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.

Opening Remarks at the Launching of the UP Commemoration of the Birth Centennial of Former UP President Salvador P. Lopez UP Vargas Museum, May 27, 2011

By Dr. Judy M. Taguiwalo

Tonight,  we are launching the university’s commemoration of the birth centennial of Salvador Ponce Lopez, the 11th President of the University of the Philippines. One hundred years after his birth, over 35 years after the end of his term as UP President and 18 years after his death, we pay tribute to him and to the continuing relevance of his institutional innovations in our enduring quest for a university whose excellence is in the service of the Filipino people.

UP  previously honoured President Lopez  with a Testimonial Program on November 22, 1990 under then UP President Jose V. Abueva and with the Necrological Services on October 20, 1993 under then UP President Emil Javier. The testimonials and eulogies on his life and work given in these  occasions have been preserved in official publications of the university.

Lopez’s accomplishments as writer, journalist, diplomat are varied and outstanding. The University’s commemoration of his birth centennial takes these into account. But the main focus of our celebration will be on Lopez’s contribution to the strengthening of the University as the premier institution of higher learning in the country at a period of intense social awakening and social conflicts.  The SP Lopez  presidency is so well characterized as  “a presidency responsive not only of the demands of its constituents but also to the aspirations of the Filipino people, most of all, their assertion of freedom. Thus, though encompassing ‘the most turbulent years in the history of the university  his administration would nonetheless emerge as one of the most democratic and relevant presidency.”

The centennial commemoration of SP Lopez birth by the university acknowledges the democratic thrust of his presidency  by the fact that the commemoration would involve faculty, students, administrative staff and REPS who are all represented in the centennial committee created by UP’s 20th President, the Honorable Alfredo E. Pascual.

On a personal note,  I was an undergraduate student when SP Lopez became UP President and my undergraduate diploma bears his signature. I was in the midst of some of the major historic events that confronted SP when he became President.  Barely  into his first month in office ,  SP  was faced with a general strike on February 4, 1969 when students, faculty and staff presented him with 77 demands.  The First Quarter Storm of 1970 occurred during the first anniversary of his Presidency  and he did not hesitate to lead the UP faculty in a march to Malacanang to protest the violence inflicted on the students. At the historic  Diliman Commune in February 2 to 9, 1971 he stood with the UP community in defending the university from military incursions.

Now reading his writings and writings on him, I realize once again how committed he was to protecting the integrity of the university; how well  he understood the wellspring of student activism;  how hard he worked for ensuring democratic governance of the university  and how desirous he was of linking the university’s academic mandate with service to the people.

Let us honor SP Lopez by being faithful to his vision of a university in the service of the Filipino people.

Pagtulungan natin na ang ating pagpaparangal  kay SP ay hindi  lamang sa salita kundi higit pa sa gawa.  Sa pagtitiyak na demokratiko ang pamamalakad sa unibersidad;  na ang demokratikong akses sa ating pamantasan ay mapapalakas sa halip na mapapahina;  na ang integridad ng UP bilang isang sistema ng constituent universities na may pagkalinga sa isa’t isa ay mapapaunladi ; na katuwang ang UP sa pambansang proyekto ng tunay na kaunlaran para sa nakararami –sa  ganitong katulad na mga  hakbangin  lamang natin matitiyak ang patuloy na katuturan ng buhay at paglilingkod ni SP Lopez.

Maraming salamat sa inyong pagdalo sa gabing ito para sama-sama nating batiin ng maligayang 100 kaarawan, ang mahal na yumaong Pangulo Salvador P. Lopez.

(Dr. Judy Taguiwalo, Ph. D., is the Former Faculty Regent, University of the Philippines and is the Chair, Committee for the Commemoration of the Birth Centennial of Former UP President Salvador P. Lopez. For more information on the life, times and career of former President Lopez, please call the committee's office phone/fax at: (632) 929-8438)