Roman also mentioned in her investiture speech that one of the UP Centennial projects will be the establishment of a UP presence in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig “to bring the professional colleges closer to their projected constituents.

“[Unfortunately], we could not find a building,” said Roman, adding that UP cannot afford to buy land in Fort Bonifacio.

According to the University of the Philippines Website, UP is negotiating with Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay to establish UP presence in Makati.

Roman also said they have asked Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to print the Oblation on 100-peso bills, which will come out in May.

“Bangko Sentral agreed to do everything for free,” Roman said.

Roman said the “uncut” version of the 100-peso bills – four bills together in a booklet – will be sold as collector’s item for 1000 pesos each booklet, 500 pesos of which will go to UP.

“If we sell 10,000 copies of that, we will get five million [from there]. That we will add up to our fund-raising,” Roman said.

Roman said the 100-peso bills will replace the commemorative stamps as part of the UP Centennial, mentioned in Roman’s investiture speech because the Postmaster General charged 500,000 pesos for the stamps. The plan to have commemorative stamps was then cancelled.

“[But] two months ago, sumulat ang Philippine Postal Corporation. Sabi nila ‘please reconsider. This time we will not charge you anymore. Gagawin na lang naming parang collector’s item,” Roman said. She added that 72,000 copies of stamps will be bought and placed in the museum.

Roman’s vision: UP in the next 100 years

The theme for the UP Centennial is “Excellence, Service and Leadership for the next 100 years.” How does UP President Roman envision UP for the next 100 years?

“We want to see a very distinguished Filipino university that is able to compete in a highly-globalized, highly complex and technologically-advanced world.

Roman said the top 50 universities in the world are “well-endowed financially.”

“In other words, given the budget that we are having, talagang mahirap tayo mag-compete. My own view, and some faculty members in UP share this with me, that despite the budget constraints, we are doing well,” Roman said.

Roman said she is hoping that the government will give high priority to education so “we can really advance the frontiers of knowledge, so that our people will benefit from it.”

In the field of science, Roman said research is hampered by financial constraints. “We need laboratories. We need library resources. We need the materials for research,” Roman said.

She added, “If we have all the facilities and a very enabling environment for us to discover and to innovate, the Philippines can become very, very competitive. And what we’d like is for UP to play a very critical role in making this country competitive in terms of the development of human resources, in terms of discovery, innovations, [and] inventions.”

But for the All-UP Academic Employees Union, UP’s Centennial cab also be celebrated through an alternative theme: Radikal na Sentenaryo.

Security preparations

Prior to the January 8 kick-off party, there has been a memo issued to all deans and unit heads to enjoin themselves in the celebration of the university’s centennial.

To take care of the campus security is the UP Diliman Police (UPDP), with the help of the Special Services Brigade (SSB) and the Supervisory Team of Private Security, both under the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Community Affairs.

Prior to the actual event were meetings and consultations among these groups to prepare for their respective assignments.

The SSB even decided to employ 28 guards on extra duty besides the 18 on regular duty, said Sgt. Narciso T. Domino, SSB Team Leader. The SSB guards secured the areas covered by the affair—from the University Avenue to the Academic Oval and Quezon Hall.

The UPDP, on the other hand, is assigned to attend to traffic supervision and control, as well as to ensure the orderly flow of vehicles in the alternate routes since the Oval was closed, said Maj. Bernie Baltazar, UPDP OIC.

They also deployed personnel in intersections and parking areas to look after the “bukas-kotse” and “basag-salamin” gangs in campus.

The celebration was generally peaceful, both units claimed. Only an incidence of loss of some personal belongings in the amphitheater was reported to the UPDP, which were apparently impossible to recover.

The SSB said they were able to tame down activist-visitors through a “verbal agreement,” arguing that the event is nothing but a celebration of the centennial.

Chancellor Sergio Cao, thru a “text [message]” to Vice Chancellor for Community Affairs Dr. Grace Gregorio, reportedly extended his greetings to the security units for “a job well-done.”

In UP Los Baños

The University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) is one with the whole UP community’s centennial celebration. As one of the constituent universities, UPLB’s celebration exhibits the three pillars of the UP Centennial Theme – “excellence, service and leadership for the next 100 years.”

But the Los Baños campus wants to give a unique blast to welcome the 100 years of the state university. So, they established their own theme but not separate from that of the whole UP community – UPLB’s “Distinctive Excellence.”

Dr. Emmanuel Abraham, Assistant to the Chancellor and Director of the Office of Alumni Relations, enunciated that UPLB highlights leadership, excellence and service in support to UP Centennial’s Theme. Having said that UPLB does not only settle for excellence, but strives for its distinctive excellence, Dr. Abraham uttered the definition of the Univeristy of the Philippines Los Baños’ Distinctive Excellence.

He said, “As one of the constituent units, we tried to give our own flavor also in the celebration. Distinctive excellence is what we do best in a niche that sets us apart from others. It is the collective expression of a culture of instruction, research and community service grounded on the principles of science and social responsibility. It is the standard of greatness that we established in the academic and research world that others look upon for guidance and inspiration.”

Dr. Abraham boasts of their theme as being very specific on their heritage where they look at the past linked up to what they can contribute in the future. He speaks of leaving a legacy priding their foundation on science and social responsibility.

The Los Baños campus has been able to express their excellence in the areas of agriculture, biotechnology and environment. These fields are distinct to them. Also, they try to highlight the culture and the arts especially of the Southern Tagalog Region.

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