Salvador P. Lopez conference highlights U.P.'s current problems

By Chanda Shahani

A conference on the achievements and times of U.P. President Salvador P. Lopez held on January 19, 2012 at Faculty Center, U.P. Diliman highlighted the current problems now currently being faced by the University of the Philippines (U.P.) System.

The conference, entitled the Salvador P. Lopez Centennial Academic Conference dwelled on several themes which were relevant during S.P. Lopez's term of office as U.P. President from 1969 to 1975, and which have applicability to the situation facing the U.P. System even today.

U.P. President Pascual makes comparisons between his term and that of of former President Lopez

Speaking at the conference, U.P. President Alfredo E. Pascual said that his term began in 2010 as the 20th U.P. President. He said that the challenges facing former President Lopez were vastly different compared to today's job of managing a university system which, "as massive as U.P. is, is never easy."

He said that the idea of a U.P. System was originally conceptualized by S.P. Lopez in 1969 and that it was meant to be one overarching entity made up of organized but separate entities.

He said that the four pillars referred to by S.P. Lopez in running a university were still valid today. He said these four pillars were:

• Accessibility
• Democratization
• Relevance
• Autonomy

He said that the inspiration for creating a U.P. System was inspired by the University of California System with its flagship campus being U.C. Berkeley, which was roughly analogous to U.P. Diliman.

Pascual said the U.P. System was trying to develop linkages with various UC units, and that he was already in discussion with UC Berkeley's Health Sciences System wherein they are trying to develop a joint research institute with U.P.

He said that his administration faced challenges "unheard of in the time of S.P. Lopez." He pointed out that the U.P. System was made up of seven (7) constituent universities and one (1) autonomous college

Pascual narrated that the U.P. System itself "was tsked to ensure that all autonomous units develop to maximum completion." He pointed out that the differeent U.P. units were in different stages of development, with U.P. Manila, Diliman and Los Baños being the most favored.

He said that the overall vision was to equalize the standards throughout the U.P. System. Consequentially, and as a symbolic move, he said that since the graduates of the different constituent universities should be of the same caliber, that U.P.'s plan was to remove the name of the constituent universities from all of U.P.'s diplomas as a "symbolic move."

Unifying standards and quality assurance

President Pascual said that it was imprtant for U.P. to ensure a system-wide implementation of quality assurance. However, potential problems existed with the autonomy of U.P. units which "is an issue that is fraught with danger," he said.

He said the existence of different university councils among the different U.P. constituent unversities compounded the problem of standards. "There is no formal system at the system level at unifying reforms, for example, of the General Education Program," he said, adding that the value of general education is seen in conferences on education that he has attended all over Asia.

To unify the actions of the U.P. System, you must rely on the oneness of vision among its officials, he said.

He said that he would invoke Article 50 of the U.P. Code which gives the U.P. President the blanket discretion to modify any resolution of any body of the university in order to ensure that any collegial decisions made by lower-ranking bodies were consistent with U.P.'s overall vision.

U.P. Diliman Chancellor Caesar Saloma highlights UPD's problems

Speaking also at the conference, U.P. Diliman Chancellor Caesar saloma said that UPD has 136 degree programs offering the Ph.D. degree but only 73 Ph.D. graduates are produced by UPD every year. In other words, there are more programs than there are graduates. He traced this to the iffy quality of mentoring now in place in UPD and said this has to improve.

Chancellor Saloma said that U.P. Diliman has 1535 faculty members, but that only 528 or 36% of them had Ph.D.'s Of the existing Ph.D. holders, 46% of them were 56 years old and above; meaning that close to half were nearing retirement age.

The bottom-line is that there is a shortage of Ph.D.'s now in the UPD faculty, and aggressive measures will have to be undertaken to improve these numbers in order for UPD to remain a leading educational institution in the country.

He also said the Philippine population had increased by 20 million from 1999 to 2010, which resultd in more pressures being put on U.P. to provide more services, but without a corresponding increase in budget. He said that U.P. thus had a potent argument to increase government subsidies given the huge impact of population pressures on U.P, to provide more services.

Open forum, a former Faculty Regent questions U.P.'s policy on Corporatization

During the open forum with President Pascual, former Faculty Regent Judy M. Taguiwalo agreed with President Pascual that U.P. was on the right track to continue ensuring academic excellence, democratic governance and academic freedom.

However, Professor Taguiwalo expressed concern with U.P.'s policy of increasing "corporatization," which played into the hands of neoliberal advocates who wanted public universities such as U.P. to be subjected to market forces rather than as universities with a public character. She asked how the U.P. President would address this concern.

Answering Professor Taguiwalo's question, President Pascual said that U.P., did not have professionals among its administrators, unlike some other universities. He said all the supervisors of the university were derived from the faculty; and this helped ensure the university's public character.

President Pascual said that he came from the enviornment of the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) where the faculty there were jealous of safeguarding their role in running the affairs of the institute; rather thanletting professional managers call the shots.

But President Pascual was firm in advocating what he said was a global trend of increasing corporatization that U.P. could not escape. He said that U.P. should instead strive "to create its own brand" of corporatization with the overall consensus of its faculty.

Regent Bibeth Orteza on mismatched shoes, breast cancer and on thinking outside the box

Regent Bibeth Orteza exits Quezon Hall after a BOR meeting in December 2010. Photo by Chanda Shahani

'And at the investiture of Alfredo E. Pascual, 20th president of UP, at the UP Theater in the month just past, I partnered purple with black, a puwede na rin combined with the purple and green toga assigned to regents."'

'Said Chanda R. Shahani, editor of the online weblog Diliman Diary: “Regent Bibeth’s mismatched shoes signaled to me a lightening of the atmosphere under the new administration of UP president Alfredo E. Pascual, as the administration of former president Emerlinda R. Roman was rocked in its later years by significant policy differences by her administration and the various sectors. Like the mismatched shoes, Pascual symbolized a phenomenon to me that was smart, modern, conscious of the rules, but also witty and inspired enough to think and do things outside the box for the benefit of the country’s only national university.”'

'For former faculty regent Judy Taguiwalo, “kahit ’di pares ang sapatos, walang kapares ang may suot!”'

Read the rest here.

U.P. Aking Mahal

Speech of Dr. Eloisa May P. Hernandez, Ph.D. Philippine Studies graduate (Summer 2010), in the recognition day of the PhD in Phil Studies program of UP Diliman, GT-Toyota Asian Center Auditorium, U.P. Diliman April 17, 2011 as posted on Facebook by Dr. Cynthia Grace C. Gregorio, U.P. Diliman Vice-Chancellor for Community Affairs (courtesy of former Faculty Regent Judy M. Taguiwalo).

By Dr. Eloi Hernandez

This afternoon, I have come full circle. 24 years ago when I was in kinder I gave the valedictory address to the kinder graduates of the T. Alonzo Elementary School in Project 4. I did not go to that school, my mother’s sister was the kinder teacher and she hired me to deliver the valedictory address. I was given sorbetes for my services.

I thank the Asian Center and Tri-college Ph.D. Philippine programme for giving me the opportunity to deliver the speech in behalf of the graduating class this year, for real. I am not sure if I will receive sorbetes after my speech, but I am certain that this will be more memorable for me than the one I gave in kinder.

When I was informed that I will be giving the speech, I asked if there is a particular theme that I should work with and I was told there is none. For many days I contemplated on what I will say this afternoon. I thought I’d give an academic speech, talk about the economic, political, cultural and social problems of our nation and how these are related to the conditions of our Asian neighbors. I decided against it because, I thought this afternoon, what I want to share with you is about love. I decided to tell you about UP Aking Mahal. If there is one thing in my life that remains constant – it is my love for UP. I have spent more than half of my life in U.P. as an undergrad student, an MA student, a young instructor, a PhD student, a campus resident, and now as an associate professor. But we all know UP is not easy to love, UP can break your heart in so many ways. I know, because it has broken mine several times.

For instance, I applied as an instructor three times at the Department of Art Studies and three times, I was rejected. Pursuing my Ph.D. in Philippine Studies gave me a lot of heartaches. The years I spent working on it were some of the most trying times in my life. The 2 years I devoted to writing my dissertation were arguably the most difficult - so many long, lonely, sleepless nights coupled with physical pain, mental anguish, and emotional torment. Had I known it would be that difficult, I would not have embarked on the Ph.D. in the first place. But I persisted. I kept reminding myself – “para sa UP ito.” I did it not only for myself but for UP Aking Mahal. I could not have survived it without the fervent support and unconditional love of my partner Grace and our varsity kids, my mother Evelyn, Tita Chit, and nephews Chryso, Cocoy, Dale, my dear friend Dr. Aileen Salonga, my professors and staff of the tri-college Ph.D. Philippine Studies program, my department and college, and the expert guidance of my adviser Dr. Patrick Flores. I thought when I finished my Ph.D. everything would be better. I could not be more wrong. In fact, after my Ph.D., I was depressed and heartbroken as several trials tested my love for UP. I kept asking myself – why do I stay in UP? I thought long and hard, I agonized, I had lengthy heated discussions with my partner, friends, and colleagues trying to find the answer to my question. Ultimately, I arrived at a singular conclusion - I love UP. I love the students who fuel my passion for teaching and learning; the hours spent inside the classroom with them rejuvenate me. My fellow professors continue to inspire me to teach. I love the beautiful UP campus that has been my home for the past 6 years. I love the history of UP – its 100 years of excellence in the service of the nation. I love how UP gives an impoverished young man the chance to become a genius and how it transforms a young woman into an architecture board topnotcher and a beauty queen (she was my student by the way).

I realized that my love for UP is inevitably linked to my love for country. It is by choice that I stay in the country. It is also by choice that I teach in UP because it is here in UP, where I continue to hope, that in a seemingly small way, I, as a teacher contribute in making the Philippines a better place. Because it is here in UP where I have the distinct opportunity to teach the country’s best and the brightest minds and take part in shaping them into critical thinkers and leaders of this country. This is my service to UP and country. This is how I embody the spirit of the Oblation and the ideals of U.P. - service, leadership, and excellence. Undoubtedly, my many years in U.P. have awakened a deeper understanding and love for country. In particular, the Ph.D. Philippine studies program equipped me with a more critical understanding of the complex history, political landscape, and cultural terrain of the country. The knowledge I gained in this program made me a better teacher and a better Filipino. At this point, I would like to share something I wrote for my graduating students in 2006. Now, this message is not just for my students but also for you my fellow graduates and for myself, so that I will always be reminded of the reasons that make me stay in UP.

"To all new graduates – congratulations! Enjoy this day. This is important to your parents, family, and significant others. Be proud, you now join the ranks of great thinkers, movers, and leaders of our country. You are now part of the great UP tradition. The legacy left to us by the best and brightest of the past. Do not do anything to taint this legacy. Fellow Iskolar ng bayan, as you begin to embark on your quest to earn your millions and live comfortable lives, in your haste to go to foreign lands to earn big bucks and drive big cars, I beg you - do not forget the people who sent you to school. Do not forget the taxpayers who toil everyday to pay for your tuition. Do not forget the people who gave you the opportunity to be iskolar ng bayan. Mga iskolar ng bayan, huwag kalimutang pagsilbihan ang bayan.

UP FIGHT!" 

(Editor's note: In sharing this speech with other U.P. graduates through Dr. Taguiwalo, Vice-Chancellor Gregorio commented thus on Dr. Hernandez's speech: "I want to share Eloi's graduation speech during the Tricollege graduation rites on Apr. 17,2011. She spoke in behalf of  of the graduates. It's the most earnest speech I've ever listened to, so sincere it strikes your heart right smack in the middle. It's a shame if it will just be one of those speeches filed away and eventually forgotten. This one is worth remembering and definitely worth sharing with others, whether new UP graduates or alumni who have long graduated from our beloved UP.")