Welcome to Peyups!

UPCAT was held last weekend.

75,000 aspiring high school students coming from all over the country took their once-in-a-lifetime chance to take the UPCAT exam (University of the Philippines College Admission Test).

It is the most competitive college entrance test in the Philippines. Out of this, only 10% will be admitted to the only national university in the country.

Honor and Academic Excellence


To those who will pass......make your nation proud.

Ladies Room, Madame Senator and Women

I am particularly awed by her brilliance and fiery eloquence.

She's simple and very accomodating but yes, to her enemies she's a force to reckon with. When she speaks, everybody listens. She's one of the very few politicians in the Philippines who possesses unquestionable integrity.

How's that for excellence?

During our celebration of International Women's Month last March 4, 2011, we invited Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago to open the Women's Month Celebration at UP Visayas with a talk about the Reproductive Health Bill and Women's Empowerment. This was in coordination with the Ugsad, the Regional Gender Resource Center and Western Visayas.

All pictures were taken last March 2011.

Always fiery and charismatic.She never fails to capture the audience with her witty lines and exceptional brilliance.

Visiting the UPV Gender and Development Building. (At the background is the unfinished building of UPV Cinema. Construction still ongoing.)

The university was picture perfect that day. Simply beautiful. (Took the shot just right across my morning class.)

All is set for the lecture, right Tita Lucy? Purple balloons and motif for the day. It's indeed Women's Month.

Prof. Jane (emcee) and Ms. Almera of UPV Alumni Office posed while everybody was going crazy with the senator ;-).

Tita Mabeth and Tita Lucy...Great job ladies! Let's toast to that!

That ever familiar facial expression...

The national theme for the month-long celebration was “Magna Carta of Women, the Philippine CEDAW: in support of the Millenium Development Goals" while the United Nation’s theme for Women’s Day was “Equal Access to education, training and science and technology: Pathway to decent works for women.”

Other activities that week include:

Self-Defense for Women...Learning Filipino Martial Arts....Hai!!!

Ladies Room

The U.P. in the Visayas Gender and Development Office was grateful to all those who supported the event. It was a huge success.

Madamo guid nga salamat Inday Miriam!!!

Academic Corruption 101

I am always proud to call myself a mentor.

I wanted to share and give my students the best services that I could offer. In everything you do, give it your best shot. Make your country proud as I always tell them. That is my mantra. I don’t want to shortchange my students by becoming a mediocre teacher. I want to give them the best.

In my mind, mediocre students are there because mediocre teachers exist.

Three days ago, I received a text from one of our former librarians asking me if I could help some students from a different university with regards to their thesis writing. I replied that if it’s within my specialization, I would be glad to extend my assistance to them.

I was not really ready to hear what they have to say when they told me their story.

They were a group of students who were supposed to graduate this semester. I learned that their thesis adviser filed for a leave and was supposed to go to U.S. The students were asked to comply with the requirements on or before the last week of June. Failure to comply means incurring a failing grade of 5.

I may belong to a different university but common sense tells me that any professor who files for a leave, the college or office she belongs to must provide someone to take charge of the responsibilities left behind by one of their faculty members. These responsibilities may include giving of removal exams or completion of INC (incomplete grades).

The students are already in the writing stage of their thesis so supposedly there’s no problem with the deadline. But here’s the catch. Since she’s leaving this first week of July, they were told by their adviser that each of them would just have to pay her 2, 500 pesos. There would be no defense and they can all have their passing grade. When asked what’s that amount for. She said it’s for her intellectual property rights.

Her intellectual property rights according to her include checking her student’s research papers, whether the statistical tools they’ve used is apt for their study, whether Mr. Subject agrees with Ms. Verb, and see if there are any corrections with the grammar. The professor said that as long as the data is there, she would be the statistician for their research as well as the proof reader, correct everything from grammar to statistical tools, revisions (with no defense, what’s there to revise anyway?)and everything. She’s a one-man team. All they have to do is to pay, pass their paper and everything is okay. No defense. No whatsoever.

Everybody happy.

If all this is true then I just don’t know what is left for the student to do. Her actions would have been “mistaken” as an act of a good Samaritan only that there’s money involved. For some students, it would be easy to just hand the needed amount and voila! Writing an undergraduate thesis is as easy as 1-2-3. Thing is, not everybody is as rich as Lucio Tan or Bill Gates. And even so, it's easy to just pay and make your life easier but in the end, you don't learn anything from it. It defeats the purpose of learning.

The professor also charged a different fee for the students to pay for her "intellectual property rights". She gathered materials for her class discussions and send it to the email add of her students. There was no bibliography attached or whatsoever.

Sometimes, I don’t know whether I’ll be mad or be amused with these things that take place in some of the academes in the country. I used to hear stories like these and I’ve never quite believed them. I know that it happens but to encounter one in real life is dishearteniing.

As mentors, teachers should be sources of inspiration and encouragement, not shame nor remorse.

I used to tell my students that teaching is such a noble profession but the government treats educators like second class citizens in this country. I always hear people telling me that I am so blessed because I teach at U.P. That I don't teach as an ordinary public school teacher.

But in the first place, what is wrong with being a public school teacher?

In seminars and teacher trainings that I've conducted, I've often heard public school teachers refer to themselves as "just teachers".

If they can't regard themselves with respect and dignity as educators, then how could other people see them as such?

They have to believe that regardless of the institution they teach for, whether it is the premier university in the country or an unknown barrio school somewhere in the rural area, thing is, you're an educator and as such you should be proud.

But what makes this particular scenario more ironic is the fact that the professor involved here is not an ordinary public school teacher (if there is such a thing called as ordinary teacher at all). She belongs to an institution of higher learning. She is well paid and I know the school where she graduates from is one of the best in the country, too.

Will it be wrong for me to think that all levels of educational system in this country is not safe from academic corruption?

I dont think there's a reason enough for an educator to take advantage of her student's vulnerability. If the government is corrupt, is it justifiable to just sit there and be swallowed by the system?

We educators are agents of change.

Other people may just shrug it off. But I will always find it scandalous for my students to do such a thing in my class. Of course, not everybody is as smart as our national hero Jose Rizal who earns a deluge of sobresaliente in his report card. But we can try our best, can’t we?

I just hope and pray that no student of mine cheats himself or herself the chance of gaining new knowledge and experience by letting other people do the work that they ought to do for themselves. I have learned and mastered the art of knowing to give credit where credit is due. But I have also learned how to deal with violators.

You call it tough love.

I will be there for them as long as they don't give up on themselves. You love them enough to teach them that sometimes the best things in life are learned the hard way. Even if it means they have to write their own research papers over and over again until they learn to do it like a pro.

It might be hard but it’s worth it.

Buhay U.P.....Tatak Pinoy

So what makes you a certified UP student?

You never did buy yourself a decent book. For a seasoned Iska, books aren’t meant to be bought. Believe me. You never buy them because you can find them in the library. If you were lucky enough, they only have one copy. So you go fight with the rest of your classmates and when things turned really NASTY, everybody settles to nominate the official person to oversee the photocopying of the materials. (Intelligent blokes aren’t we?)

You go to class wearing your night clothes. Sometimes a short and a T-shirt that says I’m a gorgeous babe. But you looked like a runner perspiring all over as you sprint your way across the gate in a frenzied hurry because the fact is, you have a long exam to catch. You wake up and you freeze as everything stands still when you find out you have ten minutes to go before your first long exam. To date, that professor of yours never did allow his students to be late. You didn’t stay up late that night only to end up not being able to take the exam. Moral lesson, buy yourself an alarm clock, loud enough to wake up the whole neighborhood.

You know the library like the back of your hand. Your talent goes beyond this one. Ask anybody to give you the book’s call number and you assure them that you MIGHT just find it for them, too. Such is your skill in what we often call as “book hunt”.

If the professor says it’s a reference book, you know he’s probably joking. What he means actually is, you should have them photocopied and read them before you get your awesome butt inside the class. Or maybe you might just find it interesting to undergo a bombastic lecture about the perils of an empty mind. And when he says read, he means read not just one book but a number of them. He’ll even be generous enough to recommend an endless list of readings for you to enhance your “beautiful mind.” You wouldn’t even dare to have forty winks at night or you end up having a nervous breakdown before you enter the class.

Coffee is an integral part of your body system. You start to think, maybe your blood have turned into cappuccino or what from all the “drinking sprees”. Downing SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS of caffeine night and day. Two sachets are not enough to suffice your discriminating taste, meaning you can’t stay awake with two cups. Morning comes, your eyes are very expressive. Droopy eyes. Dazed look. But heck, everybody’s sporting it!! Welcome to the jungle.

You meet a freshman and you want to give in to the urge to tell him…WELCOME TO HELL. (Grin) Nah! You know how it feels to be paralyzed with fear with all those talks of terror teachers lurking somewhere. So you choose to tell her, it’s going to be okay and you give the poor soul a conspiratorial wink while saying “If I were you I’ll have my library card signed as early as the first day of school.”

Being aware of your social responsibility is a way of life. You and your friends are suckers for current events. Everybody is expected to share their thoughts and opinions about issues in the society. Much to your chagrin,you forget that you have to write a term paper because you end up arguing with your friends about your stand on a certain issue.

You don’t check out the latest fashion at the magazine stand. That would come later if you have enough money left after having VOLUMES and CHAPTERS of books photocopied. By the time, you go out of the university to check out that cool backpack that you’ve been eyeing for sometime, you don’t even have a single coin left to buy yourself a chewing gum. So where is justice in that?

You feel intelligent. Of course, you have every reason to feel that way. After all you passed the UPCAT, right? You now belong to the country's premier university and so they say. But something inside you tells you that something is wrong with that idea. Remember the FIRST TIME that you've failed an exam? It hurts a lot I'm sure. But don't worry, if it's any comfort to know, many of us got their first heartache (on a failed exam) probably in this university. Cheer up, kiddo.

Do not judge a book by its cover. You couldn't agree more. That guy who looks like Barok fresh from the cave is actually a Math genius and a national champion in chess. You wouldn't dare compete with him. That shy girl beside you who aces her exams in history is actually a singing diva at a local pub. And of course, you don't give a damn whether he's the son/daughter of so and so. You know very well that no one is above the law in this institution.

Love life? Of course, you have one. They think just because you bury your nose in a pile of readings for PI 100 or STS, you're an ice maiden!! What they don't know is that, You are constantly checking out that cute guy in the front row with an adoring look fit for a king. Not until your professor calls out the result of the exams, you pass the exam but Mr. Cute scored zero. Suddenly you wanted to move on with your life without him. You turn to look at your professor instead, despite of his nerd look, the terrorist actually looks cool in his new pair of eyeglasses!

You have mastered the art of cooking pancit canton. Not that you can’t afford to buy yourself a decent meal but you know very well that “TIME IS GOLD.”

Enrollment gives you the chance to practice what your mom usually tells you….Patience is a virtue. You couldn’t agree more. And you begin to wonder whether UP stands for University of Pila.

Now, let me ease the topic in a different direction. After four years of being a student, your role changed into something more challenging. Now you have become a UP teacher.

So what makes a UP teacher?

You say, get one half piece of paper and students echo your instructions like parrots. One-half Maam? One-half Prof? One half Miss? Ano maam, one-half? Isn’t it that this university is supposedly the institution for the exceptionally talented and the brightest students in the country? Yes, class, one-half. And you eventually succumbed to the truth that they all have hearing defects despite being gifted.


You say good morning class among your freshmen students and they give you a
puzzled look. You tell yourself I should have worn something formal, like a killer slacks and a Victorian styled blouse. They expect to see a school marm but they end up seeing their reflection, jeans, t-shirt and a back pack. Next time, you know better than to shocked your students about not being “respectable” in their eyes.

Read the newspaper everyday. . It will save your hide during exams. Do not memorize rather understand what you are reading. Don’t just read. Think. Be creative in your presentations. I don’t like half bake papers. So give me your best shot. These are your favorite mantra. And pretty soon, your students get nosebleeds.

A deadline is a deadline otherwise you’re dead. And you hear that familiar groan across the room. But you stand firm. Somehow you feel the need to inculcate the value of discipline no matter what. No excuses. Come deadline and you try to wear the toughest look to prove to them that you mean business. Most of the time, it’s effective. They’re too afraid to cross you, knowing your favorite line is….. DO NOT PROVOKE THE ANIMAL INSTINCT IN ME. With a gentle smile, of course.

You begin to wonder whether it’s high time to have yourself a boyfriend for fear of ending up as the honorary member of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club. But nah, you tell yourself, real men want intelligent women. No need to hurry. You have to get your MA and your PhD first. But of course, you know that maybe you are asking too much.

You study your lessons well. Check your presentations and lectures. You never go into class unprepared. It’s your worst nightmare. You always remind yourself that these are not just ordinary students. Come to think of it, you might be talking to the future president of the country. A privilege of course. But at the moment, he surely knows that it’s a privilege and honor to attend your class.

Once in a while, you spot a genius, (everybody’s supposed to belong to the cream of the crop, right? I can see my students grinning like Cheshire cats.), the one who aces your exams effortlessly and delivers witty lines during recitations. You wonder, however, why you don’t see him lately. Somehow you find out that his scholarship allowance is delayed. No money. No food. He is forced to choose between feeding his mind and feeding his stomach.

You get yourself to reflect that despite of the modest salary that you received and despite repeated offers of very well-paying jobs, you stick to this institution simply because it gives you a certain pride to educate the scholars of the nation. And that it gives you a certain sense of serenity and happiness that you have inspired them. Inculcate the value of serving others. This you continue to do even if the logic of that reasoning is simply vague for your friends and family.

You are then reminded of the simple fact that the institution you work for is the University of the Masses, where poor but brilliant minds are given the chance to fulfill their dreams. Where promising minds forged their dreams of being and becoming and that you feel that you can make a difference in their lives.

Above all, somehow in the face of trying times, you never forget to tell them never to lose their faith to their own people. And that you fervently hope that someday, when the going gets tough, they will remember that, THE FILIPINO IS WORTH LIVING FOR.

Having said this, you go into sleep with that beautiful music that softly plays in your heart. What more could you ask for?