The UP Mindanao UC supports the creation of the Committee on the Promotion and Protection of Academic Freedom and Human Rights. Given the rampant cases of state fascism such as red-tagging and violation of human rights and academic freedom, we believe that the present institutional arrangement we have at present does not have the avenues and facility for ends which the proposed Committee can best accomplish.

The UP Mindanao Office of Student Affairs, through Guidance Services Specialist Remigio Domingo, successfully delivered the lecture forum on "Coping with the Better Normal and Addressing Depression and Anxiety" on February 26, 2024, at the CHSS Mini Theatre.  

Dr. Abegail Lozada-Laganao, Chairperson of the Institute of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine at the Southern Philippines Medical Center and a UPMin alumna, served as the resource speaker. The forum delved into the intricacies of sustaining well-being in the "Better Normal," the post-pandemic environment. Dr. Lozada-Laganao shed light on the persistent challenges posed by anxiety and depression for individuals to build resilience. She discussed strategies and mechanics to effectively cope with mental health issues and achieve improved mental well-being.

SUOTA, the Sustainable Obu-Manuvu Tribal Attire project, began on February 23, 2024, in the UP Marilog Land Reservation, located in the Third District of Davao City, within the Obu-Manuvu Ancestral Domain. Some 30 Obu-Manuvu women and men were trained in beads-making. Beads are a feature of their culture, being a component of the tribal attire. Beads are part of traditional apparel and are also extended to be part of headgear and worn to adorn hands and feet. A beads-making expert from the tribe will lead the training session at the UP Mindanao Training Center, Marilog, Davao City. The training will help ensure that this indigenous custom is not lost but can live on with a new generation of skilled creators. 

This effort, initiated in part by the UP Mindanao Land Reservations Management Office, addresses various Sustainable Development Goals on quality education through women empowerment, gender equality through women’s employment, and decent work and economic growth through economic productivity. 

UP Mindanao’s role in the Marilog Land Reservation is  defined  in Presidential Proclamation 1253, signed by President Fidel V. Ramos on June 15, 1998, “for research, extension, instruction purposes, watershed and forest rehabilitation and protection, biodiversity (flora and fauna) conservation, crops and livestock production, and management, including upland communities training and development center of the University of the Philippines.”