Text by Martin R. Racza with inputs from the UP System Ugnayan ng Pahinungod and Jo. Florendo B. Lontoc
Photo by Jonathan Madrid, UP MPRO, OVPPA

Five members of the University of the Philippines (UP) Manila community, including National Scientist and former Chancellor Carmencita Padilla, were honored during the inaugural Gawad Pahinungod of the Ugnayan ng Pahinungod, the volunteer service arm of the UP system, on Dec. 9, 2024, at the David M. Consunji Theater in UP Diliman.

UP Manila honorees Prof. Arnulfo Esguerra, Dr. Anthony Geronimo H. Cordero, Dr. Mario De Villa, and Dr. April Llaneta.

Speaking on behalf of the awardees, Dr. Padilla noted the significance of the Gawad in recognizing volunteers for whom serving others is already its own and enough reward, and promoting volunteerism by providing exemplars to the public. “Sa araw na ito ipinakita natin na dapat lang itong bigyang-pagkilala, para marinig ng iba na meron palang nagbo-volunteer sa malalayong lugar—isang linggo, isang buwan, isang taon—at bumabalik silang mas magagaling at masasayang tao,” she said.

National Scientist and former UP Manila Chancellor Carmencita Padilla delivers the response on behalf of the awardees. Dr. Padilla is the founding director of Ugnayan ng Pahinungod Manila.

In his keynote address, UP President Angelo Jimenez linked the Pahinungod program to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

He reported his participation in recent discussions of university leaders who resolved to place education front and center in achieving the SDGs in a world where a “state system” has proved inherently incapable of the task.

“If we have to put education in front and center, we have to be a moral force,” Jimenez said. “The primary duty of education today is to spread universal values beyond the state system. I am becoming more and more pessimistic about the ability of the current international system to respond to the challenges. And I am advocating, in front of university presidents, that our goal today is community action.”

Jimenez spoke of small acts, much like the work of Pahinungod volunteers, creating chain reactions that travel around the world, demonstrating the “globality of our community and the community in our globality.”

“Voluntarism is a historic act. It has the potential to change the world,” he said. He called for knowledge
from universities to extend beyond classrooms and laboratories to communities, declaring it a moral imperative.

Also present during the ceremony was National Scientist and former UP President Emil Javier, who also received an award.■