Pitong Tulay
Halos walong buwan na ang nakalilipas mula nang manungkulan ako bilang Tsanselor ng
UP Diliman. Naging pagkakataon ito para tuklasin ang maraming lugar, mga programa at
gawain ng UP, na ang ilan ay naririnig-rinig ko lamang, at ang ilan ay ni hindi ko alam na
umiiral: mula sa mga science labs hanggang sa mga archive ng ating Main Library; mula
sa mga machine shop ng Campus Maintenance Office, mga construction site; mga silidaralan, mga dormitory, at maging sa mga pinakamakikitid na eskinita ng ating mga
maralitang pamayanan sa kampus.
Pinakinggan ko at ibinalik ang resulta ng aking pagmamasid sa mga Bise Tsanselor at
dekano, mga direktor ng iba’t ibang opisina at sentro. Noong Hulyo, ang Executive
Committee ay nagsagawa ng dalawang araw na workshop upang tukuyin ang mga
prayoridad at tunguhin ng Unibersidad.
Sa pagdalaw ko sa maraming mga lugar na ito, malimit kong maisip ang tungkol sa vision
paper na aking binasa noon sa search process ng bagong tsanselor: Pride of Place,
Boldness of Vision. Naisip ko, bago maging Tsanselor, na ang pride of place ay hindi
ganoon kahirap –mga anti-littering campaign, ayusin ang mga building o kaya’y magtayo
ng mga bagong gusali.
Napagtanto kong hindi pa sapat ang mga ito. Sa mga social sciences, madalas napaguusapan na ang mga lugar (spaces) ay pisikal lamang.
Nabibigyang-dangal lamang ang isang lugar kapag binibigyan ito ng kahulugan at
kahalagaa, mga konkretong programs of action na nakabase sa mga strengths and
weaknesses. .
Bakit “pagtutulay” ang napiling tema para sa Affirmation? Parati akong pinamamangha
ng mga tulay. Ang negosyo noon ng aming pamilya ay nasa Maynila kung kaya ang
biyahe mula sa aming bahay sa San Juan ay nangangahulugang pagtawid sa Pasig sa
pamamagitan ng Tulay ng San Juan, Nagtahan Bridge at Ayala Bridge. Inaabangan ko lagi
ang mga biyahe mula sa office patungong downtown, na ang ibig sabihin ay pagtawid sa
isa sa tatlong tulay, bawat isa ay patungo sa mga kamangha-manghang mundo na may
kani-kaniyang kariktan at lihim kaaliwan: : ang Quezon Bridge, Sta. Cruz Bridgeat Jones
Bridge.
Gagamitin ko ang mga tulay bilang metaphor, para magdiin ng mga kinakailangang
proseso para maitaguyod ang isang mas malakas na UP Diliman. Kailangang makipagugnayan tayo. We need ideas, visions, people, to build a pride of UP that goes beyond
empty slogans.
To build and sustain a university, after 106 years, we need to look at the gaps, the
divides that require bridges. I propose we prioritize 8 bridging projects, each with its
own horizon, moving from the gaps that deal more with individuals, into our academic
institutions, moving outwards into communities, and the world outside of UP.
1. Bridging the Mind-Body Gap
Una, kailangan nating mapagtulay ang puwang sa pagitan ng isip at katawan. Tulad ng sa
maraming akademikong lugar, tayo sa UP ay may tendensiyang bigyan ng higit na
pribilehiyo ang isip, habang nalilimutang ang isip ay hindi makauusbong sa mahinang
katawan.
Hindi natin maaasahan ang kahusayan kung ang ating kaguruan, mga iskolar ng bayan,
at kawani ay nagsasayang ng tatlo o apat na oras kada araw sa pamamasahe mula sa
kanilang tahanan patungo sa kampus. Yaong mga nakatira sa kampus ay hindi rin naman
ganoon kapalad – limitado at minimal na serbisyo lamang ang mayroon sa mga
dormitoryo at bedspacing.
Hindi rin natin maaasahang umandar ang matatalinong isip kung ang katawan ay
pinahihina ng diyetang instant noodles at soft drinks.
Catching up with the gap will take years, but we have to at least begin to reverse the
decline. My team has worked on this, starting with the basics such as replacing the
bedbug-infested mattresses in our student dorms, installing or fixing broken screens and
windows, working out subsidized shuttle routes, and exploring how we can get food
concessionaires to serve food that will not lead to the premature deaths of our
students, faculty and staff.
Together with the UP System, we are looking into building more student dorms, and
staff and faculty housing, all of which must be secured and safe through adequate street
lighting and the deployment of security personnel.
Health and fitness will be very high in my administration’s agenda, including looking into
how we can expand health financing beyond PhilHealth and upgrading facilities of the
University Health Service.
Fitness programs will be important, through an expansion of our sports facilities and
programs, from aerobics and Zumba to yoga and meditation. The varsity teams and the
College of Human Kinetics, will be my administration’s partners for health and wellness.
Early in my term as chancellor, I discovered how hard our varsity teams work to bring
honor to our university, amid scarce resources and even neglect. The varsity teams
have been the wind beneath my wings, sharing some defeats, and many victories. Our
Fighting Maroons will show the nation the UP way of excelling in both academics and
sports.
2. Bridging the Disciplines
Second, we need to build bridges across the disciplines. Even within colleges, and
sometimes departments, we have created academic silos or islands, the result of
increasing specialization in all our fields. We are an archipelago marked by academic
tribalism.
With the K to 12 program being put in place with major challenges for UP Diliman, we
are in the process of establishing a Center that will transform our general education (GE)
in terms of content and process, away from domains and toward transdisciplinary
approaches. A prime example will be ethics, which we so badly need today for our
students and faculty, which should, ideally, be taught in an applied way, lawyers, for
example, teaching materials that go beyond case studies and include literature and the
humanities.
Transdisciplinary would be rhetorical if we do not talk of integration. This integration
must take place through overarching programs in Philippine Studies so that our
students, regardless of their major, will understand and appreciate our heritage in terms
of music and arts, our indigenous technologies, our social interactions, as well as our
geology, our botany, our zoology. The video presentation at the beginning of the
Affirmation rites was an example of a transdisciplinary endeavor.
I have created a Heritage Committee that will coordinate more activities, including
partnerships with local governments, to create an appreciation of our diverse heritages,
bridge the gaps within the nation, between Tagalog and Kapampangan, Cebuano and
Waray, Tausug and Maranao.
I want today to acknowledge the progressive leaders in the Department of Science and
Technology who have encouraged the natural sciences, medical sciences and
engineering to team up with social sciences, the arts and the humanities and I am proud
that UP is home to many of these transdisciplinary programs, engaged in everything
from disaster responses to the deployment of Internet bots to spot new Filipino words,
to the study of different types of wood used for guitar making.
3. Bridges Across Class
Hindi magiging madali ang ikatlong proyekto sa pagtutulay: pagpapaliit sa agwat ng mga
uri. Noong huling UPCAT nag-ikut-ikot ako sa ating mga testing center at nalaman ko
mula sa isa sa mga tagapangasiwa na nagkaroon ng aberya sa isa sa mga liblib na pook.
Isang pangkat ng mga estudyante mula sa mataas na paaralan ang hindi nakarating sa
testing center sa Basco Batanes, mula sa Itbayat Island. Naisip kong simbolo ito na ang
mga mahihirap na mga estudyante mula sa isang liblib at rural na pook ay maigting ang
paghahangad na subukang pumasok sa UP.
Marami pa ang gaya nila, subalit hindi pa rin sapat. Sa UP Diliman, lumilitaw sa
estadistika para sa kasalukuyang semestre na apatnapu’t dalawang porsyento (42%) ng
mga kasalukuyang enrolled na estudyante ay kabilang sa kategoryang “ND”, no discount
on tuition. Sa kabilang banda, tatlong porsyento (3%) lamang ang kabilang sa dalawang
kategoryang may full discount.
Kung tayo ay magiging isang tunay na pambansang unibersidad, kailangan nating
demokratisahin ang daan papasok sa UP, lalo na ang Diliman na may malawak na hanay
ng mga degree program, na karamihan ay ang kampus lamang natin ang nagbibigay.
Pakikilusin ng aking pangkat ang ating mga estudyante upang bumuo ng mga mentoring
program sa mga pampublikong hayskul, upang mas maraming estudyante ang
makapasok sa UP at, kapag sila ay nasa UP na, tulungan silang makatapos, sa
pamamagitan ng mga scholarship at iba pang mentoring programs at psychosocial
support.
4. Bridges to Diliman’s communities
Tinatayang pitumpung libong (70,000) katao ang nakatira sa UP campus, kabilang na ang
ating mga estudyante, kaguruan, at kawani, at ang mga informal settler. Ang kampus ay
nakatalatag sa walong (8) barangay, ang pinakamalaki rito ay ang Barangay UP Campus.
Malimit na ang pagtingin sa mga informal settler, at maging sa ating mga kawani, ay
“sila” kontra “kami”. Kahit sa mga “lehitimong” komunidad, mayroong mga dibisyon sa
pagitan ng mga kawani at kaguruan, sa pagitan ng mga walk-up at bungalow.
Panahon na upang bumuo ng mga tulay patungo sa mga pamayanan o komunidad.
Maunawaan natin sana na tayo ay nasa isang lifeboat, nagsusumikap na mabuhay sa
gitna ng iba’t ibang mga krisis. Ang pagkalat ng mga sakit, mga kalamidad gaya ng bagyo,
at mga krimen sa bawat araw, ay resulta ng pira-pirasong kampus kung saan ang mga
tao ay mabilis pa sa alas kwatro kung sisihin “sila”, sa halip na suriin kung ano ang
maaari nating pagtulungang gawin upang lunasan ang mga suliranin.
I will not coddle squatters, but I want to put things in perspectives. We complain
constantly about the shanties, denying them electricity, water and toilet connections,
and punishing their children by depriving them of educational facilities. Yet we have
done little to deal with business squatters who pay us rental rates dating back 20 years
ago, or who have racked up arrears in payments, or who refuse to maintain their
premises around public health and environmental conservation standards. Last month I
approved the take-over of Citimall after a long standing battle with the master lessor,
who owed us P20 million.
UP Diliman must face up to the challenge of managing our properties – whether such
commercial spaces or the residential areas of our students, faculty and staff – for the
common good, bringing together UP’s communities, into a community.
5. Environment
We are fortunate to have more than 450 hectares of land in Diliman alone; yet, it is
marked by neglect, even disrespect of nature.
We have seen how, metaphorically, nature fights back. Each time there is a typhoon,
nature wreaks havoc on the campus, making us pay for misguided policies of over-use
and inappropriate use.
The UP Master Development Plan refers to protected natural open spaces that will be
part of each campus. Such areas will be particularly important in Diliman. We will
reestablish UP’s presence in the Arboretum along Commonwealth Avenue even as we
set up more sanctuaries for flora and fauna here in the Diliman space.
My administration will continue to give high priority to research projects that preserve,
and tap, nature. Our Marine Science Institute’s research stations in Bolinao and Puerto
Galera will be vital with projects like PharmaSeas, seeking to isolate medicinally active
ingredients from marine species.
Building bridges to the environment also means exploring renewable energy resources
recycling and materials recovery, an area which UP Diliman has excelled, to the extent
that Quezon City taps us for composting materials.
A vital part, too, of reconnecting to the environment will be disaster preparedness,
which includes prevention as well as first response and rehabilitation. We are proud
that Diliman hosts Project Noah (Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards) and
DREAM (Disaster Risk and Exposure Assessment for Mitigation), which have very quietly
transformed the science of predicting and preparing for disasters in the Philippines.
I have also challenged our Department of Military Science and Tactics (DMST) to
reinvent itself, to take the lead role for disaster response planning and training. This,
after I received very good reviews of the DMST’s urban survival programs that have
benefited our faculty, staff and even outsiders.
6. Bridge to UP
Kamakailan tinanggihan ng Executive Committee ng UP Diliman ang panukalang “brand”
o slogan ng kampus na, “the best and the brightest”. Puera usog, puera buyag, naisip ko,
nang una kong makita ang mungkahing slogan. Magagaling tayo, at hindi kinakailangang
pinakamagagaling at pinakamatatalino. Buong kababaang-loob tayong umugnay muli sa
iba pang constituent universities ng UP, sa iba pang state colleges and universities, at sa
iba pang academic institutions, upang makipagpalitan ng karanasan, at magpisan ng
mapagkukunan.
I have personal reasons for wanting to build these bridges especially with two CUs. I
have worked with UP Manila for many years in various endeavors, including establishing
a medical anthropology program. As chancellor, I requested the College of Allied
Medical Professions to come in to expand our rehabilitation services, which will not only
benefit varsity players and musicians, but senior and not so senior citizens needing
occupational and physical therapy.
UP Los Baños is another CU with which we need closer ties. I am biased because my
own roots are in veterinary medicine, which I took here in Diliman. Although the campus
is now in Los Baños, the college maintains an animal hospital here in Diliman, with
dreams of a veterinary research center that will not just be important for, let me use the
scientifically accurate term here, non-human animals, but also for human animals. As
we see in recent epidemics and outbreaks like Ebola and SARS, the human and nonhuman animal connection will be vital.
While I talk of the need to relate to other UP CU’s, we must not forget that UP Diliman
includes two vital academic programs, which will rate high in my priorities. One is the
UP Integrated School (UPIS) with its innovative educational programs and model of
democratic access for students. We often hear that UP Diliman has about 25,000
students when in fact it should be closer to 27,000 because of some 1,200 students in
UPIS.
The other important but often marginalized part of UP Diliman is the UP Extension
Program in Pampanga and Subic, at the heart of a growth corridor extending through
Central and into Northern Luzon.
The bridges to the rest of UP must include bridges to our alumni as well, there to be
tapped not just for financial donations but for their wisdom and experiences. This is a
time to acknowledge the efforts of nowheretogobutup, to revitalize all our varsity teams
through donations, as well as advice.
7. Bridge to the World
In my years here in UP I have sensed there is almost disdain for, and a fear of the world
outside. We want to remain safe, and smug, in our Diliman Republic, but that means
abdicating our duty to serve others, to live up to people’s expectations of UP. When in
July our men’s basketball team had its first victory in two years, social media exploded
with congratulations and that included many postings from non-UP people, summarized
by the phrase: Tagumpay ng UP, Tagumpay ng Bayan.
UP cannot be a world unto itself. We have our responsibilities as well to the world
outside: Quezon City, the nation, the ASEAN region, the world.
We do serve the outside world in many ways, with so many UP graduates overseas.
Diliman, too, is already an oasis, the lungs of Quezon City, of northern Metro Manila,
the campus drawing hundreds of people, many not from UP, on weekends. In the near
future, our museums and theaters will draw in even more people as we become a
cultural hub for the area.
Our role, however, will go beyond parks and theaters. Our relationships to the world
outside must involve more opportunities for out of classroom learning, including, but
not limited to, the NSTP so our students’ learning is grounded in the realities of the
world outside.
We will work through government, the private sector, and civil society organizations
(also know as NGOs). We will be more proactive in offering our knowledge to the
outside world. We will do this, mindful of the need for protection of intellectual
property rights to bring in revenues for the use of our discoveries, but at the same time
we are also conscious of such principles as creative commons, of free sharing
information, knowledge and technologies with those who will use these without
commercial intent.
The Diliman Information Office, which has made great strides transforming our website
and our information sharing activities, will be vital too as we relate to the outside world.
In the near future, we will be launching a more proactive relationship with mass media
so that they become partners, bridges, to disseminate our research findings to the
public so they can use it.
Internationalization has been the buzzword in UP with calls for more exchange of
students, faculty and staff and the exploration of joint training and degree programs
with universities overseas. But we face similar problems to the Philippines in trying to
bring in more foreign visitors. To internationalize, we need to first make UP Diliman a
more hospitable place. The improvement of dorms must include renovating the
International Center. Improvements in our food service, transport, security, will have
the interests of Filipinos foremost, but will also bring in international students and
faculty. Also important are negotiations with the Department of Justice and
Department of Foreign Affairs to make visa procedures less harrowing.
We can engage the world, on our terms. We are exporting too many of our graduates
to keep the world running. Npw we need to find ways to give them a sense of the world
outside, without losing them.
8. Science and Bridge Building
How will we go about building these bridges? Our dreams and visions must be grounded
in science. Bridge building offers us an opportunity to operationalize the new UP
Charter with a strong mandate for research.
Engaging the world does mean we should be able to solve our own problems –
exemplified by the Search for Solutions grants -- in Diliman. We have within campus
expertise for such urgent needs as disaster mitigation, transportation and urban
planning, environmental conservation. Our School of Statistics, School of Library and
Information Studies and departments of computer science and computer engineering
will be the core information and data management, so crucial in our times.
In my vision paper I talked about the need to set up a Social Observatory, using social
science research methods to find solutions to our many problems. I hope to launch,
within the calendar year, two particular projects that can set the pace for this Social
Observatory.
First, we will have a Student Engagement Survey looking at how students spend their
time, their contact with peers and mentors, their needs around academics, nutrition,
housing. Second, we will have a Life Stages survey of staff and faculty, locating their
needs in relation to child-rearing, caring for parents, dealing with particular chronic
ailments. Both projects, while called surveys, will have strong qualitative aspects that
will involve the social sciences, the arts and humanities.
In the audience today, I made it a point to invite young, or younger, researchers I have
worked with on various projects. They are contractual researchers, non-UP, but have a
great love for, and a commitment to the university. I am hopeful that with time, they
will become part of UP as a leading research university.
Values: Tibay at Tatag
We became the Philippines, and Filipinos, by daring to cross the seas and building
bridges. We would not have a Quezon City today, or UP Diliman, had we listened to
people who had grim predictions of doom and failure for these bold proposals.
My team’s vision is not just of dialogue – we talk too much in UP. Rather it is of talking
while moving together. We are reorganizing, even creating new offices for such
concerns as Alumni Relations, International Affairs, Technology Transfer, so we can
move people, move ideas, move hearts and minds.
I ask for your patience as we build these bridges. We live with almost monstrous
bureaucracies —it took me seven months to have a back fence built for the Balay
Tsanselor, and it is still temporary, rushed after a burglar entered our premises. For
good measure, I now have a dog, which did not have to go through procurement and
bidding procedures.
Beyond bureaucracies though, the more difficult obstacles will be required changes in
our habits of the heart. Values will give us strength—tibay—as well as resilience—tatag,
for our bridges.
I know that the term “values” has become an almost forbidden word among many UP
faculty, given the way the term has been coopted by people who seek to preserve
oppressive institutions. But I believe values through actual practice, as we journey
across bridges and reexamine concepts, especially our most cherished academic
freedom, a term that has unfortunately been mangled beyond recognition.
If I may, I would like to talk about my own values. My first teacher was my mother,
herself a dedicated elementary school teacher, uncompromising about the values of
hard work, a sense of duty and generosity. From the Jesuits, with whom I studied for 11
years and with whom I have maintained close ties, there was the constant admonition
to be “a man (and a woman) for others.” My training as a scientist in fact began with
the Jesuits, who instilled a curiosity about, and a willingness to engage the world, and
people, so well captured in Pope Francis’ call, at the start of the current synod on family
life, to speak boldly and to listen with humility.
UP taught me nationalism, fairness and justice, all through the turbulent 70s, described
by writer Jose Lacaba’s days of disquiet and nights of rage.
Finally, in more recent years, involvement in contemplative traditions of Quakerism and
Buddhism, as well as raising my own very young children, have taught me that the
causes of justice and nationalism are best advanced through introspection, graciousness
and patience, kindness and compassion, all of which converge in the concept of servant
leadership. That means taking up the initiative when necessary and leading the way,
but, often enough, will also mean walking behind, providing support, being sure we all
cross the bridges together.
As chancellor I find myself still learning new ways of bringing about a change of heart. I
think of the Pep Squad which so boldly broke the mold this year, when their women
lifted the men.
This ceremony is an affirmation, a term I adopted from the Quakers, who frown on
oaths and the invocation of God, which are said to be often empty. Instead of swearing,
the Quakers say, we should reaffirm our commitment.
Naging mapalad akong makatagpo ng mga tao sa UP na nagtataglay ng mga shared
values. Bagama’t kabahagi sa maraming pagpapahalaga, sila ay nag-iiba-iba pagdating
sa kanilang edad, gender, etnisidad, ideolohiyang pampulitika, relihiyon (o kawalan
nito), at ang pagkakaiba-ibang o diversity na ito ang dahilan kung bakit sila ang
pinakamahuhusay na pumangarap, arkitekto, at engineer ng mga tulay. Sa hapong ito,
sama-sama naming pagtitibayin ang aming pangako sa pagtatayo ng mga tulay, sa
paglilingkod sa mga iskolar ng bayan, sa UP at sa mahal nating Pilipinas.