June 17, 2016 — This was UP President Alfredo Pascual’s reminder to the Class of 2016 whom he urged to live a meaningful and purposeful life at UP Manila’s 107th Commencement Exercises held at the Philippine International Convention Center, Manila.
“The country is confronted with challenges so complex that it needs the best and brightest minds we can muster. We must soon find workable answers to several pestering questions. How do we reduce poverty that continues to trap almost a quarter of Filipinos? How do we lower maternal and infant mortality? How do we ensure universal access to affordable and quality health care? Finding the answers to these questions and several others is our extraordinary task in UP as the country’s national university—your challenge as UP graduates,” he told the graduates.
Pascual explained that UP graduates were expected to embody honor, excellence, and public service, as well as to become leaders in shaping the nation. He encouraged the youth not only to “make a living,” but also to “make a life” through service.
The UP president told the graduates that from the time they first entered UP, the country’s premier university, they had never been ordinary. “You are chosen not to become this nation’s privileged intellectual elite, but this nation’s hope. Always remember, you are from the University of the Philippines. You carry the name of our nation in your degree wherever life brings you, however you make a living or make a life,” he said.
Quoting the national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, in his famous novel, El Filibusterismo, Pascual asked the graduates, “Where are the youth who will consecrate their golden hours, their illusions, and their enthusiasm to the welfare of our native land?” Answering Rizal’s challenge to the youth, he then said: “I fervently believe that they are in front of me, the youth who will lead their lives with integrity and with a sense of responsibility.”
“Tinatawagan ko kayo, mga Iskolar ng Bayan: may Rizal’s call be your commitment to the nation. No, let Rizal’s call be our joint commitment to the nation as One UP,” he intoned.
Pascual was introduced by UP Manila Chancellor Carmencita Padilla as UP’s 20th president who is implementing a strategic plan to launch UP on a trajectory of becoming a great university in the 21st century—a university that takes leadership in the development of a globally competitive Philippines. He has carried out reforms, programs, and projects in pursuit of academic excellence. After five years on the job, he and his team have made great strides in efforts to transform UP into a research-intensive university, promote internationalization, modernize pedagogy, formalize quality assurance, strengthen public service, and enable sports development.
He was described as a leader who has ensured that qualified students with financial difficulties are able to enroll, while continuing to address the challenge of increasing the admission to UP of students from the underserved sectors without sacrificing excellence. To create a supportive environment for academic excellence, Pascual worked on improving the finances, the physical facilities, the informaton systems and infrastructure, and the operational efficiency of UP. He has achieved substantial increases in government funding for UP; raised donations from alumni and friends for student scholarships, professorial chairs, and physical facilities; and generated income from UP’s land assets. He is making big investments in new buildings and laboratories, as well as in rehabilitation works, to modernize the infrastructure of UP campuses. In addition, he is rolling out an integrated information system across the campuses to speed up service delivery, sharpen decision making, and strengthen control.
Responding on behalf of the graduating class, Ms. Shaira Marie P. Tagadan, BS Biology summa cum laude graduate, urged fellow graduates “to go beyond responsibility. . .to become heroes,” and to commit to “help build a more sustainable, developed, and fair Philippines.”
“Our challenge lies in eradicating poverty, in encouraging local business and employment, in removing gender, racial, and religious discrimination, in going against all forms of violence, abuses, and injustices inflicted upon our indigenous brothers and sisters, in pushing for the prioritization of science and technology, in advocating universal healthcare for all, and the list could go on,” she stated.
She urged the graduates to go beyond responsibility, to aspire for commitment, to become heroes. “My deepest hope for all of us here today is to become heroes, not the flashy, super powered kind, but the more realistic, modern day kind. We may not have the Huns or the Japanese to fight off, but we have our own current problems and issues to solve. Let us all become heroes together for ourselves, for others, and for our country.”
“Being in the heart of Manila, we were exposed to the stark reality of poverty, inequality, and selective justice. Seeing these for ourselves, we were shaken to take action against these issues. . . . In this sense, we have to become more than just honest and fair, but rather to become giving of our whole selves to the nation, for our struggles continue outside the University,” she said.
As in previous years, a lightning rally formed part of the final part of the commencement rites, with several graduates carrying streamers and placards expressing their sentiments and calls on raging issues, such as respect for democratic rights, better social services, resumption of peace negotiations and the continuing commercialization of education.
At the graduation rites, the University conferred degrees and titles to 1,241 UPM graduates, 167 of whom received postgraduate degrees. UPM also honored its lone summa cum laude, 30 magna cum laude and 189 cum laude graduates. The graduates took their
oath as new UP alumni before Pres. Pascual. They were then inducted into the UP Alumni Association and UP Manila Alumni Association by Atty. Ramon Maronilla and Reynaldo Umali, respectively.
Cynthia Villamor | Published in UP Manila Newsletter May – June 2016
