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Transitioning to a new chancellorship

It has been two months since Edgardo Carlo L. Vistan II formally assumed the position of UP Diliman (UPD) chancellor. On June 5, the chancellorship’s turnover ceremony was finally held at the Quezon Hall lobby. (From left) Vistan and Nemenzo. Photo by Jefferson Villacruz, UPDIO The inauguration ceremony Pasasalamat at Pagsalubong began with the UP Rayadillo Honor Guards (Rayadillo) of the UPD Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) Unit rendering arrival honors to outgoing chancellor Fidel R. Nemenzo, DSc. followed by Vistan. The Rayadillo was led by C2Lt. Brenden Ashley Molina 3Cl. Col. Randy O. Remonte (GSC) PA, ROTC commandant, and Maj. Ferdinand Paulo S. Quiocho, ROTC assistant commandant, served as the military hosts. After the ceremonial inspection of the unit’s honor guards, the ROTC Corps of Cadets then led the first flag-raising ceremony under Vistan’s tenure. The entire ceremony was accompanied by the ROTC Band. Jimenez. Photo by Jefferson Villacruz, UPDIO After the flag-raising ceremony, UP President Angelo A. Jimenez greeted everyone present and invited Nemenzo to join the ranks of the UP System officials under his administration. He then reminded UP’s academic community to honor their commitment to public service. “That we are measured by our struggling, teeming masses out there based on the changes that we have effected on their lives. Citations are good. Academic achievements are good. Our titles are good. We need it, but at the end of the day, the people are expecting results. And we cannot afford to be inward looking, self-absorbed. We have to move forward and embrace this challenge,” he said. His speech was followed by the ceremonial passing of the chancellorship symbolized by the turnover of the UPD mace from Nemenzo to Vistan. In his address, Vistan spoke about his intention to build a system and culture centered on the core values of honor and excellence, which he acknowledges is simple to say but difficult to consistently reflect throughout UPD’s history. “he mark I hope to leave as chancellor is the development of a system, a culture that will allow us to achieve all these in a sustainable manner. I believe that our mission now should be to position and capacitate ourselves to accomplish these again in the next 75 years and beyond by focusing and making systematic reforms in how we do our work,” he said. Jimenez. Photo by Jefferson Villacruz, UPDIO Vistan said there should be a support system that will bring out the best in the people working for UPD. “The key human component should be supported by infrastructure, equipment, clear and efficient work systems, nurturing…

They all ranked first

UP Diliman (UPD) graduates topped most of the licensure examinations in 2022, becoming a new source of inspiration for the University. The UPD Information Office (UPDIO) conducted an online interview with the topnotchers to know their reactions about topping their exams, the impact of their ranking on their job applications, and their current status in their respective industries or sectors. Alfonso. Photo from Alfonso Marzo Meco Bagayaua Alfonso. Alfonso topped the September 2022 Librarian Licensure Examination with an 88.20 percent rating. One of the summa cum laude in 2022, he learned the news from one of his former professors at the UPD School of Library and Information Studies (SLIS). “It was truly heartening, the experience of getting flooded with congratulations and discovering that I was the topnotcher,” he said. Alfonso is currently working at the Scholarship Office of the Rizal Provincial Government (RPG), where he oversees the RPG scholarship programs. He also takes care of the Iskolar ni Gob Examination, scholarship grants for indigenous peoples, and aid for working students. According to Alfonso, getting the highest rating helped him in his job applications. However, people are still generally unfamiliar with his discipline. “I dreamed of being part of a public library here, but I noticed that most towns either lack it or have underdeveloped ones,” he said. Arca. Photo from Arca Aleya Carmela Esquivel Arca. A consistent academic achiever, Arca is a recipient of a dean’s medallion for her diploma in urban and regional planning degree from the UPD School of Urban and Regional Planning in 2019. She graduated magna cum laude with a BS (community development) degree in 2015, also from UPD. In July 2022, Arca clinched the top spot in the Environmental Planner Licensure Examination with an 84.40-percent rating. This opened more opportunities for her in her current work at the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG). “Studying for the board exam allowed me to really digest the scope of environmental planning, and while reviewing, I was reflecting on how I can apply these concepts and processes in my work at the Department,” she said. Arca presently works as an assistant program manager at the DILG – Bureau of Local Government Supervision, where she assists local government units in having a deeper appreciation of local development planning to help them perform their functions better and continuously empower them to be proactive stewards of the environment. She is currently completing her thesis for her MA (urban and regional planning) degree. Cirio. Photo from the…

UPD is top-performing school in May 2023 LECPA

UP Diliman (UPD) is the lone top-performing school at the May 2023 Licensure Examination for Certified Public Accountants (LECPA). According to the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC), top-performing schools are those with 50 or more examinees and with at least an 80-percent passing rate. Data from the PRC website accessed in May revealed that UPD is the only academic institution that met such requirements. The UPD Cesar E.A. Virata School of Business garnered a 93.32-percent passing rate for the licensure examination administered by the Board of Accountancy in NCR, Baguio, Butuan, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Davao, Iloilo, Koronadal, Legazpi, Lucena, Pagadian, Pampanga, Rosales, Tacloban, Tuguegarao, and Zamboanga. VSB façade. Photo by Jefferson Villacruz, UPDIO

The Gardineros of Sitio Lamut

Amey Takod Num-A (Let’s Go to the Garden) by Precious Angelica A. Echague of the UP Diliman (UPD) College of Social Sciences and Philosophy tells the story of Kankanaey cut-flower farmers. It is also an examination of cut-flower farming in Sitio Lamut as a local knowledge system alternative to formal education. Echague said the knowledge systems in her study are the different ways of knowing surrounding cut-flower farming. Title card with Echague (inset). Screenshot of the online colloquium “I also probed both shared and personal knowledge and how these information and practices are generated, shared, and negotiated,” she said. Sitio Lamut is located in barangay Beckel in La Trinidad, Benguet. Most residents there engage in the cut-flower farming industry or gardening, as the locals refer to it. It is a floriculture business where farmers or gardineros plant flowers and then cut them from their stems to be sold and used for decorative purposes. Echague shared that a 2016 study of the sitio found that some of the students who dropped out of school pursued cut-flower farming. “And many of the cut-flower farmers or gardineros I met dropped out of school. One of them, who I will call Tita Maria, carried on to become a full-time gardinero after finishing elementary school to help their mother provide for the family and send her six younger siblings to school. So, many Filipino youth share the same story as Tita Maria, and in Barangay Beckel alone where Sitio Lamut is located, 93.64 percent of the 194 residents, ages seven to 21 are recorded to be out of school. And this does not include the number of high school graduates who were not able to continue their education to the tertiary level and other adults who also stopped schooling,” Echague said. Although Echague admitted that her study of the Sitio Lamut gardineros and cut-flower farming is limited and does not reflect the entirety of the experiences and processes of the cut-flower industry in the sitio, it nonetheless provided an insight into another learning pathway present in the sitio. Echague said most of the gardineros she interviewed were not able to graduate from high school or college because of various reasons such as financial constraints, lack of motivation, and early marriage. They then went on to become gardineros and work in the cut-flower farming industry. Cut-flower farming then became an alternative to formal education. “According to one gardinero that I talked to, sabi niya gardening is a blessing because despite not finishing his degree, he is able to make a living by cultivating flowers. And interestingly, even those who were able to finish college still work in the flower farming industry, and others even leave their jobs because of how profitable the industry is. To illustrate, one gardinero told…

BSID students give back

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…

Memorandum No. LMTB-23-11: Nationwide Simultaneous Earthquake Drill

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