Students

UP ranks 1st in round 1

March 30, 2023
The UP Baseball Team overwhelmed the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Baseball Team with a score of 11-3 on March 26 at the UP Diliman (UPD) Baseball Field, giving them a 4-1 win-loss record and ending the round ranked first. The UP Fighting Maroons steadily gained their advantage in the early innings, scoring three points each in the third and fifth inning. By the seventh inning, Ian Mercado’s home run with two runners batted in (RBIs) secured a nine-point lead for the team. Mercado (in white cap). Photo from the UAAP Media Group Despite UST’s efforts to lower the deficit, UP pitcher Allen Mercado allowed only one run in the first six innings. He was then switched out with UP’s Axl Vispo, who closed the game with two runs from the opposing team. Their performance in the last game was consistent with the start of the season, when they defeated defending champion De La Salle University (DLSU), 11-7, on March 12. Though tied at six all in the third inning, the UP Fighting Maroons scored five points in the sixth inning and maintained their edge from that point on.  The opening game was followed by a close match against Adamson University on March 15, with a final score of 6-5. UP only gained the advantage in the tenth inning, when a hit by Luciano Asuncion allowed Mark Liwanagan to run home. Their win streak continued after beating Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) on March 19 in a game that ended 6-3. UP’s solid defense ensured their win even with the opponent having 10 hits in nine innings. Unfortunately, in the top of the ninth inning, Asuncion ran home and collided with ADMU’s catcher Joaquin Casanova who had to be stretchered off. This resulted in Asuncion being ejected from the game and banned from playing in the next. UP Fighting Maroons then battled National University who took away UP’s initial five-point lead as they scored consistently in the fifth and sixth inning. This led to UP suffering their first defeat of the season with a score of 8-5 on March 22. They quickly bounced back days later to deliver one final win against UST to close the first round. Following the UP vs UST game on Sunday, DLSU defeated ADMU, 21-8, making their record tie with UP. While still a long way from the championship, the UP Baseball Team’s current performance is one of the best in recent years and gives them an edge going into the second round. The games continued on March 29, opening with a UP vs UST rematch. Team standings at the end of round one. Image from the UAAP Facebook page
Campus

UPD has 2 NRCP awards

March 30, 2023
A UP Diliman (UPD) unit and a professor of geology from UPD were recently honored by the National Research Council of the Philippines (NRCP) with an outstanding institution award and an achievement award at the recent NRCP scientific conference and general assembly. Event poster. Image from the NRCP Facebook page The Department of Speech Communication and Theatre Arts (DSCTA) of the UPD College of Arts and Letters (CAL) was cited as the 2022 NRCP Outstanding Institution for Humanities; and Noelynna T. Ramos, PhD of the National Institute of Geological Sciences (NIGS) of the UPD College of Science, was given the NRCP Achievement Award under the NRCP Division of Earth and Space Sciences. The NRCP Awards are given annually to all deserving members (Achievement Award); senior members (member emeritus); and partner institutions (outstanding institution) of the council for their achievements in research; distinguished membership; and contributions to the growth and development of basic sciences in various fields of natural and physical sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities. (From left) Sir Anril P. Tiatco, PhD, chairperson of the DSCTA and Oscar T. Serquiña Jr., PhD of the DSCTA at the awarding ceremony. Photo from Tiatco’s Facebook account The DSCTA is recognized for producing distinguished scholars, artists, practitioners, critics, and leaders in speech studies, rhetoric, orality, theatre arts, and performance studies in local and international settings. According to the DSCTA Facebook page, the department has produced four National Artists, two NRCP achievement awardees (humanities), a Philippine National Book awardee, and a recipient of The Outstanding Women in Nation’s Service, among others. The DSCTA initiated programs for teachers and students across the country. It also maintains research collaborations with partner institutions like the Asian Theatre Working Group and the International Federation for Theatre Research.  The DSCTA faculty members. Photo from the DSCTA website On July 29, 2021, the UP Board of Regents approved DSCTA’s PhD program in performance studies, the country’s first doctoral program in performance studies. This is the second time that CAL received the award. In 2018, the Institute of Creative Writing was the NRCP Outstanding Institution for Humanities. Ramos. Photo from the GEAR Laboratory Facebook page Meanwhile, Ramos, a professor of geology, is the current NIGS officer-in-charge-director. She is the head researcher of NIGS Geomorphology and Active Tectonics Research Laboratory or GEAR Laboratory. She was recognized for her exemplary contributions to the fields of earth and space sciences in the Philippines. Ramos, whose research interests are geomorphology and geohazards, finished her DSc in earth and planetary sciences from Kyoto University in Japan in 2011; and her…
Students

LAW is Jean-Pictet Competition champion

March 27, 2023
The UP Diliman College of Law (LAW) bagged first place at the 40th Jean-Pictet Competition (Pictet) held from Feb. 25 to March 4 in Durrës, Albania, beating 44 other teams from universities worldwide. The LAW team of Micah “Bob” Ecarma, Mika Andrea Ramirez, and Luis Alfonso Manlangit brought the title to the college after the 2022 team prevailed as champions at the 39th Pictet. Manlangit was also a nominee for the Gilbert Apollis Prize for best speaker. (From left) Ramirez, Ecarma, and Manlangit. Photo from the LAW website The team won against the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights and the University of Basel from Switzerland; the United States Air Force Academy from the United States; and the University of Essex from the United Kingdom in the semi-finals. They moved on to defeat Israel’s University of Tel Aviv in the finals. The Pictet is a training event focused on international humanitarian law (IHL) with the objective of taking the law out of the books. PICTET website homepage. Screenshot of the website Participants compete in simulations surrounding armed conflict where teams of three members play roles such as military, humanitarian, political, officers, and lawyers. The teams are evaluated by a jury in a series of oral tests. Participants also get to familiarize themselves with international criminal law, refugee law, and international relations. In an UPDate Online interview, the 2023 LAW team said it was their first time participating in this particular competition. “Personally, I’ve been in several moot court competitions throughout my law school journey, but this is genuinely the most fun I’ve had in any competition. Unlike other debate or moot court competitions, Pictet really focuses on simulations so you can be arguing for the state as an ambassador in one hour, then the next hour you’re a legal adviser arguing that what the state did was wrong. Pictet really launches you headfirst and fully immerses you in experiences related to IHL. At one point, we were members of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent and we were sprinting through the beach in Albania to save and help refugees or wounded soldiers,” team captain Ecarma said. For her part, Ramirez shared, “Additionally, although IHL and other relevant legal knowledge are important for Pictet, the competition’s format emphasizes the importance of necessary soft skills, such as empathy, cooperation, and the like. This is probably my most significant takeaway from the competition, since it shows how law and lawyers should not be enclosed in a vacuum, which is essential to maintain the humanity of the profession.” The team expressed that they are still grappling with being champions. “I don’t think I ever thought…

Research

Stories from Babuyan Claro

January 27, 2023
In the northernmost island of Luzon lies the community of Babuyan Claro. It is home to the Ibatans. In her dissertation, The Stratigraphy of a Community: 150 Years of Language Contact and Change in Babuyan Claro, Philippines,Maria Kristina Gallego, PhD said the Ibatans “… emerged from a century and a half of intense social contact between people from different, but closely related, ethnolinguistic groups: Ivatan and Itbayaten (Batanic) and Ilokano (Cordillera).” Gallego is an assistant professor of linguistics and chair of the UP Diliman (UPD) Department of Linguistics (DLingg) of the UPD College of Social Sciences and Philosophy. Gallego (in green shirt) with the locals of Babuyan Claro. Photo by Kristina Gallego, DLingg Map of Babuyan Claro. Photo by Kristina Gallego, DLingg Northern tip. Babuyan Claro belongs to the Babuyan group of islands at the northernmost islands of the Philippines, under the township of Calayan. It is a small island with a rugged terrain and generally lacks exploitable natural resources. Gallego said, “Until several decades ago, this region was relatively isolated from the rest of the country given the extreme difficulty in crossing the Babuyan and the Balintang Channels.” Babuyan Claro landscape. Photo by Kristina Gallego, DLingg First families. Babuyan Claro traces its beginnings from one family’s attempt to return to their homeland. But they ended up establishing a new home for themselves. According to Gallego, there was a group composed of five persons from Calayan and Camiguin that were shipwrecked on Babuyan Claro in their attempt to go back to Batanes. These were Alvaro and Maria, both of Batanic ancestry, and their Ilokano friends Fidel, Mauricio, and Marcelino. “For the next 50 years or so, Babuyan Claro witnessed similar arrivals of small groups of people from Batanic- and Ilokano-speaking groups,” Gallego said. Language. Ilokano is used as the lingua franca in Babuyan Claro, but the local language of Babuyan Claro is Ibatan and it is used by about 3,000 first- and second-language speakers. “It belongs, linguistically, to the Batanic sub-group along with the languages of Batanes, Ivatan, and Itbayaten and also Yami or Tao which is spoken in Orchid Island in Taiwan,” Gallego said. Distinct lines. The present-day Babuyan Claro community is an outcome of the coming together of families from either Batanic or Ilokano-speaking ancestry. The general preference in keeping ethnolinguistic lines separate during the early years of Babuyan Claro is reflected in how residential settlements have developed on the island. “While settlements are scattered in the whole island, the greatest density is found on the southern…
Extension

BSID students give back

March 15, 2023
For the seventh time, a group of senior interior design (ID) students from the UP Diliman (UPD) College of Home Economics (CHE) Department of Clothing, Textiles, and Interior Design (DCTID) helped renovate and revitalize the interiors of a center for street children in Quezon City as part of a special projects class. The BS (interior design / BSID) Class of 2023 are 29 student-designers composed of Johncis Quiambao, Daphne Quelapio, Ally Antonio, Mabea Malana, Glenn Cultura, Frances Dandan, Crystal Babst, Lee Villarama, Rain Alqaseer-Del Rosario, Yuki Añonuevo, Joh Carreon, Ja-ne Calinawan, Nikkei Castillo, Nikki Bedia, Ysai Castro, Law Competente, Annie Dela Cruz, Ria Escultura, Erika Feliciano, Kirsten Joloyohoy, Vea Magpantay, Paskee Manumbas, Annika Miguel, Joyce Orda, Ian Patarata, Kaye Picazo, Christine Roa, Loren Santos, and Rowell Villafuerte. The BSID Class of 2023. Photo from the BSID Class of 2023 Facebook page As the capstone coursework of their ID179 subject (Special Project in ID) under Joseph Taluban, an assistant professor at the CTID, the students created Project Akbay: Disenyong Gabay Tungo sa Pangarap at Pag-asa (Project Akbay).   Project Akbay is an initiative to renovate Kuya Center for Street Children (KCSC), a Cubao-based temporary shelter providing food, shelter, and education for runaways, orphans, and children from low-income families aged 8 to15 years old who are unable to afford public schooling. According to the project’s online primer, the center “hopes to re-establish their self-esteem and help them adjust their lives, so that they may successfully undertake rehabilitation, reconciliation, and redirection to becoming responsible family members in society once again.” Starting October 2022, the class conducted fundraising projects to raise the P2.1 million needed to design, renovate, and revitalize KCSC’s interior spaces. The students conducted art and digital modeling workshops; a two-day benefit concert and drag show; a raffle; staycation packages; as well as partnerships with various small businesses and a badminton center as fundraising activities. In addition, there were the various sponsors that aided the group: Arksmith Furniture Design & Manufacturing, Boysen Paints Philippines, Felport International Marketing, AllHome, Focus Global Inc., Landlite Lighting Solutions, SOGO Home & Office Center, Pots for Plants, Carlo Guison, the Antonio Family, V&C Masterbuilders Corporation, and Mrs. Honey Castro. After months of work and effort, the group held a turnover ceremony on Feb. 27 at the center, attended by stakeholders. The renovated KCSC activity area. Photo from the BSID Class of 2023 Facebook page The areas that the group designed are the exteriors (Cultura), the activity area (Competente, Dandan, Quiambao, Quelapio, Añonuevo, and Lee), the educational room (Castro, Dela Cruz, Antonio, Bedia), administration office and filing room (Miguel, Babst, Castillo, Malana, Joloyhoy, Carreon, and Santos), kitchen (Magpantay, Picazo, Escultura, Villafuerte, Feliciano, and Roa), and laundry area…

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