The various sectors of the UP community were fetched from different points at the Academic Oval by the Quezon City Hall and the Armed Forces of the Philippines marching bands, while the crowd was welcomed at UP’s Quezon Hall with music from the UP Symphonic Band. A flag-raising ceremony was led by College of Music Dean Ramon Acoymo, the UP Cherubims and Seraphims, and the UP Staff Chorale.

The highlight of the program was a speech by President Emerlinda Roman, which was interrupted by an SMS message announcing the approval by the Department of Budget and Management of the Centennial Bonus for UP personnel. President Roman said that while the University may face many problems, there are still a lot of things to celebrate, such as the public’s pride in, respect for, and trust in UP; the goodwill of almost everyone in the country; and UP’s rich resource of talented personnel who are committed to the ideals of excellence, leadership, and service.

The speech was followed by the launching of the UP Centennial Commemorative Stamps, with Luis Carlos, Assistant Postmaster General of the Philippine Postal Corp., and the UP System Executive Staff unfurling from the Quezon Hall bridge four large tarpaulins printed with the stamp designs. The stamps, which will be accepted around the world, are available in four designs executed by College of Fine Arts’s Alfred Capiral. The designs feature the UP seal, UP Centennial logo, Carillon, and Oblation.

The new officers of the UP Diliman Student Council (SC) took their oath in front of the UP community, with UP Diliman Chancellor Sergio S. Cao administering the oath.

The program at Quezon Hall ended with the release of 100 maroon and green balloons accompanied by fireworks and the community singing Happy Birthday.

The SC then led a march toward Vinzons Hall, where its project for the P50-million renovation of the 50-year-old building was launched with performances from various student groups and UP School of Economics alumna and contemporary bossa nova artist Sitti. Guests of honor were Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay, Quezon City Vice Mayor Herbert Bautista, Vinzons’ daughter Carolina Vinzons-Gaite, and a representative of Senator Francis Pangilinan. The office of Pangilinan is donating a substantial amount to the project.

Programs were also held in the UP constituent universities to celebrate the UP Centennial.

(For photos of the ceremony, as well as the concert go to the official UP Centennial website)

From the UP Newsletter website

It was a star-studded extravaganza and a day of recognition for UP alumni who held a grand general homecoming at the Araneta Coliseum on June 21, 2008.

President Emerlinda R. Roman welcomed the alumni and lauded them for their untiring commitment to the University, especially in the celebration of its centennial.

Updating the alumni about the new UP Charter, Roman assured them of UP’s continued role as the National University. She stressed the alumni’s contribution in helping the University accomplish this role, which includes raising funds. Roman briefed the crowd on the many gatherings being held among alumni all over the world and her visits with alumni chapters in the country and in the United States. These visits have yielded huge donations and contributions to the University’s Centennial Fund Drive. “UP would not be what it is without you,” Roman said.

The Centennial Fund Drive is a project of the University and the UP Centennial Commission aimed at raising P5 billion for faculty development, maintenance and improvement of facilities, scholarship programs, and athletic training.

Directed by stage and screen icon Prof. Behn H. Cervantes of the Department of Speech Communication and Theater Arts, the homecoming was nothing short of spectacular. Former senator and broadcaster Orly Mercado and columnist Prof. Solita Collas Monsod were the program’s emcees.

Beyond the festivities, UP’s tradition of excellence, service, and leadership rang clear with the recognition of around 56 individual and family awards for outstanding alumni contributions to the Alma Mater and to the nation in various fields.

Speaking for the awardees, 2008 Most Distinguished Alumnus Chief Justice Reynato Puno, BSJ’62; LLB ’62, said that although the awardees may have received other awards, the awards given by UP mean so much more, coming from the Alma Mater and on the occasion of its centennial.

Puno also said, “I view our awards, not as personal achievements but the recognition of the UP soul and spirit in our beings. These awards are the manifestation of the spirit of the Oblation in our work.” Puno added that graduates of UP genuinely persevere in serving the nation, and that even had the alumni not received public acclaim, they “would have persevered in their work with the same passion and precision.”

Puno was recognized for his elegant and well-written decisions that greatly enriched Philippine jurisprudence, and for being the “leading constitutionalist of the Court,” a “true jurist” who wages lonely battles against conventional wisdom with his stirring dissents and insightful opinion.

In his closing remarks, Regent Ponciano H. Rivera thanked UP alumnus Jorge Araneta for letting the UPAA use the Araneta Coliseum gratis. He said that the alumni homecoming was not only “an opportunity to renew old ties,” it was also a chance for everyone to reflect on “who we were” and “what we have become.”

Special recognition
In celebration of UP’s centennial, this year’s UPAA awards had more than the usual categories.

Lifetime achievement awardees include Dr. Belinda A. Aquino, Dr. Natividad Crame-Rogers, and Justice Leonor Ines-Luciano. Dr. Aquino is a professor of Philippine studies at the University of Hawaii. She was vice president for public affairs of UP from 1989-1996, and was a faculty member at the UP National College of Public Administration and Governance (NCPAG). She obtained her Bachelor of Arts in English degree from UP. Dr. Crame-Rogers, who graduated from UP in 1949 with a degree in Philosophy, was lauded for her accomplishments in theater and contribution to Philippine art. She pioneered undergraduate specialization in drama and speech, theater, and the performing arts; and played lead roles. Justice Luciano was recognized for her service in the judiciary, in the legislature as a sectoral representative for women, and in civic work. She obtained her Bachelor of Law from UP in 1941.

Other awardees honored for their achievements and work in their respective fields were Jessica Soho for communication and information; Dr. Amefil M. Agbayani, Felicisima M. de los Angeles-Bautista, Dr. Cayetano C. Pomares, and Dr. Teresita V. Ramos for academic leadership; Ms. Florencia G. Casanova Dorotan, Dr. Lily Cenizal-Fojas, and Dr. Jose Antonio U. Socrates, Jr. for community empowerment/service; Engr. Jose Martin O. Aliling for responsible corporate governance; Prof. Ruperta R. Asuncion, Ms. Edita M. Carolino-Garcia, Ms. Ofelia Gelvezon-Tequi, and Dr. Edsel H. Moscoso for culture and arts; Orlando B. Vea for entrepreneurship/employment generation; Dr. Perry S. Ong and Atty. Antonio A. Oposa for environmental conservation and sustainable development; Amb. Rosario Gonzalez-Manalo for gender equality/women empowerment; Atty. Loida M. Nicolas-Lewis for global entrepreneurship; Dr. Benjamin D. Adapon, Dr. Manuel M. Dayrit, and Dr. Bernadette J. Madrid for health; Dr. Teofilo T. Bangayan, Deanna Lorenzana-Gregorio, and Juan Y. Solomon for poverty alleviation; Amb. Lilia R. Bautista, Dr. Carolina Garcia-Hernandez, and Amb. Rora H. Navarro-Tolentino for public service and good governance; Dr. Priscilla Chinte-Sanchez, Dr. Francisco C. Dimayuga, Dr. Hernani G. Golez, and Dr. Gisela Padilla-Concepcion for science and technology; and Justice Conchita Carpio-Morales, Justice Magdangal M. de Leon, and the late Justice Romeo A. Brawner for championing justice/judiciary.

The UPAA Presidential Awardee for Public Service in the international category was US Senator Judith Paulette Gutherz, while the UPAA International Alumni Achievers were Dr. Jorge G. Camara, Jose Dudley D. Diaz, and Luzviminda N. Sapin-Micabalo. The Presidential Awardees for service to the UPAA were Amb. Edgardo B. Espiritu, Danilo A. Gozo, and Regent Nelia Teodoro-Gonzalez.

Another award given was the UPAA Family Recognition for their outstanding work and support to the university. Those who received this were the Bañez-Perez, Consunji, David-Peczon, Flor, Gancayco, Kintanar, Lapus-Gozon, Lopez-Castillo, Lorenzana, Niguidula, Quiason, Tria, Valdez, and Virata families.

From the UP Newsletter

In UP Manila, a new Oblation statue was unveiled at the main gateway after a concelebrated mass at the PGH chapel. The CU also had a soft launch of a coffee-table book on its heritage, culture, and history and the launch of the Comprehensive Community Health Program’s book Reflections and Relevance. A model of the soon-to-rise UP Manila Museum and Archives was also unveiled.

The new UP Manila Oblation was an “interactive work by (UP Open University Chancellor Grace) Javier Alfonso with National Artist Guillermo Tolentino’s UP Oblation.” It stands on a pedestal with designs of flowing fabric interspersed with leaves and the symbols of the colleges. The fabric symbolizes scholarship, while the leaves symbolize nature. Trees were planted around the new Oblation Plaza in front of Rizal Hall, Padre Faura.

UP Los Baños marked the UP Foundation Day with tree planting, an unveiling ceremony of the markers of 12 heritage trees, a convocation program, and a welcome parade and concert for the UP Centennial freshmen.

Horticultural tree species were planted at 6:30 a.m. along Kanluran and Silangan roads. The 12 trees were the first to be identified under a project which highlights the campus as a living museum of heritage trees. To help identify the heritage trees, Chancellor Luis Rey I. Velasco created an ad hoc Committee on Heritage Trees in 2006.

Around 1,900 “centennial” freshmen were welcomed in an early breakfast and convocation in the morning and a concert at Baker Hall in the evening.

The UP Visayas will have a weeklong celebration of the Centennial in July. On July 22, there will be a motorcade, photo exhibits, a food sale during the day, and a fireworks display and “Spirit of ‘67 Concert” in the evening. July 23 will see traditional Filipino games and a nostalgia theater featuring a montage of excerpts from the past plays played by alumni. July 24 will feature “Pasundayag,” a stage presentation by the UPV faculty, REPS, and staff. On July 25, the activities lined up are a centennial tree planting ceremony, a parade, a lunch, live band concert, an “Oblation” body paint contest, the launch of the “Save the Old High School Building Project,” and the fashion show titled “Hinugyaw.”

The UPV Alumni and Faculty Centennial (1908-2008) Homecoming will be held at the Iloilo Grand Hotel on July 26.

In UP Baguio, a special flag raising program was held at the Oblation Plaza, followed by the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Oblation Walkway. The community also celebrated the Centennial Day with a tree planting on campus.

(For photos of the CUs’ Centennial day activities go to the official UP Centennial website)

From the UP Newsletter website

We also print here the lyrics by Romeo Candazo of the song “Salamat sa Iyo, UP” which was set to music by his high school classmate Ryan Cayabyab. It was first sung at the UP High School Commencement in 2003. At the “Isang Daan Sa Isang Daan” concert, which kicked off the Centennial celebrations in UP Diliman, it was sung by the UP Concert Chorus. It was again sung at President Roman’s reception for alumni members of Congress, where the guests gave it a standing ovation.

Salamat sa Iyo, UP

Sa ‘yo, UP, maraming salamat
Ikaw na aking tahanan
Mula sa aking pagkamulat
Hanggang sa aking huling hininga
Sa ‘yo, UP, maraming salamat
Ang iyong mga aral ang aking gabay
Baon ko ito sa paglalakbay
Hanggang mapanaw ang buhay

Kami’y lumaki sa iyong pag-iingat
Natutong mag-aral, natutong magsaya
Dulot mo ay init tuwing kami ay nagiginaw
Sa lahat ng panahon bigay mo’y pag-asa

Sa ‘yo, UP, maraming salamat
Ang iyong mga aral ang aking gabay
Baon ko ito sa paglalakbay
Hanggang mapanaw ang buhay
Salamat UP

Originally published in The Oblation Issue Vol. 1 No. 2

UP people think they’re superior, special, the best. Of course, I agree. But what was in the UP experience, the triumphs and mainly trials that became heartfelt memories, that helped create that unique animal, the UP alumnus?

“Surviving that gauntlet called registration,” says Gerry Gabriel, AB Philo ‘85. “Camping out with my barkada to be first in line for classcards.” My “balae’s” convent-bred (“Assumptionista”) daughter got stressed out from queuing for PE classcards for her first sem, developed a fever, and bawled like a baby. Alas, the infamous registration is now computerized and current freshmen will no longer experience this first lesson in survival. Suffering builds character, they say. The “Assumptionista,” Maricris Bitong, went on to graduate BSBAA, cum laude and regularly sends US$ checks to the College of Business Administration (CBA).

Surviving “terror” professors, says another UP alumnus, such as professors with reputations for flunking 75% of the class and assigning readings and giving exams from a book with only one copy in the main lib. So what were the 80 history students in her class to do? Get creative, get the situation under control. “Hanapan ng paraan,” “never say die” are some of the things you learn in UP.

But one might also get professors such as Professor Mila Guerrero, who was deeply and eloquently anti-American, and held the class spellbound with her passionate orations. From such teachers at UP, one develops nationalism. Many students who went up to the hills to fight the dictatorship carried UP IDs, echoing Ditto Sarmiento’s “Kung hindi tayo, sino pa? Kung hindi ngayon, kailan pa?” UP has produced many heroes but this “by hook or by crook” mentality has also given UP its own share of heels.

“Absentee” professors would give the class a syllabus and a reading list and disappear for most of the semester, leaving their students to muddle through on their own. One alumnus recalls that much mediocrity and cavalier attitudes towards teaching masqueraded as academic freedom and eccentricity. “Dozens of reflection papers! Nobody ever taught us how to write these, which is just as well because they vanished—never to be seen again. See you at midterms and finals. Nobody gets spoon-fed here. You’re on your own, guys.” That realization energized us. Most of us, for life.

No so called “sexual harassment” in those days. Only professors who liked tall girls and made Ginny Bonoan-Dandan, former College of Fine Arts Dean, and me stay after classes for some imagined reason or another. This famous painter/Fine Arts professor stalked and wanted to paint my sister Ging Bello-Pajaro as the nude “Maganda” to his “Malakas.” Ginny and I managed to pass that course. Ging, who went on to become one of UPAA’s most outstanding alumni in 2007, shifted to Speech & Drama. For us gorgeous girls (ehem) in our teens then, this were a loss of innocence, life’s lessons learned too early.

“Terrors” seemed to inhabit only the UP campuses. Was it our cherished academic freedom? Mostly brilliant with graduate degrees, we loved, hated, worshipped these teachers, and quaked in their presence. They taught us biology or calculus but we were always being acid-tested. The tests were not only the midterms or the finals but the “terrors” themselves, tests, not of knowledge gained, but of our grit and will to graduate.

We came from every corner of the country and from all levels of Philippine society, unashamed of our humble beginnings. We learned empathy. This was the UP education for life. Who has not heard the story of Manny Villar, Jr., the ish vendor’s son who, with his UP degrees (BSBA ’70, MBA ’73), good looks and easy charm, and with his wife and classmate, Cynthia Aguilar-Villar (BSBA ’70) “initiated mass housing projects and whose innovations practically created the country’s mass housing industry…a brown taipan” (from UPAA, awarding him “Most Distinguished Alumnus” in 2004). Manny is now Senate President and Cynthia is Congresswoman of Las Piñas.

We learned to get along with everybody, rich or poor, Ilocano, Ilonggo, or Tausug. For members of the other sororities or fraternities, we had only competitive contempt. For better or for worse, we learned to be fiercely, even blindly, loyal.

In UP’s heterogeneous society, most did not care much about your origins, religion, or what you wore (I did. I was always in 3-inch heels and petticoats even while rushing from swimming to Spanish classes on the 4th floor. Sigma Deltan Ruby Zulueta came to class everyday in a party dress). If you were bright, you stood tall together with classmates whose fathers had big titles. In UP’s meritocracy, you could be the best that you could be. With the diverse characters on campus, we were enriched, and learned to enjoy and accept people in all their outrageous humanity. There was the son of a gambling lord—a brave and early militant in the Gay Movement—who was fully made-up daily, often wore silk pajamas, sometimes a mini-blouse now called a tangga, midriff showing, a faux jewel in his navel. Danny “Purple,” a long time campus fixture, when asked to pay for his ikot rides would declare “My name is Crime and crime does not pay.” The guys of Samahan ng mga Bastos sa Kanteen (SABAKA) who heckled and shouted their guesses as to the color of the panties of their special targets—passing sorority girls—made buying bluebooks at the coop a painful ordeal. Ooh so macho Dr. Zarco, Socio 101, rode a motorcycle and cleaned his gun in class while the girls swooned. Alfonso Santos, the much published poet, tried to persuade everyone that sandwiches with banana peel filling were delicious. As our French teacher said “Vive la difference.”

Then there were the General Education (GE) subjects. I once came to class using a cane (too much chicharon). I asked my 100 students to raise their hands if they knew the Riddle of the Sphinx. All did except one, a cross-registrant from another university. Why is Oedipus Rex so important? Why Chaucer in olde English? Who cares what Confucius said? Or why did Rizal write to the daughters of Malolos? Answers from some alumni: “A UP education allows one to be a broad-gauge thinker in all aspects of life,” says Cat Bello, BF Arts ’68, nine years Tourism Attaché, Frankfurt. “I…could bluff my way through any subject,” jokes Rowena Bernardo, Brussels-based international cosmetics marketing consultant, Mech. Eng. 1988. “Seeds of every discipline were in those courses.”

Many of us will not recognize the new GE subjects. There is now a menu of courses, 15 units within each of the required broad domains of Math, Science and Technology (Ex.: “Everyday EEE, Kuryente, Radyo atbp”), Social Sciences & Philosophy (Ex. “Bodies, Senses, & Humanity”), and Arts & Humanities (Ex. “Art, Man & Society”).

A new subject, Civic Welfare Training Service, an alternative to ROTC, may also influence a new generation of UP students. Its objective is to develop social responsibility; course content is left to the College. At CBA, where I coordinate the course, students form groups, raise funds, and undertake a project for their selected underprivileged beneficiary group. In the process they develop networking, marketing, and project management skills. In the last 6 sems, CBA students and a few from other colleges have, among others, built three Gawad Kalinga houses, rehabilitated five cottages at Boystown, Marikina, and contributed medicines and party fun to the PGH Pediatric Cancer Ward. My message to them “You, probably the brightest students in the land, will one day be rich or famous, or both. Far though you may wander, pay forward, pay back, especially to UP.”

Originally published in The Oblation Issue Vol. 1 No. 2

When I took over as UP President in 2005, I said then that I considered myself especially privileged to be not just the University’s first woman president, but the president who would guide the University into its second century. The prospect was both daunting and humbling.

I also said that I regarded the Centennial, not just an occasion for celebration, but also as an opportunity to assess the university’s performance for its first century of existence, and to imagine what its role would be in the next century. And I meant to enlist all who are or had been a part of UP, as well as all who considered UP one of the country’s important institutions, to be part of the celebration and the stock-taking and the planning.

For the last three years, then, while attending to the other 9 points in our 10-point agenda—which was focused on transforming UP into the country’s National University—my executive staff, the chancellors of the different constituent universities, and I have devoted part of our time to preparing for 2008. This has not been exactly easy.

You are all aware that we have had our share of problems, particularly in regard to our decision to adjust student fees to more realistic levels, and our continuing efforts to get Congress to approve a new UP Charter. Not to mention the day-to-day business of running the University, which really regards itself as an independent republic within the larger Republic of the Philippines. When one is in crisis mode or mired in the routine, one does not feel particularly festive or optimistic. But actually, the thought that perhaps this anniversary would serve to unite us—despite our conflicts and problems, both internal and external—was a source of encouragement. There was this day to look forward to.

And now, my friends, that day has arrived. It is now Year 2008. Today we formally launch our centennial year. It is only right that this special day should begin here in the heart of the country’s old capital, where the University was born. At the time of its birth, UP was just UP. There was as yet no UP Manila. It was simply UP. The main campus was right here.

The transfer to UP Diliman took place from December 16, 1948 to January 11, 1949 under the presidency of Dr. Beinvenido Gonzalez. The Oblation was transferred from Padre Faura where it stood for 13 years to its new location in Diliman on February 11, 1949. I mention this specific incident because today, a few hours from now, we shall drive al the way to Diliman to “reenact” the transfer of UP from its cradle in Manila to Diliman.

But UP’s story is not just about its transfer from one location to another. It definitely is more than this. UP’s story is one long and never-ending story that it is just not possible to capture everything along a specific theme and in a matter of a few minutes. Belinda Aquino put it very well when she said, “It is not possible or even realistic to look back at our university life along a specific tendency. UP has been the setting of many dominant themes and explorations of whatever sort – intellectual, political, personal, moral, even spiritual. Themes of innocence, discovery, freedom, search for truth, enlightenment, joy, loneliness, irony, beauty, crisis, pain, resistance, passion, conversion, obsession, morality, continuity and change have pervaded the university scene at successive or simultaneous stages.” So rather than have me tell you the UP story, I urge you to tell your own stories about UP.

But there is one more thing I would like to do. I would like to make special mention of the men – the great men by whose leadership the University stands proud today. I refer to the eighteen presidents of the University of the Philippines who, based on what I now know and realize, have offered much of themselves, selflessly and with much dedication, patience, endurance and sacrifice so that the University will be a place we can all be proud of.

• UP’s first president Murray Bartlett who was responsible for laying the foundation of the University;
• Ignacio Villamor who oversaw the University’s tenacious growth to adolescence;
• Guy Potter Benton, the second and last American at the helm of this Filipino University;
• Rafael Palma whose leadership guided UP in an era of political imperatives and economic disequilibrium;
• Jorge Bocobo who fostered vibrant nationalism and under whose leadership Filipino values were asserted as an underlying concept of academic life;
• Bienvenido Gonzalez, the adamant visionary who helped resurrect the University from the ashes of war;
• Dr. Antonio Sison, who dutifully accepted the stewardship of the University through the precarious years of the Japanese occupation;
• Vidal Tan who assumed the presidency at a time the University was shaken by strife but whose devoted presidency helped redeem the University;
• Vicente Sinco who clashed with conservatism and who is well remembered especially by the students for his firm commitment to the preservation of the free and secular nature of UP and for his support and enhancement of the liberal intellectual tradition;
• Sinco’s presidency was preceded by Enrique Virata’s transitional administration as acting president for two years;
• Carlos P. Romulo who considered student activism and faculty dissent extremely important for without them, the University of the Philippines would be nothing;
• Salvador P. Lopez whose presidency saw six years of turbulence assuaged by democratization;
• Onofre D. Corpuz and Emanuel Soriano whose bifocal administrations worked toward the realignment of the academe to national realities under a crisis government;
• Edgardo J. Angara who presided over the University’s Diamond Jubilee celebration and whose tough-minded leadership introduced major structural reforms in the University;
• Jose V. Abueva whose administration stressed leadership for social transformation and whose major contribution to the University includes the establishment of the Socialized Tuition and Financial Assistance Program;
• Emil Q. Javier whose administration harnessed UP’s intellectual and moral resources in the service of the nation; and
• Francisco Nemenzo recognized for the revitalization of the UP’s general education program and the University’s modernization.

Today as we kick off our centennial celebration let us pause for a while and remember these men who made lasting contributions to the future of the University of the Philippines.

Finally let me reiterate what I said early on in my term as UP President.

UP’s first 100 years have been one great university experience. UP has prospered during the good years and endured during the bad. Its goals and priorities have shifted from decade to decade and from one UP President to another. It has been repeatedly rocked by crises, has been held to account for a many great problems plaguing not just its own campuses but the nation itself. But one thing has remained constant – a quality difficult to define but is recognized by all who have spent either a season or an entire lifetime in the university. For lack of a better term, we might call it the UP spirit, the force that serves as a bond across generations and even across continents. We can build on this UP spirit and we will. Ladies and gentlemen: come and join us as we imagine UP’s next 100 years.

A mammoth motorcade originating from UP Manila and joined by contingents from UP Diliman, the UP Diliman (UPDEPP) Extension Program in Pampanga, UP Los Baños, UP Visayas, UP Mindanao, and UP Open University along University Avenue started the celebrations after lunch.

As the contingents amassed along University Avenue and the Oblation Plaza in UPD, helicopters hovered low and scattered confetti, flower petals, and balloons among the crowd. The gathering was also highlighted by two batches of sky-divers from the military’s Special Action Force and the police, bearing the emblems of the different UP constituent units and congratulatory banners. All executed a perfect landing on the open field beside Plaridel Hall.

Throughout the day, the rock song “UP Ang Galing Mo,” especially composed for the Centennial,blared from speakers, while projectors flashed highlights of the activities live on at least four giant screens installed along the University Avenue and the Oblation Plaza. Intermittently, the newly-restored Carillon rang out with tunes being played by Prof. Jerry Dadap, one of the first carilloneurs of the University. Meanwhile, alumni, mostly dressed in Centennial t-shirts, happily lost themselves in mini-reunions with old friends.

As the parade ended, a group of stu-dents blew ten tambulis while a barrage of kwitis rocketed to the sky to signal the start of a program in front of the Oblation Plaza. Torches were then carried around the 22-kilometer Academic Oval by a hundred alumni, University officials, and students, accompanied by a 100-gun sa-lute from the UP Rifle Team. The torch relay ended in the lighting of the Centennial Cauldron right in front of the Oblation Plaza.

According to Alumni Regent Ponciano Rivera Jr., concurrently president of UP Alumni Association (UPAA), the flame symbolizes UP’s quest to learn more and be of service to mankind. This respon-sibility is passed from generation to gene-ration. The UPAA, the main organizer of the grand Centennial kick-off, believes that the flame will burn eternally in the hearts of UP alumni.

The first torch-bearer was Civil Engineer Fernando Javier from Baguio, an alumnus (Batch 1933) who turned a hundred years old on December 22, 2007. “I am really glad that I’m still alive to witness this. I’m proud and elated that I will join UP again,” Javier said in an interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer before the kick-off ceremonies. He had been a civil servant, a survivor of the Bataan Death March, an Engineering professor in Afghanistan and Korea, and an environment worker in Guam. He now busies himself with agriculture and horticulture in northern Luzon. Without the aid of a cane, he was able to walk the entire length of the Academic Oval together with other torch-bearers who included University officials, former UP presidents, students, national scientists and artists, and other alumni, such as actor Richard Gomez, broadcast journalist Che-Che Lazaro, music pioneer Ryan Cayabyab, teenage Physics professor Mikaela Irene Fudolig, Senators Franklin Drilon and Richard Gordon, and Commission on Higher Education chief Romulo Neri.

The 100th torch-bearer was President Emerlinda R. Roman, who was tasked with lighting the flame of the Centennial Cauldron with the Centennial torch. The cauldron, designed by Joel Ajero, 1969 Chemical Engineering graduate, stands on three slender pillars representing the three core values of the University: excellence, service, and leadership. Springing from the base is a tree with seven flowers representing the seven CUs. After lighting the Centennial flame, Roman declared the UP Centennial Year open.

The cheering crowd then burst into singing UP Naming Mahal, and was afterwards entertained by the UP Pep Squad. Then, the participants were invited to the UPD Amphitheater for the Centennial kick-off concert organized by UP Diliman.

Before an audience that filled the entire amphitheater to overflowing, the concert featured the UPMadrigal Singers, UP Pep Squad, UP Jazz Orchestra, UP Concert Chorus, UP Symphonic Orchestra, UP Symphonic Band, Ryan Cayabyab, and Nanette Inventor. A grand fireworks display, sponsored by Beta Epsilon, capped the day-long festivities. (Prof. Tessa Jazmines, Jo. Florendo B. Lontoc, Bernice P.Varona, and Francis Paolo Quina)

From the UP Newsletter website

The restoration of the Carillon was the main UP Centennial project of the UPAA. Past and present UPAA officials and other influential alumni and donors gathered at the Carillon site to witness the turnover of the bells to UP, and the lowering of a time capsule for the next phase of the UPAA Carillon project, the establishment of the Carillon Plaza.

Former UPAA President Lt. Gen. Jaime S. Delos Santos and current Alumni Regent and UPAA President Ponciano E. Rivera Jr. formally turned over the bells to UPD Chancellor Sergio S. Cao, and earlier in the day to President Emerlinda R. Roman.

Gen. Delos Santos recounted the story of the restoration of the UP Carillon. It was during his term as UPAA president, during the 92nd Annual Homecoming in June 2005, when the restoration of the Carillon was named the UPAA centerpiece Centennial project. He said that the UPAA will raise more funds to complete the project this year, which means having the Carillon Plaza landscaped and transformed into a venue for the arts. Regent Rivera then presented plaques of appreciation to the main donors of the project. Among them were Engineer Manuel Yu Agustinez, Atty. Loida Nicolas-Lewis, the CASAA Foundation, Dr. Mario and Eva Labadan, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Mr. and Mrs. Antonio Evangelista, and the late Betty Go Belmonte. Other major donors were Atty. Estelito Mendoza, Mayor Jejomar Binay, and the San Miguel Corp.; plus, Atty. Ed Hernandez, Bimbo Salazar, Victor Ramos, Susana Guerrero, Loretta Cadavillo-Galang, Mayor Marides Fernando, Vicente Quimbo, Francis Laurel, Francis Chua, the Capitol Medical Center, BSBA ’67, UPCM (Medicine) ’67, UP Law ’67, UPCA (Agriculture) ’67, UP Inter-college Class ’58, and UPCA (Architecture) ‘67.

Arranged and played with much vigor by Prof. Antonio Regalario, a UP carilloneur in the 1960s, the musical pieces were met with resounding applause. On the ground, performances were rendered by the UP Singing Ambassadors and the Andres Bonifacio Group conducted by Prof. Jerry Dadap, another UP carilloneur. Another phase of the UPAA project is the establishment of a scholarship to train new carilloneurs.

The occasion was also attended by Senator Richard Gordon, who promised to start the groundwork for the Oblation Plaza with a donation of half of the cost, and Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte, who highlighted UP’s physical role as locus for the city’s development. (Jo. Florendo B. Lontoc)

From the UP Newsletter website

“The thought that, perhaps, this anniversary would serve to unite us—despite our conflicts and problems, both internal and external—was a source of encouragement,” Roman said. “You are all aware that we have had our share of problems, particularly with respect to our decision to adjust student fees to more realistic levels, and our continuing efforts to get Congress to approve a new UP Charter. Not to mention the day-to-day business of running the University.”

It is in this regard that Roman considers the Centennial as an occasion to celebrate, assess the University’s performance in the past century, and imagine its role in the next. The Centennial Lecture Series has enlisted a competent group to be part of the celebration, stock-taking, and planning.

The activities at UPM celebrated the theme “Isang Daang Taong Paglilingkod, Isang Pagdiriwang at Pagkilala” at the Centennial Launch Program held in the newly renovated UP Medical Alumni Society of America (UPMASA) PGH Science Hall. Among those present were: President Roman and Regents Gari Tiongco, Nelia Gonzalez, Romulo Davide, Lourdes Barcenas, and James Mark Teri Ridon; former Regents Eduardo Hernandez, Angelita Reyes, Roland Simbulan, and Oscar Alfonso; and former President Jose Abueva. Also present were UP System officials Vice Presidents Ma. Concepcion Alfiler, Arlene Samaniego, Cristina Pantoja Hidalgo, Marvic Leonen, and Secretary of the University and of the Board of Regents Lourdes Abadingo. Guests of honor included former UPM Chancellors Ernesto Domingo and Perla Santos-Ocampo. From the CUs, in attendance were UPM Chancellor Ramon Arcadio, UP Visayas Chancellor Glenn Aguilar, and UP Mindanao Chancellor Gilda Rivero. Through a sayaw bulaklakan at putungan, performers sought them from the crowd and honored them with leis.

National Artist for Literature and UPD College of Arts and Letters Dean Virgilio Almario lent his presence, together with performers from the Barasoain Kalinangan Foundation, Inc., which he chairs. Philippine traditional and classical songs, dances, balagtasan, and poems by the National Artist were performed by the group together with Sining Bulakenyo. The UP Manila Chorale led the singing of Lupang Hinirang, the opening prayer, UP Naming Mahal, and Push On UP.

President Roman and Chancellor Arcadio said it was fitting to start the launch of the Centennial celebrations in UPM, which was the cradle of the University. Arcadio said it was during the early formative years when UP’s trademarks of excellence and relevance first took shape. He also explained that the motorcade that was to be held later in the day would commemorate the transfer of the University from its cradle to the campus in Diliman from December 16, 1948 to January 11, 1949. The Oblation was transferred from Padre Faura, where it stood for 13 years, to its new location on February 11, 1949.

“But UP’s story is not just about its transfer from one location to another,” President Roman said. Quoting UP scholar Belinda Aquino, she pointed out that UP has been “the setting of many dominant themes and explorations of whatever sort—intellectual, political, personal, moral, even spiritual” and it is not possible to tell its story following a specific theme. “So rather than have me tell you the UP story, I urge you to tell your own stories about UP.”

President Roman felt the need to pay tribute to the past 18 UP presidents, who offered themselves, with much dedication, patience, endurance, and sacrifice resulting in a UP that the Philippines can be proud of. She concluded by reiterating what she said at her investiture as UP president: “UP has prospered during the good years and endured during the bad.…It has been repeatedly rocked by crises, has been held to account for many problems plaguing not just its own campuses but the nation itself. But one thing has remained constant—a quality difficult to define but recognized by all who have spent either a season or an entire lifetime in the university.”

“For lack of a better term, we might call it the UP spirit—the force that serves as a bond across generations and even across continents. We can build on this UP spirit and we will,” Roman said. She urged everyone to join the University in imagining UP’s next 100 years.

UP remains the country’s only university to produce 30 of 31 national scientists, 36 of 57 national artists, seven of 14 Philippine presidents, 12 Chief Justices of the Supreme Court, 15,000 doctors, 8,000 lawyers, 23,000 teachers, and 247,000 alumni. More than 50,000 students are educated in the seven CUs made up of 12 campuses all over the country. Apart from faculty, student, and alumni activities in all seven CUs, a grand homecoming in June will be one of the highlights of UP’s centennial year.

From the UP Newsletter website

“UP should strengthen its position as the leading research university, firming up its science and technology programs, and developing a community of scholars comparable to those of the best universities in the world,” he said.

The UP Centennial Commission is currently raising P5 billion primarily for faculty development. “Filipino students would have the benefit of a world class education if our premier national university is given the support needed to compete with the best in the world. To achieve that, UP must be able to develop and retain good faculty and have the best instructional facilities,” Angara said.

“Science and technology research is the direction of the future. The key to prosperity in today’s world is …producing high value added, knowledge-intensive goods and services. Globally, jobs and wealth are created through S&T,” he added.

According to Angara, the UP budget allots P51.5 million for graduate scholarships and P86 million for the UP Diliman (UPD) Engineering Complex. Other developments are the National Science Complex and Technology Incubation Park, both at UPD. (Office of Sen. EJA)