By Martha Caasi, Natalie Cuervo, UP Integrated School Interns of the UP Diliman Information Office
Continuing the celebration of the Saliksikhay: Diliman Research, Innovation, Development, and Extension Festival 2025, the day-long symposium Saliksik Diwa was held on Nov. 20 at Aldaba Hall, UP Theater.
Organized by the UP Diliman (UPD) Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Development (OVCRD) in partnership with UPD Office of Extension Coordination (OEC), it featured a series of presentations from UPD Extension Grant recipients.
The UPD Extension Grant is an OVCRD outright grant that supports the extension projects of the UPD faculty, REPS, and staff that receive minimal or no funding from other sources.
Presentations in the morning were from Noriel Christopher C. Tiglao, DEng, a professor at the National College of Public Administration and Governance (NCPAG); Maritess D. Cruz and Irish Joy G. Deocampo, professor and assistant professor, respectively, at the Department of Women and Development Studies; Maria Ela L. Atienza, PhD, professor at the Department of Political Science; and Dean Jimmuel C. Naval of the College of Arts and Letters.
Tiglao’s presentation was on improving EDSA busway operations through a digitally-enabled governance platform, Cruz and Deocampo addressed school-related gender-based violence, and Atienza discussed civic engagement at Halalan 2025. Naval presented PALIHANG ROGELIO SICAT: Pag-uswag sa Panulat ay Paglilingkod at Pagmumulat.
Afternoon sessions featured presentations on sustainable waste management in public elementary schools in Pampanga by Noriza T. Sadie, youth entrepreneurship training by Jake A. Villanueva, on preserving indigenous arts, culture, and tourism in T’boli, Lake Sebu by Milovy Mariel R. Baduria.
Sadie is assistant professor at the Institute of Civil Engineering, Villanueva is university extension specialist at the Institute for Small-Scale Industries, and Baduria is university research associate and senior lecturer at the Asian Institute of Tourism.
In closing, OEC Director Eden May B. Dela Peña emphasized “extension is empathy. Extension is presence. Extension is UP responding to the call of the nation.”
