march 2013
Myanmar info planners get insights on Phl press at UP-CMC By Jo. Florendo B. Lontoc Photo by Jun Madrid
The University of the Philippines UP continues to perform its role as a regional university with the College of Mass Communication (CMC) providing insights for the architects of Myanmar’s information liberalization plan on the Philippine experience to regain press freedom. The CMC, led by its former dean Elena Pernia, met with a delegation from the Public Service Media Governing Body (PSMGB) of Myanmar last March 6 at the Executive House in UP Diliman. The Philippine visit by PSMGB delegates Ye Tint, Kyaw Zaw Naing, and Tin Kha was sponsored by the Philippine Daily Inquirer Inquirer. Also present to welcome the Myanmar guests and the CMC faculty to UP Diliman was UP vice president for public affairs Prospero de Vera III. The Myanmar Ministry of Information is gradually transforming the country’s national media from government-owned and –controlled to privately-controlled and self-regulated industry.
Myanmar delegates U Ye Tint, U Tin Kha, U Kyaw Zaw Naing listen to UP professors discussing the Philippine experience of regaining freedom of the press, business of journalism, and UP’s research and graduates contributing to the growth of the information sector.
The PSMGB, which was created to implement the reform, believes that the Philippine experience is an exemplary example of press freedom
in the ASEAN. The PSMGB is particularly interested in the transition period after martial law to the EDSA revolution.
UP Diliman fetes 2013 Oblation scholars
PAGE
4►
Why should college freshmen who graduate on top of their high school classes, choose to enroll in the University of the Philippines (UP)? The answer can be summed up in the acronym ERA, which stands for excellence, resourcefulness, and academic freedom. During a luncheon held last Feb. 23 at the Executive House, UP Diliman. in honor of the 2013 Oblation Scholars, five speakers—four accomplished UP scholars and one nationally and internationally recognized scientist-researcher—talked about the experiences and challenges to look forward to while in UP. In the audience were the scholars, their parents and families, and UP officials and academicians, including the chancellors, deans and representatives from UP Diliman, UP Manila and UP Los Baños. The first speaker was John Gabriel Pelias, who graduated summa cum laude in 2011 with a general weighted average (GWA) of 1.016, the highest in UP history after World War II. Pelias, currently a faculty member of the UP Diliman National Institute of Mathematics, spoke about his passion for Mathematics, and how Mathematics crosses and transcends all other disciplines. According to him, UP offers a healthy breeding ground for all academic disciplines. “When we say UP education is holistic, we really mean it,” Pelias said. “No other university can ever give such a complete learning package: the theory, the actual skills, the creative precision, the training to become responsible and diligent, the pressure that enables one to achieve more, the preparation for the life of a working man.” Engineer Jhud Mihael Aberilla, himself an Oblation Scholar and a DOST-SEI Merit Scholar 2006-2011, talked about the diversity of courses, people and experiences one encounters in UP. Aberilla, also a Gawad Tsanselor sa Natatanging Mag-aaral Awardee and a summa cum laude graduate in Chemical Engineering, declared that UP education is “fun, creative, challenging, and fulfilling.” Currently a teacher at the UP College of Engineering, Aberilla expressed hopes that four or five years in the future, each Oblation scholar would “see the line of sunflowers adorning the University
Photo by Bong Arboleda
By Celeste Ann Castillo Llaneta
Oblation scholars from Philippine Science High School
Avenue.” So much like Aberilla, the third speaker, Engineer Nicole Andrea Yazon, currently a Technologist at the Shell Tabangao Refinery, who was also an Oblation Scholar, a DOSTSEI Merit Scholar, a Gawad Tsanselor sa Natatanging Mag-aaral Awardee, and a summa cum laude graduate of Chemical Engineering. Yazon said “picking the right school is about who you are and what you want to become,” adding that UP is generally the top in most fields. She said the “top three things I love about UP” are the academic freedom the University offers; the diversity that such freedom fosters; and UP’s excellence driven by that diversity, which includes the ability to go beyond limits, to work around constraints, to be resourceful, creative, strong and street-smart. The fourth speaker, Physics instructor and PhD student Mikaela Irene Fudolig, entered college when she was only 11 years old, and graduated summa cum laude in Physics at the age of 16. Fudolig shared her own experiences as a UP student with “a five year head start”, relating how she chose to study diligently because she believed in a dream and was driven by an “inner fire” to work hard for it. She urged the Oblation scholars to follow their own dreams, and take responsibility for their own decisions, including the choice of whether or not to enter UP. “Some people can get by with just talent, and some people can get by with just passion. If you have both the talent and the passion for what you are doing, the possibilities are limitless…You have the talent. The only question is, whether
you have the passion.” Dr. Corazon de Ungria, head of the DNA Analaysis Laboratory of the UP Diliman Natural Sciences Research Institute and Program Director of Forensics and Ethnicity at the Philippine Genome Center, capped the words of wisdom for the Oblation scholars by reiterating the three reasons an outstanding young student would pick UP—excellence, resourcefulness and academic responsibility. More than that, a talented individual in search of a meaningful life would find support in UP. As the eldest among the speakers, Dr. De Ungria also addressed the parents of the scholars, recalling her own parents’ greatest happiness as she received awards and recognitions for her outstanding work and service to the country. “That’s what makes parents very proud, when we put into realization our potential. And this is what UP offers us: a nurturing environment to be the best that we can be, and once we are the best that we can be, we can make a difference.” In his message to the scholars, UP president Federico Pascual said compared to last year, the number of female scholars has increased, with 31 males and 19 females. UP Diliman is the most popular choice of campus among the Oblation Scholars, with 46 out of 50 expressing preference for Diliman, and two each for UP Manila and UP Los Baños. “Being an Oblation scholar requires focus, persistence and passion for academic excellence,” President Pascual said in his message. “But I’m sure that with your innate abilities, and with the guidance of your elders both at home and in school, you will easily triumph…The University is here to give you encouragement and support. I PAGE
4►
U.P. News 3
UP has new facility for studies on maritime affairs, law of the sea By Fred Dabu
With the Philippines locked in territorial disputes with China on one hand, and Malaysia on the other hand, providing a center for academic discussions on maritime affairs and the law of the sea could not have come at a better time. Last March 15, the UP Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea (UP-IMLOS) was formally inaugurated in ceremonies held at the Malcolm Theater, UP College of Law, UP Diliman campus, providing a most appropriate venue for public debates on ticklish issues involving maritime affairs and law of the sea. The new facility aims to be “an inter national center of excellence in research, teaching, legal advice and consultancy, training and capacity building, and publication in the fields of the law of the sea, maritime matters and territorial studies.” The UP-IMLOS was set in motion with a series of discussions last January, featuring presentations from the Institute, UP Asian Center, and UP College of Social Sciences and Philosophy. Its programs and activities included maritime territorial issues research program, maritime industry law reform program, annual institute on the Law of the Sea, Maritime Law internship program, Maritime Affairs symposium series, domestic interagency and international networking, publication of occasional papers and books, and dissemination of informational materials. UP-IMLOS director Jay L. Batongbacal said the institute was created to respond to the needs of both public and private sectors in fishing, shipping and many other marinerelated industries, as well as to provide support to Philippine government on issues of national and international concern. Territorial issues such as the disputed Bajo de Masinloc and the more recent Sabah crisis, were cited in line with UP-IMLOS legal and policy support roles in helping Filipinos deal with evolving economic and geopolitical relations with other governments and foreign corporations. UP President Alfredo E. Pascual expressed full support for the institute covering marine environment protection, maritime boundaries, maritime law enforcement, maritime security, and territorial studies of the Philippines’ nearly 600,000 square nautical miles of maritime territory. UP Law Dean Danilo L. Concepcion hailed the long-awaited creation of the Institute. Former Solicitor General Estelito P. Mendoza and Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio T. Carpio shared their wisdom and experience in government service and law. Mendoza was a member of the Philippine delegation to the Third UN Conference on the Law of the Sea, which paved the way for creation of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Justice Carpio penned the decision upholding the constitutionality of Republic Act No. 9522, the new baselines law enacted in 2009 to comply with salient provisions of the UNCLOS. Sen. Edgardo Angara and Justice Carpio were cited for proposing the creation of a highly specialized academic research institution devoted to maritime affairs which was subsequently approved by the UP Board of Regents last January 2013, giving rise to PAGE
11►