U.P. Newsletter 1
Wired UP Horizon online The UPLB website now has links to their official publications: Horizon and Link (http://www.uplb.edu.ph/index.php/ publications/viewcategories). The issues can be used for future reference and maybe even track developing research.
University of the Philippines Community Newspaper V O L U M E X X XIII
SEPTEMBER 2 0 12
DILIMAN, QUEZON CITY
Read UP Newsletter online at http://www.up.edu.ph/upnewsletter.php
Research grant awardees present projects
TWSC forum: UP as a public service university Arlyn VCD Palisoc Romualdo
The UP Diliman (UPD) Third World Studies Center (TWSC) launched its 2012 public forum series with its initial offering last September 5 titled, “May Tubo ba ang Pagtulong ng UP?: What Counts as Public Service in the National University?” The event featured four panel speakers: Political Science Professor Emeritus and former UP President Francisco Nemenzo,
Public Administration and Governance Professor and UP Vice-President for Public Affairs J. Prospero de Vera III, Marine Science University Professor Emeritus Edgardo Gomez and retired Economics and Management Professor Niceto Poblador. Nemenzo said that while the UP Charter merely states what the university
Photo by Misael Bacani
Jo. Florendo B. Lontoc
Five research projects which were first to qualify for the UP System’s Emerging Interdisciplinary Research (EIDR) Program were presented to the public last August 29 at the National Institute of Physics Auditorium, National Science Complex, UP Diliman (UPD). The grant aims to promote world-class interdisciplinary research doable in four years to solve problems of the country, or to produce results of major benefit to the country. The five research projects that qualified are: 1) “Social-Ecological Resilience on Different Spatial and Temporal Scales (Emphasis on the Coast)” by Dr. Maria Helena Yap, Dr. Prospero Naval Jr., Dr. Johnrob Bantang, and Dr. David Leonides Yap, all of UPD; 2) “Towards Good Water Governance for Development: A Multi-Case Analysis” by, from UP Los Baños (UPLB), Dr. Agnes Rola, Dr. Maria Helen Dayo, Dr. Virgilio Villancio, Dr. Juan Pulhin and Dr. Myra
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Former UP President Francisco Nemenzo shares his insights on UP’s public service mandate as VP for Public Affairs Prospero de Vera III listens.
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UPLB professor emeritus is Ramon Magsaysay awardee The Ramon Magsaysay Award, Asia’s Nobel Prize, was conferred on Dr. Romulo Davide, professor emeritus at the UP Los Baños College of Agriculture (UPLBCA). Davide was cited for “his steadfast passion in placing the power and discipline of science in the hands of farmers in the Philippines, who have consequently multiplied their yields, created productive
farming communities, and rediscovered the dignity of their labor.” The other recipients of the 2012 Ramon Magsaysay Award were Chen Shu-Chu from Taiwan, Kulandei Francis from India, Syeda Rizwana Hasan from Bangladesh, Yang Saing Koma from Cambodia, and Ambrosius Ruwindrijarto from Indonesia. Credited for establishing the Farmer-
Scientists Training Program (FSTP) in his hometown in Colawin, Argao, Cebu in 1994, Davide later expanded to more areas in Cebu and then to 10 other regions, namely, Regions 4B, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13 under Executive Order 710 signed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2008. FSTP will also soon be implemented in Region 1. The FSTP empowers small farmers to Continued on page 6
The UP Board of Regents (BOR) during its 1,282nd meeting last September 20 approved the appointments of Atty. Hector Danny Uy as vice-president for legal affairs and Prof. Christopher Espina as assistant vice-president for development, effective September 1, 2012, both to serve at the pleasure of their immediate superiors. For UP Diliman, the board approved the appointment of Prof. Leonardo Rosete as dean of the College of Fine Arts, effective October 1, 2012 until September 30, 2015; and for UP Los Baños, Dr. Crisanto Dorado as vice-chancellor for administration, effective August 1, 2012 to serve at the pleasure of the chancellor.
Photo by Bong Arboleda
BoardWork: New appointments
Sporting shaved heads, the UP Pep Squad perform their winning routine en route to a third straight championship at the Samsung UAAP Cheerdance Competition held at the Mall of Asia Arena last September 22. (See page 15 for more photos.)
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UP to customize its bidding system
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Photo by Bong Arboleda
Photo by Misael Bacani
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has already been doing, he did not realize that the declaration of UP as the national university, as explicitly stated in Republic Act No. 9500, would result in redefining the university’s identity. He did not see this as negative, since it has led UP to ask, “What more can we do as the national university?” Nemenzo emphasized that even as UP pursues public service endeavors, it should never forget its essential mission: to develop intellectual capital. To be able to get the best and the brightest students, the university must “help [in improving] secondary, even elementary, education in public schools.” He added that he “hopes his colleagues in the academe would not find it beneath themselves to create textbooks” that would raise the level of public education in the country. In relation to society at large, he stated his objection to the widely-known assertion that “UP is a microcosm of Philippine society.” The university is not and should never be a “miniature or mere reflection of the status quo.” Nemenzo said UP should not mirror but strive to improve existing realities through innovation and creative and critical thinking that is “out of the box.” De Vera, meanwhile, explained that the phenomenon of universities’ assuming a role in civic engagement started in the early 1990s, so it is “nothing new.” UP itself “has had a long tradition of public service” even before the mandate of “lead[ing] as a public service university by providing various forms of community, public and volunteer services, as well as scholarly and technical assistance to the government, the private sector, and civil society while maintaining its standards of excellence” was stated in its Charter. The university is “uniquely positioned” to fulfill this mandate, he said, as it has expertise, linkages, network of alumni and geographic reach that allow the provision of public service on a national scale. He cited as an example UP Padayon Task Force Sendong, a public service endeavor consisting of four teams— public health and sanitation, medical, forensic and geohazards—that went to Iligan City in the aftermath of Typhoon Sendong in December 2011. The university had three factors crucial to the undertaking: “expertise to provide strategic, focused, high impact and immediate assistance during disasters, capability to provide long term technical assistance through its scientific and policy research, and network of alumni, students, other universities, and linkages with national and local governments to undertake strategic
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Panunupil at paglaban mula Batas Militar hanggang sa kasalukuyan, tinalakay sa KAL
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Collective action failures behind low PH investment rate: National Scientist
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NTTCHP recognized as WHO regional education center