UP Newsletter August 2012 by University of the Philippines

U.P. Newsletter 1

Wired UP Research ethics online Know more about SOPs and research requirements at reb.upm.edu.ph, a website developed by UP Manila’s Research Ethics Board.

University of the Philippines Community Newspaper V O L U M E X X XIII

NUMBER 8

AUGUST 2 0 12

DILIMAN, QUEZON CITY

Read UP Newsletter online at http://www.up.edu.ph/upnewsletter.php

Groundbreaking ng UP Professional Schools, idinaos Andre Encarnacion

Ibinabaon ni Pangulong Alfredo Pascual ang ‘time capsule’ na naglalaman ng mga alaala ng UP, kasama sina Sen. Edgardo Angara, Alkalde Lani Cayetano ng Taguig at Arnel Casanova ng BCDA.

Kuha ni Bong Arboleda

Dinaluhan ng mga opisyal ng Unibersidad ng Pilipinas at ng gobyerno, pati na rin ng mga natatanging abogado, propesyonal at alumni ng UP ang groundbreaking ceremony para sa pagtatayo ng UP Professional Schools sa Bonifacio Global City, Taguig. Ang seremonya ay ginanap noong Hulyo 24 at inisponsor ng UP, ng Kolehiyo ng Batas, at ng Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA). Ang UP Professional Schools ay ang pinakaunang kampus ng unibersidad na itatayo sa dating kampo. Noong nakaraang taon, nilagdaan nina Pangulong Alfredo Pascual at pangulo at CEO ng BCDA na si Arnel Casanova ang Memorandum ng Pagkakasundo (MOA) na nagkaloob sa UP ng lote na may sukat na 4,300-metro kwadrado para sa proyekto.

Sundan sa pahina 4

UP inaugurates eUP launched in UP Diliman Jo. Florendo B. Lontoc NMR Core eUP, President Alfredo Pascual’s flagship unified digital exchange of information, project, was formally presented to the UP sharing of data, and electronic processing Facility A significant boost to the Philippine scientific community was given with the launch of a multi-million Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) facility at the National Science Complex, UP Diliman, Quezon City last August 13. Proposed for acquisition in 2005 to the Department of Science and Technology, two NMR spectrometers are now ready for use at the Institute of Chemistry’s Research Building. The P60-million stateof-the-art equipment is expected to facilitate breakthroughs in drug discovery, cancer research, medical diagnostics, and materials science including characterization of sedimentary organic matters. The DOST g ranted the facility, through the UP Marine Science Institute’s Pharmaseas program, a drug discovery project focused on marine organisms indigenous in the Philippines. The facilities are open to the public, with different rates for researchers from other academic institutions, government, the industry, and the private sector. To schedule time on the spectrometers, the researcher can email the NMR staff at nmr@science.upd.edu.ph. The day queue is divided into 30-minute blocks from 8 AM to 5 PM, the night queue into two-hour blocks from 5 PM to 8 AM. To submit samples, researchers are requested to accomplish a form available at the NMR facility link at www.science.upd.edu.ph and then email it to the given email address to request for an appointment to submit samples for analysis. They can also send the sample together with the NMR form to Dr. Irene Villaseñor,

ﬂagship campus of Diliman last August 6 in a forum or “kick-off meeting” at the National Institute of Physics, National Science Complex, Quezon City. The forum highlighted UP’s incumbent task to be “one UP” through the uniﬁcation of its massive but disparate operational systems. This can be achieved through a

Some of the university techies during the eUP launch at UP Diliman

Institute of Chemistry, National Science Complex, UP Diliman, Quezon City 1101. NMR spectroscopy is a research technique that is used to determine the chemical structures of compounds by providing detailed information about the chemical environment of its component molecules. Honored during the inauguration were the efforts by the former UP and DOST

Aquino still to make good on his promises

of transactions. The administration is targeting a three-year implementation period with April 2014 as the target for “going live”. The for um also highlighted the enormous task of migrating to new systems to be used uniformly by all CUs, a process complicated by the entrenchment

Photo by Jun Madrid

Jo. Florendo B. Lontoc

Birdtalk bares exclusionary national situation

administration. Former President Emerlinda Roman, former Vice-President for Academic Affairs and now DOST Undersecretary Amelia Guevara and former DOST Secretary Estrella Alabastro shared anecdotes of the seven years it took to acquire the equipment. President Alfredo Pascual then pledged to support the maintenance of the facilities and announced the formation of a task force Continued on page 13

of and attachment to old systems that have evolved in the flagship campus, such as the Computerized Registration System, which continues to be developed by inhouse experts. The apprehensions and questions from the UP Diliman community were addressed by Pascual, Vice-President for Development Elvira Zamora, and managers of UP’s private partners ePLDT, Smart and Beacon Solutions. All expressed confidence in the success of the project and assured the audience that all the bases are covered. The Pascual administration has successfully bidded out the eUP project after the approval of the Board of Regents on August 17, 2011. A Core Technical Committee with other eUP personnel in different constituent universities is now coordinating the five components of the project. These include policy formulation, organization, and mobilization; benchmarking and information and communications technology (ICT) audit); acquisition, development and installation of appropriate information systems (ISs); ICT infrastructure development; and ICT competency building. According to an eUP statement, a “Change Management Orientation” has been given UP personnel in UP Diliman, UP Manila, UP Open University, and UP Los Baños. The aim of the orientation is to effect the transition of affected individuals into the new system with as less anxiety as possible. The orientation also seeks to address the apprehensions of the participants and bring them up to the eUP Core Technical Committee. A Process Mapping Workshop was Continued on page 5

A lifelong commitment to voluntarism and public service awarded

Experts suggest better ways to handle Panatag Shoal dispute

Expectations of SONA discussed at forum Arlyn VCD Palisoc Romualdo

“The SONA is an exercise in political advertising by any current administration,” declared UP Political Science Professor Emeritus Felipe Miranda during “UPinion: SONA 2012” last July 20. The pre-SONA event was organized by the UP Diliman College of Social Sciences and Philosophy (CSSP) in cooperation with InterAksyon.com, which made the forum part of its “Online Onsite” activity at Palma Hall that day. Miranda then asked the audience why the SONA is delivered annually when problems take more than a year, even more than a presidential term of six years, to solve. The answer is that administrations “ find it convenient to assure the public of their competence and effectiveness in handling the affairs of the nation.” “All SONAs end with a singular optimistic conclusion”—that the administration is on top of whatever situation exists, there are remarkable successes in some critical areas, better days are here with the best yet to come, and that excellent projects are forthcoming. The address is a combination of qualitative and quantitative data, he explained. For the former, “we have to thank the best literary figures” for the use of “flamboyant language” that leads to the “not quite truthful rendering” of the actual state of the country. Quantitative data, on the other hand, has a reputation for being a more reliable indicator of truth and “no SONA to date has ever been delivered with less than a hundred statistics.” He warned, however, that “figures can monstrously lie when liars figure.” Miranda advised those who wish to analyze the SONA to ask themselves the following: Has the quality of life improved for most people? Has equity accompanied this growth and enhanced income distribution? Has poverty markedly lessened? Are there more opportunities for employment? Have public safety problems been addressed? Has the human rights situation improved? Has the public’s health truly been assured? Following Miranda was Filomeno Sta. Ana III, economist and coordinator of Action for Economic Reforms. He said that while

august 2012

Aquino still to make good on his promises Arlyn VCD Palisoc Romualdo

A post-State of the Nation Address (SONA) forum that also delved into the state of the Philippine presidency pointed out President Benigno Aquino III’s shortcomings in meeting his electoral promises. Organized by the Center for People Empowerment in Governance (CenPEG) and held last July 24, a day after the SONA, the discussion featured CenPEG fellows who talked about statistics presented during the SONA, the Freedom of Information bill, Philippines-China relations, peace talks in Mindanao and clan politics.

CenPEG Vice-Chair and research fellow Temario Rivera said that there are three major issues in governance: access to power, exercise of power and policy outcomes. Access to power must be democratic, he stated, but reality shows otherwise. The electoral process is not “free, fair and competitive” and is controlled by political families. Accountability in the exercise of power, Rivera added, is poor and leaves much to be desired. Social accountability— the “intervention of peoples’ movements and civil society”—is a visible force. However, ver tical accountability

Kuha ni Jun Madrid

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Katotohanan sa kabila ng retorika. Nagtipon ang mga sektor ng pamantasan sa Quezon Hall bago magmartsa sa direksyon ng Batasan upang ihayag ang kanilang saloobin at nalalaman sa tunay na kalagayan ng bansa, sa okasyon ng state-of-the-nation address ni Pangulong Benigno Aquino III.

economic growth gives Filipinos a reason to be optimistic, this positive outlook must be balanced by recognizing the importance of addressing constraints that prevent this growth from being sustainable. It is impossible, he added, to answer the call of various sectors to effect change in a wide range of concerns simultaneously. Sta. Ana proposed that the most important issues must be given priority to effectively address poverty such as high cost of electricity, weak investments by the private sector and the overvaluation of the Philippine Peso. He explained that while a strong currency

“sounds good” it is not necessarily a good thing. For one, it leads to lower cost of imported goods, to the detriment of local products. It also means that the value of contributions made by overseas Filipino workers, a major force in fortifying the economy, will decrease. For President Benigno Aquino III and his administration to truly achieve sustainable growth, Miranda said that the legislative reform process must be improved and policy differences within the government ﬁxed because these also contribute to delays in the reform process.

SONA TOTAL at mga Ambag na Naratibo Upang maghain ng alternatibong pagbasa sa ikalawang taon ni Benigno Aquino III bilang pangulo ng bansa, dalawang aktibidad ang nilunsad ng Congress of Teachers / Educators for Nationalism and Democracy (CONTEND-UP) bago ang ikatlong State of the Nation Address (SONA) ni Aquino: Ang ﬁlmshowing noong Hulyo 16 sa UP Cine Adarna kung saan nagpalabas ng mga naratibo sa porma ng bidyo-dokumentaryo; at ang talakayang bayan noong Hulyo 19 sa CM Recto Hall, kung saaan nilahad ng iba’t ibang kinatawan ang kalagayan ng kanilang mga sektor. Ayon sa pagsusuma ni Prof. Floyd Tiongson ng Department of English and Comparative Literature (DECL), mula sa mga datos na nilahad ng iba’t ibang sektor sa talakayang bayan, makikita nating “ang naratibo ng ating lipunan ay naratibo ng kakulangan, kasalatan, kagutuman at karahasan” ngunit “isa rin itong naratibo ng paglaban.” Ambag ng Alternatibong Midya Sa introduksyon sa mg a bidyodokumentaryo, sinabi ni Prof. Choy Pangilinan ng College of Mass Communication (CMC) na hindi madaling manood ng “textong pangkulturang nakikisangkot at hinihimok kayong mamulat at makiisa sa pagkilos sa

kabila ng mahimbing na pagkakahele sa inyo ng mga tagapag-ugoy ng namamayaning kultura at dambana ng kapital” dahil “hinuhugot kayo nito sa kanya kanyang komportableng sona at depolitisadong oryentasyon sa kung paano nga ba marapat na tanawin ang lipunang Filipino at kung paano kikilos para baguhin at isulong ang tunay na panlipunan at rebolusyonaryong pagbabago.” Ayon kay Pangilinan, hindi nakasandal ang mga bidyo-dokumentaryong ito sa “komersyalisadong media o malasadong politika” at naghahangad ang mga itong “laslasin ang inyong mga busal at hablutin ang inyong mga piring.” Pinakilala niya ang bawat piyesang ipapalabas: Ang Tondong Magiliw ni Jewel Maranan ay tungkol sa mga “problemang kinkaharap ng mga maralitang tagalunsod sa ilalim ng huwad na polisiya ng urbanisasyon at modernisasyon ng estado;” ang mga Public Service Announcements naman ng TUDLA Production ay “ukol sa batayang problema sa kalunsuran, partikular sa mga dumaranas ng pandarahas mula sa estado kapalit ng pagbabandera ng maunlad na lunsod;” ang Rimbaw ng Dinteg Cordillera Indigenous Peoples Legal Center at Hustisya Northern Luzon ay bumabasag sa projeksyon ng

Arbeen Acuña

pambansa-estado bilang tagapamandila ng karapatang pantao at nagsisiwalat sa Oplan Bayanihan ni Aquino “bilang patuloy na kampanya kontra-insurhensiya;” at ang Woman in the Forefront ng Amihan Northern Mindanao, MamaCash, at Kodao production ay tumatalakay sa “land grabbing at kung paano nito naapektuhan ang karapatan ng mga kababaihan at kung paano din naman bumabalikwas ang kababaihan sa ganitong mapang-aping kalakaran.” Ambag ng Sektor ng Kababaihan Sa talakayang bayan, ihinayag ni Gert Libang, deputy secretary general ng Gabriela, na kahit pa sa huling tatlong taon ay laging nasa top 6 ang Pilipinas sa gender equity index, hindi totoong mahusay ang kalagayan ng kababaihan sa bansa. Dagdag pa niya, para sa gobyerno, reserved work force ang kababaihan dahil pinakamarami ito at tinuturing pang sekundaryong manggagawa. Ayon kay Libang, anim sa sampung migrante ay kababaihang nasa domestic work na siyang “nageexpose sa kanila sa karahasan” tulad halimbawa sa Middle East; at pito sa sampung kababaihan ay nasa gawaingserbisyo kung saan mababa ang sahod. Kada araw, “labing-isang babae ang namamatay dahil sa mga komiplikayson ng panganganak at pagbubuntis kahit maunlad Sundan sa pahina 15

through credible elections, and horizontal accountability through “inter-agency checks and balances” need to be improved. He suggested that accountability can be fully achieved by ending the “tradition of impunity” of public ofﬁcials as well as ensuring transparency and access to information. The president’s anticorruption campaign, he said, is “necessary but not sufﬁcient.” Rivera enumerated three key policy outcomes that the country needs: “ensuring sustainable and inclusive economic growth to substantially reduce poverty and income inequality, negotiating political settlements inequality to the armed conflict and ending the culture of impunity” as evidenced by prevalent human rights violations. Jose Enrique Africa, IBON Foundation executive director, then focused on “key silences” in the president’s address, particularly on the statistics that he presented. Aquino said that more jobs were created, which Africa countered by pointing out that these were actually poor-quality jobs, thereby contributing to unemployment and underemployment. Aquino failed to mention the increasing number of overseas Filipino workers being deployed: 1.7 million in 2011 as opposed to 1.5 million in 2010. While the president announced increased funding for PhilHealth, he was silent about the increasing number of private hospitals and the “corporatization of public hospitals.” These, according to Africa, resulted in Continued on page 12

Prof. Glenda Litong of the De La Salle University College of Law and the Free Legal Assistance Group, meanwhile, expressed her interest in what Aquino had to say about addressing human rights violations in the country. Development, she said, is anchored on respect for human rights, for which the state, headed by the President, is primarily accountable. When Aquino was elected President, Litong recalled that he promised to “begin the true process of justice for all” and that “the culture of silence and injustice that once reigned [was] now a thing of the past.” These pronouncements, she said, are being closely monitored by human rights activists. Despite these declarations, however, Litong made some observations that demonstrate how the Aquino government has yet to make good on its promises with regard to human rights violations. Litong enumerated the following observations: continuing denial of access to justice for grave human rights violations; continuing serious abuses of human rights; involvement of security and paramilitary forces in these major human rights violations; victims were involved in the pursuance of economic, social, cultural, and environmental advocacies; and increasing cases of genderbased violence. She also referred to an “irresponsible statement” by Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda who said that the executive and judicial branches of government are separate and that the executive must not be blamed for the slow judicial process. Litong clariﬁed that the judiciary’s duty and function is to adjudicate—to hear, study, review and settle cases. Catching of suspects and in cases of conviction, their incarceration and the reintegration of victims into society—all these lie within the purview of the executive branch, she said. She ended her presentation by calling attention to human rights issues that might be discussed in the future, such as Internet Continued on page 7

august 2012

U.P. Newsletter 3

Birdtalk bares exclusionary national situation Fred Dabu

Chit Estella: A Reader on Media Ethics, People’s Issues and Governance

economics and elitist politics that the previous administrations adhered to. Glenis Balangue, senior researcher of Ibon, discussed how the “sound fundamentals” bannered in mainstream media, although profitable for big businesses, have not relieved the economic difficulties of ordinary Filipinos. She said “growth” has been shallow and unsustainable due to increased government consumption and public construction to pump-prime the economy. She said growth in the industrial, agricultural and manufacturing sectors generally slowed during the first quarter of the year. Balangue said the “growth” brought by the country’s services sector, particularly the call center or business processes outsourcing industry, exports, investments, and remittances from overseas Filipinos are all volatile sources of income. These are

not stable drivers of economic development since they are dependent on volatile global markets which experience varying rounds of crises or slowdowns, as shown in the past four years. According to Balangue, the economic crises experienced in the US and the Eurozone affect the whole world. These countries now have the highest unemployment levels in the past 15 years while they resort to government bail-outs for companies and banks at the expense of their citizens. Even China’s growth is slowing down due to the contagion, she added. Balangue said the country’s wage increase rate was among the slowest among its Asian neighbors. According to her, although nominal wages went up, the real value of the peso continued to decline as prices went up faster, and that the government

Photo by El Bacani

“Is inclusive growth happening?” “Where is ‘daang matuwid’ leading to?” These were the focal questions the Midyear 2012 Birdtalk forum for educators and policymakers sought to answer last July 12 at the Balay Kalinaw, UP Diliman, Quezon City. The activity was sponsored by the Ibon Foundation, Ofﬁce of the Student Regent, and the Philippine Collegian. Using data released by government agencies, private survey organizations and reports from media, the resource speakers assessed the economic and political situation of the country during President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III’s second year in ofﬁce. According to the presenters, the people’s doubts on Aquino’s capacity to institute genuine reforms are steadily growing despite his relatively popular image. They said the Aquino presidency forwards the same exclusionary

Continued from page 6

Photo by Jeric Pena (http://www.jericpena.com/920/up-remembers-robredo/)

Bayani,” “Beyond the Labyrinth of Budget Legislation,” and “Corruptionary: The Lingo of Corruption”), is a collection of essays that expose the not-so-known but public secrets anyway in various environments. The article “Nursing Schools Sell Dreams of a Life Abroad” could very well include a sharper gender lens. After all, nursing, despite the entry of males in the profession, remains a female domain. Parenthetically, there was a time when nurses finding lucrative income from overseas work, Hundreds attend Birdtalk on July 12 at Balay Kalinaw. male entrants to nursing courses became a fashionable option. Nowadays, there is an oversupply of nurses and many fi1nd themselves un- or underemployed, or worse in jobs where their training and experiences are put to waste. Chit writes with grit. But the grit does not cut. The grit slides through smoothly in the narrative of her stories. Calm courage. Tight grip on her words that do not escape the searing quest for social justice and transformation. Chit took us everywhere during her time on this planet through wide eyes observing and claiming her spaces of truths and strength of her vision as a journalist, educator, social justice advocate and an organic feminist. After she went to the other parts of this Universe, tributes were written and posthumous recognitions given. Chit, co-founder of Vera Files, the small media nonprofit group she co-founded with four journalist-friends three years, Mourning a pioneer in good governance. Flags at the Oblation Plaza in front of Quezon left too early. It was this sudden sad and Hall, UP Diliman were raised at half-staff to mourn the death of Sec. Jesse Robredo, a horrible departure where her quiet ways and 2012 Outstanding Alumnus. endearing traits as a brave media warrior. steadfast wife and lover, loyal friend and conscientious teacher. The last section of the book shares this diminutive, shy looking woman who had her. I knew she was Roland Simbulan’s wife. with the reader the tribute in the form a smile that seems to want to blow into a big It was in her death that I wanted to know of a city resolution dated 26 September laugh. He and Roland seemed to me then, more about her. And this review is my 2011, extending condolence to the family both shy looking, a couple who took their simple gesture to that dream that was cut of Chit Estella-Simbulan and “recognizing politics in earnest and with a G&D (grim short by one unlucky streak of fate. her contributions as one of the country’s and determined) stance. Chua says Chit’s As the old saying goes: Ang mababait, premier academicians and journalists.” wry sense of humor and ability to laugh madaling kinukuha ng Dyos. The other side: Yvonne T. Chua, Chit’s colleague, has at herself endeared her to many people. Ang masamang damo, matagal mamatay. the most touching words for Chit. She Somebody quipped, what a waste of good I have come to a point in my life where I writes: “The senseless killing brought to an genes! Chit could not have any child because have to see deaths as a positive event, if only abrupt close the illustrious career of one of of a pre-marriage hysterectomy. to console myself that I will meet families the country’s most principled journalists and Chit and I never really got to know each and other loved ones who went ahead. best journalism educators who has left many other beyond the occasional circumstantial And for Chit, I wish to have an occasion, of us in awe, me for a good 34 years.” events where we both attended. She was somehow and somewhere, to have a good The very first time I saw Chit in person somebody whose name and media profile chat, and to hear once again that wry sense in one social event made me wonder about preceded a more formal introduction. I read of humor.

had based its unemployment and poverty surveys on incredible thresholds and definitions that hide the real score. “Worsening marginalization is the insignia of the Aquino administration,” Balangue said. The reconcentration of lands back to landlords or corporations worsen the landlessness and poverty of agricultural workers and farmers. The exclusionary policies attuned to globalization, privatization and other band-aid approaches failed to address the basic problems of joblessness, poverty and shelter, she revealed. Balangue said that since there is no inclusive growth, the existing paradigm must be challenged by nationalist economics. Rhea Padilla, head of the Media and Communication Department of Ibon, described the political situation as elitist, characterized by heightening contradiction between the ruling elite and the people. She said the major political developments in the past six months have bared the Aquino administration’s moves to consolidate its forces, while the US military increases its presence in the Asian region. The impeachment of Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona showcased the realignment of politicians towards the agenda of the Aquino presidency and his Liberal Party while being a far cry from realizing good governance and real reforms, Padilla explained. She noted how exceptional the “due process” was for Corona and the hospitalized former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, while justice remains elusive for the many victims of politically-related violence. Padilla also warned of an unprecedented deployment of US troops through the Visiting Forces Agreement and the hyped tension with China over the disputed Panatag Shoal. She said this shows Aquino’s dependence on US support while subordinating the country to foreign interests. She said the US is using the PHLChina tension as a pivot point to strengthen its presence in Asia since it considers the Asia-Pacific region as the key to its recovery from crisis. According to Padilla, as the Aquino administration consolidates itself and reinforces an environment favorable only for big businesses and traditional political groups, the climate of impunity and the violation of human rights will continue. She said Aquino’s “daang matuwid” is being exposed as a mere slogan, and instead, this path only pushes the people to heighten their resistance in defense of their democratic rights. The forum was the second of three scheduled fora co-sponsored by the Ibon Foundation. The first mid-year “Usapang Ibon,” with leaders of activist organizations as audience, was held at the Plaridel Hall, College of Mass Communication, and the third, with high school level educators as audience, was held also at the Balay Internasyunal in UP Diliman. UP Professor Judy Taguiwalo, Chair of the Ibon Board of Directors, said such forums help the people relate the daily news to their own experiences for them to better understand social reality and involve them in ending social inequalities and injustices. Katherine Elona, editor in chief of the Philippine Collegian, said the data all prove that there have been no improvements nor prospects for development under the Aquino presidency. Padilla’s conclusion was that “genuine reforms can only be won through the people’s unrelenting struggles.”

august 2012

Photos by Jun Madrid

4 U.P. Newsletter

Photos by Bong Arboleda

UPCAT 2012. Scenes during the last UPCAT at UP Diliman show the multitude of applicants and their friends and family at the Palma Hall steps, scooters helping them into buildings, and Admissions staff workers hauling test materials.

UPD Habagat relief operations.The community’s civic spirit is manifest in these photos taken last August 10, at the relief operations centers of the UP Diliman University Student Council, the College of Social Work and Community Development and the All UP Workers’ Union. The centers are located at the College of Human Kinetics Gymnasium, Bulwagang Tandang Sora and the All UP Workers’ Union ofﬁce.

Groundbreaking ceremony ng UP Professional Schools, idinaos Mula sa pahina 1

Nakalaan ang kampus sa mga propesyonal na nagnanais ng mas mataas na edukasyon sa mga larangan ng komersyo, araling legal at iba pa. Ayon kay Pascual, ang UP Professional Schools ay makakatulong sa pagpapayaman ng sektor ng pagnenegosyo sa distritong ito, na hindi na kailangang maglakbay pa sa Diliman o sa Maynila. Kasama dito ang Kolehiyo ng Batas, Kolehiyo ng Inhenyeriya, Kolehiyo ng Administrasyong Pangnegosyo, Paaralan ng Estadistika at UP Open University. “Makalipas ang walong taon, magkakaroon na ng kaganapan ang isa sa aming pangarap sa UP College of Law,” ani Dekano Danilo Concepcion. Masayang ibinalita ni Concepcion na dahil sa proyektong ito, makakapagbukas na ang kolehiyo ng klaseng tinuturuan ng mga propesyonal at alumni na may opisina sa

Makati at Global City. “Sa haba po kasi ng byahe mula sa Makati hanggang Diliman, bihirang-bihira na tayo makakuha ng mga titser mula sa law alumni practitioners natin sa Makati.” Dagdag pa ni Concepcion na kapag naitayo na ang gusali ng kolehiyo, maibabalik na nila ang kanilang programang gradwado na kasalukuyang nakahinto. Pinag-aaralan din daw nilang gawing internasyonal ang kanilang mga kurso at programa upang makatanggap ng mga estudyante at abogadong banyaga na magpapakadalubhasa dito. Isa pang pinagaaralan nila ang gawing “international arbitration center” ang magiging kampus. Labis din ang naging pasasalamat ni Mayor Laarni Lopez-Cayetano ng Taguig sa proyekto. Bukod sa pagtukoy ng mga kontribusyon ng UP sa pag-unlad ng kanilang “probinsyudad,” hinahangad

ng alkalde na sa tulong UP Professional Schools, tuluyang hihirangin bilang “smart city” ang lungsod. Iginiit din ni Senador Edg ardo Angara ang kahalagahan ng mahusay na programang gradwado para sa ikauunlad ng bansa. “Isang symbol po ito ng revival and renaissance of the Philippines as the research center sana,” sabi ng senador. Kampante naman ang Pangalawang Pangulo ng Pilipinas Jejomar Binay na sa hinaharap, ang mga natatanging iskolar ng batas sa bansa ay hindi na magmumula sa mga tanyag na unibersidad sa ibang bansa, kundi sa UP Graduate School of Law sa Global City. Dinagdag rin ni Binay na mahalaga ang isang unibersidad dahil nagbibigay ito ng oportunidad sa mga pinakamahusay na mga isip ng panahon na makipagtalastasan sa mga ideya ng kanilang mga kauri, buhay

man o patay. Dahil dito, mahalaga daw na magkaroon ng sapat na pondo ang kampus para masuportahan ang mga iskolar, pilosopo at mananaliksik nito. Inudyok niya ang mga dumalo sa seremonya na gawin ang kanilang makakaya upang makamit ito. Ang pondo na maaaring gamitin ng kampus ay hindi raw manggagaling sa iisang donante o kontribusyon lamang: “A great part will come from many sources, in response to our own dedicated effort, individually and collectively, to ﬁnd generous donors like the BCDA to make sizeable, self-renewing and long-term endowments,” ani Binay. Bukod sa mensahe ng mga natatanging panauhin, nagbaon din ang mga ito ng “time capsule” na naglalaman ng mga alaala galing sa UP Centennial, mga pahayagan, at iba pang mga opisyal na dokumento ng proyekto at ng unibersidad.

august 2012

Photo courtesy of OVPAA

PhD from University of Houston joins UPD Institute of Chemistry

The faculty roster of the UP Diliman Institute of Chemistry (UPD-IC) is now one Ph.D richer. Prof. Imee Su Martinez, Ph.D in Physical Chemistry from the University of Houston, is the newest addition to the faculty of the UPD-IC. Prof. Martinez held a Welch Fellowship under Prof. Steven Baldelli at the University of Houston, where she specialized in the synthesis and interfacial studies of room

temperature ionic liquids using Non-linear Optical Spectroscopy, particularly Sum Frequency Generation (SFG) and classical surface techniques. She is particularly versed in the building and development of classical surface characterization instruments, such as the surface tension drop method and the surface potential vibrating plate method for high vacuum applications. Prof. Martinez was a post-doctoral fellow at the Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University under Prof. Franz Geiger from 2011-2012. Her research as a post-doctoral fellow was focused on the Second Harmonic Generation (SHG) imaging of atmospheric aerosols as a probe for their chirality using a femtosecond TiSapphire laser system. The objective of the research was to relate the chirality of aerosols to rain formation as well as to the overall atmospheric warming. Prof. Martinez’ research aspirations, as a new faculty of UP, involves the establishment of a fully equipped surface characterization facility in the university. She aims to build and develop a femtosecond

second harmonic generation microscope /spectroscope as a tool for the surface characterization (surface orientation, surface dynamics, surface structure) of material systems, such as ionic liquids, semiconductors, and lipid bilayers for drug-delivery, and mechanistic studies and nanomaterial structure studies. She will be working closely with Prof. Arnel Salvador and Prof. Elmer Estacio from the National Institute of Physics in their aim to disseminate non-linear spectroscopy in the country as a tool to promote multidisciplinary studies done at the sub-picosecond time resolution and submonolayer sensitivity. The Institute of Chemistry is one of the six degree-granting units of the UPD College of Science, and is designated by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) as a center of excellence in chemistry. It was established in 1910 as the Department of Chemistry, reorganized as an Institute in 1987, and is today recognized as a leading institution of learning and research in chemistry in the country.

VP Binay to partner with UPM for long-term development Block. These are just the initial, physical restructuring phase. There are more to come involving development of cuttingedge technology and innovations, and a fully integrated information and communication system. A fund-raising project targeting at least P1 billion is being conducted to initially fund infrastructure projects; jumpstart the UP health insurance project for the employees and the faculty; modernize PGH; improve services to students and PGH patients; and start a seed money for an endowment fund of another P1 billion that would allow UPM to increase salaries and wages without raising tuition fees. Others in the meeting with Binay and Agulto were UPM’s vice-chancellors Marie Josephine De Luna (academic

affairs) and Abundio Balgos (Planning & Development), and NIH Executive Director Vicente Belizario (Research); Dr. Irma Macalinao of the College of Medicine and Dr. Anthony Leachon, director of the Information, Publications, and Public Affairs Office (IPPAO). The group finished the meeting with a draft of the first step in completing the physical restructuring phase of the strategic plan: the creation of a fund-raising task force whose main proponents will be the best and the brightest of UP Manila and whose champion and partner will be Binay. The initial strategies of the task force will have been presented to Binay on August 17. The grand launch of the task force will be on October 25 during the UPM Foundation celebration which will have Binay as guest speaker. (FMJemena/IPPAO-UPM)

UPLB steps up litter-free campaign, smoking ban UP Los Baños (UPLB) is pulling out all the stops to become a thoroughly-green campus, starting with an anti-littering campaign and the enforcement of a smoking ban. The anti-littering campaign was launched last August 16, according to Vice-Chancellor for Community Affairs Enrique Tolentino. The campaign is part of a bigger initiative for UPLB to implement an ecological solid waste management system after the closure of its controlled dumpsite recently. Tolentino said that the anti-littering policy will be strictly implemented. Personnel will be deputized to apprehend violators. Penalties are being drawn up by the university. The campaign is being implemented under Municipal Ordinance No. 2001-08 of Los Baños. As per the Tobacco Regulation Act (RA 9211, 2003), Administrative Order No. PERR-07-70 and UPLB OC Memorandum No. 07-100, UPLB will now strictly enforce the smoking ban and prohibition of the sale or advertising of tobacco/cigarettes within the campus. The terms of the ban provide that all buildings are smoke-free, that smoking is prohibited in all public and private conveyances passing through any area in the campus, that no tobacco product will be sold or advertised within any area of the campus, that notices of the anti-smoking campaign are posted and information dissemination programs continuously conducted by the UPLB QuitsS Program Management Team. Violators will be disciplined in accordance with the Tobacco Regulation Act (RA 9211, 2003). Section 32 of the RA penalizes ﬁrst offenders with a P500-P1,000 ﬁne, second offenders with P1,000-P5,000, and third offenders with P5,000-P10,000. The University Police Force and the Community Support Brigade will be in charge of the implementation of the AO, particularly in the apprehension of violators and the imposition of the appropriate penalties. (With Josephine M. Bo)

eUP launched in UP Diliman Continued from page 1

Courtesy of UP Mindanao Ofﬁce of the Chancellor

Vice-President Jejomar Binay, UP’s Most Distinguished Alumnus Awardee in 2010, and officials of UP Manila (UPM) have joined forces in support of the current UPM administration’s strategic plan, known as the TORCH. TORCH is a 25-year strategic and visionary plan presented by UPM officials to the Vice-President at his office last August 2. TORCH is the acronym for the five-point strategic plan of Chancellor Manuel Agulto, where T stands for Technological Advancement, O for Operational Efficiency, R for Relevant Research, C for Community Orientation & Service, and H for Human Resource Development and Welfare. TORCH is in line with the “Path to Greatness” strategic plan of UP President Alfredo Pascual. The former was inspired by Dr. Jose Rizal’s “The Triumph of Science Over Death” clay sculpture, a lifesize statue of which stands before the UP College of Medicine on Pedro Gil Street. Several initial flagship projects of the Agulto Administration are being planned. These include construction of the UPM Centennial Building at the old NEDA site in Faura Street to house administrative offices, a university gymnasium, and a new sports science and wellness center for the students. A National Institutes of Health (NIH) Research Center—a 15-storey building which will house basic science laboratories and training/teaching facilities—will also be constructed. Infrastructure of the three UPM Schools of Health Sciences in Leyte, Baler, and Koronadal will be developed. A waste and materials recovery project—involving a sewage treatment facility rehabilitation and a solid waste processing and recovery facility—will be implemented. Senator Edgardo Angara has pledged support for a modern three-story building for a museum, even as interior and curatorial work in the original building is ongoing. The other flagship projects are the construction of the College of Arts & Sciences Student Center; the twin Phi and UPM dormitories; the PGH Pay Emergency Room; and renovation of the 8th Floor Social Hall and Left Central

U.P. Newsletter 5

eUP was launched last August 1 in UP Mindanao, with a Change Management Orientation to help individuals transfer to new systems with as less anxiety as possible. The seminar includes expressing apprehensions to the eUP Technical Committee.

also held last June 28 and 29 at the UPOU. The workshop was conducted “to update the current process documentation of the campus, deﬁne authority matrix, gather sample forms and reports, and give data dictionary of databases.” Project Management seminars were held from June 18 to 20 at July 3 to 5, both at UPLB, as part of competency

building or to prepare end-users for eUP implementation. The output included the reﬁnement of the plan or formulation of the plan for each IS. Members of the eUP Steering Committee, Core Technical Committee, Coordination Committee, and CU Project Teams also meet regularly for the systemlevel project coordination meetings. The

latest were held last April 16, June 11, and July 2. Kickoff meetings such as the one held in UP Diliman were conducted in UPOU last May 10, UP Manila on June 21, UPLB on June 28, and UP Mindanao on August 1. As of press time, similar kickoff meetings had been set in UP Cebu, UP Baguio, and UP Visayas. According to Zamora, with eUP, UP will have simpliﬁed operations, improved efﬁciency, utilized ICT resources optimally, increased productivity, enabled extensive sharing of infor mation, increased savings and revenues, and improved decision-making. She also reported about a benchmarking trip to the National University of Singapore and Ngee Ann Polytechnic last November. Zamora reported that the project has a total cost of P751.96 million. Pascual and UP Diliman Chancellor Caesar Saloma emphasized the critical value of reliable and quick access to accurate information, the current lack of which is a system-wide problem hampering decision-making and cohesion. It is one of the problems expected to be solved by eUP.

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A Review by Aida F. Santos

(On the occasion of the book launching last August 17 at the UP Diliman College of Mass Communications Auditorium in cooperation with the College’s Office of the Dean) Reading the section on acknowledgements already provokes emotions. Prof. Roland Simbulan of the Center for People Empowerment in Governance (CenPeg), who has beautifully and so soon, which I think is most appropriate, paid tribute to Chi Estella’s life, writes: “Now, she cannot edit me on this proud acknowledgement. I also acknowledge her as the very first angel I met on earth, who inspired me and others how to live a full life, as a patriot, as a progressive journalist and a fighter for the people’s interest. During the celebration of her life, various sectors of Philippine society, and all forces of the political spectrum recognized her as an outstanding journalist and defender of press freedom.” A short paragraph that sums up Chit’s lovelife with Roland, her commitment to social change and the affection of those she left behind, so suddenly. Anyone, dead or alive, would have been proud of Roland and the team that put together this collection of Chit’s work as

a journalist, teacher, activist, human rights advocate, woman. Media Issues It was a scene that I now barely recognize: a newsroom with men sitting around the news desk. A male editor calling the shots while young women typed out the stories being dictated by male reporters through the phone. A male photographer who would take every opportunity to brush his hand against the women. And a male copy editor who would taunt young female reporters with a phrase that he thought was witty: “So, you were caught with your panties down”. In the ﬁeld, the same young female reporters would be startled to suddenly find on their shoulders or waists the hands of nwot-so-young, not-so-goodlooking but very much married male reporters “welcoming” them to the beat. Avoiding such hands was trickier than playing the childhood game of patintero. She says that was 20 years ago. I am not too sure if that does not happen anymore, perhaps not to senior female journalists but not an impossible situation interns and young media aspirants may face. Chit writing those lines in 2005, sharply and correctly depicted what gender discrimination, or if you will, sexual

‘Tibak Rising’ inilunsad sa NCPAG Bilang paggunita at pagbabahagi sa mga karanasan at pakikibaka ng mamamayan noong diktaduryang Ferdinand Marcos, inilunsad ang antolohiyang Tibak Rising: Activism in the Days of Martial Law sa UP Pambansang Kolehiyo ng Administrasyong Pangmadla at Pamamahala (NCPAG), Diliman, Quezon City, nitong Hulyo 21. Hindi nahadlangan ng malakas na pag-ulang hatid ng bagyong “Ferdie” ang pagdalo ng mga nag-ambag ng salaysay, sumuporta sa publikasyon, at mga panauhin mula sa iba’t ibang sektor. Layunin ng nasabing aklat na mailahad sa publiko ang napakaraming limot na kwento ng mga nagsipag-aklas, maisalarawan ang samu’t-sari ngunit kolektibong karanasan ng mga lumaban sa pasismo ng estado humigit-kumulang apat na dekada na ang nakaraan, at itala sa kasaysayan lalo na ang alaala ng mga aktibistang nasawi, dinukot o mga desaparecidos. Ayon kay Dr. Ferdinand Llanes, propesor

sa Departamento ng Kasaysayan ng UP Diliman at patnugot ng aklat, “ ito ay

isang munting simula” sa kasalukuyang “ p a k i k i p a g t a g i s a n s a p a g g u n i t a .” Ipinaliwanag niya na ang madilim na panahon ng Batas Militar ay malayo na sa kamalayan ng kabataan at binubura sa kasaysayan ng bayang “hinuhubog ng maykapangyarihan sa paglimot kundi man pagtanggap ng rehimen ng panunupil.” “A n g g awa i n n g p a g g u n i t a ay nagpapatuloy, bilang salaysay at bilang pagdiriwang,” aniya. Iniugnay ni Dr. J. Prospero de Vera, Pangalawang Pangulo Para sa Mga Gawaing Pangmadla, ang aktibismong tampok sa aklat sa diwa ng paglilingkod ng UP kung saan napakaraming nagmula sa UP ang nag-alay ng kanilang sarili, nakipagkaisa sa mamamayan, at tumulong sa paghubog ng iba’t ibang mga komunidad noong mga nasabing panahon. Sinabi naman ni Gng. Edith Burgos, ina ng dinukot na aktibistang si Jonas at asawa ng namayapang tagapaglathala na si Joe, na ipinadarama ng mga salaysay ang mga hindi malilimutang karanasang nagmula sa isang

Photo by Jun Madrid

Fred Dabu

komunidad na lubos na niyang nauunawaan ngayon. Ang anak niyang si Jonas ay dinukot ng mga pinaghihinalaang militar noong 2007 sa Quezon City habang si Joe naman ay tanyag na tagapaglathala at tagapagtanggol ng kalayaan sa pamamahayag na lumaban din sa rehimeng Marcos. Aniya, sinusuri din ng mga kwento ang mas malalalim na aspeto ng mga pangyayari, karakter at kalagayan ng bansa noong mga panahong iyon. Sa pangwakas na bahagi ng programa, inialay naman ni Joel Saracho, pangulo ng T’bak, Inc., ang aklat para sa alaala ng mga aktibistang hindi na muling nakita. Bigkas ni Saracho: “Kaya’t hayaang dalhin ng hangin / Ang nariritong kwento’t dalangin; / Diwa nila’y ating bubuhayin / Di iwawaglit sa puso natin. / Dahil / Para ito sa kanila.” Ang ilan sa mga nag-ambag ng kanilang salaysay ay sina Behn Cervantes, Ed de la Torre, Etta Rosales, Gilda CorderoFernando, Joel Rocamora, Judy Taguiwalo, Ma. Ceres Doyo, Romeo Candazo, Sonny Melencio, at Sylvia de la Paz. Ang Tibak Rising ay nailathala sa tulong ng Opisina ng Pangalawang Pangulo Para sa mga Gawaing Pangmadla, T’bak Inc., Anvil Publishing, Inc., at NCPAG.

Photo courtesy of CenPeg

Chit Estella: A Reader on Media Ethics, People’s Issues and Governance

Prof. Roland Simbulan speaks during the launch of the book about his former wife.

opportunism is, or in legal parameters, what are some of the essential provisions of Republic ACT 9272, or the Anti-VAW/C law, are. Not that these have stopped or been eliminated, but Chit had the guts to describe what her male colleagues were capable of. While things have changed in the media landscape – more women in positions of power, more women assertive of their rights – the younger ones, those who need to embed themselves in media work, still have to learn the ropes of media work while at the same time looking out for the unnecessary touch, libidinal stares and “green” jokes to which many women, journalists or not, have to join the laughter on lest they be called KJs (“kill joys”) or in current parlance, uncool. Her examples of sexism even in the titles of news stories are so commonplace-- “Addicts rape pretty coed,” for example-- that no one, unless one blind and uncaring, can deny the pervasiveness of it all. Chit lucidly posits her questions, unembellished and direct. The lucidity of her take on sexism in media is a call to action. There are other articles in the collection on media in which Chit posits a more general take on issues and concerns, being editorial notes. In her article “Advertisers and Other Owners of Media: The Search for Models of Survival among Media Organizations,” Chit takes up the issue of advertisements as the lifeblood of media survival. She writes, “It is, by the way, a strange market if one were to go by the products that advertisers sell. In the ﬁrst quarter of 2009, the bulk of advertisements were selling shampoo and other hair-care products, followed by telecommunications and cough medicines.” She could have dissected this from a gendered lens, but stops short. It is the same for the other articles in this section. Nonetheless, Chit remains lucid and convincing, historical and grounded in research, even touching politically controversial topics from which a lesser media mortal could veer away (for example, “The Religious Press and the Marcos Years”; “The Mystery of the Midnight News”; “Editor’s Note: Elections and Acts of Terror”; “Editor’s Note: From Fresh Eyes”; “Editor’s Note: In Front of the Cameras —and Behind”; “Editor’s Note: Living in a Familiar Time”, to mention some). As she ends one of her articles, she says, “…perhaps the best option for the survival of journalism in the Philippines will be found,” and, I add, when media survival does not have to demean women or make them invisible or secondary to patriarchal powers.

There are essays where a gender analysis or the gender perspective may not be necessary because the narrative is full of interesting historical information that the reader holds on every paragraph by the simple power of the information, just like in “The Future of Newspapers.” In “The Mystery of the Midnight News,” Chit peripherally raises a gender concern. She writes: But what do advertisers, in turn, go after? The findings of Nielsen Media Research are unequivocal: almost 80 percent of the targeted consumers belong to the D and E classes, the poorest sectors of Philippine society. Proving that there is much wealth to be gained by catering to the poor, the research showed that these sectors are the targets of the top five advertising categories: telecommunications, hair shampoos, government agencies, detergents, and proprietary drugs. Hair shampoos. One can guess who the main targets of the advertisements are. While men have also been identified by advertisers as a secondary target for shampoos, by and large the ads are projecting gender stereotypes. Profiles The section on profiles offers an interesting set of essays that are character sketches, sketches that reveal more beyond the who-what-when-where template. Of these I found the profile on Jim Paredes (“Edsa 20/20: 20 Filipinos, 20 Years after People Power February 2, 2006”)to have a certain poignancy to it, a bittersweet tone that touches on the personal travails and contradictions of their personalities. Chit tells it as if her heart were in the struggles and the pains as well as victories of the personalities she interviewed (“Benigno S. C. Aquino III,” “Eugenia Apostol,” “Fidel V. Ramos,” “Ka Roger,” “Manuel ‘Mar’ Roxas II,” “The Cory Years,” “The Travails of an Honest Civil Servant,” an article that has the main character by the name of Acsa Ramirez). Chit paints them as she views them, and even in not too pleasant circumstances, takes on an empathetic tone, and tries to place her characters within an environment for the reader to contextualize the dysynchronicities and dysfunctional twists and turns in their lives. Unafraid to expose the hidden sides of her subjects, Chit nonetheless shows her humanity through her mighty pen (more appropriately, her computer keyboard). Very Chit, as one would say. Prometheus Unbound and Philippine Society The section Prometheus Unbound and Philippine Society (articles include “Nursing Schools Sell Dreams of a Life Abroad,” “Why the Olalias are not in Bantayog ng mga Continued on page 3

august 2012

Photo by Jun Madrid

Lucero’s ﬁction celebrated, ‘La India’ launched Arbeen Acuña

“When you go into Chari’s magic realism, you aren’t just asked to suspend disbelief but you’re asked to remember that these things are part of your childhood,” said film director Peque Gallaga, cover designer of Rosario ‘Chari’ Cruz-Lucero’s book La India or Island of the Disappeared Disappeared, which was launched last July 24 at the Faculty Center in UP Diliman. Gallaga added, “Her literature for me is hyper-chismis: chismis as history and history as chismis.” He said, “It is beyond just literature. She calls us home. I start to understand myself and my home so, in effect, I am the biggest fan of Chari because she makes me understand why I am a Bacolodnon, a Negrosanon and eventually, why I am a Filipino; and I am so rich because of that.” “I find myself wanting more (of Lucero’s fiction), even when it is at my expense,” said Salou Palao-Sobrepeña, Lucero’s friend who served as inspiration for one of the characters in La India. “I didn’t see myself there. The models did not really recognize themselves in the ensuing drama. They are mercilessly being crossbred and rehashed to satisfy the writer’s whim.” According to Sobrepeña, Lucero “focuses on curious stories that, for ages, remained whispered rumors, lying dormant as if waiting there for a perfect writer to come around and unearth and to chronicle diligently; and with pure wizardry, to refashion the account for all the readers to savor and absorb.” College of Arts and Letters Dean Flora Elena Mirano shared her experiences with Lucero as students of Prof. Wilhelmina Ramas. Mirano told how years ago, they were “seven strange people asked to produce the Trojan women.” They were all miscast. For Mirano, Lucero back then should have been Cassandra, instead of Hecuba. “Cassandra saw the truth but people thought she was mad and she lived in the world of illusion and fantasy. Chari told me

The 12 new titles launched by the UP Press last August 3 at Balay Kalinaw, UP Diliman

that she was worried that people may think she was crazy. I told her no, what you’re writing is so real. It is a way of looking at reality that we miss, and because of that, we misread,” said Mirano. She added that stories of La India may be thought as funny but “like William Blake and Job, something is intensely real about them,” featuring “great and terrible characters that merit our admiration.” Prof. Paolo Manalo said that his students have been asking him why Lucero is a great storyteller. Manalo responded to one student and said, “Maybe because of the great narrative leaps she makes when she engages in what is known as ‘transient hypofrontality,’ a neurosicence term for lateral thinking for what we ubiquitously call ‘creative.’” He added that “there is no character in a Lucero story that is truly good or truly evil.” “I recall her saying ‘If we knew the

Continued from page 2

truly be protective of the environment by effectively implementing the total log ban. Gloria added that Aquino’s signing of Executive Order 79 implementing reforms in the Philippine mining sector contradict environmental protection. Finally, CSSP Student Council Chairperson Carlo Brolagda talked about employment and education as student concerns. He explained that more and more graduates contribute to the burgeoning labor force that cannot be accommodated by employment opportunities in the country. He said that the jobs being created are mostly in the informal economy and that the quality of these jobs leaves much to be desired. There is also a huge mismatch between the qualiﬁcations of graduates to available employment opportunities. In terms of education, Brolagda stated that the government must ensure student rights in academic institutions such as representation and gender identity. In addition, he pushed for greater state subsidy for education and disapproved of the implementation of the K+12 curriculum, which he said had no assurance of success.

complete psychohistory of the character we admire or despise, we would see the larger hinge of the human experience; and the scene in the narrative is but a moment in that story.’ Chari can extend this moment so we cannot completely dislike or completely admire Fray Salvador Montano (a character in Lucero’s story).” Lucero thanked Gallaga for the “gorgeous cover,” those who attended and those who delivered messages. “Salou, thanks so much for allowing me to cannibalize you. Without you, I couldn’t have achieved what Paolo was saying in those unpronounceable words.” Beginning with the preface about star maidens, Lucero said, “This was inspired by Bien Lumbera and his daughters. One of Bien’s daughters is named Tala.” She read two excerpts from La India and concluded the launch. Delivering the ﬁrst message, UP Press Director J. Neil Garcia said that Lucero’s

Newsroom to News Coverage. InterAksyon.com, the interactive online news portal of TV5, brought its newsroom to the Palma Hall lobby, UP Diliman last July 20. According to editor-inchief Roby Alampay, the event, dubbed “Online Onsite,” was meant to fully embody the meaning of “interaction” between the news organization and its audience. By bringing its newsroom outside, InterAksyon not only makes the public aware of the processes involved in online news production, but also gives it the opportunity to become involved. The success of the “experiment,” as Alampay called it, will mean the feasibility of transplanting the newsroom to areas where news coverage is most needed. (Arlyn VCD P. Romualdo)

fiction “uses history humorously, selfironically and –reflexively.” Describing Lucero’s work as “historiographic,” Garcia said that she “eschews a positivistic view of history.” La India was also among the 12 new titles UP Press launched at Balay Kalinaw in UP Diliman last August 3. The other eleven are: The Queen Lives Alone: Personal Essays by Ronald Baytan, Kung Nanaisin: Mga Tula by Romulo Baquiran, Vanishing History & Other Poems by Edel Garcellano, In Medias Res: In the Middle of Things by Luis Teodoro, Green Jobs and Green Skills in a Brown Philippine Economy by Rene Ofreneo, Hay Buhay by Danilo Arao, Flames over Baler by Carlos Madrid, Introduction to Classical and Variational Partial Differential Equations by Doina Cioranescu, Patrizia Donato, and Marian Roque, Sacriﬁcial Bodies by Reuben Ramas Cañete, Mixed Blessing by Hazel McFerson and Ka Amado by Jun Cruz Reyes. Photo by El Bacani

Expectations of SONA discussed at forum access and freedom, the view of the United Nations that criminalizing libel runs contrary to freedom of expression, and the drafting of a human rights declaration of and for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Three student body representatives also contributed to the discussion. University Student Council (USC) Chairperson Heart Diño conveyed her dismay at the slow process by which the distribution of Hacienda Luisita is being carried out. She also criticized the implementation of Republic Act No. 9700 or the Comprehensive Agrarian Refor m Program Extension with Reforms law. Specifically, Diño wanted to know why the mandated budget allocation is not being fulfilled. She also hoped that Aquino would affirm his support for the Reproductive Health bill as well as the Anti-discrimination bill. School of Economics representative to the USC Miko Gloria echoed Litong’s concerns on human rights violations, focusing on UP students Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeño, who have been missing for six years. He also said that the Aquino government should

U.P. Newsletter 7

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Interview with the 2011-2012 Women In Science Awardees Stephanie S. Cabigao

Two women scientists from the Marine Science Institute (MSI), who both submitted marine research proposals, were among the 2011-2012 L’Oreal For Women in Science Awardees. Each received a P400,000 international fellowship research grant from the Awards, a joint partnership of the United Nations Educational, Scientiﬁc and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Department of Science and Technology and L’Oreal. The awardees, Dr. Ma. Cecilia Conaco and Dr. Aletta Yñiguez, were interviewed by the UP Newsletter (UPN). What’s your current status in the University? Conaco: I have been a Balik Scientist affiliated with the UP Marine Science Institute since June 2012. Yñiguez: I am an Assistant Professor at the Marine Science Institute. I’ve been

here since 2008 after I ﬁnished my Ph.D. in 2007. My work in UP is devoted to both teaching and research. What motivates you most to do what you do? What are you most excited or passionate about? Conaco: Animals have evolved creative ways of dealing with the challenges that they face in their immediate environments. I am interested in understanding the mechanisms behind these genetic solutions and how this has resulted in the diversity that we observe throughout the animal kingdom. Yñiguez: It’s my love for science that motivates me most. I ﬁnd science very interesting. I’m a marine ecologist, so I like looking at the system, its processes, how things are connected, how things are working through its different components and their relationship with one another. What led you to this career?

Conaco: I am a molecular biologist by training. My postdoctoral work on the evolution of nervous systems and synapses led me to the study of marine organisms, which, interestingly, hold many clues about the origins of the nervous system. Being a scientist is exciting and fun. We learn something new about ourselves and the world around us every day. I grew up in Manila. As a child I would read all kinds of books which may have fueled my curiosity to a certain degree. I never knew what I wanted to be when I grew up except that I wanted to do something that would allow me to constantly explore new things. I think of all my experiences up to this point as being part of a journey of discovery. There is always something new to learn, so I try to keep a sense of wonder and go where my interests lead me.

Chem alumnus shines in the US Photo from http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/aocs/3525898185/sizes/l/in/photostream/

Gerard Dumancas, a UP Visayas alumnus (BS Chemistry, 2005, cum laude laude) from the Department of Chemistry, College of Arts and Sciences, recently finished his doctoral studies (PhD in Analytical Chemistry) at the Oklahoma State University (OSU). While still a student, Dumancas was a University, College, and Presidential Leadership Scholar. He also won the 2005 International Eco-Minds Pathfinder Award in Asia-Pacific for his research plan on the utilization of cottonseed oil wastes as diesel replacement fuel which was participated in by eight countries from the Asia-Pacific region. Dumancas was the recipient of the A

Photo courtesy of UPV-IPO

UPV Dean named 2012 Most Outstanding Finance Educator

Gumban with De Ocampo

Newly-appointed UP Visayas College of Management Dean Mary Ann Gumban was named Most Outstanding Finance Educator for 2012, in a search sponsored by Deloitte Philippines, a ﬁnancial management company, and FINEX (Financial Executives of the Philippines) Foundation Inc. Gumban earlier won the regional ﬁnals as Outstanding Finance Educator for

Visayas. She then competed with other regional winners as one of the 76 nominees. Last July 17, the 76 were reduced to 10 semi-finalists. Deloitte Philippines and FINEX Foundation Inc. annually conduct the search. The award was presented by former Finance Secretary Roberto De Ocampo, together with Deloitte Philippines CEO Greg Navarro, during ceremonies last July 18 at the Grand Ballroom of the Intercontinental Hotel, Makati. The event was attended by the finance executives of the Philippines and finance educators in the country. The board of judges included top finance executives from government and the private sectors: Navarro, FINEX Foundation Inc. president Ramon Opulencia, Bankers Association of the Philippines president Alberto Villarosa, Philippine Stock Exchange president and CEO Hans Sicat, Commission on Higher Education Commissioner Nona Ricafort, Asian Institute of Management Dean Ricardo Lim, and National Treasurer Roberto Tan. (Lyncen M. Fernandez with sources from Dean Mary Ann T. Gumban)

& S Doctoral Student Excellence award given by the OSU for being one of the top 10 entering graduate students for the 2007 Fall Term. He added more feats to his growing list of achievements by winning the American Oil Chemists’ Society’s (AOCS) Analytical Division Student Award for Excellence in Analytical Chemistry Research in 2009 and 2010. He also received the 2010 AOCS Hans Kaunitz Award for outstanding research, academics, and leadership involvement. The following year, he won the Tony B. Award given to 51 upcoming scientists and engineers in the world recognized by the Society for Laboratory Automation in Palm Springs, California. Again in 2012, he was named as one of the 39 up and coming scientists in the world by the Society. His other achievements include an award as one of the six finalists worldwide for the 2012 American Chemical Society (ACS)/Agricultural and Food Chemistry Division Withycombe-Charalambous Award in San Diego, California on March 2012. To date, he has published eight papers in international scientific journals, co-authored six book chapters, and has 20 oral and poster presentations in international/local scientific conferences. In addition, he is a member of the Leadership Team of the AOCS USA Section, member of the Editorial Advisory Board of the AOCS INFORM International Magazine, serves as editor-in-chief of an upcoming book, “Arachidonic acid: dietary sources and general functions” from Nova Science Publishers, a scientific reviewer for the Journal of Laboratory Automation. Dumancas is not only an accomplished researcher but was also recognized for his excellence in teaching. He was nominated and became a finalist in the 2011 Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award given by the Graduate and Professional Student Government Association of OSU. He plans to continue pursuing a career in the academe as an Associate Research Scientist at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation by June 2012. He will focus on the statistical genetics of Lupus, Sarcoidosis, and Sjogren’s syndrome diseases. (Lyncen M. Fernadez with sources from http://dumancas. weebly.com/Stevee Janagap)

Yñiguez: I’ve always been inquisitive and “makulit.” I’ve always been interested in what’s happening and I’ve always liked the natural world and being drawn to conservation of the environment at an early age. I actually wanted to be an astronomer when I was a kid. I was afraid of the water as a kid because I didn’t know what was in it. But then, I eventually learned about the sea grass. Jellyfish won’t necessarily kill me. I grew up in Manila. I only thought of the whole environmental science idea when I was already in high school. I got more exposed to it in college at UP. We had a trip to Puerto Galera. We did an exercise in the reef and I got really fascinated. My mom taught me the discipline necessary to go through the academic aspect of my schooling. My good friends from high school whom I’m very close with until now have contributed to my career as we shared the same ideals. My ecology professors were good mentors too, who influenced my studies while I was at the Marine Science Institute. Tell us about the project that made you a fellow of the L’Oreal For Women In Science. Conaco: My project proposal is on dynamic gene regulation in marine sponges. This project aims to increase our understanding of how the sponge uses its gene complement to sense and react to the environment. I want to look at what genes they possess and when they use these genes. Sponges are an interesting organism to study because, while they seem to be very simple, non-mobile animals, they have actually evolved clever ways of protecting themselves from predators and competitors, and of dealing with the constantly changing conditions of the ocean around them. The findings from this study will hopefully allow us to design ways in which we can monitor the condition of sponges (and other marine organisms) to aid in conservation activities. This study will also allow us to identify genes that may have important applications in the future. Yñiguez: I was interested generally in the primary producers that photosynthesize and on which life on earth is basically dependent. In Marine Science, they are generally called phytoplanktons—microscopic plants floating around and are the base of the food web in marine ecology. There are different types of phytoplankton. In some certain fishing areas, [planktonic communities get] dominated by red tide. So, in the study I proposed, I wanted to compare some of the processes in the productive fisheries area in the north-east side of the Philippines to those in harmful algal bloom/red tide spots like in Sorsogon bay area. I wanted to know about the environmental conditions… that are affecting the production processes of various types of phytoplankton. The study intends to contribute to the improvement of models of primary production of harmful algal blooms that are currently being developed in other studies. Furthermore, my project aims to help validate and increase the reliability of real-time monitoring platforms and remotely sensed data that will be part of a bloom-forecasting system in target sites in the country. What’s next for you in your work? What are you looking forward to? Conaco: I look forward to building up my laboratory and starting work on the project. I am very excited about the things we might discover once we begin looking deeper into the data and learning more Continued on page 9

august 2012

U.P. Newsletter 9

UP Concert Chorus wins top prizes in Spain

Stephanie S. Cabigao

Photo courtesy of www.upconcertchorus.org

The UP Concert Chorus (UPCC) recently won two prizes in the 30th Festival Internacional de Musica de Cantonigros (FIMC) held at Francesc Masferrer in Spain. The festival gathered 42 choral groups from 25 different countries vying for the titles in the mixed choirs, female choirs, children’s choir, folk song and folk dance divisions. The performances took place at the L’Atlantida Theater Vic that ran from July 19 to 23. Exhibitions and presentations were judged by a jury comprised of 12 members headed by the Italian musical director Lluis Vila. UPCC represented the country with its signature costumes, distinct choreographies as well as versatile musicality and repertoire. UPCC emerged among the choral groups that marked its place in this year’s FIMC history by winning two titles in two separate divisions as well as receiving quite a number of standing ovations during its presentations. The university’s homegrown choir showcased its unique style ﬁrst in a noncompetition performance during the “Ceremonia de Bienvenida y Apertura del Festival” also known as the Welcoming Ceremony and Opening Performance

Members of UP Concert Chorus pose for a souvenir shot.

UPMin is SMARRDEC’s most outstanding R&D implementing agency Rene Estremera

UPMindanao was named “Most Outstanding R&D Implementing Agency, 2012” for its accomplishments in building a strong and effective research and development system that is responsive to the needs of instruction, extension, and technology-based incubation, as well as generation of intellectual property. “The impacts of its Value and Supply chain management program have helped farmers broadened market linkage and enhanced production and post-production practices. The implementation and success of the Nipa and Nepenthes truncata (pitcher plant) R&D program has placed the country into a competitive advantage

in biotechnology. “[UPMin] also published/presented 247 projects internationally. Further, the able leadership of [UPMin] has also provided opportunities to its human resources especially researchers by retooling their mental and technical capabilities through academic grants, participation to academic conferences, symposia, and fora.” The Plaque of Recognition for UPMin as partner-institution was awarded for “its remarkable contribution as member and partner of the consortium in providing signiﬁcant support for the development of Davao Region. This further confers the honor and recognition to UPMin for its

PGH wins two DTI awards The Philippine General Hospital (PGH) recently garnered two awards from the Department of Trade and Industry-Center for Industrial Competitiveness (DTI-CIC): the Pro-Active Programs Achievement Award (Family Welfare & Community Relations Programs Category) and the ProActive Programs Achievement Award (Quality and Productivity Category). PGH Director Jose Gonzales received the awards from Secretary Gregory Domingo during the Search for Model Companies event last July 20 at Diamond Hotel, Manila. The DTI-CIC cited the “Workers and Management” of PGH “for having successfully implemented Family Welfare and Community Relations programs / Quality and Productivity programs.” It also recognized the state hospital’s signiﬁcant contributions to the “national effort in the promotion of industrial peace and harmony, improved productivity and

competitiveness.” The Search for Model Companies has been an annual event since 1989 which recognizes companies with exemplary performance in the areas of labor-management relations, quality and productivity, and family welfare and community relations. The award is given to companies that underwent DTI’s pro-active programs for competitiveness (which is open to public and private sector organizations), successfully implemented the lessons from such programs, and eventually vied for the pro-active award. The CIC is an agency attached to the DTI. It is designed to assist and provide private and public organizations and industries programs and assistance to grow, evolve, and compete in the global market. It also provides learning modules geared to speciﬁc managerial concerns to help train and develop leadership skills. ((FMJemena/ IPPAO-UPM IPPAO-UPM)

invaluable support to various projects of the consortium such as spearheading the research work on Pitcher Plant (Nepenthes truncata) and for the attainment of the consortium’s objectives in the areas of Research & Development, Technology Transfer, Capability Building and Policy Advocacy and for the smooth operation and governance of the consortium.” The Plaque of Recognition given to Bayogan cited her “outstanding and exemplary performance as Former Regional Technical Working Group (RTWG) representative of UPMin. Her strong support to the consortium’s major banner programs led to smooth implementation of various projects that are attuned to the Regional Science and Technology Agenda which has contributed to the development of Davao Region.” UP Mindanao (UPMin) participated in the 25th anniversary celebration of the Southern Mindanao Agriculture Resources Research and Development Consortium (SMARRDEC) through a motorcade, program, exhibit, and lectures from August 13 to 17. The UPMin delegation was led by ViceChancellor Emma Ruth Bayogan. The keynote speaker was Dr. Patricio Faylon, executive director of the Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (DOST-PCAARRD). Plaques of recognition were awarded to UPMin as partner institution, to Bayogan as former Regional R&D Coordinating Council representative, and to Mitchiko Lopez and Salome Sendrejas as former Regional Applied Communication Ofﬁce representatives

Continued from page 8

about the sponge. Yñiguez: Field work is coming up. I hope I can keep on pursuing this kind of projects. I look forward to having more opportunities to work in other marine systems in the Philippines and contribute to government initiatives. Also, I would like to continue being efﬁcient in what I do, in ﬁeld work especially since I love doing it and going around the country.

UPMin study on dayok, amahong, sisi for hypertension wins prize Rene Estremera

Photo courtesy of Prof. Gil Jacinto

Interview with the 2011-2012 Women In Science Awardees

Continued on page 11

From left to right: Luc Olivier-Marquet, L’Oreal’s managing director; Prof. Lourdes Cruz, the ﬁrst ASEAN and ﬁrst Filipino awardee; DOST Undersecretary Fortunato dela Pena; Dr. Laura T. David 2010-2011 For Women In Science National Fellow; Dr. Ma. Cecilia Conaco, 2011-2012 For Women In Science National fellow; Dr. Aletta Yniguez, 2011-2012 For Women In Science National fellow

The research paper “Inhibition of Angiotensin I-Converting Enzyme (ACE) by Indigenous Fermented Foods” authored by Dr. Dulce Flores, Kristine Mae Abao and Mitchell Rey Toleco of the UP Mindanao Department of Food Science and Chemistry (UPMin-DFSC) won ﬁrst prize in the poster competition, professional category. during the 6th Philippine National Health Research System Week celebration organized by the Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (DOSTPCHRD). The study addresses the disease of hypertension, or high blood pressure, by targeting the Angiotensin I-Converting Enzyme (ACE), a membrane-bound enzyme that converts benign Angiotensin I to Angiotensin II, which is a powerful vasoconstrictor. Inhibiting the ACE will stop the conversion. The study explores the potential of indigenous fermented foods dayok, amahong and sisi as sources of ACE inhibitors. Dayok is a mixture of different fermented ﬁsh intestines. Amahong is made from meat of mussels (tahong) tahong) and sisi is also tahong made from the meat of rock oysters. Synthetic ACE inhibitors such as captopril, enalapril and lisinopril have been produced; however, these have been found to have side-effects. A research poster on “Food Safety Assessment of Different Types of Street Foods in Davao City, Philippines” presented by the DOST Region XI and the German International Cooperation won 3rd Prize in the same competition. The researchers in this study were UPMin BS Food Technology students Mary Jane Roldan and Ann Yngente, for whom the study served as their thesis, with Associate Professor Virginia Obsioma and Assistant Professor Jackie Lou Tagubase of DSFC as thesis advisers.

10 U.P. Newsletter

august 2012

‘Hindi nagreretiro ang manunulat’ –JCR

A lifelong commitment to voluntarism and public service awarded

at pagpaparangal sa kanya noong Hulyo 27 sa Kolehiyo ng Arte at Literatura (KAL), UP Diliman. Nagsimula ang selebrasyon sa pagbubukas ng eksibit ng kanyang mga likhang sining noong Hulyo 24. Sa pagsasara ng eksibit, inanunsyo ang pagreretiro ni Amang, ipinagdiwang ang kanyang

kaarawan, at inilunsad din ang kanyang aklat na Ka Amado, isang biograpiya ng pambansang alagad ng sining na si Amado V. Hernandez. “UP ang pugad na babalik-balikan niya pagkatapos ng paglipad ng kanyang imahinasyon sa iba’t ibang riyalidad at

Kuha ni Jun Madrid

“Hindi nagreretiro sa gitna ng labanan. Natatalo at nagpapahinga. Patuloy tayong magsusulat, kasama ko kayo.” Ito ang pagtatapos na pahayag ni Pedro “Jun” Cruz Reyes, na mas kilala ng mga kabataang manunulat bilang “Amang,” sa kulminasyon ng pagdiriwang

Arbeen Acuña

Celeste Ann Castillo Llaneta

Rosal delivers a lecture during the awarding ceremony.

to its Board of Governors in 1965. She has been in the Board up to the present. Her committed philanthropic work led to her receiving the 1999 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service. She brought her volunteerism and humanitarianism to television in 1975 through the television shows Kapwa Ko, Mahal Ko and Channel 4’s Damayan, the country’s longest running public service show which she hosted without pay. Through these public service television programs and the prominence she brought to the Philippine Red Cross, Rosal became a pioneer of public service in the broadcast media and an icon of humanitarianism, volunteerism and selfless service. UP President Alfredo Pascual, UP Diliman Chancellor Ceasar Saloma, and UP College of Mass Communication Dean Rolando Tolentino presented the award to Rosal in the presence of Philippine Red Cross officials, including Chairman Richard Gordon, UP and CMC officials, faculty and students, and former Gawad Plaridel awardees and luminaries in Philippine mass media. The UP Gawad Plaridel Awards of 2012 was hosted by CMC alumni Julius Babao and Christine “Tin-Tin” BersolaBabao. During his closing remarks, CMC Dean Tolentino announced that next year’s Gawad Plaridel awards will be in the field of journalism.

Photo by Bong Arboleda

Aktong sinisita ng gwardya si Cruz Reyes sa isang pagganap ni Prop. Vim Nadera bilang pagpupugay sa kapwa manunulat. Photo by Bong Arboleda

Even as she accepted the Gawad Plaridel of 2012, the highest award UP can give to a Filipino media practitioner, Florence Danon Gayda, better known as TV and film actress and the grand lady of public service television Rosa Rosal, gave credit to the Philippine Red Cross, with which she had served as a volunteer and advocate for 52 “meaningful” years. “Ako’y lubos na nag papasalamat sa karangalang ibinigay ninyo, pero hindi po sa akin lang iyon. ‘Yan po ay sa Philippine Red Cross,” she said during her Gawad Plaridel lecture delivered during the awarding ceremonies held last July 31 at the UP Diliman College of Mass Communication’s Cine Adarna. Comparing her lifelong campaign to encouraging Filipinos to donate blood and to give aid to the poorest of the poor through the Philippine Red Cross to a “burden” given to her by God, the 2012 Gawad Plaridel Awardee for television reiterated her commitment to her advocacy and volunteerism. “Iyan po ang aking bilin sa anak ko [Toni Rose Gayda, who was a member of the audience], na huwag akong pipigilan. Hanggan’t kaya ko, ako’y magre-Red Cross” she said. “I’m very proud to tell you that I’m a volunteer of the PRC and I’ll stay a volunteer, up to the time the Lord fetches me home.” The UP Gawad Plaridel, named after propagandist and La Solidaridad editor Marcelo H. Del Pilar’s nom de plume, is given every July 4 by the UP College of Mass Communication to recognize Filipino media practitioners who have excelled in any of the media (print, radio, film and television) and have performed with the highest level of professional integrity in the interest of public service. Already on its eighth year, the UP Gawad Plaridel’s roster of honorees include Eugenia Duran-Apostol (2004) for print journalism, Vilma Santos (2005) for film, Fidela “Tiya Dely” Magpayo (2006) for radio, Cecilia “Cheche” L. Lazaro (2007) for television, Pachico A. Seares (2008) for community print media, Kidlat Tahimik (2009) for independent film, and Eloisa “Lola Sela” Canlas (2011) for radio, who were recognized for their outstanding contributions to Filipino mass media and society in general. The UP Gawad Plaridel award comes with a trophy specially designed by National Artist Napoleon Abueva. Rosa Rosal, chosen for her outstanding contributions to the broadcast industry, particularly in television, is an accomplished film and television actress whose career spans six decades. She has won the Best Actress award from the Filipino Academy for Movie Arts and Sciences (FAMAS) in 1955 for her role in Sonny Boy and the FAMAS International Prestige Award for the film Anak Dalita in 1956. However, she is best known for her tireless work with the Philippine Red Cross, serving as a volunteer-member for its blood program in the 1950s, and later being elected

Ambassador Yabes receives the honor in his father’s name.

mundo,” ani Prop. Teresita Maceda, tagapangulo ng Departamento ng Filipino at Panitikan ng Pilipinas (DFPP). Dagdag pa niya, “Walang lungkot sa kanyang pagretiro pagkat umpisa lamang ito ng isa pang paglalakbay.” Nilahad din ni Maceda na nagsimula si Amang sa DFPP noong tagapangulo nito si Prop. Rogelio Sicat. Ayon kay Maceda, “‘Di ko mawari noon kung bakit ako ang pinili nyang tagapayo sa tisis na Etsa Pwera at sa disertasyon na Ka Amado. Sabi n’ya, ginagalang n’ya raw ako. Na-test ang paggalang na ito, pinaulit ko ang isang tsapter ng Etsa Puwera. Sumunod siya kahit siya si Jun Cruz Reyes.” Dumalo rin sa pagtitipon sina UP Diliman Chancellor Caesar Saloma at Dekana Elena Mirano ng KAL. Ani Saloma, “Sa mga pointilist arwork ni JCR, nakikita ko ang presisyon ng siyensiya, ang talim ng obserbasyon sa paligid at ang imahinatibong paglikha ng isang uri ng riyalidad na nagpapaunawa sa atin ng ating pagka-Pilipino.” Para kay Mirano, mahirap makahanap ng “artistang nakakagawa sa iba’t ibang medyo – sculpture, ukit, pinta, literatura, biography na ila-launch ngayon.” Dagdag pa niya, “Nasisiyahan akong may selebrasyon tayo ng buhay niya, ng 65 years ng productive work, pero nalulungkot din ako dahil 65 years old na siya at pinagdarasal kong hindi pa sana tapos ang buhay niya dito sa UP at makinabang pa ang maraming estudyante.” Nilahad naman ni Prop. Allan Derain ang mga karanasan niya nang maging guro si Amang. “Akala ko noon, wala kaming klase at nagpadala ng janitor para mag-announce na walang klase si Sir Jun.” Si Amang din daw ang nagpabasa sa kanya ng Crime and Punishment at The Brothers Karamazov ni Fyodor Dostoyevsky at nagpayo sa kanyang “kung gusto mo makagawa ng round character, kinakailangan mong aralin si Dostoyevsky, kung paano niya ginamit ang sikolohiya sa kanyang nobela.” Ayon kay Derain, dalawa lang daw ang kulto noon— ang kay Amang at ang kay Ricky Lee. “Hindi lang siya ﬁction writing teacher.” Para kay Derain, si Amang ay “literal na sining na Sundan sa pahina 16

‘Quintessential Scholar’ honored Andre Encarnacion

Former students, university ofﬁcials and followers of the late literary and cultural scholar Leopoldo Yabes braved the rains last July 30 to attend a “performanceconference” honoring him on his birth centennial. “Dallang: Dagitay Kannawidan Tayo – Philippine Literary and Cultural Traditions: a Performance-Conference” featured paper presenters who shared their studies of traditional literatures and cultures, and performances from students, faculty and cultural workers, to showcase the dances, songs, and poems being discussed. UP President Alfredo Pascual welcomed participants to the conference and described Yabes as “the quintessential academician.” Though he knew Yabes only at a distance as an undergraduate in the then College of Arts and Sciences in the second half of the ‘60s, he knew that Yabes “set the pace for Philippine and nationalist studies.” The “dedication to academic scholarship and academic freedom” shown by Yabes, said Pascual, was “important to making a great university in the 21st century.” T h e s o n o f t h e l a t e s c h o l a r, Ambassador Jesus Yabes, extended his family’s appreciation and gratitude to UP,

particularly to the Department of English and Comparative Literature, his father’s home department. He also introduced other members of the clan who were in attendance. After reading an article that called his father “a great bibliographer,” the younger Yabes related how his father would “study each and every Filipino writer from the time they started writing – how they would write, how they progressed.” This proved to the younger Yabes his father’s great dedication to literature and Philippine culture. He also detailed how his father would keep the works of young writers who did not pursue their writing careers. The elder Yabes viewed them as “something that reﬂected the era” and part of Philippine literature. From there, the conference was divided into parts or “dallangs” where performances were interspersed with critical appreciations of the country’s traditional literatures and cultures. More than a dozen traditional art forms and traditions from the Ilocano “Dallot” to the Waray “Curacha” were touched on by several scholars and performers from around the country. While scholars such as Li Jia of the Continued on page 13

august 2012

U.P. Newsletter 11

ISSI gives Davao bgy ofﬁcials IMAGE seminar Rene Estremera

CDC study to be replicated in China and India How do communication and other factors facilitate or hinder the adoption and uptake pathway of biotech crops in a community? A team of researchers from the UP Los Baños College of Development Communication (UPLBCDC) partly answered this question in a recently completed study on the adoption and uptake pathways of biotech corn in the provinces of Cagayan, Isabela, and Pangasinan. The answers will soon be broadened and deepened with the conduct of an improved version of the study in the provinces of Pampanga, Iloilo, and South Cotabato as well as in several areas in two other countries, China and India, starting this semester. The expansion and enhancement of the research project was the main topic discussed in the meeting of CDC Dean Cleofe Torres and Assistant Professor Romel Daya with officials of the International Services for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) and representatives of the Biosafety and Biotechnology Information Centers (BICs) from China, India, and the Philippines.

Public Administration and Governance (NCPAG), ISSI Director Nestor Rañeses and ISSI Extension Specialist Crispina Almonte. Welcome Remarks were given by UPMin Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs Emma Ruth Bayogan. Some 60 barangay ofﬁ cials representing 30plus barangays in the 1st Congressional District completed the three-day, live-in seminar. They were awarded certiﬁcates signed by Nograles, UPMin Chancellor Gilda Rivero and Rañeses. Bayogan, in her closing message, reiterated UPMin’s commitment to public service, and reiterated that should there be anything UPMin could provide local

governments by way of training and research, to not hesitate to call on her. Nograles said he was proud of the first batch of barangay officials who availed of this seminar, and encouraged them to make full use of the learning that UP had provided, and to be punctual and diligent. He said that barangay officials should seek out the various opportunities and avenues for empowerment that are available from government agencies, non-government organizations, and the private sector. He congratulated them for acquiring a “diploma” from UP, something he regretted that he never had.

Photo courtesy of UP Mindanao Ofﬁce of the Chancellor

Barangay captains and councilors of Davao City’s 1st Cong ressional District took the seminar “Improving Managerial Abilities and Governance through Entrepreneurship for Local Government Units (IMAGE-LGU)” from July 13 to 15. The seminar was conducted by the UP Diliman Institute of Small-Scale Industries (UPD-ISSI) on the initiative of Davao City 1st District Congressman Karlo Alexei Nograles, and was facilitated by the UP Mindanao Office of Extension and Community Service (UPMin-OECS). The resource persons were Dean Edna Co of the UPD National College of

Participants of the IMAGE seminar sing the National Anthem with Bayogan and Nograles.

The meeting was held in Phuket, Thailand last March 13 and 14. China was the ﬁrst country in Asia to commercialize biotech cotton in 1997 and biotech papaya in late 2006. India commercialized biotech cotton in 2002. In the Philippines, biotech maize is the only commercially planted biotech crop, which was approved for commercialization in 2003. Torres and Daya also presented a paper on the results of their biotech corn

research in Luzon to 40 BICs from 17 countries who were attending the annual meeting of the Global Knowledge Center on crop biotechnology. A peer-reviewed monograph on the research was published in March this year by CDC, ISAAA, and the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture. It was authored by Torres, Daya, Edmund Centeno and Teresita Osalla, and Juvy Gopela. Copies of the monograph are available at the CDC Reading Room.

UPOU conducts ecourse on solid waste management for LGUs T he UP Open University (UPOU), in collaboration with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and Environmental Management Bureau (EMB), conducted the ﬁrst face-toface workshop of the “e-Course on Solid Waste Management for Local Government Units (eSWM4LGUs)” last July 31 at the ICTO Building, Diliman, Quezon City. T he prog ram was designed to enhance the LGUs’ capacity to develop their own solid waste management plan, implement solid waste management programs in their respective localities, and consequently make a positive impact in the lives of the people they serve. The course is a 12-week blended program composed of 24 hours of face-to-face and 180 hours of online sessions. The face-to-face workshop was aimed at orienting the participants on the concept of e-learning and how to navigate the online course site. The course was primarily delivered online in order to reach a wider audience at a more affordable cost. T here were 23 workshop participants, representing seven highly urbanized cities around the country including Baguio City, Santa Rosa City, Cebu City, Palo Leyte, Gingoog City, Koronadal, and Butuan City. They were joined by the workshop tutors from UPOU, University of Santo Tomas and the DENR-EMB. UPOU and DENR ofﬁcials attended the opening ceremonies. UPOU Course Coordinator Juvy Lizette Gervacio, Dr. Evelyn Laurito of UST, and Raquel Ortega of DENREMB facilitated the workshop. The program is in line with the Green UPOU program of UPOU’s Fa c u l t y o f M a n a g e m e n t a n d Development Studies.

UPV hosts annual national convention of math teachers Anna Razel L. Ramirez

UP Visayas, (UPV) through the Division of Physical Sciences and Mathematics, College of Arts and Sciences, hosted the annual national convention of the Mathematics Teachers Association of the Philippines (MTAP) -Tertiary Level last August 16 and 17 at the UPV Iloilo City Campus. The theme of the convention was “Paradigms in Mathematics Education for Global Competitiveness.” The event convened mathematics educators and researchers from around the country and abroad who discussed current issues and trends in the teaching and assessment of mathematics learning. Among the invited speakers were Dr. Joseph D. Novak of Cornell University and the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition; Dr. Mary Ann Huntley of Cornell University; Dr. Yeap Ban Har of Singapore; Dr. Fidel Nemenzo of UP Diliman; Dr. Lourdes Zamora of UPV; Fr. Domingo Rafael A. Alimajen, Jr. of St. Vincent Ferrer Seminary; Dr. Gaudencio Petalcorin, Jr. of Father Saturnino Urios University; and Dr. Rebecca Tolentino of Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila. In his message, UPV Chancellor Rommel Espinosa emphasized that

mathematics education is a fundamental and signiﬁcant component in empowering the Filipinos with life skills and knowledge to become globally competitive citizens. He said that it is imperative that high quality mathematics education is instilled on and embedded in the culture of our young generation for the sake of a globally competitive Philippines. Sister Iluminada Coronel, president of the MTAP, urged the government to implement programs that would develop the esteem of our teachers to help them regain their love of the profession. She also encouraged teachers to train their students to do basic research and for these students to get involved in math investigation. Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog of Iloilo City welcomed the participants to Iloilo City. He stressed the role of mathematics in everyday life as well as its importance in the upliftment of society. Iloilo Province Governor Arthur Defensor, Sr. underscored the value of teaching as the noblest and most fulfilling profession. He also cited the many wonders of this world that were discovered because of mathematicians. (With information from

Prof. Lindley Kent Faina)

UP Concert Chorus wins top prizes in Spain Continued from page 9

along with two other chorale contenders from Beijing and Slovenia on Thursday. The festival’s launch was also joined by the performances of the famous opera singer Maria Bayo. UPCC ﬁrst competed in the Competition Number 1 that was also known as the Mixed Choirs division with up to 40 voices performing the obligatory piece “Madrigal” by Cristofor Taltabull. UPCC finished second in the competition with the title “Ajuntament de Vic,” and received a 1200€ cash prize. The Mixed Choirs Division was won by Grex Vocalis from Oslo-Noruega. UPCC’s second time to compete was against 17 other competing choirs in the Competition Number 4 – Mixed Choirs, Male or Female Choirs under the Folk Song Division with up to 40 voices. The three works must be chosen from the folklore of the country represented by the chorale and must not exceed 12 minutes. UPCC performed pieces from Beny Castilon’s “Kruhay,” Eudenice Palaruan’s “Pasigin”

and Rodolfo Delarmente’s “Ilay Gandagan.” UPCC bagged the first prize and earned the title “Generalitat de Catalunya” along with a 600€ cash prize. Other than the awards received from the festival, UPCC also gained more international recognition with its excellent performances that wrapped the festival’s show with songs such as the “Concert Internacional,” during the first night concert and finally concluded the festival with the song “Concert Internacional, Clausura del Festival.” UPCC also received quite a number of standing ovations after its performances of “One World, One Voice, One Song” by Kirby Shaw, “Let It Be” by The Beatles, “De Profundis,” “Kruhay,” “Eres Tu,” and “Tribute to the King of Pop.” As of press time, the UPCC continues its European Tour and is expected to perform next in Germany. (From: www. concertchorus.or , http://www.fimc.es/enconcertchorus.org inici.htm) m m)

12 U.P. Newsletter

august 2012

Photo by Bong Arboleda

UPV’s researchers lecture during 65th anniversary of UP in Iloilo Anna Razel L. Ramirez

Celebrating linguistics. Traditional music from different parts of the world highlights the opening ceremonies last August 1 of UP Diliman Department of Linguistics’s month-long 90th anniversary celebration. Photos were taken at the Palma Hall, UP Diliman, Quezon City.

Aquino still to make good on his promises Continued from page 2

of disputes in sovereignty between China and the Philippines. He said that in the mid1970s, then President Ferdinand Marcos entered into an agreement with a Swedish oil consortium to “drill for oil and natural gas in the Reed Bank.” Upon learning of this, China launched a protest and claimed that it had “‘indisputable sovereignty over the territories in the South China Sea.’” Through the years, efforts toward “peaceful diplomatic negotiation” were made. However, Lim said that Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam undertook “sovereignty initiatives” that saw the expulsion of Chinese ﬁshing boats in the disputed area. The entry of other countries such as the US, Japan and India persuaded China to create “a strong blue water navy to neutralize these aggressive moves.” The Scarborough Shoal dispute that rose during the current administration showed the “hard-edged stance” of the Philippines and the standoff remains. He said that the president attempted to “internationalize the issue by ‘embracing’ America’s offer to be the region’s chief arbiter.” It seems that the Philippine government, according to Lim, is relying on the US for support especially with US Ambassador to the Philippines Harry Thomas’ statements that his country will come to the Philippines’ rescue should an armed attack occur. He pointed out, though, that these pronouncements run contrary to statements made by US State Secretary Hillary Clinton—that the US remains neutral on the territorial claims. In the end, Lim proposed that the Philippines should try to resolve the issue by accepting China’s offer of peaceful bilateral talks, without the interference of non-claimant countries. Institute of Islamic Studies Dean Julkipli Wadi brieﬂy discussed the Mindanao peace process and Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao reform. He observed that these issues were anchored on the country’s national security agenda and criticized this move. These concerns encompass a wide range of issues and simply identifying them under a security agenda impedes growth and development in the region. Wadi also stated that reform initiatives do not coincide with the peace process. There are also no details on how to pursue the peace process further. What the country needs, Wadi said, is the progression from the signing of peace agreements to the actual effective implementation of the provisions of said agreements. The last panel speaker was CenPEG Policy Studies director Romulo Tuazon. He talked about clan politics and how reform has not happened in the country’s political landscape. Tuazon stated that the Philippines is, in fact, “backpedaling” as the number of political dynasties have increased. The surge in dynastic rule in Philippine politics is

Photo byJun Madrid

the 58 percent out-of-pocket spending by Filipinos for health care. He also asked, “[Are] the two million beneficiaries [of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program] ‘graduating’ in 2013 no longer poor?” Africa concluded that the Aquino presidency has so far been a continuation of “decades of failed development policies”—continuing jobs and incomes crisis, decline of manufacturing and agriculture, severe inequities, bias for elite and foreign capitalist interests, and camouflaging these with cash dole outs. Aquino was also silent about the Freedom of Infor mation (FOI) bill, which was discussed by CenPEG board member and former UPD College of Mass Communication Dean Luis V. Teodoro. The judicial system underwent public scrutiny when former Chief Justice Renato Corona was tried and convicted by the impeachment court. The event did “resonate among the citizenry as indications that Aquino’s declared campaign against corruption could be more than rhetoric,” Teodoro said. Transparency, truthfulness and accountability all came into play as the problems in the judiciary were exposed during the trial. But the public’s perception of having had access to these pieces of information is contrary to what Teodoro said was the “obvious Aquino resistance to the passing of an authentic—meaning a law that will indeed enhance public access to information rather than restrict it—Freedom of Information act.” This resistance seems to stem from the fear that “public and media access to government-held information would compromise ‘national security’ and hamper government agencies’ capacity to make and implement policy by opening those agencies and their officials to excessive public scrutiny.” The tradition of government secrecy and citing “national security” as a justification for restricting access to information “deny the fundamental right of the citizenry to knowledge of government transactions, decision-making, and policy” and disregard the important role that “an informed citizenry can and has played in exposing corruption and bringing its sovereign power to bear on eliminating or at least minimizing it.” Failure to recognize the significance of passing the FOI bill—empowering citizens through knowledge—will result in “at best, only the limited and tentative success” of Aquino’s campaign against corruption. Prof. Benito Lim of the Ateneo de Manila University Chinese Studies Program then talked about Philippines-China relations under the leadership of Aquino. Lim focused on claims over territories in the South China Sea, first tracing the history

A lecture series that featured researchers Moscoso, GIS is “also a decision support of UP Visayas (UPV) highlighted the second system tool used in many applications such day of the 65th anniversary celebration of as natural resources management, land UP’s presence in Iloilo last July 25 at the information system, urban planning, defense UPV Auditorium. and intelligence, utilities and communications, Dr. Alicia Magos, anthropologist and business, health and human services.... and Professor Emeritus at UPV, discussed various others.” SoTech has been promoting “The Mandate of Anthropology in Today’s GIS in its research and extension activities Society.” She stressed that “knowledge and in many areas in Region VI and is a member information taken from the people should of the regional pool of trainers for the not be searched or acquired for its own integration of GIS analysis in the disaster sake;” and that “the researcher-scholar has risk-reduction plans of the province. a mandate, a strong responsibility to give Rhodella Ibabao, Assistant Professor 7 back to the knowledge holder, its source of the College of Management (CM), talked and help them claim, value, safeguard and about her study, “From Insurgent to Allies: promote it especially now that it is being Emerging Planning Practices of Civil Society challenged by aggressive consumerism and Groups in Iloilo City, Philippines.” Her study modernization.” involves the planning practices of two civil Magos was responsible for authenticating society groups, Homeless People’s Federation the Panay Bukidnon as an indigenous group of the Philippines and Gabriela in Iloilo City, and endorsed Federico Caballero for the to address the problem of housing and tenure Gawad Manlilikha ng Bayan (GAMABA) as security. Her study verifies the proposition National Treasure for Epic and Literature. that in practice, civil society groups adopt She also pioneered the School for Living hybrid planning approaches—a combination Tradition in Central Panay. of insurgent planning and co-production Prof. Valeriano Corre, Jr. Professor 11 planning. She concluded that groups rarely and station head of the UPV College of favor one approach over the other; rather, Fisheries and Ocean Sciences-Insitute of they blend ad-hoc/strategic and opposition/ Aquaculture discussed “The Potential of collaboration strategies. Biofloc Technology (BFT) in Philippine The lecture series was organized by the Shrimp Culture.” He said that BFT is Lectures Committee composed of CM Dean the most promising technology currently Mary Ann Gumban, Dr. Minerva Olympia, in use in shrimp aquaculture. Carbon Prof. Melanie Padilla, Prof. Luzette Terual, is added to the culture environment to and Prof. Romana Villareal. offset the nitrogenous waste produced by the culture organisms. Corre said “studies have shown that the use of biofloc in aquaculture can reduce reliance on protein derived from feeds and stabilize water quality such that zero water exchange is possible.” Through the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Shrimp Program, Corre, et al. successfully applied BFT to P. Monodon culture using the same carbon sources. Trials are now being undertaken in Cebu, which will be further verified and fine-tuned and made available for use by shrimp farmers in the country. Alan Dino Moscoso, University Research Associate of the School of Technology (SoTech), lectured on the “Application Celebrating labor and industrial relations. Former of Geographic Information School of Labor and Industrial Relations dean, Rene System (GIS) in Planning Ofreneo, delivers “Brown and Black: Challenge of Green and Decision Making.” Restructuring in the Philippine Economy” last July 21 as part of a lecture series celebrating the school’s 58th According to anniversary.

evident in their infiltration of the party-list system, the move to other areas of politics, occupying other legislative districts in the same province or region, using incumbent seats for other family members to secure local government positions and having them appointed to national posts. Of the 229 representatives in the lower house, 161 have family members elected and/or appointed to public office, 153 have relatives occupying local government posts, 40 have relatives in elected national posts and 50 have relatives in appointed national posts. He clarified that the figures on “appointed” relatives exclude non-presidential appointees and that “elected” relatives include party-list

representatives. Looking at the party-list representatives revealed that of the 56, 12 were members of political clans. In addition, only ﬁve of them were non-millionaires. In the Philippine Senate, on the other hand, 18 of the 23 members come from political clans. Congress has seen family members succeeding and even simultaneously serving in the Senate. This led Tuazon to conclude that members seem to have a tradition of “having another family member secure a seat” in Congress. The CenPEG forum was organized in cooperation with the UP Ofﬁce of the President and the UP Manila Department of Social Sciences.

august 2012

U.P. Newsletter 13

Lordei N’ Night nilunsad, panawagan ng pakikiisa at suporta Stephanie S. Cabigao tanggapan, guro at pribadong indibidwal sa UPD. Ang ilan sa mga ito ay ang Stand-UP at Center for Nationalist Studies na nagambag ng halagang P24,105; mula naman kay Mayo ay P2,000; at tinatayang P13,718 naman ang nagmula sa NCPAG Student Government at Ong Family. Nagkakahalaga naman ng P70,000 ang kabuuang nakalap mula sa Lordei N’ Night beneﬁt concert. Hindi kabilang dito ang halaga ng mga cake at artwork na naibigay bilang mga donasyon sa aktibidad. Umabot na sa P1.7 milyon ang gastusin sa Capitol Medical Center mula noong sinugod si Lordei Hina doon. Nagkakahalaga naman sa P22,000 bawat linggo ang kinakailangan naman ni Hina para sa therapy at rehabilitasyon ng kaniyang motor skills, pananalita at paglalakad. Sa nakalap na halaga mula sa naganap na beneﬁt concert, maaaring ipagpatuloy ang therapy ni Hina sa susunod na tatlo’t kalahating linggo. Ayon kay Paolo Rieza, ang tagapagsalita ng Task Force Lordei Hina, “Bumubuti ang kalagayan ni Lordei sa bawat araw. Nakakalakad na siya ngunit kinakailangan pa rin ang pag-alalay. Nakakapagsalita na rin siya nang kaunti. Hindi pwede mahinto ang therapy niya kasi baka mag-reg ress. Kung kaya naghahanap kami n g ayo n n g n e u r o psych for her further

rehabilitation.” Ayon sa tanggapan ng UPD Police, naitala nila ang 28 kaso ng krimen sa loob lamang ng tatlong buwan ng taong ito, mula Enero hanggang Marso. Kabilang dito ang kaso ni Lordei Hina na nangyari noong Pebrero 1 sa opisina ng University Student Council sa Vinzons Hall. Ang pagnanakaw at karahasan ang mga nangunguna sa klase ng krimeng naitala sa mga reklamo at kaso. Ang seguridad sa loob ng campus ay nananatiling malaking usapin habang patuloy ang pagtaas ng bilang ng krimen bawat taon. Kabilang sa mga pangunahing usaping seguridad sa campus ay ang kakulangan sa badyet, isang bukas na konsultasyon tungo sa reporma sa sistema, pagbubukas at pagpapadaloy ng ugnayan sa pagitan ng mga tanggapan at iba pang kinauukulan na may kinalaman sa kabuuang seguridad ng campus. Para sa karagdagang impormasyon maaaring puntahan ang link ng Task Force Lordei Hina sa www.facebook/ TaskForceLordeiHina.

Celeste Ann Castillo Llaneta

Kuha ni Bong Arboleda

Ang Opisina ng Bise-Tsanselor para sa mga Gawaing Pangmag-aaral ng UP Diliman (UPD) kasama ang Opisina ng Rehente ng Mag-aaral ay naglunsad ng isang benefit concert na may layuning maipaabot sa mas malawak na sektor ang kalagayan ni Lordei Camille Anjuli Hina, estudyante ng Agham Pampolitika sa UPD, limang buwan matapos ang pagnanakaw at pananaksak sa kanya noong Pebrero. Layunin din ng proyekto na maipaabot sa lahat ang tumataas na bilang ng krimen sa kampus sa loob lamang ng taong ito, at iba pang usaping seguridad, alinsabay ang pagkalap ng pinansyal na tulong para sa pamilyang Hina na nasasadlak sa lumalaking utang at gastusing medikal para sa pagpapagaling ni Lordei. Ang dating Rehente ng Mag-aaral (2011-2012) na si Krissy Conti, kasama ang Task Force Lordei Hina, ay nanguna sa inorganisang benefit concert. Ipinanawagan ng g r upo ang pakikilahok ng mg a organisasyon at indibidwal sa UPD sa pagbuo ng nasabing benefit concert. Sa loob ng humigit-kumulang tatlong linggo, napagtulung-tulungan ng iba’t ibang kolehiyo, organisasyon, mga guro, mag-aaral at indibidwal na matupad ang isang “Lordei N’ Night.” Sa pangunguna ng dating dekana ng Kolehiyo ng Ekonomiyang Pantahanan na si Dr. Adelaida Mayo, sinuportahan ng kolehiyo ang nabanggit na aktibidad. Idinaos noong Hulyo 20 sa tanyag na Tea Room ng Kolehiyo, maging sa atrium nito, ang isang gabi ng kultural na pagtanghal. Isang cake raffle ang inilunsad sa atrium. Sa halagang P50, maaari nang sumali sa nasabing raffle. Humigit-kumulang sa 20 cake ang naibigay bilang donasyon mula sa iba’t ibang organisasyon sa kampus ang naipamigay sa raffle. Natunghayan rin sa atrium ang mga saliw at indayog ng UP Streetdance, UP Repertory Company at UP Speca. Maging ang mga talento ng mga taga-UP Music Circle, Plagpul at Karatula ay naitanghal rin, mangyaring ang lahat ng mga grupong ito ay nagpaabot ng kanilang tulong at boluntaryong nagtanghal. Ang tiket sa Tea Room ay nagkahalaga ng P3,000. Kasama sa pakete nito ang hapunan, ang harana ng Filipino Tenors, Stephanie Quintin at UP Arkaira na pawang mga boluntaryo ring nag-alok ng kanilang pagtanghal sa gabing iyon, maging ang awtomatikong paglahok sa isang art auction ay kasamang pribilehiyo ng tiket. Ang mga nakalap na donasyon bago ang naganap na Lordei N’ Night benefit concert ay nagmula sa mga organisasyon,

First ﬁve students on AUN-ACTS Scholarship announced

Ipinapakita ang dalawang obra na napanalunan nila sa raffle. Sila ay dalawa lamang sa mga tumugon sa panawagang tulungan ang maganak ni Lordei sa pagtugon sa kaniyang pangangailangang medikal.

UP inaugurates NMR Core Facility

Continued from page 1

‘Quintessential Scholar’ honored Continued from page 10

College of Music and Michiyo Reyes of the Asian Center shared the results of their ﬁeldwork centered on the “Hud-Hud” of the Ifugaos and Banao culture, respectively, dance scholar Matthew Santamaria gave his take on the debate separating the Igal and Pangalay dance traditions of the Sama and Tausug communities in Mindanao. Other traditions the participants addressed were the Dagiti Inabel, the Ibanag Unoni, the Cebuano Balitaw, the Agyu of Bukidnon and the Bicolano Feast of Our Lady of Peñafrancia, and Marawi music and dance. Grace Odal-Devora of UP Manila also gave her account of the concept of “Mutya” in Philippine history, while former senator Santanina Rasul explained the Muslim celebration of Eid al-Fitr.

One of the two NMR spectrometers at the Institute of Chemistry and its interface

to propose a faster procurement policy for UP. He also reported the increased budget allocation for UP, the construction of buildings for the National Institutes of Health and the Philippine Genome Center, additional budget for a number of facilities and repair work, the availability of P230 million research grants, and ﬁnancial commitment from CHED over the next nine years for research in health care, biochemistry, and information and

communications technology. Vice-President for Academic Affairs and proponent of Pharmaseas Gisela Concepcion was also present, as well as top ofﬁcials of the equipment supplier Molave Trading Inc. and systems and technology provider Agilent Technologies. From the Institute of Chemistry, Director Florian del Mundo welcomed the guests. Former Director Irene Villaseñor toured them through the facility.

Five UP undergraduate students have been chosen to study for one academic year in universities in neighboring ASEAN countries as the first batch of recipients of the ASEAN University Network-Credit Transfer System (AUN-ACTS) Scholarship, the Office of Institutional Linkages under the Office of the Vice-President for Academic Affairs announced recently. Two of the five students—Gian Paulo Paglinawan and Nicole Kathryn Go, both AB Communication Arts majors from UP Mindanao—are headed for Chulalongkorn University in Thailand. Two other students—Inna Erika Medina, AB Communication and Media Studies student from UP Visayas and BS Public Health student Lester Lloyd Vinz Go from UP Manila—will spend a year at Mahidol University International College, also in Thailand. Finally, BA Psychology student Alphonso Roberto Floro of UP College Cebu has been accepted at the National University of Singapore. The ASEAN International Student Exchange Scholarship was approved by the UP Board of Regents in its 1272nd meeting last August 25. Under the ASEAN University Network (AUN), member-universities, including UP, have pledged to support and promote greater student mobility and increased and more integrated learning opportunities for the youth among universities in the ASEAN region by providing five full scholarships a year to support their own outbound students participating in the AUN International Exchange Programme under the ASEAN Credit Transfer System (ACTS) to other AUN member-universities. ACTS was initiated and developed by the AUN last year with the primary objective to create the common mechanism facilitating the recognition of qualification and increasing student and academic mobility in ASEAN. It is designed to be a modified, easy-to-apply and student-centered version of the credit transfer system that is based on students’ workload in terms of the learning outcomes. ACTS is applicable to student mobility and exchanges in the general duration of one, up to a maximum of two, academic semesters. ACTS was conceptualized as a means to harmonize the various credit systems in ASEAN, which is considered one of the main obstacles to the mobility and exchange of students within the region. The AUN developed and proposed the common credit transfer mechanism to facilitate and promote the mobility of students, leading to the adoption of the ACTS Concept Paper in March 2009. The ASEAN Credit Transfer System will be utilized under the AUN Student Exchange Programme Studies Award and scholarships by 22 AUN member-universities in ASEAN countries, including Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines (UP, Ateneo de Manila and De La Salle University are members of the AUN), Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. For more information on the AUN-ACTS scholarship, visit http://acts.ui.ac.id/.

14 U.P. Newsletter

august 2012

Experts suggest better ways to handle Panatag Shoal dispute Jo. Florendo B. Lontoc

In confronting China on the issue of Panatag Shoal, bringing up sovereignty or territorial integrity upfront is not one of the approaches that can produce advantageous results. At least two experts on international policy arrived at this point in separate lectures at the College of Law, UP Diliman, Quezon City last July. UP College of Law professor Jay Batongbacal delivered his lecture “The Philippine Security Interests in Panatag Shoal” last July 17 in a forum organized by the UP Vanguard Inc. and the Hans Koechler Political and Philosophical Society. Huang Jing of the Center on Asia and Globalization of National University of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy delivered his talk last July 20 in the forum “The Rise of China and the

US Asia Pivot: Implications for ASEAN, the Philippines, and the West Philippine Sea Dispute” organized by the Asia-Paciﬁc Basin for Energy Strategies. Batongbacal noted that the country is militarily weak, and this “begs the question why we have interest in territorial integrity which cannot be protected.” He says that ﬁling a case with a third party and citing issues of sovereignty may be an unnecessary gambit, as China can win a sovereignty case by default. The Philippines is giving China a chance on the basis of a judgment by a third party, Batongbacal said. He called for a more nuanced and calibrated response to the Panatag incursions, the avoidance of a single solution, and therefore alternative tracks in handling the issue. For example, rather than cry territorial incursion, the Philippines can cite

environmental security to protest it. As a world leader in marine environment research and protection, the Philippines has the credibility to make this a crossborder issue and attract cooperation and support regionally and internationally. The same thing can be achieved if the issue is presented as a food security issue, with the shoal packaged as oasis of life in the desert of deep ocean, and as marine transportation security for the shoal’s value as shelter and ideal location for multipurpose installations—interests that can be shared with other ocean users. Huang Jing discussed internal Chinese and global power relations, in putting the Scarborough Shoal issue in perspective. He believes that China will never compromise on its sovereignty claim over the South China Sea. He also believes that asking for US help will not be fruitful as the US and

UPPEJA Fellow proposes reform of labor policies

Major characteristics of ‘labor employment zones’

Sicat, in his presentation, listed several characteristics of “labor employment zones.” He said these zones would be like the country’s export processing zones (EPZs) but they would a) be special

Sicat listens to colleague and National Scientist Raul Fabella, during the forum after the paper presentation Photo by Bong Arboleda

In his paper at the 3rd UP President Edgardo J. Angara (UPPEJA) Fellowship Paper Presentation held at the UP School of Economics in Diliman, Quezon City last July 31, UP Professor Emeritus and UPPEJA Fellow Gerardo Sicat proposed an indirect method of reforming Philippine labor policies to address the country’s economic underperformance. Sicat, who was also the founding director of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) when it was established in 1973, explained that the wage policy should be linked with labor productivity. He said the creation of “labor employment zones” for poor regions, to be regulated by the government but run by the private sector, can be an alternative to attract investors and generate jobs for the growing population. In the paper “Reform of Philippine Labor Policies,” Sicat analyzed how speciﬁc provisions of Philippine labor policies contribute to unemployment and economic underdevelopment. He discussed the nature and evolution of the country’s labor policies. He said state “interventionism” set high minimum wage levels, the 13th month pay as a forced cost, the terms of employment and pay, and other rigidities that serve as barriers to both employment and investment. According to Sicat, the “high incidence of unemployment in the country is a major cause of the presence of hovels of poverty in urban and rural areas.” He said the consequences of policy mismatch include the OFW phenomenon, labor migration, migration of companies to other countries where production costs are cheaper, and labor outsourcing and subcontracting arrangements. Sicat said the creation of sustaining jobs that provide for the workers’ needs can help reverse the country’s economic underperformance and is the best way to uplift the poor. Dr. Marilou Nicolas, executive director of the University Center for Integrative Development Studies, noted that labor distortions keep the country behind its Southeast Asian neighbors. She supported Sicat’s stated need to reform labor policies to focus on balancing social costs and productivity.

Photo by Bong Arboleda

Fred Dabu

Huang Jing thinks unlikely the possibility of Southeast Asian nations coming as a united front against China.

regional wage zones; b) be exempt from minimum wage and other restrictive labor requirements; c) be established only in poor regions with adequate infrastructure; d) host large, labor intensive business operations; e) run and administered by the private sector but regulated by government; and f) include agricultural and forestry estates consistent with land reform. Sicat added that “other labor policies such as workmen’s compensation insurance, social security, and other desirable labor protection clauses are to be pursued to protect labor.” Functional ﬂexibility, institutional reforms and “tokenism”

In response to Sicat’s presentation, Dr. Jonathan Sale, dean of the UP School of Labor and Industrial Relations, said “undervaluing work and the workforce should be avoided.” Sale explained that labor policies have not necessarily contributed to economic underperformance and that the problem may be addressed through “functional ﬂexibility” and institutional reforms. A c c o r d i n g t o S a l e, “ e c o n o m i c underperformance results from market and institutional failures.” Market failure was due to firms’ excessive focus on

the minimization of labor costs and maximization of profits which results to unemployment or underemployment. He said functional ﬂexibility, or changes in work processes, content and skills, would increase productivity and support employment. This approach includes having bigger investments in training and more worker participation in production decisions. Sale also said “business, labor, government and education, as sectors, must talk, coordinate, cooperate, and collaborate to address the problems that we are facing.” Dr. Felipe Medalla, Monetary Board member of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and former secretary general of the NEDA, expressed his agreement with Sicat’s presentation. He criticized the “tokenism” of politicians or their pretense at solving difﬁcult problems. He also supported the reform of the minimum wage law, slowing population growth, increasing economic productivity, and bringing down the cost of food, among other recommendations. Medalla said “the colonial origins of these bad policies” created the country’s “anti-progress” institutions and culture. He admitted, however, that there are

China are engaged in much bigger relations where US cannot afford to be hostile to China. As an industrial giant, China needs the South China Sea for the “enormous resources” the body of water provides. Learning a lesson from the experience of the Soviet Union, China realizes the geo-political need as a global superpower to control and have access to water. The Sea is also vital to its security. China’s so-called First Island Chain, which includes the Scarborough Shoal, was in fact its line of defense in World War II. With its new status as a superpower, China is not likely to compromise on its territorial claims. Huang Jing, an expert on Asia-Pacific security, thinks unlikely the possibility of Southeast Asian nations coming as a united front against China, with most of the countries in the region drawn into the Chinese orbit as major trade partners. The US is unlikely take sides in any territorial dispute. “The US only plays a leverage game in the region. [US and China] are playing a much larger game,” he said. China will not concede to multilateral arrangements or international court adjudication, where it can be put in a position of weakness. “Have you seen the US [answer to] international law? Big powers don’t come to court to solve their problems. That’s not the way to promote their interests.” Huang Jing recommended that the sovereignty issue be shelved. If the Philippines is to engage China bilaterally, it has to do so quietly. The Philippines can use the language of profit, and can offer, for example, to drop protests against Chinese fishing in favor of being allowed to drill for oil in return, or to impose supervision on fishing activities. He cited the example of Malaysia, which engages in oil drilling in the area by striking a profit deal with China. Batongbacal’s lecture was followed by comments from Retired Rear Admiral Vicente Agdamag, deputy director general of the National Security Council, and Prof. Herman Joseph Kraft of the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy. Also present during Huang Jing’s talk was Huaiyuan Chen, a PhD candidate at the University of Pennsylvania who had many years’ experience organizing academic activism to promote global citizenship. bigger problems that need more attention. “Between improving the minimum wage laws and having policemen who are not criminals, I’d prefer the second,” he said. Scholarly and technical assistance

UP President Alfredo Pascual said the UPPEJA series of lectures is “a way by which UP is able to be true to its mandate as the national university” by giving scholarly and technical assistance to the government. He said “UP is asked to harness the expertise of the members of its community and other individuals to regularly study the state of the nation in relation to its quest for national development in the primary areas of politics and economics, among others, identify key concerns, formulate responsive policies and give advice and recommendations to Congress and the President of this country.” Former health secretary Dr. Alberto Romualdez Jr., said the UPPEJA Fellowship was a joint initiative of UP and the ofﬁce of Angara to come up with needed policy recommendations for the country. Partido ng Manggagawa Party-list Chairman and former Representative Rene Magtubo, former UP President Emerlinda Roman, educators, and labor union leaders also attended the forum.

august 2012

SONA TOTAL at mga Ambag na Naratibo Mula sa pahina 2

na ang siyensiya,” dagdag ni Libang. “Ang solusyon ng pamahalaan (sa krisis)? Population control. Matris ng babae ang kokontrolin. Huwag na lang pagbuntisin ang mga babae lalo kung mahirap. ” Binanggit din niya ang pagkakaroon ng “no home birthing policy” ng mga LGU, kung saan maaring parusahan ang sinumang nagpapaanak sa bahay. Ilan pa sa mga tinalakay niya ay pagdidiin ng Conditional Cash Transfer sa tradisyunal na papel ng kababaihan, ang dagdag na pahirap na dulot ng K+12 sa mga nanay at ang karahasan sa kababaihan. Ayon kay Libang, tatlong babae ang nagagahasa kada araw, at kadalasan mga naka-uniporme ang gumagawa nito. Dagdag pa niya, bahagi ito ng Oplan Bayanihan at gang rape kadalasan ang nangyayari sa mga kampo ng mga militar. Ambag ng Child Advocates “Dikit ang pusod namin sa sektor ng kababaihan dahil sa kanila nagmumula ang mga bata,” ani Arlene Brosas, Secretary General ng Akap Bata. Inugnay niya ang epekto ng kahirapan at kawalan ng lupa sa paglaki ng mga batang maralita. “Paano magkakalinga ng mga bata sa ganitong kalagayan (na mataas ang unemployment rate)?” tanong niya bago tuluyang pumasok sa usapin ng child labor. Noong nakaraang 2010, 2.5 milyong bata ang nagtatrabaho at ngayon, 5.5 milyon na ang mga ito, ayon kay Brosas. “Ang mga batang lansangan ay umaabot sa 2.2 milyon, kung saan maari silang maexpose sa iba’t ibang uri ng karahasan.” Sa isanlibong pinapanganak, 29 ang namamatay; at sa 100,000 naman, 99 na nanay ang namamatay. Dagdag pa niya, “32% of Filipino children under 5 years old ay stunted o maliliit dahil kulang sa nutrisyon. At 21% ay underweight.” Ilan pa sa maraming tinalakay ang pagbabansag sa mga bata bilang child soldiers na sumasagka sa karapatang pantao nila; at mga panukalang batas na ibaba ang edad ng criminal liability, kung saan ang mga edad 12 pataas ay maari nang ikulong. Ambag ng mga Biktima ng Panunupil Tulad ng nakaraang administrasyong Arroyo, tatak rin ng kasalukuyang rehimen ang extrajudicial killings, illegal detention at enforced disappearances. Ayon kay Angie Ipong ng Samahan ng Ex-detainees Laban sa Detensyon at Aresto (SELDA), may 305 pa ring detenidong pulitikal hanggang ngayon at nangyari ang 107 sa ilalim ni Aquino. “(Dahil dito), simula noong Lunes (Hulyo 16) hanggang sa SONA (Hulyo 23) nagfafasting ang political prisoners at iaangat ito bilang hunger strike,” ani Ipong. Nanawagan siya para sa general unconditional omnibus amnesty para sa mga detenidong pulitikal. Dagdag ni Aya Santos, Deputy Secretary General ng Desaparecidos at anak ng nawawalang si Leo Velaso na consultant ng National Democratic Front of the Philippines, “Ironic na malaya si (Jovito) Palparan pero nasa piitan pa ang mga detenidong pulitikal.” Magkakaroon ng katarungan para sa mga nawawala kung “mapoprosecute ang perpetrators” at kung “hindi na mauulit ang mga paglabag sa karapatang pantao,” ayon kay Santos. Muli rin niyang inilahad at ipinaalala ang nangayaring pandurukot isang umaga sa Ever Gotesco kay Jonas Burgos at sa nawawalang mga estudyante ng UP. “Batchmate ko si Karen (Empeño) at nakilala ko rin si Sherlyn (Cadapan),”

U.P. Newsletter 15

Pause: Mahabang Saglit bago ang Misyon (Rebyu ng ‘Elevator Action’) Arbeen Acuña “Walang reset. Walang extra life. Game?” Ito ang tagline ng dulang “Elevator Action.” Bagamat walang ulitan, at walang ikalawang pagkakataon, mayroon namang pause ang mga video game, maging ang buhay. Sa ganitong kalagayan sa dula dinatnan ng mga manunuod sina Gus at Ben, na ginampanan nina Stephen Viñas at Allen Diansuy, kapwa mga estudyante sa Sining Panteatro ng UP Diliman. Sa mismong panahong ito ng mahabang paghihintay sa susunod nilang assignment tumingkad ang pagkakaiba ng dalawang tauhan, at maaring hindi sila agad na maipagkakaiba kung nasa aktwal silang misyon bilang kapwa mamamatay-tao. Nakatatanda si Ben at mas bihasa, samantalang makulit at mahilig mag-usisa ang bagong saltang si Gus. Maraming gustong malaman ang huli, habang maraming nalalaman ang una. Sa unang eksena pa lamang, kahit hindi pa gaanong magbato ng mga linya ang mga aktor, may hinuha na sa gagampanan nilang papel dahil ipinakita rin ng mga pampalipasoras nila kung sino ang mas nakatataas kanino—tabloid kay Ben at video games kay Gus. Sa buong dula, magsisimulang relaks lang at kalmado ang una habang hindi pa nagtatanong ang huli kung kailan ang assignment, kung sino ang may-ari ng lugar, kung kanino nagmumula ang mga utos, kung sino ang naglilinis, kung sino ang susunod na biktima, atbp. Sa pag-usad ng kuwento, mapaninindigan ng dalawang tauhan ang kanilang karakter bilang mga mersenaryong lumpen—isang batikan at isang baguhan. Tila nagsilbing

middleman sa pagitan ni Gus at ng Boss si Ben, kaya may lakas ito ng loob na utusan si Gus na huwag nang magreklamo, huwag mainip, huwag ipagkait ang pagkain sa mga nasa itaas, at huwag nang maraming tanong. Pero kahit ano pang pagkumbinsi ni Ben kay Gus—na swerte na nga sila at may trabaho sila kaya mag-hintay na lamang sa tawag—patuloy pa rin sa pagtatanong si Gus. Kung tutuusin, may karahasang taglay ang yugtong ito ng kanilang trabaho, kumpara sa aktwal na misyong may aktwal na barilan dahil habang nakaabang sila sa tawag, tumitindi ang pagtutunggali nila sa marapat na gawi ng mga mersenaryong nasa bandang ibaba ng hierarkiya ng malaking sindikato. Sa mga pagkaing hinihiling ng mga nasa itaas, pinahihiwatig na may class o susyal ang mga ito—dahil ang ibang pagkaing kanluranin ay hindi pa nga mabigkas ni Gus nang maayos, pero pilit niyang binabanggit ng may accent accent. Sa kabila ng pagbibigay ni Gus ng lahat ng baon niyang pagkaing hinugot mula sa bag—ang iba pa nga’y mula sa UPLB tulad ng chocomilk ng DTRI at Mernel’s—hindi pa rin nakuntento ang mga umoorder kaya lalo itong naghinala at nag-usisa. “Siya lang ang pwede magtsaa? Paano ako,” tanong ni Gus. Sa simula ng dula, magpapakulo na dapat si Gus ng tsaa nila ni Ben pero walang gas ang kanilang kalan. Natapos ang dula nang hindi sila nakapag-tsaa, nang hindi tuwirang nasasagot ang mga tanong ni Gus. Nababalanse ang bigat ng palitan nina Gus at Ben sa kakatwang mga balitang binabasa ng huli at sa game references ng

una—ipinakita sa dula ang mga eksenang pamilyar sa mga manonood na nahilig sa video games na sumikat noong 80’s at 90’s: Elevator Action, Megaman, Super Mario Brothers, Street Fighter at Super Contra, na sumasalamin kahit papaano sa kanilang trabaho. Habang nalalapit sa pagwawakas ang kuwento, paliit nang paliit ang kinikilusang espasyo nina Gus at Ben. Nakamit ang ganitong epekto dahil may mga pasadyang mga lagusan na may gulong sa apat na direksyon na umuusad patungo sa entablado, kaya nagmumukhang lumiliit ito, habang dumadaloy ang kwento. Bago tuluyang patahimikin ni Ben si Gus, malay niya munang ibinalik sa dating puwesto ang mga lagusang may gulong—binasag niya muna ang fourth wall bago siya lagutan ng hininga, na parang isang karakter sa komiks na kumawala sa mga panel nito bilang interbensyon sa kinikilusang espasyo. Hindi kilala at hindi lantarang nakilala ni Gus ang Boss, tulad ng mga manonood. Dahil sa pagkakaparehong ito marahil kung bakit makakasimpatya at makakaugnay ang mga manonood kay Gus at kung bakit ang mga tanong ng baguhang mersenaryong ito ay nagbago mula sa nakakatawa (dahil mabilis maubusan ng pasensya ang partner niyang si Ben dahil sa kakulitan niya) hanggang sa nakakabahala (dahil marami siyang napapansing kahina-hinala). Nang magsimula nang bumaba ang serving hatch (na hindi hitlist ng mga itutumba kundi listahan ng order na pagkain ang nilalaman), tumataas na ang tensyon. At sa denouement, mararamdamang sa pagtatapos ng pause ng Sundan sa pahina 16

ani Santos. Hanggang sa kasalukuyan, nagtatago pa rin ang utak ng pandurukot sa dalawang estudyante na si Retired General Palparan; at hindi pa rin napaparusahan ang tinatayang utak ng pagdukot kay Burgos na si Maj. Harry Baliaga—na ayon kay Santos ay naging tauhan din ni Palparan. Ambag ng Sektor ng Agrikultura “The long winding road ang usapin ng agrarian reform” para kay Willy Marbella, deputy secretary general ng Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP). Tulad sa edukasyon, halos inaalisan na rin daw ng subsidyo ang agrikultura. “Sa mindanao, 220,000 ektar ya ang tinatamnan ng commercial at export crops tulad ng saging at pinyang kontrolado ng Dole at Del Monte, kahit hindi natin staple food ang mga ito,” ani Marbella. Dagdag pa niya, kanin ang kinakain ng 90% sa atin at mais naman sa 10% , lalo sa Visayas at Mindanao kaya ang mga ito ang nangangailangan ng lupa bilang pangunahing pagkain. “Pero bakit inaasa sa pag-iimport ang bigas? Dahil pinababayaan ng administrasyon ang agrikultura.” Ayon kay Marbella, gatasan ng mga landlord ang Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) dahil sa ilalim nito, kapag nag-file ang landlord para sa exemption sa land refrorm, kahit nabigyan na ng Certificate of Land Ownership Award (CLOA) ang magsasaka, maari pang bawiin ang lupa. “Kaya ang ginagawa ng mga mayari ng lupa, imbis na agrarian-related na kaso, criminal charge ang isasampa tulad ng trespassing,” ani Marbella. Pinahaba ang CARP sa pamamagitan ng CARPER (CARP with extension and reform). Ayon kay Marbella, ang tanging reporma rito ay sa usapin lang ng badyet. “Saan ginagamit ang budget for infrastucture? Sa DPWH o Departamento ng Pagnanawak nang Walang Hanggan.” Dagdag pa niya, mas masahol ang CARPER dahil ang “landlord ang magcecertify kung sino ang farmer beneficiary.” Ilan pa sa tinalakay ay “high cost of

production” at “low agricultural wages.” Ambag ng Sektor ng Paggawa Ayon kay Carlos Maningat ng Ecumenical Institute for Labor Education and Research (EILER), lumolobo ang sektor ng serbisyo, pero lumiliit ang sa industriya at agrikultura. “Batay sa labor force survey, totoong lumaki ang bilang ng employed, pero kung sisilipin natin ang kalidad ng trabaho, drastic ang paglaki ng part-time na manggawa.” Dagdag pa niya, mula Abril nitong taon, lumobo ang mga manggagawang part-time mula 13 milyon hanggang 17 milyon at sa bawat limang manggagawang may trabaho, dalawa ang part-time. Ani Maningat, “4,500 na Pilipino ang umaalis sa bansa araw-araw. Sa huling tala ng Migrante International 12 milyon na ang nasa ibayong dagat.” Ang “real wage o tunay na halaga ng sahod” na nakapako ay nagpapakitang “kinakain ng pagtaas ng presyo ng bilihin ang mga umento sa sahod.” Ilan pa sa mga tinalakay ang mga polisiyang nagpapatindi ng kontraktuwalisasyon at ang 2-tier waged system (2TWS). “Sa ilalim nito (2TWS), may ﬁxed at productivity based na component (ang sahod),” sabi ni Maningat. Sa una, may ‘floor wage’—na mas mababa pa sa minimum wage at humihila pababa sa sweldo ng mga nasa rehiyon. Hindi mandatoryo ang huling component, “lalo at wala namang nangyayaring techonology transfer sa kabila ng mga investment na pinagmamalaki ni Aquino.” Ambag ng Sektor ng Edukasyon Sa State Colleges and Universities (SUCs), ayon kay ACT Teachers Partylist Rep. Antonio Tinio, laganap din ang kontraktwalisasyon. Sabi ni Tinio, isa sa tatlong guro sa SUCs ay kontraktwal at bahagi lamang ng sweldo ng mga regular na guro ang natatanggap ng mga part-time. P3,000 hanggang P5,000 ang sweldo ng ‘volunteer teachers,’ habang halos P18,000 ang sa mga regular na guro, ayon kay Tinio. Dagdag pa niya, kahit Maintenance and

Other Operating Expenditures (MOOE) at Capital Outlay (CO) ang madalas natatalakay na naaapektuhan tuwing may kaltas sa badyet ng edukasyon, pinakamalaki raw ang natatapyas sa budget para sa personnel at faculty. Binigay niyang halimbawa ang isang pamantasan sa Cagayan De Oro kung saan nananatili ang bilang ng guro mula pa 1978 kahit pa apat na ulit na ang kanilang enrolment. “Isa sa major na dahilan sa pagtigil ng pag-aaral ng mga maralita ay ang taas ng pamasahe,” ani Tinio. Dagdag pa niya, sa ibang bansa, may subsidyo ang gobyerno sa transportasyon ng mga estudyante mula bahay hanggang eskwela. Ilang propesor ng UP ang nagsilbing reactor sa talakayan. Para kay Prof. Loujaye Sonido ng English Department, “hindi man lang bandaid solution kundi evasion sa problema” ang ginagawa ng administrasyong Aquino. “Sa oras na tumigil tayo sa pagiging kritikal, natatapos din ang pag-iral ng kabutihan sa mundo dahil ang kabutihang nais nating matamasa o ang tuwid na daang pinagyayabang ni Pnoy ay hindi linyar na konsepto, kundi isang balanse sa tunggalian ng pagpapatupad ng programa’t reporma, at walang hanggang pagiging kritikal at pagtuligsa sa mga ito,” ani Prof. Jerwin Agpaoa ng Philosophy Department. Suma Total Nag-iwan naman ng tanong si Prof. Joni Gutierrez ng Film Institute, dahil ba hindi natin ramdam ang krisis, “kailangan pa bang magkagulatan tayo?” Ani Gutierrez, “Hindi lang natin siya (Aquino) ija-judge in terms of anong prinomise niya dati. I-judge rin natin siya sa kung anong hindi niya tinackle sa SONA.” Sa paglalagom, sinabi ni Tiongson na “makinig sa katahimikan,” o sa mga hindi sasabihin pangulo. “Tayo po ay sabay sabay magmamartsa patungo sa Batasan kung saan siya mag-uulat, at mula doon sa lansangan hindi tayo mag-uulat kundi tayo ay magmumulat.”

16 U.P. Newsletter

august 2012

UPOU joins LBSCFI’s Syensaya 2012 The UP Open University (UPOU) joined Syensaya 2012 last July 18 to 20 in celebration of the National Science and Technology Week organized by the Los Baños Science Community Foundation Inc. (LBSCFI). The university showcased an exhibit of UPOU programs, books, and interactive science learning objects at the Baker Memorial Hall in UP Los Baños (UPLB).

Students from all over CALABARZON flocked to experience UPOU’s Bubble Burst Bee, a science quiz game that gives students a chance to win UPOU souvenirs and other prizes. With the theme “ Mas Masaya sa Syensaya,” the LBSCFI banner program featured its three annual activities: Wonderama, a showcase of basic science principles, research and experiments, and

the application of science and technology by different LBSCFI member agencies and UPLB Colleges; “Talakayan,” a discussion of emerging S&T issues; and the R&D awarding ceremonies. The Syensaya Opening Ceremony and Program was held at the Baker Hall last July 18. Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Assistant Secretary Ma. Lourdes Orijola, UPOU Chancellor Grace Javier Photo courtesy of Rene Matias

UPD jins win nationals Rene Matias

The UP Diliman (UPD) Taekwondo Poomsae Team bested teams from all over the country to bring home the gold medal in the Men’s Division of the 2012 National Poomsae Taekwondo Championships held last July 22 at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium, Rizal Memorial Sports Complex, Manila. The Team is composed of Anthony Matias, Sports Science student; Junji Lidasan, Mechanical Engineering; and Dustin Mella, Business Economics. Mella also won the gold in the Individual Junior Men category.

‘Hindi nagreretiro ang manunulat’ –JCR Mula sa pahina 10

naglalakad.” “Sa akdang ito ((Huling Huling Dalagang Bukid Bukid), ), hindi natin maiiwasang kilalanin ang isang gurong manunulat, isang manlilikha na walang takot lumabag sa mga batas ng pagsusulat. At alin ba ‘yung mga batas na ‘yun? Yung mga batas ng workshop, ng unibersidad sa pagsusulat na ituturing na obra maestra sa pagdating ng panahon,” ani Pambansang Alagad ng Sining Bienvenido Lumbera. “Kaya nakalulungkot na si Jun ay aalis na sa Departamento ng Filipino. At alam kong maraming kabataang manunulat at nag-aambisyong maging manunulat, ang mahihirapang makahanap ng susunod na master na kanilang susundan. Sana sa pagretiro niya, si Jun ay magpatuloy na bumalik-balik sa UP upang gampanan ang kanyang mga tungkulin sa ICW (Institute of Creative Writing).” Dagdag pa ni Lumbera, “Yung mga narinig ninyong katangian (ni Jun)—ika nga ni Allan (Derain)—ay mga katangian ng isang henyo: Napakaraming larangan ang ginagalawan, maraming likha ang ginagawa, maraming gawaing intelektwal ang kanyang pinasok. Isa siyang matatawag nating renaissance man.” Sa pambungad ng kanyang pagsasalita, pinagmalaki ni Amang ang suot na barong na hindi niya karaniwang sinusuot. “O, ‘di ba parang natutulog lang?” aniya. Pinahayag niya rin ang pasasalamat sa lahat ng tumulong sa kanya. “Noong nasunog ‘yung bahay ko, puwede na ako magtayo ng grocery. Maraming bigas, de lata; pwede na rin akong mag-ukay-ukay. Nagsiluwag ang kanilang mga cabinet; at pinadala sa akin ang mga laman. Noon ko naramdaman na mas maswerte ako kasi pag namatay ka, di mo naman alam kung sinong pupunta. Ito nakikita ko yung mga kaibigan ko sa UP.” Nilahad din niya ang pagkakataong nagtampo siya sa UP at sinuyo rin namang bumalik, at ang panahong nasa peligro

Alfonso, and UPLB Vice-Chancellor for Community Affairs Enrique Tolentino officially opened this year’s festival through the ceremonial ribbon cutting. In her welcome remarks as outgoing president of LBSCFI, Alfonso said that “for science to be understood and appreciated by our students, we have to tell it in the language they can understand.” She encouraged everyone to use different kinds of media to make science more “fun” and “palatable” without falling into the trap of diluting it. Orijola delivered the keynote message on behalf of DOST Secretary Mario Montejo. Orijola also led the newly elected officers of LBSCFI in a brief oath taking ceremony. Tolentino delivered an acceptance speech as the president of LBSCFI for 2012-2014, on behalf of UPLB Chancellor Rex Victor Cruz. Last July 19, Syensaya Talakayan 2012 was held at the ICOPED Auditorium in UPLB to discuss important Science and Technology issues like health, fishkill, the use of bioremediation to reduce pollution, and different kinds of drinking water. Present were representatives from each barangay of Los Baños as well as owners of water businesses. T h e S y e n s ay a R & D Awa r d i n g and Closing ceremonies was held at the SEARCA Auditorium last July 20. UPOU Vice-Chancellor for Finance and Administration Melinda Lumanta opened the activity on behalf of Alfonso. National Economic and Development Authority Director General Arsenio Balisacan, former SEARCA chief, delivered the keynote address. ((Anna Anna Cañas Cañas))

Pause: Mahabang Saglit bago ang Misyon (Rebyu ng ‘Elevator Action’) Mula sa pahina 15

laro, tiyak, magkakaroon ng panibagong Gus si Ben. Dumbwaiter ang tawag sa nabanggit na serving hatch, isang munting elevator na kadalasa’y ginagamit sa mga restawran upang mag-akyat ng mga pagkain; Hinalaw ni Vlademeir Gonzales ang Elevator Action sa The Dumb Waiter ni Harold Pinter. Unang itinanghal ng UP Dulaang Laboratoryo ang adaptasyong ito, sa direksyon ni Joey Ting, noong ika-31 ng Mayo sa Teatro Hermogenes Ylagan, Bulwagang Rizal, UP Diliman. May isa pang rebyu na nakapag-ugnay sa dulang ito sa mga desaparecidos na mga estudyante ng UP na sina Karen Empeño at Sherlyn Cadapan, at sa nagtatagong retiradong heneral na si Palparan (http://juanalily.wordpress.

com/2012/06/03/elevator-action-noreset-no-extra-life/). ang kanyang seguridad. “Ang simpatya ko, nasa mga disappeared. Siguro kundi sa UP disappeared ako. Naranasan ko nang hindi ako puwede uminom sa Sarah’s kasi kinukunan akong pictures ng mga hinayupak na ahente.” “Hanggang ngayon, nararamdaman ko pa rin ‘yung trauma. Nagigising ako sa bagsak ng boots, sa bagsak ng baril, hindi masarap. Ang kaya ko lang ilaban sa pandarahas ay ang aking sining. Dalawang libro ang naisulat ko, laman iyon. At ang mga

nandirito ay mga sarili kong protesta, maliliit lamang. Kaya ko yun nagawa, marami akong katuwang: mahal ako ng aking pamantasan, ng mga taong naririto. Kung napapansin n’yo, wala akong kaibigang malalaking tao, walang cabinet member, walang senador. Natutuwa ako na sa aking pagdiriwang, sa aking pagbibitiw, ang kapiling ko ay ang maliliit na minamahal ko. Sa itaas nandiyan ang mga janitor, mga tao sa kantin. Kaya hindi ako pwedeng isumbong kay Dean na bawal uminom sa UP dahil ang kainuman

ko, mga security guard.” Matapos sabihin ito ni Amang, pumasok si Prop. Vim Nadera na nakabihis bilang isang guwardiya at nagtanghal na parang karakter sa Etsa Puwera. Sa pagitan ng mga tagapagsalita, itinanghal din ang ilang piyesang isinulat ni Amang. Itinanghal ni Vijae Alquisola ang kanyang bersyon ng maikling kwentong “Utos ng Hari,” binasa ni Heidi Sarno ang ilang bahagi ng nobelang Etsa Puwera at inawit ni Dong Abay ang tulang “Bunso.”

U.P. NEWSLETTER PROF. DANILO ARAÑA ARAO Editor-in-Chief JO. FLORENDO B. LONTOC Managing Editor PROF. LUIS TEODORO Editorial Consultant ARBEEN ACUÑA, STEPHANIE CABIGAO, FRED DABU, ANDRE ENCARNACION, CELESTE ANN CASTILLO LLANETA, JO. FLORENDO B. LONTOC, KIM QUILINGUING, ARLYN VCD P. ROMUALDO Writers BONG ARBOLEDA, MISAEL BACANI, JONATHAN MADRID Photographers ARBEEN ACUÑA Layout OBET EUGENIO Editorial Assistant TOM MAGLAYA Circulation The U.P. NEWSLETTER is a monthly publication of the UP System Information Office, Office of the Vice-President for Public Affairs. We welcome contributions from the faculty, non-academic staff, REPS and students. Please send your contributions to: THE EDITOR U.P. Newsletter ewsletter Mezzanine Floor, Quezon Hall, UP Diliman, Quezon City 926-1572, 436-7537 e-mail: upnewsletter@up.edu.ph upsio@up.edu.ph