The UP Diliman (UPD) community gathered for the event of the National Service Training Program (NSTP) Diliman Office entitled Bayanihan sa Diliman: NSTP Tatak UPD Orientation on Sept. 25 at the UPD School of Statistics Auditorium.

Attended by UPD students currently enrolled in the NSTP courses, the event’s objective is to affirm the implementation of the NSTP Tatak UP Common Module topics. It also aims to explain the rationale behind the rules governing the conduct of NSTP, familiarize the students with the NSTP Tatak UP framework, and become aware of various national security concerns.

According to the NSTP Diliman Office website, the NSTP Tatak UP Common Module program, “sets the basic framework of service to the community and the Filipino people as the basis for all NSTP component courses. It emphasizes the UP values of honor and excellence in the service of the people.”  

In his video message, UPD Chancellor Edgardo Carlo L. Vistan II underscored UP’s core values of honor, excellence, and service as a guiding principle in fulfilling the University’s mandate.

“In whatever we do, may we remember our traditional bayanihan of helping others. This is what makes our institution unique. We are here not only for academic and scholarly endeavors. We exist to serve our people,” said Vistan.

Meanwhile, Neil Martial R. Santillan, PhD, discussed the historical periods of UP, focusing on its accomplishments and its terms of public service, and an overview of UP’s mandate as the only national university in the country.

Santillan is chair of the Department of History of the UPD College of Social Sciences and Philosophy.

Santillan also talked about the Ugnayan ng Pahinungod program. He said the highest form of service given by any UP constituent is volunteerism, whether through the NSTP or the Pahinungod program.

“Volunteer work is, you do selfless work without material compensation, you do work with your own volition. Kapag naglilingkod ka, mas natututo ka,” Santillan said.

In closing, Santillan encouraged the NSTP Diliman Office to document and compile various NSTP program success stories that have been implemented in the last two decades. He also suggested instituting award mechanisms to recognize and incentivize exemplary student outputs.

NSTP Diliman Office Director Dennis F. Quilala discussed the resolution on the inclusion of national security in the NSTP Tatak UP Common Module. Quilala said the topic (national security) was integrated into the NSTP Tatak UP Orientation module.

He added that national security as a concept binds all the other topics in the common module.

“In NSTP we will not stop in just learning the national security issues. The more important part is responding to these national security threats,” Quilala said.

The event was organized by the NSTP Diliman Office in coordination with the UPD College of Architecture, UPD College of Arts and Letters, UPD College of Education, UPD College of Engineering, UPD College of Fine Arts, UPD College of Human Kinetics, UPD College of Mass Communication, UPD College of Music, UPD College of Science, UPD College of Social Sciences and Philosophy, UPD College of Social Work and Community Development, UPD Department of Military Science and Tactics, UPD School of Economics, and the DZUP 1602.