Alumni News

Chancellor Larry Digal's Message at the 26th Anniversary, 2021

Written by Rene Estremera. Posted in Alumni

2021 022221 LND 01 RESIZE 33President Danilo L. Concepcion, Executive Vice President Ted Herbosa, former chancellor Sylvia “Beng” Concepcion, Chancellor “Dong” Camacho of UPLB, Atty. Marie Dinah Tolentino-Fuentes, president of UP Mindanao Foundation, Atty. Marie Glenn Sorila, UP Mindanao officials, faculty members, staff, our students, awardees, alumni, friends, guests, ladies and gentlemen, good morning and welcome to UP Mindanao’s 26th-anniversary celebration!

A few decades ago, having a UP campus here in Mindanao was only a dream. Bright and promising Mindanaoan students then had to go to Luzon or the Visayas to acquire a UP education. Because of the perceived inequity then, Mindanaoan UP alumni clamored for the creation of a UP campus here in Mindanao to provide equitable access for poor and deserving Mindanaoan students to affordable and quality UP education. After years of relentless lobbying, Republic Act 7889, otherwise known as the University of the Philippines in Mindanao Act, was finally enacted 26 years ago, on February 20, 1995. For those of you who do not know this, especially the younger generation, UP Mindanao is the only campus in the entire UP System created through special national legislation.

Since the start of my administration, we have seriously reviewed the reason and purpose for our existence as a constituent unit of the UP System articulated in our charter. We have reframed our vision to become an internationally competitive graduate research and public service university in Mindanao, leading in the study of arts, cultures, and sustainable biosystems. With the mission to provide distinctive interdisciplinary education, research and development, and public engagement that are responsive and relevant to the diverse sectors in Mindanao. And to sustain Mindanao heritage and biodiversity through innovative, sustainable systems and technologies.

We have articulated our ambitious plan for expansion from 2019 to 2023 and mobilized the support of our allies and partners for the implementation of our programs that include, first, expanding UP Mindanao’s academic program offerings to effectively fulfill its mandate in Mindanao. We are targeting 16 new programs under three new colleges. Second, supporting the implementation of the Mindanao Sports Development program that includes the establishment of the College of Human Kinetics and the completion of the Davao City-UP Sports Complex. Third, establishing the UP Mindanao Botanical Garden and Park to support agro-eco-cultural tourism. Fourth, strengthening the research, development, and engagement of UP Mindanao on Sustainable Agri- and Bio-systems. Fifth, establishing the Knowledge, Innovation, Science and Technology Park in the UP Mindanao campus to accelerate innovation and investments. Sixth, establishing a UP College of Medicine in Davao City, in partnership with UP Manila, to respond to the medical needs of the island. And seventh, responding to Mindanao’s graduate program needs through joint programs with other UP campuses.

I would like to thank here Chancellor “Mechit” [Carmencita Padilla of UP Manila] and EVP Herbosa for helping us with the College of Medicine, “Chancy Dong” [Chancellor Jose Camacho of UPLB] for the MS Environmental Science and the Joint PhD by Research, as well as the MS Agri Economics, and “Chancy” Fidel Nemenzo [Chancellor, UP Diliman] for helping us with the College of Human Kinetics, and, of course, our President and his vice presidents and team for their strong support in this expansion program.

These plans and programs I mentioned are the resolutions we passed in the Regional Alumni Institute Assembly in 2019. These are the plans that we disseminated and discussed with some Cabinet secretaries during the roadshow, together with our prominent alumni like Angie [Sebastian] Angliongto, John Gaisano, and Atty. Dinah Tolentino-Fuentes. Today, I’m happy to announce UP Mindanao's first doctoral program offering, the PhD by Research program under our School of Management. Consistent with our vision, we aim to offer more programs in the coming years, at least three are targeted this year.

With this expansion program we were able get 12 new faculty items, and new infrastructure projects, thus far. We hope to get more, particularly in regularizing our UP contractual faculty and staff, as we offer new programs. Our alumni have been backing us up with our request with the DBM or Department of Budget and Management for these new items.

With the full support of the UP System, we are now laying the groundwork for the establishment of the College of Medicine, which is part of our Mindanao Health Initiative program, to include the establishment of the Davao City Hospital within our campus, and the Mindanao Research and Innovation Center for One Health. Last Wednesday [17 February 2021], UP, led by our supportive President Danilo Concepcion, and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte met to discuss the forging of a Memorandum of Agreement for the establishment of the proposed hospital, which is envisioned to be a tertiary-level teaching hospital to complement our planned College of Medicine. These plans are now in the pipeline and expected to be realized within the next two years.

While the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted our plans and operations, it has also taught us to reflect as an academic institution, and to rethink our strategies, to continue to be relevant and faithful to our mandate, even as we have stepped up efforts to respond to the challenges brought about by the crisis, such as offering the expertise of the Philippine Genome Center Mindanao to build the capacity of several medical health facilities in various parts of Mindanao on RT PCR testing. As we celebrate UP Mindanao’s 26th founding anniversary today, let us all muster our Bayanihan spirit as a community to work together in realizing our anniversary theme of “Transcending towards a resilient recovery in the new normal.”

Finally, let me share with you a personal story that I think is appropriate to what is happening now here in UP Mindanao. Every morning since the start of the pandemic, I spend time in my mom’s garden. When she got sick, the garden was not as beautiful as when she had the energy to attend to it every day. I was so busy with my work, especially when I became your chancellor, that I wasn’t there to help her in her garden. She passed away last January 2 of 2020. Until now I still think and feel that I never had enough time to grieve with all the responsibilities in my shoulder. But the pandemic brought me back to her garden. That helps me in my grieving and in my healing. Now her garden is beautiful again. In the middle of her garden stands a big letter C, the letter of her name Carmen, curled with bougainvilleas with a bed of roses behind it. I work hard every morning since the start of the pandemic because I was inspired by her love and hard work to bring back the beauty of her garden that we all enjoyed.

UP Mindanao to me is like my mom’s garden. I put in it my commitment and hard work so it will grow and I’m happy that we continue to grow. It is growing because there are people who are helping us to grow it. The faculty and staff, including those who have retired, our current and previous administrators‒some of them are here‒our students, our partners in the government and private sectors, particularly the alumni, they have invested their commitment and hard work too, so that we can make a bigger impact to the community we serve. On behalf of UP Mindanao, I would like to sincerely thank all of them.

Happy 26th anniversary to UP Mindanao! And congratulations to our service awardees, and to our pinakamahusay na faculty and admin staff! Maayong buntag kanatong tanan!

Isang Libong Alumni Para Kay Oble, 27 February, 7 p.m.

Written by Rene Estremera. Posted in Alumni

2021 022721 ISANG LIBO 01RESIZE33Uy mga UP alumni, kumusta na kayo?
Na-miss na ba ninyo ang UP Fair ng Diliman, UPLB Feb Fair, UP Manila Fiesta, UP Cebu Cookout, UP Tacloban Orgs Fair, Tatak UP Min, and other mala-fiesta activities of all UP campuses noong kabataan ninyo?
In that case, this is the all-campuses-in-one fiesta that we’re all waiting for. The UPAA Davao, whose members hail from different UP campuses, is hosting a virtual alumni gathering called Isang Libong Alumni Para Kay Oble, Isang Libong Kumustahan! On February 27, Saturday, 7:00 p.m. (GMT+8), via Zoom and Facebook Live.
Mayroong games, raffles, at mga performances ng UP alumni. Masaya ito! Pramis!
Isang Libong Alumni Para Kay Oble! Isang Libong Kumustahan!
A virtual Fellowship on Zoom and Facebook Live
February 27 (Saturday), 7:00 p.m.
Free Admission!
Register here: bit.ly/upaad1k

[UPDATED] “To V or Not To V” webinar on COVID-19 vaccines

Written by Rene Estremera. Posted in Alumni

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“To V or Not To V,” a free internet forum and webinar on COVID-19 vaccines, will be held on 13 February 2021, at 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. via Zoom. Interested parties may register at https://bit.ly/3tusvJI. The webinar will also be live-streamed on the Facebook pages of the organizers, the UP Alumni Association (UPAA) Davao, the University of the Philippines (UP) Mindanao, and the Philippine Genome Center (PGC) Mindanao.

The webinar is a contribution to the ongoing discussion whether to vaccinate or not to vaccinate oneself against the COVID-19 disease, a topic that is presently being debated worldwide, more so in the Philippines with its recent experience on vaccines. Through the webinar, the UP community hopes to help in the Filipino’s decision-making process. “There are many perceptions about the issue and it’s best to hear from the experts,” said UPAA-Davao director Atty. Glenn Cedeño-Sorila. “Participants to the webinar get a chance to type in their questions in the Zoom chat box which will then be conveyed for the speakers to answer,” said PGC Mindanao director and UP Mindanao faculty member Prof. Lyre Anni Murao.

Dr. Willy Tan, Manager for Global Product Development – GCMC Vaccines of Pfizer Inc., will talk on “Vaccine Development and Manufacture.” The topic on “The Science Behind Regulatory Process for Evaluation and Approval of COVID-19 Vaccines” will be discussed by Dr. Nina Gloriani, Head of the Department of Science and Technology’s (DOST) Vaccine Expert Panel and member of the World Health Organization (WHO) Philippines Scientific Steering Committee for COVID 19 Solidarity Vaccines Trials. Finally, Davao City Health Officer Dr. Ashley Lopez will talk on the “Davao City COVID-19 Vaccination Plan.” Welcome Remarks will be given by Cabinet Secretary Atty. Karlo Nograles, who is also co-chairperson of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases. In his opening remarks, Atty. Nograles will also give an overview of the national government’s vaccination roadmap. Dr. Celia C. Castillo, a doctor of internal medicine, will be the moderator for the forum. Closing Remarks will be delivered by UP Mindanao Chancellor Larry Digal. Atty. Cedeño-Sorila will serve as the event host. The webinar is a public offering for the 26th anniversary of UP Mindanao.

[UPDATE] Dr. Teodoro J. Herbosa, Medical Adviser/Consultant to the National Task Force against COVID-19 and UP executive vice president, will represent Sec. Carlito Galvez in the webinar to talk on the "National COVID-19 Vaccination Roadmap."  

[CLOSING REMARKS OF CHANCELLOR LARRY N. DIGAL

University of the Philippines, Mindanao is celebrating its 26th anniversary this month of February, and so I am congratulating and truly thankful to the UP Alumni Association Davao and the Philippine Genome Center Mindanao, for successfully organizing this online forum and webinar on the COVID-19 vaccination issue in line with our anniversary celebration. I need to specifically mention UPAA Davao director Attorney Marie Glenn Sorila, UP alumna Dr. Celia Castillo, and Philippine Genome Center Mindanao director  Professor Lyre Murao. This activity would not have been possible without your active support. I also acknowledge the invaluable inputs and insights provided by Cabinet Secretary, Attorney Karlo Alexei Nograles, chairperson of the Interagency Task Force, Dr. Willy Tan of Pfizer, Dr. Nina Gloriani, head of the DOST Vaccine Expert Panel, and member of the WHO Philippines COVID-19 Steering Committee, and Dr. Ashley Lopez, our Davao City Health Officer.
 
I hope that through this webinar we have contributed to efforts in increasing awareness of the government’s COVID-19 vaccination program and enlightening the public to decide as to whether to get vaccinated or not. UP Mindanao, for its 26th-anniversary celebration, is transcending towards a resilient recovery in the new normal. Since 2019, many of our alumni know that UP Mindanao has been aggressively gearing towards expanding its programs to make a dent in Mindanao’s development. They know because this expansion program was presented in the Regional Alumni Institute assembly that year. A major part of this expansion is the establishment of three colleges and 16 new programs. One of the colleges is the College of Medicine. With the onslaught of the pandemic, we configured our priorities and this college was even magnified to become part of a bigger initial initiative, which we call the Mindanao Health Initiative. This initiative includes two other components, a Davao City-UP Hospital, which will be established on our campus, which will become also the teaching hospital of the College of Medicine, and the Mindanao Center for Research and Innovation for One Health. The latter builds on the network developed by PGC Mindanao in assisting various COVID-19 testing laboratories in Mindanao and their research work on the pandemic and as an accredited testing Center for African Swine Fever. So UP Mindanao is well-positioned to contribute significantly in a resilient recovery. Daghang salamat sa tanan! 
 

Statement of UP Mindanao Against “Red-tagging”

Written by Rene Estremera. Posted in Alumni

The University of the Philippines (UP) Mindanao administration has seen posts published on social media that accuse UP Mindanao and one of its alumni of collaboration in misleading the youth into joining terrorist groups.

The UP Mindanao strongly repudiates the red-tagging of the institution, its student publication, and its alumnus for the malicious accusation and labelling on subversive involvement in the communist ideology.

Moreover, UP Mindanao neither promotes nor condones any recruitment activity by the outlawed communist party.

We request the public to refrain from spreading disinformation and false allegations that circulate online. The University administration warns such groups that publishing accusations without acceptable evidence or proof is a crime under multiple laws.

As an institution of higher learning, repository and producer of knowledge, and builder of communities, we firmly retain independence and autonomy against those perceived to be enemies of the state.

While we aim to protect one’s right to life, liberty and security from being associated with any communist front organization, this blanket act of red-tagging endangers our students, faculty and whole academic community as it maligns and imperils people for the lawful exercise of their freedom of expression.

In the prevailing context where some of the members of the UP community become the targets of harassment and threats, we in UP Mindanao stand to end the vicious practice of red-tagging.

We urge pertinent government agencies to address legitimate criticism of its policies, and take concrete steps to ensure the safety and protection of individuals from these unlawful acts of red-baiting and other similar acts.

UP Alumni Association Davao February Events

Written by Rene Estremera. Posted in Alumni

20210206 094808RESIZE50 2021 022721 ISANG LIBO 02RESIZE33
   

13 February - "To 'V' or Not To 'V'?" Webinar on the COVID-19 vaccine. 13 February 2021, Saturday, 9 AM to 11 AM via Zoom and Facebook Live. Pre-register here: bit.ly/3tusvJI

27 February - "Isang Libong Alumni Para Kay Oble, Isang Libong Kumustahan," 27 February 2021, Saturday, 7pm, via Zoom and FB Live. "Games, Raffles, Performances ng mga alumni. Masaya ito! Kitakits! Zoom and FB links will be posted soon."

 

 

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