UPD should and could be, in terms
of spaces, because we cannot talk
about projects without a vision of the
environment in which those programs
can be planned and implemented. I
will talk about the need for spaces that
are safe, nurturing, shared, connected
and sustainable.
I will then move into a more specific
vision that starts with pride of place,
and time, grounding ourselves
Spaces must be “safe” too in terms of
a campus that is aesthetically pleasing
and, in the process, environmentfriendly. I envision a campus that
sets the pace for healthier living,
starting with food service units that
understand the dietary needs of all
our constituents, from young students,
to retired staff, all the way up to
incentives for energy conservation, of
roads giving priority to people, walking
and biking.
Second, we need spaces that are
nurturing, meaning spaces where
we can grow, learn and thrive.
This means giving top priority to
infrastructure, to equipment and to
UPdate News Magazine l March-August 2014
3
Finally, our spaces must be
sustainable, which means integrating
the concepts of “safe,” “nurturing,”
“connected” and “shared”. To give
just one concrete example, I believe
that if we have more public spaces,
provided with tables and benches,
well lit at night, with WiFI, we will
encourage faculty, students and staff
to use these spaces for studying,
working, as well for recreation and
leisure, we will have a safer campus
because criminals avoid places where
there are people who enjoy life, and
who will defend those spaces.
The past and future as present.
TheUPDanceCompany,theresidentdancecompanyoftheCollegeofMusic,performingthepieceentitled“Flight.”
libraries, even as we train our faculty
and students to enhance the art of
mentoring through “old fashioned”
ways of listening and teaching-bydoing.
Our bias in UP has tended to be
toward the mind, and I would like
to see spaces also for the body
and spirit. I would like to continue
the initiatives started by the
current administration for sports
development but integrated with
other programs such as psychosocial
support, all working toward wellness.
I envision a tackling of the problem
of health financing and insurance,
having seen how catastrophic
illnesses can ruin the families of our
faculty, students and staff.
Third, our spaces must be shared.
We must dismantle turfing and
territoriality and encourage a sense
of stewardship, recognizing UP
spaces can never be permanently
assigned to anyone, to any unit,
and that we need to prove we are
worthy of such spaces by exercising
responsibility. I believe students
must have learning commons
in each academic unit, learning
here to include studying, as well
as recreation and socialization.
Faculty and staff need spaces too for
continuing learning and renewal.
4
UPD was exemplary in opening our
spaces to UP Tacloban students
and that generosity of spirit must
extend to the communities within
the campus. Much can be done to
improve living facilities of faculty,
students and staff, and I would like
to address as well the issue of some
70,000 informal settlers. I do not
believe in eviction and would like
to work with the UPD community,
including the informal settlers,
toward containment, with the
existing settlers taking on their share
in stake-holding.
Fourth, we must have connected
spaces. We must continue to expand
our connectivity in terms of the new
information technologies, but I think
of connectivity as well in terms of a
constant flow of information among
all constituents, so that we are an
informed UPD, about each other and
about the world outside. Connectivity means our spaces
are porous, and, in an academic
environment, that means people are
able to work across disciplines. It
means we develop a research culture
that uses different perspectives and
tools, making them more powerful in
guiding policy and practice.
UPdate News Magazine l March-August 2014
Having described my vision for
spaces, I would like to talk about how
those spaces can be used to move
toward honor and excellence.
First, we need to ground ourselves
in the past. At UP, and in Diliman
particularly, we tend to look back,
pat ourselves on the back, and
declare, “Ang galing galing natin.”
Well and good but let us not rest on
our laurels. We need a more active
pride in place, “place” here not just
being geographical, but of the mind
as well. My vision acknowledges
that our rich past is present. But we
often forget that there are still many
aspects of our heritage that we do
not know of, waiting to be unearthed,
rediscovered. UPD plays a lead role
here through archaeology, history,
anthropology and linguistics, the
arts and humanities. Other units are
translating the rhetoric into action,
tapping into and applying indigenous
concepts for various endeavors, for
example, in architecture.
Second, while our past roots us, as
Filipinos, we need to move forward.
We often hear that as a nation of
islands, we tend to become insular
and parochial, certainly an issue that
has plagued us in Diliman, where we
have become like an archipelago. But
I would like to think, too, that as a
nation of islands, we have boldness
Turntopage22
UP Diliman:
resources and
challenges
UP Diliman (UPD) is the largest CU
(constituent university) of the UP System. The following facts and figures (as of 2nd
semester AY 2013-2014) can be interpreted as
resources, as well as challenges, of Diliman.
ACADEMIC PROGRAMS: 376
Pre-Baccalaureate Certificate/Diploma
20
Baccalaureate
120
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate/Diploma
12
Masters
152
Doctorate
71
Juris Doctor
1
FACULTY 2,192
Full Professors 211
Associate Professors
269
Assistant Professors 623
Instructors
399
Lecturers
690
Visiting professors 32
Faculty with Masters degrees
619
Faculty with Doctoral degrees
456
Professors Emeriti
15
STUDENTS
23, 757
Undergraduate
16,672
Masters
5,896
Doctoral
1,189
Faculty to student ratio
1 : 11 approx.
Graduate to undergraduate ratio
1 : 2 approx.
Male to female ratio
International students
10 : 13
257
Dr.MichaelL.TanaffirmshispositionasChancellorofUPDilimanbeforeUPPresident
AlfredoE.PascualonFeb.28,2014.Tanwasappointed10thchancellorofUPDbytheUP
Board of Regents on Feb. 27. He serves a 3-year term from Mar. 1 to Mar. 2, 2017.
Research, Extension and Professional Staff: 421 (as of Dec.
31, 2013)
Administrative staff: 1,397 (as of Dec. 31, 2013), not
including project-based contractual staff and outsourced
personnel for security and utilities
Campus area: 493 hectares, including eight barangays. This figure does not include extension programs in Clark
and Olongapo. Also not included are research stations of
the Marine Science Institute in Bolinao, Pangasinan and
Puerto Galera, Mindoro.
Academic buildings: 138 with nine under construction
Informal settlers living on campus: 70,000 (estimate)
Total Internal Operating Budget/IOB (Appropriated)
for 2014: P2,858,981,000, of which P2.1 billion is for
personnel services (salaries and benefits), P437 million is
for maintenance and other operating expenses and P317
million is for capital outlays.u
UPdate News Magazine l March-August 2014
5
CHI A. IBAY image LEONARDO A. REYES
Re-engineering
academics:
Dr. Benito M. Pacheco
For one with a lot on his plate, Dr. Benito M. Pacheco seems
largely undaunted.
A
ppointed Vice Chancellor
for Academic Affairs by the
Board of Regents effective
May 1, he is tasked to roll
out bolder, even bigger
initiatives to make, and keep UP
Diliman’s (UPD) academic programs
at par with that of other higher
education institutions (HEI) in the
ASEAN region, if not the world.
This herculean task, of course, has
been a constant challenge to all
incumbents to the position since
UPD was formally established as a
constituent university in 1985.
Today, however, it has become the
university’s urgent, all-compelling
goal, given the new UP Charter,
global and regional trends and
the impending ASEAN Economic
Cooperation 2015 (AEC 2015).
The AEC 2015 seeks to transform
the 10 member countries of the
ASEAN into: a) a single market; b) a
highly competitive economic region;
c) a region of equitable economic
development, and d) a region fully
integrated into the global economy,
notes ASEAN.org.
For UP, the task is “to produce
graduates who can compete in
6
the global market and undertake
researches that can contribute
to the growth and development
of communities,” explained Dr.
Rhodora Azanza, Assistant Vice
President for Academic Affairs
of the UP System (UPS) in the
article “Symbiosis”/”Mutualism”
and the University of the
Philippines’ Enhanced and Strategic
Internationalization Agenda posted
Feb. 21 in the UPS website.
Not only academics but many
professionals are gearing up for
cross-border practice. Perhaps
by coincidence, perhaps not,
Pacheco, a Professional Regulation
Commission licensed civilstructural engineer is also an
accredited ASEAN Engineer and an
APEC Engineer.
Making it work. “I feel a great deal
of pressure from the academic
calendar shift, internationalization
and K-to-12,” he said. “These are
three different and overlapping
issues but these are the front issues
for academic affairs,” Pacheco said
of the challenges he faces.
On Mar. 24, the UPD University
Council voted at a special meeting
to move the start of the academic
UPdate News Magazine l March-August 2014
calendar from Jun. to Aug., effective
academic year 2014-2015. The shift,
according to UP President Alfredo
E. Pascual as reported in the UPS
website, “is part of the continuing
efforts of UP to develop into a
regional and global university and to
maximize the opportunities offered
by ASEAN integration and global
educational partnerships.”
Meanwhile, the K-to-12 Program
of the Department of Education
adds kindergarten and extends
primary and secondary education
to 12 years to “provide sufficient
time for mastery of concept and
skills, develop lifelong learners,
and prepare graduates for tertiary
education, middle-level skills
development, employment and
entrepreneurship,” according to the
the “Official Gazette.”
Internationalization, Pacheco is
quick to add, is in fact much more
than shifting the academic calendar
and adding years to the total
schooling of bachelor graduates
to keep them at par with foreign
graduates. Internationalization
is “balancing the needs of the
Philippine nation with the needs of
the world’s community of nations.”
He points out further that, “in
a sense, UP has always been
international with its roots from
the founding by the Americans in
1908: UP has worked very hard to
earn its mandate to be the national
university of the Philippines
under its new charter in 2008.
Now, UP is facing, like many other
Philippine universities, a new wave
of internationalization that is less
US-centric.”
Given the circumstances, Pacheco
is resolute. “As engineers, we always
find the means to make it work,” he
said. A civil engineer with a PhD
in Structural Engineering from the
University of Tokyo, he is seriously
mulling his priorities and feels
strongly about four key areas: the
academic curriculum, graduate
programs, faculty development and
the learning commons.
Curriculum and benchmarking.
“With curriculum, we are implying
the undergraduate curriculum that
will interface with the K-to-12 and
benchmark with ASEAN,” he said.
“Curricular review is going to be
more important than ever,” he said,
since the review looks at whether
or not a 4 or 5-year curriculum is
still up-to-date. He also considers
program review an equally
important task since it looks at
the enrollment, graduation and
employment rates, among others.
He however notes that program
review usually plays a backseat to
curricular review, but presently,
the UPS is encouraging the former,
for which Pacheco intends to seek
additional resources.
The General Education (GE) part
of undergraduate programs is in
itself a major area of concern. In the
medium and long term, Pacheco
says, UP and other HEIs are going
to move to so-called universal
courses that are not very specific
to domains such as Math, Science
and Technology (MST), or Arts and
Humanities (AH), or Social Sciences
and Philosophy (SSP).
It so happens that Pacheco is codeveloper and co-teacher of a new
GE course called Civil Engineering 10
– Disaster Mitigation, Adaptation and
Preparedness Strategies or DMAPS.
Qualified as both MST and SSP
domains, the new course has been
taken by over 240 undergraduate
students from all colleges and units
of Diliman and DMAPS is being
considered by all UP constituent
universities, as well. It is also being
revised to qualify as a super GE,
including the AH domain.
Another challenge is to benchmark
more of UPD’s academic programs
with that of other ASEAN HEIs.
This, Pacheco says, is of course
without prejudice to programs
that are uniquely needed by
the Philippines and UP, as the
national university, is uniquely
mandated to handle.
As of the end of Jun. 2014, the
Institute of Civil Engineering’s (ICE)
BS Civil Engineering (BSCE) is the
sole UPD program evaluated by the
ASEAN Quality Assurance Program
(QAP) as having passed its standards.
The ASEAN QAP undertook the
evaluation in July last year; the
certification came later in the year.
Pacheco has been strongly involved
in the review and revision of the
BSCE program, said Dr. Karl Vegel,
Deputy Director for Academic
Programs of the ICE.
Graduate programs. “In many
departments and institutes, we
are lagging behind because we are
too focused on the undergraduate
professional degrees,” Pacheco
noted. He is looking at encouraging
more students to pursue a Masters,
if not doctoral degrees. What
is the graduate school for? Is
the graduate school to develop
people for government and
industry? Or is the graduate
school mainly to reinvigorate the
academe and faculty?”
Pacheco,withhiswifeElizabethPazPacheco,secondfromleft,aclinicalassociateprofessoratUPManila-PGH,together
with their children, Mark Benjamin and Isabelle Corinne.
He believes there is no single formula
Turn to page 22
UPdate News Magazine l March-August 2014
7
BINO C. GAMBA, images LEONARDO A. REYES, JEFFERSON VILLACRUZ
Strengthening the culture
of research: Dr. Fidel R. Nemenzo
The new UP Diliman (UPD) Vice Chancellor for Research and
Development (VCRD) is Prof. Fidel R. Nemenzo from the Institute
of Mathematics (IM) of the College of Science. A graduate of UPD’s
BS Mathematics program, Nemenzo obtained his MS and
Doctor of Science degrees from Sophia University, Japan.
N
ow at the helm of
UPD’s main policymaking and support
body for research and
development,Nemenzo
is not new to the challenge
of transforming a field into
something more palatable and even
intellectually exciting to various
sectors, academic and public. As a
mathematics professor, Nemenzo
maintains that teachers of math
should be able to communicate
that mathematics is “not just about
formulas and symbols, it is about
patterns and order. It is a way to
looking at and making sense of
the world, a language that is both
precise and powerful. Its practical
applications pervade almost every
aspect of our lives.”
In the same spirit, according to
Nemenzo, we should also learn and
find ways to effectively disseminate
the research and creative work in UP.
Coming into the VCRD position,
Nemenzo shares his thoughts on
his new charge. “As a national
research university, UP’s role is to
advance knowledge and produce
multidisciplinary solutions to our
country’s complex problems. My
8
office will continue and build on
the laudable programs initiated by
my predecessors to encourage and
support UPD research activities, and
to disseminate and communicate
the insights and results of research
within our academic community,
and to government, policy makers,
the private sector, and the general
public,” he says.
His first order of business is to
dialogue with the different sectors
in the UPD research community.
This is vital given that the OVCRD
formulates policies and guidelines
on research and development (R&D)
and provides resource assistance to
support R&D thrusts, coordinates
with offices, agencies and institutions
from diverse fields for its various
activities as well as its regular
information campaigns.
“I need to have consultations and
conversations with colleagues
from different disciplines in UPD
and learn about the broad range
of research areas and concerns.
This variety and multiplicity of
disciplines, perspectives and
practices is what makes our
community exciting and dynamic
and it is my hope that we can
UPdate News Magazine l March-August 2014
find and further institutionalize
mechanisms that will support our
research activities and creative work,
in all their diversity,” Nemenzo said.
Among his priorities for the OVCRD are:
to promote trans-disciplinary research
on our country’s problems, help shape
policies and find solutions to the many
challenges we face as a nation.
Thus, one of Nemenzo’s goals is to
see an increase in the number of
cross-disciplinary collaboration in
research. He states, “There are many
questions and problems out there
and oftentimes the best solutions
and answers are multidisciplinary in
nature. We need to continue efforts
to build a culture of research and
innovation, across disciplines. That’s
where one of the big challenges lie—
to find the messages, mechanisms
and metrics that will truly capture
and reflect the breadth and diversity
of research practices in UP.”
Central to creating a culture of
research in UP is inspiring critical
thinking. Nemenzo, who is also a
member of the UP System General
Education (GE) Council, affirms that
GE is an indispensible component
of a UP education and is designed
to develop critical thinking and
provide UP student a ‘well-rounded’
education by exposing her/him to
the broadest range of ideas and
perspectives. “I have heard some
people describe critical thinking as
criticizing. This is wrong. Critical
thinking is a facility and habit of
mind that enables one to analyze,
read between lines and think outof-the-box, distinguish between
substance and form/rhetoric,
and appreciate and understand
connections as well as differences
between the many things we study,
and how these impact on society,”
said Nemenzo.
Nemenzo adds that we should also
remember that UP is not only a
research university but also a public
service university. “We owe it to
those who pay for our salaries and
our students’ education- the peopleto give back and put our knowledge,
skills and talents in the service of our
communities and country.”
and Cristina Garcia Centennial
Professorial Chair in Mathematics.
In 2013, he was conferred
the Achievement Award for
Mathematical Sciences by the
National Research Council of
the Philippines (NRCP), cited for
“pioneering the development of
research in algebraic number theory,
the theory of elliptic curves, and
applications to algebraic coding
theory in the country.”
In 2005, he was awarded by the
University with the Gawad Chanselor
para sa Pinakamahusay na Guro.
He served as Associate Dean for
Academic Affairs at the College
of Science, and was the head of its
Science and Society Program. He
has also held research and teaching
fellowships in Tokyo, Singapore,
Amsterdam, Munich and Phnom Penh.
According to Nemenzo, his decision
to stay in UP was a lifestyle choice.
“More than corporate life or life
abroad, I was attracted to the
rewards of living the life of the mind,
mentoring students, sharing ideas
and ideals you feel passionate about.
Comfort zone din—I grew up in UP,
went to school in UP (from nursery),
became an activist in UP, met my
wife in UP.”
As a student activist in UP during
martial law, Nemenzo was shot
during a demonstration. The doctors
said that what helped him survive
the M-16 bullet was his good physical
shape—he was a marathon runner
then— and his anger, which kept his
heart pumping as he lay bleeding.
Asked how his new administrative
post has affected his career and
personal life, he says, “I am learning
to adjust to the heavier schedules
and the demands of the job, as well as
to balance this with self and family. I
guess keeping healthy and spending
quality time with family is more
important now, if only to deal with
and survive the stress of more hectic
schedules. But I find my new work
exciting and challenging, and it is my
hope that OVCRD can help further
dynamize the research and creative
work in our academic community
and share these with the different
sectors of society with a view to
making a difference.”u
He also plans to enhance the
OVCRD databases and procedures
to facilitate and support UPD
research activities and to optimize
the office’s use of the internet,
print, social and other media to
disseminate research results.
For his scholarly work and valuable
contributions in mathematics,
Nemenzo has received numerous
awards. Among these are several
UP international publication
awards (IPA) and the Crisostomo
Today,duringhisdowntime,Nemenzolikestoread,listentojazz,playtheguitarwithhisson,occasionallythrowfrisbee
and go biking with his family.
UPdate News Magazine l March-August 2014
9
MARIAMME D. JADLOC, image LEONARDO A. REYES
Improved efficiency:
Prof. Virginia C. Yap
“Improved efficiency.” These are the buzzwords of the Office
of the Vice Chancellor for Administration (OVCA) in the
second term of Prof. Virginia C. Yap.
Y
ap identified her top
three priorities for OVCA
as: 1. streamline and
codify administrative
processes and procedures;
2. professionalize administrative
service through staff development
and mentoring; and 3. increase
revenues from the University’s
resource-generation assets.
Addressing the need to improve
the efficiency of the OVCA on her
second term, Yap said, “no system
is perfect,” hence, “the OVCA will
continuously review and evaluate the
operations of the offices under it and
undertake appropriate measures to
improve efficiency.” A trooper, she
added, “we will always be open to
feedback, negative or positive.”
The administration vice chancellor
plans to improve her office’s
efficiency through the conduct of
regular orientation or updating
on personnel, procurement
and financial processes and
documentary requirements
review of existing practices to
identify areas for improvements;
and documentation to enhance
procedure predictability and
requirements.
Yap is the only vice chancellor from
the previous leadership retained
in the same position and the only
woman vice chancellor in Dr.
Michael L. Tan’s administration.
Also included in OVCA’s plans
and programs are: a review of
OVCA’s organizational structure,
including its office staffing
complement and pattern; a review
of the incentive/reward system for
administrative personnel, existing
committee work compensation
and propose corresponding
recommendations.Also included
are identifying qualified and
competent personnel in the
OVCA units and prepare the line
of succession; and improving the
physical work environment.
10
Recalling how she was approached
to serve for another term, the
mother of three grown sons,
said, “The Chancellor was very
straightforward in telling me that
he is reappointing me to the same
position, but was very candid
in laying down his expectations
particularly with respect to full
transparency and accountability in
carrying out the office mandate.”
Yap does not deny the VCA post,
much like the other vice chancellor
posts, is very demanding.
“Administrative responsibilities are
heavy and require the devotion of
substantial time,” she said.
In fact, offices at the Quezon
Hall were on a 4-day work-week
UPdate News Magazine l March-August 2014
schedule in May, save for the OVCA
and its offices.
A fairly recent event that demanded
extra working hours from the
Human Resources Development
Office (HRDO), an office under
OVCA, was the preparation
of documents for the elusive
productivity-based bonus.
At the time of the UPDIO pictorial
in Yap’s office, the HRDO staff
members were rushing papers,
trading decent sleep with manhours at the office, all to meet the
“deadliest” deadline set by “upper
management.”
“Sa totoo lang, ang dami talaga
naming ginagawa,” she said.
The Vice Chancellor said as a vital
support-to-operations office, OVCA
constantly faces administrative
concerns, as evident from the
large volume of papers to process,
meetings to go to and people to see.
OVCA is currently gearing for the
influx of demands by the academic
units for additional classrooms and
amenities as an outcome of UPD’s
decision to shift the start of the
academic calendar to August.
has also prepped her for the
demands of her present job.
“The Diliman Budget Office (an
OVCA office) has been alerted
to identifying the possible fund
sources for the requirements of
the various colleges with respect
to additional classroom amenities,”
Yap said.
“Metikuloso si Ma’am lalo na
pagdating sa mga papeles. Okay
s’ya (makisama) pero pagdating sa
trabaho, trabaho kung trabaho,”
Cenon Esguerra, Officer-in-Charge
of the SPMO Procurement Section
described Yap as SPMO director.
Right now, OVCA is “awaiting the
submission of requests for the
needed items.”
Given that the university now veers
toward pride of place and boldness
of vision, how does Yap align OVCA
to this direction?
With her reappointment, Yap looks
back at her first term as a “learning
period on the legal and institutional
policy framework relative to
personnel and fiscal administration.”
Nevertheless, these experiences
“have provided me varying
perspectives, skills and wisdom on
how to handle different situations,”
she said.
The provision of Saloma’s “enabling
and nurturing environment”
contributes to “one’s feeling of
pride of place,” Yap said.
It was at the SPMO where her attention
to detail was put to much use.
As such, “There may be no major
realignment of the OVCA offices’
operations since their main
functions remain (which are) to
provide support services to the
various UPD academic and nonacademic units,” she added.
For the opportunity to continue
her service as administrative vice
chancellor, Yap said, “Anyone in
my place will feel honored by the
trust and confidence that the new
chancellor has given me.
“The Chancellor, for me, regardless
of the person, represents the
university. Hence, there will be
no significant difference in how
the OVCA will be administered.
The only difference will be in the
major thrusts and priorities that
Chancellor Tan may choose to
undertake. As I have expressed
to Chancellor Tan, I will serve
his administration with the same
dedication and faithfulness that
I rendered Chancellor (Caesar)
Saloma. To me, they both represent
This, notwithstanding, is the
consciousness that with the
extension of such trust and
confidence is the challenge of not
failing the appointing authority.”
Image courtesy of Prof. Virginia C. Yap
Her 6-year stint as director of the
Supply and Property Management
Office (SPMO) from 2006 to 2011
the UP Diliman,” Yap said.
Yap with two of her sons and grandson. Not in photo is her other son who currently resides in Pampanga.
Yap is assistant professor 7 handling
Economics subjects at the UP
Diliman Extension Program in
Pampanga (UPDEPP). Prior to
her stint as administration vice
chancellor, she has held various
administrative posts in UPD, the
most recent of which was as SPMO
director and before that, UPDEPP
Deputy Director from 2003 to 2006.
Yap has worked in and with private
and government agencies, one of
which is including the Department
of Labor and Employment; and
taught in universities such as Ateneo
de Manila University and Silliman
University. She earned her MA
in Economics from UP in 1982
majoring in Economics of Human
Resource and has PhD units in
Public Administration from the
UPD National College of Public
Administration and Governance.
She graduated magna cum laude
in 1972 at the Silliman University
with the degree of BS in Business
Administration major
in Economicsu
UPdate News Magazine l March-August 2014
11
The Diliman Information Office staff asked the new
chancellor for a no-holds barred tell-all interview and he
They will make their choices on
diet, religion and everything else
when the time comes.
agreed to this, one afternoon after a photo shoot with his
DIO: What part of the day do you
new administration. We present edited excerpts.
About himself
DIO: Any relation to Lucio Tan?
CMLT: No, no relation. He does have
a son who is also named Michael
Tan. The other Michael Tan, the
actor. . .when people ask I answer,
without trying to laugh, “Anak
ko.” May naniniwala naman kasi daw
magkamukha. I wish.
DIO: Do you play any sports?
CMLT: I am the most un-athletic
person but I do swim and walk a lot.
I intend to give health and fitness a
lot of emphasis. As chancellor, one
of the first colleges I visited was the
College of Human Kinetics. Athletes
have their own world that has to be
recognized. When I was dean, the
varsity football team came to see me.
I asked one player what his major
was. “Sports Science lang,” he said. I
said you must never say “lang” since
Sports Science is a science and you
should be very proud of it. We have
produced lawyers from football
and Judo players.We even have a
varsity football player who graduated
summa cum laude, BS Physics,
Mikhail Solon.
DIO: What made you decide to be a
veterinarian?
CMLT: I grew up with dogs in the
house. When I was in the College of
Veterinary Medicine, I realized that
our dogs and cats had a better life
than most people. Vet Med was still
in Diliman then and I was assigned to
the small animal clinic. One time, a
12
Mercedes Benz with a doña and her
little poodle drove up. Next to the
Mercedes was a boy pushing his little
brother inside a kariton. It just hit me
that the dog probably ate better than
the boy in the kariton.
The Vet Med experience radicalized
me in many ways because when
we went out to the rural areas, I
realized that to a veterinarian, there
is a whole different world out there:
the farmer and his carabao, the
pigs, and you have to learn to run
after the pigs and the chickens.
DIO: What province are you from?
CMLT: My father is from Davao, so I
used to spend some summers there.
My mother is from Manila but we
had concessions in Cagayan in the
north, in Claveria. I would spend
summers either in Claveria or Davao.
DIO: We heard you are a vegetarian:
is it a lifestyle thing?
CMLT: It is an ethical decision. It
is not for health, nor for religious
reasons.
DIO: Have you been a vegetarian for a
long time?
CMLT: Since 1990, but I take
fish sometimes, because in the
Philippines, you will starve to death if
you are a vegetarian. Pure vegetarian
food is not always available.
DIO: Are you raising your kids as
vegetarians?
CMLT: No, I am giving them choices.
UPdate News Magazine l March-August 2014
look forward to?
CMLT: I like early mornings because
I do not have free time after that.
I wake up really early, around 4 to
4:30 usually, because that is the only
quiet time for reflection. I meditate
everyday, I am a Zen practitioner
and we call it “Sitting,” but it is not
meditation. “Sitting” really helps to
center your energies for the day.
DIO: What time do you sleep?
CMLT: Pretty early. If the kids are
with me, later, around midnight. If
the kids are not there, sometimes
as early as 8 p.m., but normally, 9
or 10 since I am already wiped out
from UP.
Memory lane
DIO: When did you decide to be an
anthropologist?
CMLT: When I was doing my master’s
in Texas, my course was called Range
Science and the specialization was
raising cattle. After one year and
when I was about to complete the
program, I said I am not going home
with this degree. So I searched for
another department to transfer to.
I chose anthrolopogy since I had
been exposed to the discipline here
at UP when I finished my Vet Med
degree. I was involved in rural work
along with medical, nursing and
anthropology students.
DIO: Where were you during
Martial Law?
CMLT: I entered UP in 1971, when
the Writ of Habeas Corpus was
suspended. The following year,
Martial Law was declared so right
away I was caught up in the ferment
of the times.
DIO: What were your most
significant memories of UP?
CMLT: Coming from Jesuit schools,
UP was a different world. I graduated
from high school in 1969 and was
accepted to both Ateneo and UP
but my parents would not let me
come here for the usual reasons: the
radicals, sex maniacs (which is not
true), and atheists. So I said okay, I
will enroll in Ateneo. In my second
year, I was sent to the University of
San Francisco, another Jesuit school,
to escape the activism. Then, they
finally agreed to let me come home
so I enrolled in UP.
On my first day in UP, I wanted to
go back to Ateneo. The toilets were
dirty, the students did not speak
English and I was made fun of
because I was “burgis.” To top it all, I
was in Vet Med, where the students
were mostly “cowboys” (laughs).
DIO: How long did it take you to
like UP?
CMLT: A few weeks. Deep down I
really wanted to be in UP. UP grows
on you and it continues to grow on
me because I have strong egalitarian
instincts. Recently I was in the
swimming pool: it was the first time
I enrolled my children in swimming
classes at UP. A man approached
me and said he was a security guard.
He said his child is now a faculty
member of a college at UP: this can
only happen in UP.
DIO: How different was UP in the
1970s to the UP now?
CMLT: Now, the students are better
off but I feel there is still a crosssection of the economic brackets.
DIO: What about student values?
CMLT: You hear remarks like this is
the “I, me and myself” generation,
more materialistic. I sometimes
agree and the anti-littering campaign
is an example. There is just so
much resistance from the students
to assume responsibility. They
argue, “but what are janitors for?” I
challenged the new freshman class
to change this. . .I’m hopeful the
students don’t just demand, but also
take up responsibilities. That’s what
pride of place should be.
DIO: Where were the student
hangouts in your time?
CMLT: In my time the AS steps and
a canteen in the AS basement were
popular. But UP being UP, you
created your own hang-out. The
other day I was checking out our
IC (International Center) and when
I passed by the roof, which is very
avant-garde, almost reaching the
ground, it all came back to me. There was this Filipino-American,
I’m trying to remember where we
met, parang UPSCA (UP Student
Catholic Action) and our hang-out
was that IC roof. It was cleaner then. We’d sit and talk deep into the night
about life and all that, holding hands
(laughs), looking at the stars. Ayan,
he went back to the States. Story of
my life. My friends joked, “hanggang
airport ka lang” and I answer, “excuse
me, hindi ko nga hinatid.” Anyway, when I started teaching in
the 1980s, and into the 1990s, I was
still comfortable on campus, even
at night. I’d stay late at the Faculty
Center. It was only in the late 1990s
when I began to feel the campus was
no longer safe.
DIO: Is it because in your time there
were fewer informal settlers?
CMLT: We’ve always had informal
settlers. Just recently I was with one
of our barangay captains, Isabelita
Gravides, close to Pook Dagohoy
and I told her I wanted to look up
friends there. I walked into the
community, which was one of my
hang-outs as a student. The residents
were shocked, but pleased with the
unannounced visit. I’ve visited, very
quietly and unrecognized, many
of our informal settlers, including
Village C. I actually feel safer in
these areas, even at night, than
walking around the oval.
The UP Diliman barangay captain
tells me many of our peace and order
problems involve outsiders, the street
children for example come from as
far as Novaliches. I agree with her. There’s a lot of self-policing among
our own informal settlers, although
of course I’d like to see more of that
self-regulation, especially in terms of
sanitation, and noise control.
Ideolocator
DIO: Your views on same-sex marriage
and the Reproductive Health (RH) bill
CMLT: I am a gender rights activist.
I have been very outspoken about
women’s issues and LGBT (Lesbian,
Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) issues.
I am not a supporter of same-sex
marriage, more because I think that
Turntopage24
UPdate News Magazine l March-August 2014
13
HAIDEE C. PINEDA, image LEONARDO A. REYES
Bibingka leadership:
Dr. Neil Martial R. Santillan
Barely a week in office, Dr. Neil Martial R. Santillan, the
new Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs (VCSA), already
hit the ground running and delivered his first speech—
the welcome remarks at the opening of the Freshman
Orientation Program (FOP) on May 6.
A
mong his first initiatives
were new inputs to the
FOP. For the first time,
the OVCSA organized the
program in partnership
with the University Student
Council (USC) and local college
councils; the UP Rayadillo joined
the FOP to open and close the
program; and parents and students
are now asked to submit a written
evaluation at the end of the FOP.
Bibingka leadership. At the
helm of the OVCSA, he plans
to hold constant dialogues and
consultations with the students to
involve them in decision-making.
Santillan said “Bibingka leadership”
will be his strategy in handling his
job as vice chancellor.
“Ang bibingka ay isang kakaning
niluluto sa ilalim at niluluto rin sa
itaas. Bilang paghahalintulad ng
nabanggit na kakanin sa isang uri ng
liderato, taglay nito ang kaparaanan
na makipag-ugnayan sa itaas na
nagbaba ng mga patakaran at ang
kakayahang makinig sa ibaba na
nagsusulong ng mga prosesong
demokratiko. In UP, there should
be a meeting of minds to strike
14
a balance between top down
and bottom up approaches of
leadership,” he explained.
Top three priorities. Santillan said
the top three priorities for the office
are: 1) codify existing student policies
and guidelines, 2) find ways to
effectively disseminate information,
and 3) optimize student services by
providing new interventions.
First, he plans to revive the student
guide created during the term of
Prof. Barbara Wong-Fernandez
from 1996 to 1999 while waiting
for the approval of the UPD
Student Code of Conduct by the
Board of Regents. In addition to
the existing University student
policies, Santillan plans to include
Philippine laws pertinent to rights
and welfare of students.
Second, he said there is a need
to find ways on how to effectively
disseminate information. “We need
to explore, aside from the usual
memos and Facebook, other ways
that we can maximize the visibility
of the OVCSA and its line offices.
With information, we would be
able to access lots of students
and we can get potential donors
UPdate News Magazine l March-August 2014
to support [our] program like the
Adopt-a-Student,” he said.
Third, Santillan said it is necessary
to optimize student services “by
creating or by providing new
interventions.”
“There is a need to make a
modernization plan for UPD
residence halls that highlights
building development and
enhanced student services such as
the creation of dorm-based study
centers that will be handled by the
house councils in cooperation with
the Diliman Learning Resource
Center (DLRC),” he said.
In addition, Santillan plans a
university-wide implementation
of the College of Social Sciences
and Philosophy (CSSP) initiative
wherein the College organizes an
open house for the UP College
Admission Test (UPCAT) passers
who have chosen courses under
CSSP or who have yet to decide
which course to take. He explained
that the College coordinates
with the Office of the University
Registrar to invite students to
attend the CSSP’s open house.
book donation drive to benefit
underprivileged students.
would know about the cutting-edge
innovative ideas of the students.
Articulating the Chancellor’s
mission/vision. Santillan
Moving minds. Meanwhile,
Santillan seeks to address the
students’ low civic awareness with
the help of the USC and local
college councils. He also plans
to discuss with student political
parties ways to improve voters’
turnout during student elections.
Moreover, he said he would like
to consult the students about
their needs.
Moving hearts. Santillan plans
Place-making domain. He
said “Mahalaga ang papel na
ginampanan ng UP sa pagbubuo
ng bansa. Bunsod nito,
marapat lamang na malaman at
mapahalagahan ng ating mga
estudyante ang iba’t ibang anyo ng
paglilingkod sa Bayan ng mga tagaUP noon at ngayon.” He proposed
that students should be involved
in commemorative activities
concerning historical events such
as the First Quarter Storm.
However, he said “Ang problema,
negatibo ang tingin sa aktibismo.
Very negative. Halimbawa, pag
sasabihin (ng mga magulang),
ayokong maging aktibista ang
anak ko, parang disturbed ako
kasi feeling ko, sa UP, makulay
ang aktibismo.”
Moving ideas and information.
Santillan said there should be a
venue for students to share ideas,
research outputs and extension
works through activities like an
annual research and extension
colloquium or ideas fair.
“Gusto kong malaman, ano’ng
ginagawa ng organizations about
extension? What are the different
forms of social services that they
provide? So, may mapping na
gagawin...We need to document it
then, compile and publish. Ito ‘yung
ginagawa ng organizations,” he said.
That way, the industry, government
sector and other stakeholders
“Binansagan ang kasalukuyang
kabataan bilang ‘I, me, myself’
generation o ‘selfie generation’.
Sa ganitong konteksto, magiging
malaking hamon ito na isulong ang
dakilang adhikain ng civic awareness
at social engagement sa ating mga
estudyante. Makabuluhang papel ang
gagampanan ng OVCSA na ipabatid
at isabuhay na may pananagutang
panlipunan ang bawat iskolar ng
bayan,” he said.
Santillan believes that the extension
colloquium is one of the solutions
to this issue.
Santillan earned his bachelor’s
degree in History, magna cum laude
in 1993, and MA (1998) and PhD in
History (2009) all at UPD. He was
a recipient of the UP Presidential
Scholarship and UP Modernization
Program’s Local Faculty Fellowship
in 1998 and 2009, respectivelyu
Image courtesy of Dr. Neil Santillan
enumerated five parts of his plans
to articulate the Chancellor’s
mission/vision: 1) Place-making
domain, 2) Moving bodies, 3)
Moving minds, 4) Moving ideas and
information; and 5) Moving hearts.
to tap NSTP (National Service
Training Program) to help OVCSA
address the issue on the students’
low civic awareness.
Before the student election in
the second semester, he plans to
organize a convocation allowing
student leaders to have a serious
discussion on activism.
Moving bodies. Santillan
emphasized the need to support
the students’ wellness and medical
needs, especially when information
about malnourished students in
UPD reached him.
“Maaaring tumugon ang
pamantasan tulad ng pagbigayng
meal stubs sa mga apektadong
estudyante,” he said.
Aside from meal support,
Santillan wants to organize a
Santillan with his wife Bevil Lynn and two children Zoie Neala and Lean Emmanuel.
UPdate News Magazine l March-August 2014
15
ANNA REGIDOR, image LEONARDO A. REYES
Creating vibrant spaces:
Dr. Nestor T. Castro
Two minutes have passed inside the Office of the Vice
Chancellor for Community Affairs (OVCCA). The assistant
confides that he’s very hands-on, taking the time to get to
know and understand each office under the OVCCA well.
T
he door opens and in a
flurry of activity, the man
himself appears, sporting a
blue shirt, jeans, matching
blue rubber shoes and
bright eyes.
Nestor T. Castro cuts an imposing
figure at first glance, with a booming
voice that matches his physical
presence. But as soon as he starts
speaking, it is apparent that this is a
man with a big heart and high energy
levels. He’s going to need that energy
to look after the 493 hectares, eight
barangays and more than 25,000
students, 1,500 faculty and some
70,000 residents that live in UP
Diliman (UPD).
The riddle of the OVCCA. Managing
such a diverse and dynamic
community as UPD requires
considerable skill, and Castro is
the first to say that at first he was
overwhelmed by the sheer amount
and variety of things he has to
keep track of and keep in mind but
he’s decided to take an academic
approach to the problem.
“I would consider this as a social
science research problem.…[I]
t’s a challenge for us to study UP
itself as a very complex community
composed of different stakeholders
16
and apply social science theories
and methods in dealing with the
problems,” he explained. While he
admits that barely two weeks in
office he still had no complete,
fleshed-out strategy on how to
improve things in the OVCCA,
three priorities became clear.
Security. First is improving
security on campus, not through
enforcement, but by engaging the
community to be proactive. “Tingin
ko isa sa mga dahilan kung bakit
nagkakaroon ng failure sa peace
and order ay dahil may attitude
ang ilan na ‘trabaho yan ng pulis,
trabaho yan ng Security Service
Brigade (SSB)’. Lahat ay may stake
na protektahan ang Unibersidad,”
he said.
Security at UPD, including command
of the UPD Police, SSB and the security
agencies, is formally under the Chief
Security Officer who, in the previous
administration, reported directly
to the UPD Chancellor. Presently,
security matters have been reverted
back to OVCCA and Castro is quick
to say that the OVCCA will do its
best. One of the ways that he sees
this happening is by empowering
the local community associations
and identifying hotspots with a
high incidence of criminal activity.
UPdate News Magazine l March-August 2014
“Pagkakaroon ng ilang aktibidad
sa loob ng unibersidad, maaring
cultural acitivities, na dahil sa may
mga ganitong buhay na aktibidad ay
maitabi yung ilang mga tiwangwang
na lugar na pwedeng nakakaattract ng ilang elemento na hindi
karapatdapat,” Castro said.
The local government. His second
priority is to establish better
relations with local government
units (LGUs) to avoid redundancy of
functions and lessen the strain on the
University’s limited resources.
As an example, Castro cited the
fund used in the emission testing
activities of the Office of Community
Relations’ traffic management group,
saying that there might be a way
to tap the Land Transportation
Franchising and Regulatory Board
and the Quezon City government’s
resources to conduct the said
testing instead of using UPD funds.
“We don’t intend to duplicate kung
ano ang ginagawa ng gobyerno.
At para magawa ito, kailangan ng
good relationship with the local
government,” he said.
One of the ways he thinks UPD can
reciprocate the LGUs is to grant
them access to the think tanks inside
UPD, especially in the training of
LGU personnel.
OVCCA services . Castro adds that
improved relationships with LGUs
is also a driving force for his third
priority, improving the services
provided by the offices under
the OVCCA.
“…[D]ito pumapasok ang mabuting
pakikipagrelasyon sa labas para
makatulong sa loob. Hanapan ng
budget dito where ang UP ay kulang
sa budget. Hanapan ng sponsors dito
where walang kayang sponsoran ang
UP,” he said.
his strategies is to create vibrant,
regulated spaces where people
can do the things that they want
like skateboarding and karaoke,
provided these activities do not
clash with the goal of creating that
healthy environment.
Advantages. If all the preceding
paragraphs sound like a lot of
careful handshaking, Castro is
equipped for the job, bringing
with him years of experience as a
community organizer starting from
his days as a youth activist at UPD.
Shared responsibility. Key to his
programs is the idea of shared
responsibility. Everyone, he said, has
a stake in developing and protecting
the integrity of UPD. Castro stressed
that under his term, no sector will be
favored or left out, pointing out that
the alumni is an important sector of
the UPD community.
of these initiatives are geared towards
creating a healthy environment for
the academic community.
“They’re very much a big stakeholder
group kasi kapansin-pansin [na]
marami sa Facebook ang may interest
sa kapakanan ng UP ay ang alumni.
Lagi silang nagko-comment: ‘bakit
ganyan ang UP, yang UP ng panahon
namin ganito.’ So I think stakeholder
sila and therefore all of them
should be tapped in making the UP
community a success story,” he said.
“This is a university: huwag nating
kalimutan ‘yun,” he said. One of
Castro spoke of some alumni
associations who are more than
Castro graduated with a degree in
AB Anthropology, cum laude, (1980)
and has master’s (1994) and PhD
(2005) in Anthropology, all from
UPD. He became an active member
of the Alyansa Ng Nagkakaisang
Kabataan sa Komunidad from 1984
through the EDSA Revolution and
well into 1987.
Before being appointed as
VCCA, Castro was Chair of the
Department of Anthropology
since 2010.
Image courtesy of Dr. Nestor T. Castro
Creating spaces. Castro said that all
willing to lend their time and
resources to benefit UPD, many
of them for free.
Castro with his sister Norma and her daughter Kristine Anne.
Castro says that his background
as an anthropologist and social
scientist is of great help in
understanding and navigating the
various UPD communities. He adds
that he also is fortunate to have
worked with Tan for a long time.
“…We know each other very well.
[We know each other’s] working
styles, so I think this is very
important in helping the chancellor
because you know the chancellor’s
work ethic; where you would
intervene; where you will just
wait for his own opinion. So ang
learning curve ko na lang is dealing
with the UP community,” he said.
Castro was a community organizer
as a young man, and considers his
new job as a continuation of his
past. “In the past it was mainly
advocacy for community rights
and welfare, addressed to the
state. Pero now I’m part of the
administration, so the challenge
is hindi na rah rah rah kundi get
things done,” he saidu
UPdate News Magazine l March-August 2014
17
TERESA PAULA DE LUNA, image LEONARDO A. REYES
Rediscovering naiveté
“Never lose your naiveté.”
T
his was the advice offered
by Dr. Michael Lim Tan,
my first professor in the
Anthropology PhD program.
These four words profoundly
changed my perception of myself
as a member of the UP academic
community and in an instant,
expunged my long-held, preconceived
notions of becoming UP, breathing top
academic air and bleeding maroon.
We are, after all, teachers and learners
in what is still the finest university
in the country. Immediately, the
future UP Diliman (UPD) chancellor’s
retort brought me to a realization of
embarrassing self–importance and
then onto a rediscovery of innocence
and un-sophistication—naiveté.
There are always expectations from
people in power or from those who
have ascendancy over others. As
academicians, we have the power to
choose the types of “knowledge” to
impart directly to our students and
indirectly to society. Appended to that
power is our capability to influence
students on how to make sense of hard
science and/or abstract philosophies,
and how to employ knowledge and
learning gained from UP.
More often than not, we find ourselves
entangled in the webs of these socially
constructed, predetermined notions
that we forget to be learners. We in
the academe are life-long learners,
eternal students regardless of how
spotless we still are or how jaded we
have become. Being a student must
Teresa Paula De Luna is an Assistant
Professor at the Department of Speech
Communication and Theatre Arts of the
College of Arts and Letters, UP Diliman
and the current coordinator of the UP
Diliman Office of Anti-sexual Harassment.
18
be the most important role that all
academicians should fulfill, yet it is
the easiest to neglect and forget. Easy,
unless we heed Dr. Tan to never lose
our naiveté. It is a ringing wake up
call and powerful reminder of every
academician’s most basic task.
To me, this reminder couldn’t have
come from a more credible source:
Chancellor Tan, an educator, mentor
and humble professor. In the many
years I have spent in the university both
as a student and as a faculty member,
I have had the opportunity and the
honor to meet and work with the best
educators and mentors in the country.
Dr. Tan stands out as the humblest of
them all despite his accomplishments,
prominence and the numerous
accolades attached to his name.
I distinctly remember the moment
I finally made up my mind to make
a go for the PhD program of the
Department of Anthropology at
the College of Social Sciences and
Philosophy (CSSP). It was a decision
made with the valued prodding,
recommendation and suggestion
of colleagues. This decision was
not an easy one; it was filled with
apprehension mainly because I come
from the Department of Speech
Communication and Theater Arts
(DSCTA), which is in the College of
Arts and Letters (CAL). At that point in
my academic existence, I wanted to do
something more, something different,
as clichéd as it may sound. In the
same breath and even more clichéd,
I sought to accomplish something
current, relevant and tangible to my
profession as a speech communication
teacher, as well as to the community
which nurtured, shaped and accepted
me. I felt I needed to take up another
academic discipline to help me find
what I was looking for and the field of
anthropology was spot on in guiding
me to start my plans.
UPdate News Magazine l March-August 2014
As I was submitting the requirements
to the CSSP graduate office, my
insecurities crept in. Is it truly possible
for me to survive the challenges of the
PhD program, reputedly tough as it is,
and the daunting professors, reputedly
even tougher than the program
itself? Would I even last a year? I was
entering a new community, about to
embark in new experiences. I was
also mindful of entering and joining
a crowd who will eventually become
aware that I was not just a graduate
student, but also a faculty member
in the same university. With zero
background in anthropology, I can
still imagine the one word in the
minds of my PhD professors when
we first met: “Seriously?”
Chancellor Tan, then Chair of the
Department of Anthropology,
opened the door to attain my dreams.
He believed that a person with a
background in speech communication
may and can have a chance in a vastly
different field.
I learned that he was going to be
my teacher in my first subject in the
program, Anthropology 292 Seminar
in Anthropological Theory. It was
nerve-wracking. I did not know what
to expect of the subject, even less so
of the professor. Tan’s reputation is
formidable. He is considered one
of the best and more influential
professors in the field; he was then the
current chairperson of the department
when it was recognized by the
Commission on Higher Education as a
Center for Excellence in Anthropology.
In addition, Tan is of course the
known “Pinoy Kasi” columnist at
the Philippine Daily Inquirer. I was
drowning in my apprehensions. I
could be eaten alive in this field!
Honestly, how could a newcomer
like me make an impression on
a professor who must be used to
interacting with seasoned and wellhoned scholars in anthropology?
The most feared first day came. My
classmates were brilliant. I was in
awe. They seemed to know what they
were talking about; they seemed to be
experts in the field. They were talking
about their field works, critiquing
anthropological concepts that I knew
nothing about. I thought again to
myself, what am I doing here, am I
out of my mind? How do I explain
the appeal and connection of the
anthropological field to my area
of interest in the field of speech
communication? How can my area
of interest—technology-mediated,
virtual field with no tangible physical
space—ever be called a field of study?
All I could think of at that time was:
everything is related to humanity.
Since humans are the main agents
of creation and interaction in the
virtual community, there surely must
be a connection.
Well, well and surprise, surprise. The
first class meeting was not so bad after
all. I already knew beforehand that
my teacher would know about my
topic. I was not all surprised to know
that Tan had an awareness of cyber
communities within an academic
context. What worried me was his
possible reception to my topic, which,
based on my assessment from what
I overheard in the discussions of
my classmates, seemed to be “unanthropological.” I was taken aback
though by Tan’s obvious interest in
and genuine welcome of my research
area; that my research topic could
be examined and viewed through an
anthropological lens. It was a defining
moment for me. Tan’s acceptance of
my topic revealed his inclusive nature,
his comprehension of humanity’s
diversity and the inescapable
interconnectedness of every aspect
of human life. Furthermore, Tan has
been a mentor’s deep understanding
of that humanity develops alongside
change. He impresses to his students
that all manifestations of the changes
experienced in the society are always
worth looking into.
be too busy to have enough time for
mentorship. He proved us wrong by
continuing to guide and support his
students’ academic pursuits.
As I undertake the last leg of my PhD
program, I am thankful and honored
to have been educated under the
brilliant professors in the department.
I am even more lucky, and grateful for
having the rare privileged of having the
university’s current Chancellor as my
dissertation adviser. His willingness to
continue to guide students like me is
testament that first and foremost, he
is a teacher, a mentor. I know I will
accomplish this academic undertaking
with a mentor that has been a guide, a
perfect example of who I also want to
become someday.
After my first class, I took more
subjects under him. Each class was
handled differently. There was always
freshness in his teaching style. He
would always conclude his subjects
by ensuring that his students had a
lot more information, knowledge
and discernment than before they
came to class. I went through all my
coursework and my comprehensive
examinations guided with the basic
principle Tan instilled in his students:
“Never lose your naiveté.”
“Never lose your naiveté,” although
verbal, is my mental picture of Tan
as a great mentor. These words put
everything into its proper perspective
(it really works for me). It makes
me see things clearly, that even and
especially as we grow older and the
experience of learning is felt more
deeply, we should always remind
ourselves that it is through learning
that we are able to teach. I continually
realize that as teachers, we exist and
thrive in the academic community
because of our thirst to learn. We are
rewarded and find fulfillment when
we are able to share what we have
learned with our students. There
is definitely a bonus when we see
their faces light up (which, hopefully,
means they got our point) followed
by priceless facial expressions as they
process and make sense of what was
given to them. It should be easier
to attain this academic nirvana if
we follow Tan’s example and adhere
to his principle of never losing our
naiveté, by making a conscious effort
to listen to everyone and anyone, and
by determinedly not allowing our
personal predispositions interfere
with our learning and discoveries.
Chairperson Tan became Dean Tan.
With his increased responsibilities, I
thought and expected that he would
So hello there again, naiveté, old
friend. And thank you, Chancellor Tan,
for this re-introductionu
Tan’s reaction to my field of interest
is a reflection of a great mentor who
guides students to a path of their own,
and not one who molds mentees to
be exactly the same as their mentors.
I believe this to be the strongest and
most admirable quality of Chancellor
Tan as a mentor. This mentoring style
is not only beneficial for the mentee,
it is also significant for the generation
of new bodies of knowledge hinged on
and not alienated from already wellestablished theoretical perspectives.
I realized then that I could finish
the program.
UPdate News Magazine l March-August 2014
19
SOLEDAD NATALIA M. DALISAY, image JEFFERSON VILLACRUZ
Academician, public
servant, administrator
Dr. Michael Lim Tan’s appointment as 10th Chancellor of the
University of the Philippines Diliman (UPD) is a milestone:
he was the first from the College of Social Sciences and
Philosophy (CSSP).
T
his did not come as a
surprise though, as Sir
Mike, as he is fondly called
by younger colleagues and
staff at the CSSP, served the
UPD administration as Chair of the
Anthropology Department for nine
years and as CSSP dean for 3 1/2
more years.
Sir Mike has a degree in Veterinary
Medicine but it was in anthropology
that he found his life’s passion. His
career as an anthropologist spans
three decades to date and covers
teaching, research and extension,
shifting his priority among the three
areas at different times. In recent
years however, this academician had
chosen to focus on serving the UP he
always loved as administrator.
My encounters with Sir Mike had
mostly been on a professional
level. Such occasions, however,
had given me opportunities to
glimpse the person behind his multifaceted persona as academician,
administrator and public servant.
Academician. Sir Mike joined CSSP’s
Soledad Natalia M. Dalisay is an
Associate Professor and current Chair of
the Department of Anthropology at the
College of Social Sciences and Philosophy
at UP Diliman.
20
Department of Anthropology in
1985. He obtained a Master’s in
Anthropology from the Texas A&M
University in 1982 and in 1996,
earned a PhD in Anthropology from
the University of Amsterdam in The
Netherlands .
As an academic, he teaches a variety
of undergraduate and graduate
courses. At one time, he was Field
School Director for a batch of
undergraduate students. His relaxed
pedagogic style made him a favorite
among students. In a university
where there are still teachers of
the old school who teach in an
atmosphere of strictness and fear
of failure, Sir Mike, by veering away
with this mold, made teachers more
approachable. Not a few students
were inspired by and eventually
drawn to the discipline by his
attitude. By injecting interesting
vignettes and life stories into his
lectures, students were introduced
to the notion of anthropology as
a relevant discipline, and not one
that confines practitioners to musty
museums or isolates them in far flung
cultural communities. He perhaps is
the only one who can teach a serious
course like Anthropological Theory
and Methods in a way that allows
students to realize their potential
applications to their academic
interests as well as their career goals.
UPdate News Magazine l March-August 2014
It is no wonder that his classes are
almost always fully packed, with 20
or more students per class at the
graduate level. He is also a most
sought-after thesis and dissertation
adviser. Students know that with his
mentoring style, they can produce a
thesis or a dissertation worthy of the
respect of their peers. He is not the
adviser for everyone, though, since
he demands from his advisees output
that conforms to the standard he has
set for himself.
One of his contributions to the
academe is the development of MA
Medical Anthropology Program
of the College of Medicine at UP
Manila. Through such efforts, he
successfully brought together social
science and medical perspectives.
The roles of teaching and research
are never separate. His research
interests cover a wide range of topics
but are mostly in the areas of medical
anthropology and gender, sexuality
and reproductive health.
He is widely recognized as a
world class researcher, as proven
by his numerous publications in
international referred journals and
books. He sits on the editorial board
of several international journals
and is a member of various research
consortia involving universities
outside the country, notably the
Southeast Asian Consortium on
Gender, Sexuality and Health
(SECGSH), where he sits as a
founding member and advisor.
As a senior researcher at the
SECGSH, Sir Mike emphasized
the need for mentoring and
developing the potentials of junior
researchers and second—liners in the
Consortium Advisory Board. He was
elected National Academician by the
National Academy of Science and
Technology in 2012 in recognition
of his outstanding accomplishments
in research, teaching, advocacy and
development work in traditional
medicine, HIV, rational drug
use and sexual and reproductive
health. His election had been
notable, considering that the body
of National Academicians had
been dominated by those in the
physical sciences, mathematics and
engineering. In fact, he is the
only National Academician in
the field of anthropology.
tower and be involved in relevant
social issues of the time. Through
Sir Mike’s column in the Philippine
Daily Inquirer, “Pinoy Kasi” and his
occasional television guestings, he
voices out his opinions on burning
issues. Through his column, he
shapes public opinion on vital topics
in Philippine culture and society.
Administrator. It is very rare for a
He has also been actively involved
with groups advancing the policies
and issues he supports.
department chair to serve three terms:
Sir Mike is one of this lot. As an
administrator, he is as approachable
to the faculty and staff as he is to
his students. At the office of the
Department of Anthropology, people
say they perform better because they
enjoy an atmosphere where they can
show their best. One staff said he
strove for excellence because he did
not want to let Sir Mike down. He
is not the type of supervisor who
constantly looks over their shoulders
and monitors their work. Through
his management style, the staff said
they bloomed. They learned from
their mistakes and devised solutions
to the challenges they encountered.
However, there were a few times when
Sir Mike “gently” called their attention
to certain matters or met with them to
improve on their work.
He is a popular choice as a resource
person in conferences and training
programs not only locally but abroad
as well, speaking to advance the
cause of children, women, as well as
health concerns.
For his advocacy work, numerous
trophies and plaques of appreciation
are currently stored on top of
two steel filing cabinets in the
department office. These citations
include: Outstanding Columnist on
Children Award from Unicef for two
consecutive years (2004 to 2005); one
recognizing his contributions to the
National Formulary Committee from
the Department of Health; a plaque
from CSSP for being a Reproductive
Health Champion; and from the
Unicef Press Institute, a Special
Award on Children.
An academician, administrator and
an anthropologist for the general
public: these make one seamless
whole in the person of Sir Mike.
In all his roles in life, Sir Mike will
always strive to extend to everyone
his vision for UPD of working side
by side with people as their “kasama,
kaibigan and kapanalig.”u
As the head of office, he was viewed
with awe and admiration by the staff
and treated with respect by everyone.
His relationship with the staff was
that of equal partnership and not
one marked by a separation of the
Chair and the staff. Even as Chair,
his leadership already had the
traits of the “servant leadership”
with which he envisions to guide
his chancellorship.
As CSSP dean, he always tried to
accommodate requests for meetings
and invitations from faculty
members, students and visitors from
outside the college or the university.
Anthropologist for the people.
Once in a while, one encounters
an academic who is willing to step
down from the proverbial ivory
UPdate News Magazine l March-August 2014
21
From page 7
Re-engineering . . .
for all the graduate programs. “The
professional courses, those that
have licensure examinations, put a
certain value on graduate school.
Meanwhile, those that do not require
licensure exams give another
value to graduate school. We
can come up with two or several
models and who knows, we may
even localize the approach by
the nature of the discipline per
academic cluster,” he said.
Faculty complement and
development. Gaps in the
succession line in the academic
units is a source of concern for
Pacheco. “There are departments
and institutes with gaps in age
groups,” he noted. To compound
the situation, faculty welfare
and development are additional
challenges. He explains that
in many departments, some
PhDs, mostly full professors, are
approaching retirement age and the
next group of faculty members are
much lower in rank.
To address the issue, he is looking
at accelerating the awarding of PhD
study grants and faculty promotion,
rank-wise.
From page 4
Pride of place . . .
waiting to be tapped. People who
live in islands look out to the sea
and wonder what’s beyond the
horizon, eventually daring to set
out to find out. That combination
of curiosity and courage must
characterize our own quest for,
and journey to the future. Given
this perspective, ASEAN 2015 and
K-to-12 2016 should not be do-ordie deadlines, but horizons. 22
Learning Commons. Pacheco says
another key area is the paradigm
itself of learning and teaching, or
teaching and learning.
He says that it may be paradoxical
that while we need graduate studies
and specializations, we also need
stronger general education on
lifelong learning. Pacheco points
out that “in this modern age of
information, every educated person
must see the difference between
information and knowledge,
between knowledge and wisdom,
between wisdom and experience.”
Pacheco says it is a real operational
challenge to the University how to
reinvent, recreate or reengineer
the many forms of the so-called
learning commons.
The UPS has also assured UPD of
funds to operationalize the academic
calendar shift, he said. Since
Diliman was the last campus to
approve the academic calendar
shift, it is still in the process of
detailing the resource requirements
it will need from the UPS.
Perhaps a fitting complement to
internationalization, the renewed
implementation of UP’s language
policy is also Pacheco’s hope.
“Payamanin at gamitin pa nating
lalo ang wikang Filipino sa loob
ng Pilipinas. Maging sa labas ng
Pilipinas, kontribusyon din natin to
sa mundo.”
Silver lining. Internationalization, as
He earned his undergraduate (cum
laude) and master’s degrees in Civil
Engineering from UPD in 1980
and 1984, respectively. In 1987, he
obtained a PhD in Civil Engineering
(Structural Engineering) from the
University of Tokyo. His research
interests include bridges, buildings,
earthquake, wind, fire, vibration and
disaster risk management.
“While the UPS has articulated a
direction, it is up to us to translate
the general directions at the
operational levels.”
He is also one of UPD’s only two
Registered Patent Agents, having
passed the Patent Agent Qualifying
Examination administered by the
Intellectual Property Office of the
Philippines as announced in Feb.
this yearu
He says we have to continually
modernize and diversify our
libraries, computer centers,
laboratories and studios, and venues
for performances and exhibitions.
the center-piece of the current UPS
administration, does come with a lot
of support and Pacheco is optimistic.
That challenge of the horizon is
perhaps more daunting for UP
because we have the advantage of
being able to stand on the shoulders
of the many wise women and men
of UP who came before us. We see
more, and therefore must dare more,
of the future.
Horizons allow us to be more
outward-looking. My vision is of a
UP that takes its place as the national
university, a place to nurture not just
brightness but diversity. UPD must
show the way in transdisciplinary
initiatives in teaching, our graduates
grounded in the liberal arts, able
UPdate News Magazine l March-August 2014
to see and appreciate the poetry
in mathematics, as well as the
mathematics in poetry. They should
also be students who understand
how the liberal arts come together to
shape the “liber,” the free, so vital in
UP’s history of defending freedom.
We must respond to the
accusations of Diliman
imperialism, which often becomes
empty arrogance. We can still take
a lead role in many areas, but must
prove ourselves by being able to work
with other units in system projects.
We must take up the challenges of
but of looking for ways to identify
promising students from public
schools even when they are still
in high school, and to find ways to
mentor them, and to support them if
and when they enter Diliman.
Finally, academic citizenship must
be ethical. UP, especially UPD,
has always shunned hard rules and
regulations, sanctions and threats.
We need to remind ourselves ethics
is, in the simplest terms, a respect for
each other and for ourselves. This
is why I emphasize spaces so much:
how can we tell the world we excel,
when our Diliman spaces are the way
they are?
being the national university, starting
with our backyard, able to work with
local government, from the barangay
to the city hall, before we talk of
building and transforming the nation.
It is not enough to be bold. We
must be wise too, navigating rough
and treacherous waters with tools
that I have referred to earlier. The
transdisciplinary perspective will
yield insights and solutions, not just
guiding policies but allowing us to
constantly monitor and evaluate
projects and programs so we do not
repeat our mistakes, and instead
move forward using good practices.
Academic Citizenship. As we build
spaces and our pride of place, as we
tap into the past for the future, we
need now to look at how we might
embark on our long journey toward
a transformed UP. I use the term
academic citizenship to refer to the
way we need to work together. First, we must give meaning
to collegiality, which is often
confused with parochialism. I am
a fierce defender of autonomy and
independence, of departments and
colleges, precisely because I dislike
parochialism. If we are secure in
what we believe in, we will be ready
to talk to each other – within and
across departments, within and
across colleges and institutes, within
and across UP campus units. Collegiality’s foundation is
consultation, but there too we
need reforms. We have had too
much of endless talking and
debate. Consultations must lead
to consensus building, based on
respect for each other’s views, and a
willingness to sacrifice one’s own self
interests for the common good.
Second, justice and fairness must
guide us in all we do. That starts with
institutionalizing a meritocracy, where
we are evaluated by what we do and
accomplish not by our connections.
But justice and fairness must not stop
there. Our campus must set the pace
fighting discrimination in all forms,
whether based on gender, ethnicity,
religion or sexual orientation. And
class. I look to a future where UPD
can take in more students, especially
from lower-income households
and disadvantaged regions. It is not
just a matter of expanding quotas,
Ethics, too, boils down to kindness.
There should be no room in UPD for
faculty, students or staff who bully
their colleagues. We must rid ourselves
of the notion that kindness is a sign
of weakness;in fact, our tradition of
activism springs out of compassion
and caring for others, of taking a tough
stand, being firm, maybe even raising
one’s voice when the unkind and the
unjust need to be chastised.
Let me summarize my vision paper:
I envision UPD in terms of safe,
nurturing, shared, connected and
sustainable spaces. I envision UPD
moving toward honor and excellence
in those spaces, rooted in the past
while looking to the future with
boldness, guided by transdisciplinary
tools of navigation.
Finally, I envision a UP in terms
of a shared culture of academic
citizenship built on collegiality, a
sense of justice and fairness,
and ethics.
Let me say, too, by way of ending,
that I am a firm believer in servant
leadership, one who does not lead
by walking ahead of others. It is
in this spirit that I extend you my
vision, someone ready to work
with you side by side, as kasama,
kaibigan, kapanaligu
UPdate News Magazine l March-August 2014
23
From page 13
marriage is a problematic institution:
do you really need it? But I accept
that people recognize marriage as
important. What is more important to
me is that same-sex couples enjoy the
same rights as straight couples.
Playtime
DIO: Is gray your favorite color?
CMLT: No. I like black a lot. I
like turquoise. I wanted to use a
turquiose sign pen but for contracts
it is not allowed.
DIO: In addition to English and Filipino,
what other languages are you fluent in?
CMLT: Chinese—Mandarin and
Fukien. I do a smattering of many
other languages since I make it a
point that whenever I am in a new
place, I learn the basic phrases.
It is also important to learn our
own languages. I worked in Davao
after graduation and I went around
Mindanao so I picked up Cebuano.
I also worked in the Cordilleras, so I
understand Ilocano.
DIO: Favorite place in the Philippines?
CMLT: The Cordilleras.
DIO: Favorite place in the world?
CMLT: I have a lot of favorite places,
but since I took my PhD in Holland,
The Netherlands is my favorite. It is
not very scenic but it has a charm of its
own. I also like China because of my
ethnic roots.
DIO: Generally how’s life been as
chancellor?
CMLT: The day after I was appointed I
woke up and asked myself, “What did I
get into?”
I’m an accidental chancellor. People
began to approach me in 2013 to run
as chancellor and I’d laugh them off,
crazy me as chancellor? During the
Christmas break, I thought I had come
to a firm decision to serve out my
second term as CSSP dean into 2016,
24
then go back to being a regular faculty
member and retiring in 2017, fading
into the background and living happily
ever after with my kids.
When the new year came in, the
pressure to run returned, from
different groups. I’d meet with each
of them more to explain why I didn’t
want to run, but they were quite
persistent. Work on your vision paper,
they said, and I did, while attending
meetings and conferences. I filed
(my acceptance of the nomination)
15 minutes before the deadline. I
was running against the incumbent
chancellor, an ex-chancellor and two
people who had run before. They all
wanted to be chancellor. I’m just not the type who turns my back
on duty. When you’re called to serve,
you serve. It does sound like being
conscripted into the military, right? DIO: Greatest challenge as chancellor?
CMLT: Family life. I’m a solo parent,
not easy. My son’s with me because
he has special needs and I’m homeschooling him but my daughters are in
Nuvali, a move I made in 2013 because
I wanted a greener environment for
my kids. I live now in the Diliman
campus because of all the work but I
have to visit my parents, who are in
their 90s, in San Juan twice a week. Saturdays I actually market as in
palengke because the supermarkets
are full of junk. My daughters come
here on weekends or I go and visit
them in Nuvali, sometimes pop in to
surprise them middle of the week. They’re very independent, but I wish
I could give them more time. They
were here during the summer break
and the UP house came alive. The
day they had to go back to Nuvali
because school was starting, the van
was going down the driveway and they
were all waving goodbye. I returned
to the house, a quiet empty nest and
I did wonder why I agreed to the
chancellorship. Soapbox opera ba?
DIO: Is it tough handling our large
student body?
CMLT: What we are in UP for if
not for the students? They do
UPdate News Magazine l March-August 2014
have many needs; the dorms are in
dismal state, terribly neglected. The
University Health Service told me
we have malnourished students and
I worry that even those who are not
malnourished will end up that way
given the terrible food we have on
campus. When students have to worry
about getting a good meal, a good
night’s rest, or safely walking through
a dark campus, you can’t talk to them
about boldness of vision.
Sometimes though it’s tough explaining
priorities. Like there are student groups
who want a completely subsidized
education but there is no country in the
world – not even the socialist ones – who
offer that. Then there are those who say
we should have uniform tuition, P800 a
semester was one proposal. That would
be patently unfair because right now,
the majority of our students are from
the upper classes, products of private
schools and the science high schools. We would end up subsidizing the
rich and the middle class, especially
here in Diliman. We’re already doing
that, spending more than P100,000
per student.
What we need is to democratize
access, help more students from
lower-income families to get into UP. I’d like to see the students help put up
mentoring programs in public high
schools to prepare bright juniors
and seniors for UPCAT. Once
they get into UP we need to have
strong support for them, financially
and through more mentoring and
psychosocial support.
Closing remarks:
This administration should not be
about the chancellor but about UP,
about the community. I would like
to think that I am coming in at a time
when we are looking for new horizons
which means new ways of looking at
things. We are now over a hundred
years, traditions are great and we keep
the traditions but as we move to the
next 100 years, we also have to be very
oriented towards the future. We will
be rooted in the past but we have to be
bold in looking towards the futureu