Happy anniversary to everyone in UP Mindanao!

UP Mindanao is closest to my heart because I am from Mindanao. I grew up in Mindanao, and identify with Mindanao. I have committed resources for the development of this region as with the nation. Mindanao has seen so much change since the first time I served on the Board of Regents as a student representative. Being a member of the Board of Regents as a young scholar has exposed me to some of our people's most persistent problems, especially at the University of the Philippines Mindanao.

 I was again privileged to be part of the Board of Regents from 2016 to 2021, wherein the administration of former UP president Danilo Concepcion initiated high-impact innovations in the academic, administrative, infrastructure, social, and cultural dimensions of the university. It paved the way for us to continue the way for the university's transformation into our envisioned world-class university. Attuned to 21st-century teaching, learning research, and public service to the nation and the world. We are fortunate to inherit such a university, and I am grateful to be part of a team of policymakers and administrators who will build on these foundations and make an even better university. 

UP Mindanao’s anniversary theme of convergence for partnerships resonates with me. I fully support the chancellor's strategy for transformative education. I also thank everyone at the University of the Philippines Mindanao for their service, especially during the pandemic's peak. Through your work, the university continues to live up to its mission and tradition of serving, and now, the creation of a new world and a better world. 

Our immediate task is to transition the University System administration into an efficient, effective governing team. We are working to maximize what we already have and attain the best possible outcomes. We shall continue working as a united and harmoniously coordinated University System. We shall be at the forefront of transformative scientific, cultural, and artistic pedagogy, extension, and public service in the local and global communities. 

The university shall continue as a global university. To partnerships with 350 higher education institutions and research institutions in 43 countries. We shall promote multi-interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary teaching research and public service across the University System. We shall support all the members of the UP community and our friends from different universities from around the world. We shall promote an open data policy and improve digital transformation and learning management. We shall make our websites and publications more useful to the public. So that relevant, timely information will be given practical value and reach a wider audience. 

We shall ensure development in the existing and growing number of our academic institutions and research programs. The latest research being in data science, artificial intelligence, and the genomic sciences. This will add to enhanced university programs in architecture, communications, mathematics, economics, urban and regional planning management, sports, social, natural, computing sciences, and food sciences. 

We shall make UP's presence felt by more people increasing the universities influence and services by partnering with public institutions, the private sector, and like-minded individuals. We shall enhance support for UP Mindanao’s Philippine Genome Center in Mindanao, the DC-UP Sports Complex, and the upcoming College of Human Kinetics, all being built to provide Mindanao with access to university education. 

I must also mention the future Davao City Public Hospital. The training hospital where the future UP College of Medicine will specialize in sports medicine while bringing the quality medical instruction and clinical research of the university of the Philippines Manila and the Philippine General Hospital to the southern Philippines. Your UP Mindanao already has supporting partners in higher education institutions with technology and business incubation. UP Mindanao’s Growing and Developing Enterprises or UPGRADES spearheads implementing the newest technology research incubation programs. We shall seek more engagements and collaborations with state universities and colleges by sharing the university resources, and the pool of experts, thereby sharing the university’s values of honor and excellence. 

And most important, compassion to reach more towns and villages in Mindanao. We shall also work with both longtime and new partners in the public and private sectors. Such as the Ateneo de Davao University, Mindanao State University, San Pedro College, Central Mindanao University, University of Mindanao, Xavier University, Mindanao State University Iligan Institute of Technology, and the Ateneo de Zamboanga University, Father Saturnino Urios University, the University of Southeastern Philippines, businesses, and national, global, and local units down to the grassroots, by continuously developing the communication and communication systems and technologies of the university. 

By adding new content, updating existing ones in our online, television, and delivery systems, and combining face-to-face virtual and immersive experiential learning, we shall provide better experiences to facilitate quality education for our teachers and learners. 

I encourage dialogue among the UP faculty, REPS, and administrative staff so that they can attain a better work-life balance. We shall also address the challenges in filling up or getting the personnel items we need to respond to the concerns of our contractual employees and those who deserve promotion. We should be able to give more benefits and incentives to help promote the well-being of our faculty and employees. 

We shall keep UP  campuses safe, sustainable, and conducive to learning and working while finding better accommodations for our students and staff through available dormitories and housing projects. We shall look after existing amenities and create new ones as necessary. We shall care for our new buildings, facilities, laboratories, and public spaces, and preserve heritage structures and sites. During the next six years, we could expect greater collaboration to make the university more visible and engaged in its mandated service to the nation and the world. Once again, greetings to the university of the Philippines Mindanao for the almost three decades of honorable service.