When I first entered the University of the Philippines, the cost per unit was P300. So if I had to take 18 units, my tuition, along with other fees, would amount to almost P6,000. My biological parents weren’t there to pay my tuition. It was my grandmother who stretched her salary, borrowed loans from sharks, [...]
The recent passing of Dr. Onofre D. Corpuz, popularly known as O.D., saddens thousands of colleagues, scholars, and former students he had worked with in his long and productive career as one of the best minds the Philippine academia has produced.
Semester after semester, universities—not just the University of the Philippines—will have to refuse some students who wish to reenroll. Delinquencies, outstanding balances, and incomplete requirements are some of the reasons why. People have been blaming the UP administration for Kristel Tejada’s suicide, but in all universities, there is a protocol to which admissions have to adhere. I agree that UP needs a bigger budget, a better enrollment system, and more support from the government. But even if we make everything in UP perfect, it still can’t say yes to all the students who wish to study or continue studying there.
The title of the play says it all: “Umaaraw, umuulan: Kinakasal ang Tikbalang,” referring to a folk belief about sun showers—raining even as the sun shines—being a sign that a tikbalang wedding is going on (the tikbalang being a mythological horse-like creature, similar to the Greek centaur and the Indian kinnara). I was skeptical about [...]
I personally delivered the following letter to, and had it officially received by, the office of the Secretary of the UP Board of Regents on Oct. 4. Each member of the board was provided an original. I mention the date because public officials and employees are by law (Republic Act 6713) required to respond to communications sent by the public within 15 working days from receipt. I have received no reply—not even a note saying that a reply would be forthcoming—either individually or collectively.
Almost five years ago, I wrote a letter to Sergio (Gerry) Cao, then chancellor of the University of the Philippines Diliman. It was the only letter I wrote, in my more than 40 years as a faculty member, to a UP official. I am reproducing it in toto below because in my quixotic attempt to “protect” the university at the time, I may have not only allowed an injustice to be ignored but also implicitly encouraged even more wrongdoing by my failure to blow the whistle, as it were. With 20-20 hindsight, I can see that UP would have been better off if the issue had been brought out in the open.
I have a father other than the one who gave me his genes. This one gave me my knowledge of labor law and created in me love for the law and the good that it can do for others.
This is in response to a letter by Angge Soriano that unfairly put the UP Alumni Association (UPAA) in a bad light. (Inquirer, 4/21/12)
“Aktibista ka na ba?” I cannot count the number of times I have been asked this question, which usually follows the “Kamusta sa UP?” greeting. Once people know I am a student from UP, they immediately assume that I am “tibak,” as activists are called in this part of the country. It’s funny how people [...]
In her column, “Kicked out on trumped-up charges” (Inquirer, 9/17/11), UP Diliman professor and Inquirer columnist Solita Collas-Monsod made gross misrepresentations and baseless assertions, bordering on malice. As one of the original teacher-complainants against Dr. Enrique Avila, defendant in UP ADT Case No. 2011-01, I question Monsod’s honesty in accusing us and other UP officials [...]
My granddaughter, 10-year-old Julia, jolted me the other day with a remark on the state of Quezon City where she has lived all her life. As we entered the narrow street linking the Marikina side of Aurora Boulevard to Katipunan Avenue, she glanced at the ongoing “SM Blue Residences” construction spanning the entire left side [...]
THIS HAS reference to Michael L. Tan’s column “Dare to dream (2).” (Inquirer, 5/6/11) He’s one of the three good writers I admire most, the other two are Neal Cruz and Conrado de Quiros. Their columns are easy to understand for an ordinary reader like me. I believe Tan is a very loyal UP professor, [...]
