The Indian Navy to expand maritime interests in South and Southeast Asia, retired Indian military official says.

By Chanda Shahani

India can provide a balanced multipolarity to the increasing assertiveness of China in East and Southeast Asia, said Major General Vinod Saighal (Ret.), India's former Director General of Military Training and presently the Executive Director of Eco Monitors Society, an NGO involved in demography and ecology issues, at a forum today at the Asian Center at the University of the Philippines at Diliman.

Saigal said that India is now definitely committed to projecting further east into the South China Sea and beyond is no longer in doubt. Thus far, its maritime projection has been towards maritime activities related to trade and exploration for hydrocarbons, when it has been invited by a host country, such as Vietnam.

He said that much will depend on China's military assertion in the region  as well as the projection of the Chinese navy into the Indian Ocean to either balance or rival India's historic primacy in the Indian Ocean.

He said that if and when India does move in more meaningfully into the maritime speheres claimed exclusively by China as its core interests, the chances of tensions heightening between the two regional powers becomes a distinct possibility.

Saigal said that a greater presence by the Indian Navy beyond the Malacca Straits would be welcomed by practically all the nations of Southeast Asia as well as Japan and South Korea.

Referring to the Philippines in particular, Saigal said that the Philippines was Asia's first democracy, and that India was Asia's largest democracy. He said that both India and the Philippines, therefore were standard bearers for democracy in Asia.

In the same forum, Commodore Caesar Taccad, the Deputy Commander of the Philippine Fleet, Philippine Navy, said that countries such as China and India were already major regional maritime players, and that India's projection into the Indo-Pacific region "would heighten tensions" with China.

He said that India's roile would complement that of the United States, which has begun concentrating its military resources in the Pacific; but whose sustainability to continue operations would remain  in question.

He said that India has interests in the South China Sea, and that it was entirely possible that it would seek strategic partnerships with countries such as Australia and the Philippines.

Dr. Aileen S.P. Baviera, a professor of Chinese studies and international relations at the Asian Center, University of the Philippine and currently its officer-in-charge and former Dean whose research interests include regional security, territorial and maritime disputes, major power relations and China-Southeast Asia ties, said that there was now a trend towards "balanced multi-polarity in South East Asia."

"All countries operate under pressure from domestic considrations," she said, but said that norms such as the following of the rule of law" should prevail and that "the resort to arms buildup isndicative that diplomacy is failing."

Diliman Diary Blog: 02.22.2012 (My Darling Cyberstalker)

I first met her online in a Facebook group dedicated to University of the Philippines at Diliman alumni. I had just emerged from a long hibernation since my last relationship ended more than ten years ago, and I was feeling more sociable last year (2011). Guys (and not just girls) also feel the need to relax, hang loose and simply have the option to post away with merriment online; oftentimes approaching something close to wild abandon. 

Socializing online with my contemporaries - fellow U.P. Diliman graduates - was fun. It was exhilirating. It was also the perfect way for me to overcome a decade's old writer's block which had been hounding me. The more I could write without the pressure to perform, the less performance anxiety I felt, and the more my confidence levels began to go up again.

I also made scores of friends, including her. I posted in very thread I could. My visibility shot up, and I was on the radar screen of hundreds of U.P. Diliman alumni who found my irreverent, humorous posts compelling, fascinating, infuriating and difficult to ignore.

I was writing as I never had before. I felt alive again and years of existence in the realm of the undead - in my mind - populated by those who are loveless - and those who suffered from writer's block. In the latter, I was rediscovering myself and in the former, there was the hint, the allure of infinite possibilities. I was beginning to feel human again. And in began to show in my writing, in my posts, my long-buried humor. Even stray dogs and cats, taking note of my change in demeanor, began to gravitate towards me. I must have had a new aura.  Most of all, I suddenly began to be optimistic about life, and began to be hopeful.

Inevitably, I ended up on her radar screen. She participated in the threads I participated in. She was eight years older than I am (I am 46), and had undergone a difficult separation. She was looking for a mate. I was just looking to rejoin the human race. My new year’s resolution in 2011 was simply just to interact more with people. I attended a few get-togethers of our group. Nothing special. At least I met my targets that year.

We became Facebook friends after I posted the history of my entire love life (the short version) on the Facebook page, so as to quell any unwarranted speculation by others about me (Why is he unmarried? Does he have kids? etcetera). Perhaps I was too trusting. But by nature I am transparent. I felt that if I had nothing to hide, then why not let everybody know about the short details? I felt that that was a good way to nip speculation in the bud.

She sent me private messages asking how I was doing with my attempts to reach out to others of the opposite sex after such a long hiatus. I responded frankly about my fears, anxieties and angst. She gave reasonable advice. She would send me several private messages in a day. I would respond to each one of them. I thought I had a reusted, older confidante. She apparently thought otherwise.

It seems that she had found her mate.

Despite the fact that we had never even met, or even talked on the telephone, I had become designated as her “chosen one”.

The only problem with all of this was one little detail: she had forgotten or neglected to consult me about any of this.

Her messages became more insistent. She broke cover. She began to send me messages openly declaring her love for me. She sent me links to songs from Youtube. Some were sweet. Some were somber, dark, frightening, bordering on the verge of madness. I was concerned. Hell yeah. I was scared

I could not reciprocate this unrequited love. I was simply not interested. But being a diplomat’s son, I am perhaps polite to a fault. I politely declined her requests for coffee. I politely declined her overtures to talk on the telephone. I politely declined to have anything to do with her.

One time somebody pretending to be me on Facebook posted a post that I had never authorized and essentially was a post saying that a third party poster had hacked into my account. Immediately after that, I received a private message from her. And in it, she laughing openly and implying about how she had managed to hack into my account. I suddenly remembered the words of another female friend who knew her; and that friend said that she had access to people with technical capabilities to do such kinds of hacking.

I messaged her and confronted her, asking her if she had hacked into my account. She angrily denied this, and unfriended me.

But later on, she repeatedly asked me to add her back again as a friend.

She began picking fights with another female friend, apparently incensed that I still retained my friendship with the other friend.

She began to follow my every post online, seeking to embarrass me, and leaking details that I had given to her in confidence that tended to put me in a bad light in other forums. She complemented these approaches with more private messages, professing her friendship and her love for me.

I was being stalked online. I was being treated as an object by somebody who I did not want to get close to, but who was insisting on ramming a relationship down my throat. I was being cyberbullied. I was being cyberstalked. 

I communicated with another female friend and asked her to ask my cyberbullying "friend" to please stop hounding me. I received a message from her saying that she agreed to stop it.

The jury still remains out as to whether this has stopped once and for all, or it is merely the lull before another new storm?

Know your rights

Maybe I experienced this for a purpose. As the Co-Editor of the Diliman Diary, I am certainly in a position to  write about my experience and help educate my fellow Filipinos about cyberstalking and cyberbullying - whether they are male or female. Cyberstalking and cyberbullying in the Philippines is nothing new, after all.

According to Bernadette A. Mapue of the Department of Social Work and Community Development

Article II Section 5 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution states that, “the maintenance of peace and order, the protection of life, liberty, and property, and the promotion of the general welfare are essential for the enjoyment by all people of the blessings of democracy.” One of the avowed policies of the government is the promotion of the general welfare of the people and in order to enjoy peace and order means curbing untoward behavior which essentially disrupts social harmony. 

Normally, the act of bullying usually transpires among children, it is hard to impose punitive justice against them. As the effect of bullying manifest itself in different forms, the more evident manifestation by which the law may interfere is when physical assault is committed. However, since the perpetrators are mostly children under the age of majority, the restorative form of justice embodied in Republic Act 9344 or the Juvenile Justice Law is employed wherein child offenders are subjected to intervention programs and are brought to child caring institutions in the hope of reintegrating them in the society.

Stalking on the other hand, due to the circumstances by which it was committed, does not have an exact enabling law by which it is punished. Stalking involves actions wherein the perpetrator or stalker would follow the activities of the victim and is normally tagged as following another person’s movement from one place to another. At most, the victim may avail of the provisions under Article 202 (4) and Article 287 of the Revised Penal Code. Under Article 202 (4) of the Revised Penal Code, any person who, not being included in the provisions of other articles in this Code, shall be found loitering in any inhabited or uninhabited place belonging to another without any lawful or justifiable causes and who shall be found guilty thereof shall be punished by arresto menor or a fine not exceeding 200 pesos, and in case of recidivism, by arresto mayor in its medium period to prision correctional in its medium period or a fine ranging from 200 to 2,000 pesos, or both, in the discretion of the court. Article 287 of the same punishing unjust vexation by arresto menor or a fine ranging from 5 to 200 pesos, or both. 

The duration of such penalties, which ranges from one month and one day to six months in case of arresto mayor and one day to thirty days in case of arresto menor, and the meager fines by which the offenses are punished cannot surpass the psychological trauma and other effects of such negative behaviors.

Cyber stalking and Cyber bullying Legislation

At present, the Philippines has no explicit legilation on cyber stalking or cyber bullying. Nevertheless using the aforementioned definition of cyber staking petaining to the involvement of false accusations, transmission of threats, identity theft, damage to data or equipment, certain acts could be subsued in the acts prohibited under the Republic Act No. 8792, An Act Providing for the Recognition and Use of Electronic Commercial and non-comercial Transactions and Documents,Penalties for Unlawful Use Thereof and for other Purpose or the E-Commerce Act, the following Acts shall be penalized by fine and/or imprisonment, as follows:

1. Hacking or cracking which refers to unauthorized access into or interference in a computer system/server or information and communication system; or any access in order to corrupt, alter, steal, or destroy using a computer or other similar information and communication devices, without the knowledge and consent of the owner of the computer or information and communications system, including theintroduction of computer viruses and the like, resulting in the corruption,destruction, alteration, theft or loss of electronic data messages or electronic document shall be punished by a minimum fine of one hundredthousand pesos (P100,000.00) and a maximum commensurate to thedamage incurred and a mandatory imprisonment of six (6) months tothree (3) years.

It is apparent that the above-mentioned law only provides penalties to specfic acts done to promote cyber stalking. It only covers the tip of the entire gamut of cyber stalking. The danger that is posed by cyber bullying and cyber stalking has more far-fetching residues and ripples upon social peace and order. For someone to haunt another’s peace of mind debases morality and effectively undermine trust and confidence in the social forces that is supposed to safeguard people’s welfare against social harms.

Despite the lack of clear cut legislation designed to curb cyber stalking and cyber bullying, there are current efforts recognizing the dangers that these negative practices bring upon an individual or group of individuals in a society. In April 2009, Senator Juan Ponce Enrile filed Senate Bill No. 3177 entitled An Act Defining Cybercrime, providing for the prevention, supression and imposition of penalties and for other purposes. The Bill recognizes the stark advantage of the internet as it is nowadays a necessity and a tool for development and efficiency.

However it also recognizes the growing criminal perpetrators using the internet in carrying out their illegal activities. The Bill seeks to define what consitutes cybercrime and has mentioned in passing cyber stalking as an emerging trend espousing safer medium to stalk someone as this will not require physical presence when committing the misdeed and would only require an internet capable computer system. In the said proposed law however, cyber stalking and cyber bullying were not extensively mentioned as one of the cybercrimes needed to be addressed. It specifically tackled child pornography using the internet as well as Internet espionage and similar scenarios.

Senator Manny Villar on March of 2009 filed Senate Resolution No. 915 entitled A Resolution Urging the Senate Committees on Science and Technology, Public Information and Mass Media and other Appropriate Committees To Conduct an Inquiry in Aid of Legislation, on the occurrence of Cyber Stalking Cases and the Modus Operandi Adopted to Perpetuate Crimes in the Internet with the end view of formulating a policy that will curb cyber stalking and protect on-line users in the country. The author keenly recognized the danger posed by someone pretending to be another person using the account of that person to solicit money and or perpetuate criminal activities such as extortion, sexual harassment and other forms of crimes. At present, the Resolution has yet to be passed upon by the Senate and is pending hearing before the appropriate committees. Cyber bullying however do not have, as of the moment, similar legislative recognition. As dangerous as cyber stalking, bullying on the Internet may qualify as a cybercrime under the E-commerce law but it may have a semblance in the proposed bill of Senator Enrile.

It is important to understand however, that cyber stalking and cyber bullying are relatively new phenomenon in the country. This is the reason why there are no laws specifically pertaining thereto as of the present time. The E-Commerce law may be used to encompass other related activities but the scope of the said law is not comprehensive enough to include specific crimes of cyber stalking and cyber bullying. Despite several proposed enactments and resolutions by the Legislative arm of the government, there is still a need to concretize specific enabling laws that will establish legal grounds for singling out acts of cyber stalking and cyber bullying and penalizing the same. Without a specific law to criminalize such acts, aggrieved parties may be left with no other recourse but to file for civil damages using the general law on human relations enshrined under Article 19 of the Civil Code of the Philippines which aptly states that:

Article 19. Every person must, in the exercise of his rights and in the performance of his duties, act with justice, give everyone his due and observe honesty and good faith.

In the absence of such enabling law to criminalize such acts and provide penalties for the commission of such, the victim may only claim civil damages by way of filing cases on the basis of the above-mentioned provision. The perpetrator may pay the indemnity but may get away scot-free from the acts which he or she committed. The penalty provided by existing law do not commensurate to the damage and injury that such acts produce.

Overall, then much work needs to be done to enact legislation that would make cyberstalking and cyberbullying more costly for its perpetrators to engage in. As citizens, we can certainly do out bit by writing our local legislators to enact more legislation on this matter, and to also beief current and potential victims of their rights that already exist under current laws.

(Chanda Shahani)

Short Story: Room C10

ni Sigrid Salucop

Estudyante palang ako noon sa UP at isang summer naisipan kong mag-summer classes para mahabol ang mga units na kailangan ko. Nag-day trip ako noon at dahil halos 12 hours ang byahe galing Ilocos, nakarating nako sa dorm ng hatinggabi. Hindi talaga ako sa C10 pero pag summer kasi iniiba ang rooms ng mga residente ng Sampaguita Residence Hall kasi madaming nagko-cross register mula sa ibang mga UP campuses. Sa B10 ako pag regular na sem at ang kwartong ito ay kaharap lang ng C10 kaya ok na rin. Pag-akyat ko sa kwarto inayos ko na kaagad ang aking kama –yung kamang pang-hospital. Hindi naman na ito weird para sa mga dormers kasi talagang ganoon na ang mga kama doon at hindi lang din naman ang Sampa ang may mga ganoong beds kaso nga lang ginagamit itong panakot dahil mga ospital daw ang Sampa at ang kaharap nitong dorm noong World War II.

Habang nag-aayos ako ng mga gamit, ka-text ko ang isa kong room mate na doon din sa C10 inilagay ng dorm manager. Inaasahan ko kasi na may kasama ako sa gabing iyon. Past midnight na wala pa siya at dahil walang magawa inayos ko na rin ang aking cabinet nang biglang may narinig akong naglalakad sa may roof. Ang mga rooms kasi sa C ay nakaharap sa covered court ng Sampa kaya kaharap lang nito ang bubong ng court. Liningon ko sa bintana kung ano yun pero wala naman akong nakitang ilaw –kasi kung may nag-aayos man ng mga sira sa bubong malamang dapat may ilaw. Pero ang tanong bakit naman mag-aayos sila manong ng bubong pag gabi? Hindi ko pa natatapos ang aking pagmumuni muni nang biglang may sumitsit sa may bintana. Medyo nagalit pa nga ako noon kasi baka naman may mamboboso pero pagkatingin ko, may nakita akong itim na korteng tao. Hindi siya katangkaran at parang may suot na helmet sa ulo. Lumapit siya sa window ng C10 saka ako sinutsutan ulit. Kunwari na lang wala akong narinig pero alam ko na na marahil ay multo iyon. Kinilabutan ako kaya dahan dahan akong humiga sa higaan saka nagkunwaring nagbabasa ng libro. Alalang alala ko pa kung anong libro ang binabasa ko noon –The Things I know I learned In Kindergarten ni Robert Fulghum pero hindi talaga ako makapagconcentrate. Noong sinabi na ni Krisette na ma-le-late siya ng pagdating, nagtalukbong nako habang nakabukas pa ang ilaw. May naramdaman akong kakaiba pero hindi ako sumilip at pinipilit ko talagang matulog. Biglang lumamig ang paligid at nang may narinig akong gumalaw ng pinto sumilip ako kasi baka si Krisette na yun nang may bumungad sa akin na itim na naka-helmet. Wala itong mukha pero mistula itong nakatingin sa akin habang ako ay sumisilip sa aking blanket. Kinilabutan ako at nanlamig ang aking katawan habang pinapaniwala ko ang aking sarili na bangungot lang iyon. Biglang may kumatok sa pinto at pagsilip ko wala na yung itim na korteng tao kaya dali-dali akong tumayo at binuksan ang pintuan ng kwarto. Sa wakas si Krisette na yun galing pa sa Isabela. Hindi ko na yun kwinento sa kanya kasi natatakot ako na baka bumalik pa ang multo pag inamin kong nakita ko siya. Sabi kasi ng isa naming kaibigan, paminsan hindi alam ng mga multo kung sino ang mga nakakakita sa kanila kaya naisip ko magkukunwari na lang ako na hindi ko iyon nakita.

Pagkalipas ng ilang araw wala namang naganap na kakaiba sa C10 kaya naging mas kampante nakong mag-isa kahit pa gabi. Isang araw pagkatapos ng isa sa mga klase ko nag-uusap kami ng mga room mates ko sa may parking lot sa Sampa. Napasarap ang aming kwentuhan at hindi namin namalayan na papagabi na pala. Napatingin ako sa may gawi ng Bio Department na nasa kabilang kalye nang may napansin akong itim na korteng tao na naka-helmet. Parang hindi niya ako napansin kasi mistulang nagtatago ito sa mga santan sa may lawn ng dorm. Dahan dahan siyang naglalakad habang naka-bend ang mga tuhod nito na para bang mayroon siyang pinagtataguan. Nasilayan ko ang pigura na tumakbo papasok ng dorm. “Anong nangyari sa’yo?” tanong sakin ng isa kong room mate at napailing lang ako. “May nakita akong itim na korteng tao…” sabi ko habang hinahaplos ko ng mabilis ang aking mga braso para mapigilan ang pagtayo ng aking mga balahibo. Sa katunayan nga habang isinusulat ko ito makalipas ang ilang taon ay kinikilabutan pa rin ako.

Hindi ako nagdasal kasi hindi naman talaga ako nagdadasal. Agnostic ako kumbaga pero noong nakita na ng mga room mates ko na talagang natakot ako sa experience nay un, sinabi nila na sasamahan nila ako papunta sa UP chapel kinaumagahan para magtirik ng kandila kasi malamang daw isa itong kaluluwang hindi matahimik. Sa isip isip ko, baka nga naman kailangan lang itong ipagdasal kaya sinunod ko na lang ang aking mga room mate na mas nakakatanda sa akin.

Sabado kinaumagahan. Agad kaming pumunta sa UP Chapel para magtirik ng kandila kaya pagkatapos magbihis ay naglakad na kami mula sampa papuntang SC. Nilalakad lang kasi namin papuntang SC (Shopping Center) mula sa dorm kahit pa may kalayuan. Sabado rin naman at wala rin naman kaming ibang gagawin. Nasa may Sanggumay Residence Hall na kami nang napansin kong parang may sumusunod sa amin. Lumingon ako pero wala namang ibang taong naglalakad –halos empty rin kasi ang campus kapag sabado ang dinadayo lamang e ang academic oval. Pagkarating sa simbahan, bumili na ako ng kandila sa sinindihan ito at nagdasal. Ganoon din ang ginawa ng aking mga room mate. Habang nagdadasal ako idinilat ko ang aking mga mata at nakita ko ang itim na korteng tao sa may labas ng simbahan. Mistula itong nagmamasid. Ito ang unang pagkakataon na nakita ko ito ng umaga at nasigurado ko na hindi lang ito parte ng aking imahinasyon. Ilang segundo din siyang nakatayo sa kabilang kalye –iba kasi ang istraktura ng simbahan at marami itong maluluwang na daanan. Pag nakaupo ka para makinig ng misa makikita mo ang parte ng UP Infirmary at ang kalye sa may bungad nito. Naputol ang aking pagdadasal para sa itim na korteng tao nang bigla siyang umalis at naglakad pabalik sa kalyeng pinanggalingan namin. Doon ko na siya huling nakita. Itinuloy ko na lamang ang pagdadasal para sa kanya at inisip ko na sana ay makatulong ito.

Pagktapos ng ilang taon, nakagradweyt na rin ako sa pamantasan at nagsimula nang magtrabaho. At katulad ng marami mayroon akong Facebook account. Sumali ako sa isang grupo ng mga dating estudyante sa UP Diliman at doon nabasa ko ang isang ghost story ng isang dating estudyante. Nakakita ito ng isang itim na tao na nakaupo sa may roof ng isa sa mga building malapit sa College of Mass Communication. Doon ko na napagtanto na hindi ekslusibo para sa akin ang experience na iyon at baka may iba pang taong nakakita ng mga itim na korteng tao. Ang tanong, iisa lang ba siya o marami sila?

(Graphic from: http://www.sxc.hu)

University of the Philippines President reveals two-pronged strategy to cement U.P.'s status as First among Equals

By Chanda Shahani

University of the Philippines (U.P.) President Alfredo E. Pascual revealed yesterday a two-pronged strategy to cement U.P.'s status as the country's premier university during his investiture speech during rites held on September 15, 2011 at the University Theater at U.P., Diliman.

Pascual said that academic excellence and operational excellence were the two main strategies that would bring back to its customary role as first among equals of other Philippine universities

He said that academic excellence entails developing students, researchers, staff and faculty members into “a pool of responsible and competent leaders who create world-class innovative and practical technologies that can address the problems of the country with food, energy, environment, industrial development, livelihood and employment; who produce creative works that can uplift the spirit of our people and articulate the essence of our culture and national identity; and who conduct exemplary extension services that can transform our communities.”

As regards operational excellence, Pascual said that it is achievable only through administrative efficiency and financial sustainability, the quickest approach of which is to put in place “an integrated information and communication system that will tie our units together into one UP.”

Recognizing the need to have decision-making based on accurate and real-time information, he said that UP will soon launch the e-UP which will interconnect and harmonize ICT systems and infrastructure across all UP campuses.

Pascual explained that U.P., would only succeed with “the support staff, alumni, students and with the grace of God.” He added that while U.P. was once a great center of learning in Asia, “comparative surveys now show that U.P.'s preeminent position has failed.”

“U.P.'s path of greatness lies not just in the past but beyond,” he said, adding that U.P.'s role in national development was critical in helping to tackle problems which have resisted solutions for decades. “The magnitude is daunting.”

The remaking of U.P. as a great university can only be achieved with the collective labor of everybody involved, he said. “There is one U.P., seven (7) constituent universities and one autonomous college – but still One U.P.,” he said.

That One U.P. is actually enormous. Pascual said that the entire U.P. System is made up of 5000 faculty, 50,000 students , 10,000 staff and 260,000 alumni.

As the country's only national university, U.P. has to lead the country to national development and global competitiveness, he said. U.P.'s academic excellence were critical in solving the problems besetting the country, he said and called for students, researchers, and faculty to be combined into a pool of operational excellence.

Pascual identified mission critical areas for research for U.P. and the nation in the areas of food, energy, industrial development, livelihood, and creative works (national cultures and extension services).

Speaking amidst applause from a mostly U.P. audience, Pascual reminded them that U.P.'s track record of excellence remained: with 37 national scientists out of 39 being from U.P.; and with having 20 centers of academic excellence as certified by the Commission on Higher Education and Development. He also said that the U.P. faculty had the most number of publications in international and refereed publications

“But we can do more,” Pascual said. He said that he wanted to see more Iskos or Iskolar ng Bayans “regardless of economic status.”

“We need to review the U.P. College Admissions test (UPCAT) and the Socialized Tuition and Financial Assistance Program (STFAP) as well as improve scholarship programs,” he said. Pascual also tacitly acknowledged the seminal speech on the diminishing character of the University of the Philippines given on June 25, 2010 by former Faculty Regent Judy M. Taguiwalo at U.P. Diliman when he stressed that U.P. needed to take more steps “to improve the public character of the university.”

To buttress his point, Pascual said that U.P.'s general education program has to be improved so that ethics, civics, public and national concerns were included. It was also necessary to “give the students a global orientation,” he said. U.P. must also expose students to the basic tenets of entrepreneurship through business enterprises,” he added.

Amidst applause from the audience, Pascual said that U.P. will also finance advanced studies for junior faculty and provide educational materials. He said that it was important to confer the recognition of professors emeriti only from among the most outstanding professors in their fields.

Referring indirectly to U.P.'s inadequate budgetary allocation as submitted by the Department of Budget and Management to Congress, Pascual said that government support for U.P. should “not be regarded as an expense but as an investment that yields copious dividends for the country and the people.”

“Education should be accessible to the people and this is not because we have as reputation to protect, but because we have a country he said,” to warm applause from the audience.

In terms of strategic initiatives the land assets of U.P. needed to be maximized in a optimal manner, he said. There needs to be a proper appreciation of all properties and a master development plan for resource generation for the entire U.P. System is being worked on,” he said.

He also referred to the issue of intellectual property as the BOR has approved the revised UP intellectual property rights policy.

On the issue of raising resources independent of the budget from the national government, Pascual said the process of bringing a viable research finding from the laboratory to the market needs acceleration so that U.P. can better be able to generate resources to fulfill is mandate.

Pascual, a former Alumni Regent on U.P.'s Board of regents, said “there will be a seamless partnership between U.P. and the U.P. Alumni network in the service of the university. He said that the Univesity of the Philippines Charter of 2008 (R.A. 9500) granted 150% tax deductibility to donations to U.P., and “this can be considered a material inducement to prospective donors.”

Stressing the need for higher state subsidy, Pascual stressed, “Government financial support for UP is not an expense, but an investment that will yield copious dividends for our country and people.”

“We must continue to demand increases in state subsidy for (the University of the Philippines), increases in the pay of our faculty and staff, and the upgrading of our facilities deserving of a national university,” he said.

He said that the UP community will not waver in the efforts “to restore UP to its preeminent status in the world of higher education and to ensure that the education it offers is accessible to the least of our people.”

“As the national university, UP must lead our country toward true national development and global competitiveness while nurturing the spirit of our nationhood,” he said.

Another project is the Green UP which aims, among others, “to make…campuses environment-friendly while saving on the cost of utilities, such as electricity and water.”

 Describing the ideal that would lead to the formation of young minds from the bellows and forges of a U.P. experience, Pascual quoted from Murray Bartlett, the first U.P. President and an American, who stressed on December 20, 1911 that:

"The atmosphere of this place must be filled with those great ideals that throughout the pages of history have been the true cause of greatness of men and nations. The real wealth of the country is not to be found in its material resources, but in the strength and courage of its manhood and the purity of its womanhood. The university must be a training ground for the development of character. Our alma mater is not to breed aristocrats, but unselfish workers for the common good."

In his speech, the U.P. President also quoted from Jose P. Rizal's "Letter to the Women of Malolos," written on February 22, 1899, where Rizal urged the women of Malolos to: 

"Awaken and prepare the mind of the child for every good and desirable idea – love for honor, sincere and firm character, clear mind, clean conduct, noble action, love for one’s fellow men, respect for God – teach this to your children. And because life is full of sorrows and perils, fortify their character against any difficulty, strengthen their hearts against any danger. The country should not expect honor and prosperity so long as the education of the children is defective, so long as the women who raise the children are enslaved and ignorant. Nothing can be drunk in a turbid and bitter spring. No sweet fruit can be picked from a sour seed"

 

Drawing the analogy between the past and the present, the U.P. President went on to praise such U.P. Diliman graduates as John Gabriel Pelias, who has had the highest grade point average of U.P. Diliman summa cum laude graduates and who went on to serve his country by returning to U.P. to teach. He also praised the 2011 Miss Universe beauty contestant, U.P. Diliman graduate Shamcey Supsup who graduated magna cum laude and who topped the architectural board exams. He called her a combination of "brains and beauty."

Pascual said that U.P. students' ingenuity were at the forefront of their being able to maximize their learning experiences at U.P. despite antiquated facilities and a lack of resources.

(Chanda Shahani is the editor of the Diliman Diary. He has an A.B. Comparative Literature degree from U.P Diliman and a Master in Entrepreneurship (M.E.) degree from the Asian Institute of Management. He is also a former business page reporter of the Philippine STAR).

Diliman Video of the Week: Diliman Windstorm

GMA news TV: SONA - UP academic record-breaker: 'I was not born a genius'

The 8th Philippine Youth Congress in Information Technology is about to unfold!

Scheduled on September 14, 15, 16 and 17, 2010, Y4iT 2010 will be definitely bigger and better. It has become one of the most highly anticipated and biggest youth IT convention in the country. Some 20,000 college students and young professionals are expected to attend the week long conference. Various relevant, intriguing and exciting new IT topics will be discussed.

Y4iT 2010 is an enabling event for the youth. It aims to recognize young Filipinos as key drivers in the highly dynamic IT industry.

in 2009 around 20,000 delegates from all over the country participated in the 4-days Y4iT 2009 held in UP Diliman. It was hosted by the UP ITTC and UP SITF in cooperation with the Student Volunteer Corps, PSITE, CSP, PCS, JICA, PSIA and itprosasia.com.

Please call the secretariat and ask for Gary Rhea at 9202080, 9818500 loc. 4468 to 4469, or 4362217. You may also fax us at 9202036 or email us at y4itcongress@yahoo.com or y4it@ittc.up.edu.ph.

Report: Fire hits Quezon Hall at U.P. Diliman

Fire has hit Quezon Hall in U.P. Diliman on the night of August 15, 2010, according to philippinestar.com, inquirer.net and gmanewstv. For more information on this, please click on their links below:

Report: Fire guts UP Diliman office Home Other Sections Breaking News

and

Fire hits administration building of UP Diliman - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos

and

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/198646/fire-hits-up-diliman-admin-building

Stained Glass Window inside the Bahay ng Alumni, U.P. Diliman

(Photo by: Chanda Shahani)

Diliman Videos of the Week: University of the Philippines Shopping Center Street Children Parts 1 and 2

These are two video documentaries made Ms. Raissa Realeza and Raine Calucag, who are both students from the University of the Philippines Baguio.

These videos are products from field work for their Communications 3 summer course facilitated by Mr. Dave Centeno, an instructor at the Department of Speech, Communication and Theatre Arts at the University of the Philippines Diliman.

(Source: http://www.youtube.com/)

Dateline Diliman: Announcements and Calendar of Events for May, 2010

Dear Reader,

The Diliman Diary's research department has consolidated announcements and calendars of events from Ateneo de Manila University, Miriam College and U.P. Diliman and will be posting them online a monthly basis as a service to our readers for May, 2010.

If you, the reader, in your individual capacity, or your organization have an event or anouncement that you wish to promote please email the details to: dilimandiary@yahoo.com Attention: The Editor.

Best regards,

The Editor

May, 2010 Announcements and Events:

Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU). Please click on this link:

https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B2VO4dpq1vHKNzcyNzkyOWQtYzkwZi00NDQxLTllMDctZGZhOTQ4NmM5ODdh&hl=en&invite=CPqdovYN

Miriam College. Please click on this link:

https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B2VO4dpq1vHKOGNkMTNmNmYtNjJhNy00NzRiLTljMDQtZGM1NTVmN2Q4ZTNi&hl=en&invite=CL2CpqYF

U.P. Diliman. Please click on this link:

https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B2VO4dpq1vHKODJmMzUzOGEtOGY5My00MGNmLTg4NzQtZWE1N2JjZTE3ZDk1&hl=en&invite=CMqxpekM