We Have A Country To Serve

Monday, 19 September 2011 07:03

Written by Dr. Edna E. A. Co

“On this day, we gather to declare that we shall not waver in our efforts to restore UP to its preeminent status in the world of higher education…We must succeed not because we have a reputation to keep but because we have a country to serve.”

So goes the concluding statement of the 20th University of the Philippines President Alfredo E. Pascual, during his investiture on 15th September 2011 at the University Theater.

Indeed. The University of the Philippines, besides being a premier university is also the national university. This means that the university is very much an integral part of Philippine society – not just as an educational institution but as an overall contributor to the progress and growth of this country. The UP has much to give as it harnesses its gene pool of human resources, talent, and creativity – in the diverse fields of the economy, management, education, leadership, business, sciences, technology and so on.

For such mission, the UP deserves support not only from its alumni and friends, but also and more especially from the national government. The university continues to muster support from the alumni who are in House of Representatives and from the Senate. Whilst this cooperation is expected of educational institution-alumni relations, our national leaders and policy makers should see the importance of strengthening a national university and its role and contributions to nation building. This means going beyond the university seal, loyalty, and affiliation. The loyalty to a single institution reminds me of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) sentiments and dynamics. However, as the premier national university, the UP goes beyond institutional competition. The UP is not just an institution; it symbolizes the country’s higher education nested in and imbued with a greater mission. It symbolizes the academe’s role to the building of this country and how the academe could help the country move ahead given the greater scheme of things and the bigger challenges of social justice and in the global order. Our leaders should be able to appreciate this premier university and tap the latter’s actual and potential roles and thereby rise to the national and global challenges to the Philippines.

UP President Pascual is not primarily known as an academic genius. But with a background in development finance and which tends to be truly applied, I now appreciate that there is someone at the helm of the university, who has the right heart and the right sense of where to steer the university to. Pascual knows how to put premium and emphasis on “development”, not just on finance.

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