Universitas June 2015 by University of Asia and the Pacific

UNIVERSITAS The Official Magazine of the University of Asia and the Pacific / June 2015

In Service

TO SOCIETY

Editor: Engracia Ruelos Managing Editor: Liza Marie Alvarado Adviser: Maria Mercedes Robles Contributors Martin Joseph Badoy Dr. Ma. Victoria Caparas Mary Gleefer Jalea Bienvenido Nito Philip Jay Pronstroller Dr. Veronica Ramirez Ambassador Jose Romero, Jr. Atty. Joaquin San Diego Ralph Daniel Santos Atty. Delia Tantuico Dr. Corazon Toralba Dr. Elizabeth Urgel Ivy Zuniga Photographers Carlo Cabrera Media Management Committee Design and Art Direction Indios Bravos Printing Apple Printers, Inc.

Contact us: Corporate Communications Office G/F, Administration and Library Building University of Asia and the Pacific Pearl Drive, Ortigas Center, Pasig City Telephone No.: 637-0912 local 301 Fax No.: 637-0912 local 342 Email: info@uap.asia www.uap.asia facebook.com/uap.asia twitter.com/uap.asia

Contents

J U N E

3 5 7 8 10 12 14 18 19 20 22 24 25 28 31 32 37 40 44

5 46

50 54 56 59 60

Let us seize this moment to rekindle our sense of mission.”

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Social Responsibility and Sustainability Four Projects and Counting An Ideal Intercessor for CSR Toward Promotion of Self-reliance and Mutual Help FAQs on Co-operatives Soaring to New Heights Promoting Integral Human Development among OFW Families Enriching workplaces, homes, and society UA&P accredited as family-responsible employer Pope Francis on Social Responsibility Where were you during the Pope’s visit? Valediction Inaugural Speech Q&A with the New Man at the University’s Helm When the Torch is Passed The 2014 Trailblazers A Liberal Education Approach to Economic Inequality and World Justice Philippine Press: Freest? Reflections on the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act Christian-Moslem Relations in Southeast Asia: Toward Peace and Harmony Capitalism and the Social Doctrine Sports and K-12 What the Beautiful Game Teaches Ambassadors Cup 2 bares mythical five; South Africa retains U11 title UA&P Solar Power System by the Numbers

Editorial UA&P: In Service to Society “Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel.” - Socrates Schools are not meant to just transfer knowledge. More important, it is expected to instill values: values that will foster social change and development. The world banks on them to produce graduates committed to taking action that will benefit and improve society and uphold each person’s fundamental rights. UA&P has been taking on this responsibility earnestly, initiating programs that, aside from shaping the minds and hearts of members of the community toward concern for the common good, generate knowledge with a social development component, strengthen communities in mind and body, unleash their potentials, and stimulate stability and progress. This issue of Universitas spotlights some of the University’s endeavors that contribute to the growth and betterment of society. Such outreach projects, which were spearheaded by both students and staff, testify to the keen desire of the UA&P community to rise to the challenge of focusing attention on those most in need. Also featured are ideas, thoughts, and observations, some from research work, that are aimed at responding to the complex problems of modern society. There are many ways by which we in UA&P can benefit society outside the University’s confines. By whatever means we do this, we will surely live the University Credo statement of committing ourselves to “the inculcation of sound and time-tested human and social values and attitudes in people, beginning with those we work and live with and reaching out especially to those in most need of help in society.”

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CSR

Social Responsibility and Sustainability PHILIP JAY M. PRONSTROLLER Operations Committee Secretary, Center for Social Responsibility

common belief about a corporation is that its primary duty is to generate profits for its shareholders. Unfortunately, the law failed to provide early on the parameters to limit the extent and means by which the profit motive can be pursued. As a result, practices that accelerate profit are put in place without considering the harm they may cause. For instance, there is the problem of massive pollution, leading to catastrophic ecological disasters and resulting in extreme weather conditions. There is the social hazard of corruption, spreading across different sectors of the government and society. Simply put, the profit motive of corporations has outweighed and is threatening the sustainability of future generations. Believing that there are equally effective ways of doing business without compromising the social and environmental needs of society, the UA&P Center for Social Responsibility (UA&PCSR) pushed for corporate sustainability and has since made its mark as a trailblazer in this field. The concept of corporate sustainability has provided institutions, normally corporations, with an avenue to carry on with its business of generating profits while putting in place systems that ensure that negative operational impacts are kept in check. Some corporations push the envelope, going beyond the minimum compliance in their practice of corporate sustainability and aiming for positive outcomes for stakeholders and communities.

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Independent sustainability advisory services The sustainability advisory services that CSR offers can be clustered into three areas: (1) sustainability reporting and disclosure, (2) sustainability planning and roadmapping, and (3) sustainability audit. Sustainability reporting is the process whereby an institution voluntarily discloses information about its operations and management processes. At management’s discretion, this report may be put through a sustainability audit, where the report is subjected to third-party assurers’ scrutiny and approval. For the institution, this step toward transparency and accountability typically garners trust among customers, employees, shareholders, and other key stakeholders. The sustainability report also provides the institution with hard facts about what it is doing right and what it could do better. Once areas for improvement have been identified, the institution may choose to address these through sustainability planning and roadmapping, a process of systematically addressing performance gaps through strategic goals and corresponding directions for key areas of operation.

Recent engagements UA&P-CSR caters to various industries and businesses. Some of the more prominent companies that the Center has worked with belong to the mining, oil, power, and finance industries. It has also partnered with NGOs and LGUs on several occasions. Last year, the Center worked with Petron Corporation, TeaM Energy, Landbank of the Philippines, and Zuellig Family Founda-

tion on the companies’ sustainability reporting endeavors. CSR provided technical assistance services such as workshops on the Global Reporting Initiative, stakeholder consultations, actual report writing, and the provision of external assurance. UA&P-CSR also assisted the San Roque Power Corporation (SRPC) in formulating its sustainability roadmap. Here, the Center guided SRPC in identifying a strategic yet practical plan that would enable it to embed sustainability in various areas of its business. The Center partnered with Energy Development Corporation for its “Project SUCCESS,” an initiative that aims to assess the company’s corporate sustainability initiatives for improved business management. Similarly, the Center was tapped by FEMSA Coca-Cola for the evaluation of its “Coordinates for Life Program in the Philippines,” a collaboration with FEMSA Coca-Cola Mexico, Coca-Cola Philippines, and Teach for the Philippines. UA&P-CSR’s services are not limited to local companies. Contributing to the University’s internationalization agenda, the Center provided technical assistance to AES-VCM Vietnam on GRI G4 sustainability reporting and conducted stakeholder consultations in Hanoi, Cam Pha, and Quang Ninh. In the pipeline for 2015 is a project with World Bank focusing on the livelihood support package for the Philippine Climate Change Adaptation Project (PhilCCAP) in select regions of the Philippines. The project aims to formulate a plan of action and to identify the best livelihood options and organizational arrangements for each of the PhilCCAP project sites.

Sustaining the thrust

Sustainability is commonly thought to be a mere catchphrase, easily abandoned when the marketing department comes up with a more interesting tagline. UA&PCSR is fully aware of this perception and understands that the challenge of sustainability is in the achievement of its essence—to hold up and endure. 4

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Sustainability is commonly thought to be a mere catchphrase, easily abandoned when the marketing department comes up with a more interesting tagline. UA&P-CSR is fully aware of this perception and understands that the challenge of sustainability is in the achievement of its essence—to hold up and endure. In hopes of a global business-society that favors sustainability in generations to come, the Center will remain committed to its thrust to be a beacon of social responsibility and a trailblazer for the most current tools, trends, and best practices on sustainability that all kinds of institutions can depend on.

SOCIAL INIT IAT IVE S

PROJECTS AND COUNTING â&#x20AC;&#x153;All of us, to the extent possible, need to get into contact with people who suffer, with the sick, the poor... the lonely, the abandoned.â&#x20AC;? These words of Blessed Alvaro del Portillo, the first Prelate of Opus Dei who was beatified last year, reveal the spirit of service to the poor that filled his life. His concern for the needy was evident in every turn, from his catechetical work with disadvantaged youth in Madrid in the 1930s down to the social and educational projects he promoted throughout the world.

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While Blessed Alvaro made his worldwide pastoral visits as the head of Opus Dei (1975â&#x20AC;&#x201C;1994), he encouraged the start of many social and educational initiatives. His solicitude for the poor and sick led him to urge forward and encourage others to take part in projects for the assistance of the needy, seeking to find a professional remedy for these human needs and many more.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;All of us, to the extent possible, need to get into contact with people who suffer, with the sick, the poor... the lonely, the abandoned.â&#x20AC;? In 1987, when he visited the Philippines, he made the following observation after coming from Cebu: My daughters and sons, I have seen enormous wealth and enormous poverty. He encouraged the faithful of Opus Dei and their colleagues to go into the country to put up more projects that will teach livelihood skills. They were then running technical training schools for those unable to afford a college education and were beginning a farm school in Batangas for high school-aged children of farmers. Upon his return to Rome, he sent an Italian delegation to Cebu to help set up a technical school similar to Centro ELIS, a successful social project in an outlying district of Rome. Four years later, in June 1991, the Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE) in Talamban in Cebu City opened its doors to 97 students. Recognized by the national government and industry as one of the leading technical

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schools in the Philippines, CITE provides training in technical skills and entrepreneurship, values formation, and social services to the less privileged youth, their families, the local community and the industrial sector of Visayas and Mindanao. It has graduated 3,000 industrial technicians since it opened in 1991. Other projects inspired by Blessed Alvaro in the Philippines include the Banilad Center for Professional Development for girls in Cebu, the Development Advocacy for Women Volunteerism, and the Family Cooperation Health Services Foundation. The Banilad Center for Professional Development (BCPD) offers young female high-school graduates who cannot afford to pursue higher studies the chance to enroll in a one- or two-year course in hotel and restaurant services under the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA). Started in 1992, BCPD began links in 1994 with establishments in the hotel industry for onthe-job training of its students. In 1997, it obtained a registration certificate by TESDA for the Dualized Training Program in Food and Beverage Services. Since then, BCPD has established linkage with more industry partners, equipped a larger number of women with various skills, and empowered them to start their own business or be gainfully employed in the industry. The Developmental Advocacy for Women Volunteerism (DAWV) is an educational program that began in 1989 to develop social awareness among people who have sufficient financial resources and to encourage them to help those in need in terms not only of material resources, but also of education and guidance. It works through volunteers (housewives, doctors, business women, community leaders, students) who give training on topics such as the roots of poverty, the principles of social justice and the social doctrine of the Church, and undertake various programs, including the program for the promotion

of volunteering and training program for rehabilitation. DAWV has given rise to foundations like the Alalay sa Pamilya at Bayan and cooperatives like the Palanan Multipurpose Cooperative. The Family Cooperation Health Services Foundation (Famcohsef) trains community volunteer health workers on primary health care to serve urban poor communities. It has developed a nine-month Primary Health Care Program that integrates knowledge with proper attitude and behavior. These workers are taught disease prevention, sanitation, nutrition, and taking of vital signs. Upon the request of the local government, Famcohsef teaches health workers to monitor elderly people in the area, remind pregnant women to have their pre-natal checkup, or contain a measles outbreak among children. The women also undergo personality development classes and are taught to imbibe professionalism, respect for life, self-reliance, love for learning, and a spirit of service. On September 25, 2014, two days before the beatification of Bishop Alvaro, an event in Madrid celebrated several of the projects inspired by Blessed Alvaro, including these four Philippine projects. Entitled “Alvaro del Portillo International Meeting, 40 initiatives against poverty,” it aimed to make known the birth, growth, and experiences of 40 educational and social projects that are still running throughout the five continents, keeping alive the spirit of its major promoter, Blessed Alvaro del Portillo.

An Ideal Intercessor for CSR Below are excerpts from the column written by UA&P co-founder Dr. Bernardo M. Villegas, which was published in Manila Bulletin on September 28, 2014.

Last Saturday, September 27, hundreds of thousands from all over the world witnessed the beatification in Madrid of Bishop Alvaro del Portillo, first successor of St. Josemaría Escriva (Founder of Opus Dei) and Prelate of this Catholic Institution for nineteen years. As I wrote in a previous article, I had the great fortune of meeting Blessed Alvaro numerous times over a period of thirty years. Among the heroic virtues that have brought him to the altar, I would like to comment about his preferential option for the poor. He was a saintly person carved out to the heart of Pope Francis whose concern for the poor and for the spirit of poverty could be the distinguishing mark of his papacy. In the first biography written about the new Blessed, Salvador Bernal wrote: “(Bishop Alvaro) never stopped urging people to practice the works of mercy, as had always been encouraged and done in Opus Dei, from the very beginning. ‘As much as possible,’ he wrote in 1981, ‘all of us have to make contact with those who are suffering, who are sick, who are destitute, who are alone, who have been forsaken by all.’ We find them, he said, ‘our richness, enabling us to work harder; our treasure, enabling us to fall more deeply in love with God and to grow stronger in our vocation; our strength, the strength of God, enabling us to conquer.” It was St. Josemaría who planted this virtue in the soul of Bishop Alvaro very early in his vocation as a Numerary in Opus Dei. Even before he joined the Work, the Founder of Opus Dei already asked him as a young civil engineering student to go to the most miserable and depressed districts of Madrid to minister to the needs of the poor and the sick. In one of these occasions, some hoodlums

antagonistic to Christianity almost cracked his skull, leaving him bloody. After he succeeded St. Josemaría as President General and then Prelate of Opus Dei, Blessed Alvaro was responsible for the establishment of the Prelature in twenty new countries. The majority of these countries were in the developing world to which he traveled extensively, including the Philippines. As Bernal also wrote: “The priestly heart of Bishop Alvaro—here, too, in full resonance with that of the founder of Opus Dei— was wrung by the terrible poverty of the Third World. Although he was, of course, very happy about the many projects begun and run by members of Opus Dei in those countries, he encouraged people to do much more to relieve at least the most serious needs. He was open to a wide range of solutions, from additional corporate works entrusted to Opus Dei to more individuals participating in nongovernmental organizations in the less developed countries.” As an economist very much involved in advising NGOs and business corporations in formulating their respective projects or programs for corporate social responsibility, I do not hesitate to recommend Blessed Alvaro as an intercessor for the successful accomplishment of their respective missions. During his life on earth, Blessed Alvaro was an accomplished civil engineer and the “Chief Financial Officer” who directly assisted St. Josemaría in the construction of major projects for the good of the apostolic activities of Opus Dei. We can find no other more fitting Patron Saint for Corporate Social Responsibility in modern times.

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SOCIAL ENTERPRISES

The Leo Parma-Asiapro Professorial Chair for Social Entrepreneurship Memorandum of Agreement signing ceremony held on August 15, 2012. Leo Parma (5th from right), founder of Asiapro, is an alumnus of the Strategic Business Economics Program of UA&P.

Toward Promotion of Self-reliance and Mutual Help BIENVENIDO NITO Faculty, School of Economics The University of Asia and the Pacific continues to be an advocate of co-operatives in instruction research and extension. UA&P once offered the Advanced Co-operatives Management Program where leaders of major co-operatives in the Philippines learned management tools and honed their leadership skills. Continuing co-operative education ensued through the series of training and workshops targeting not only leaders of co-operatives but also policy-makers in this sector to further understand the uniqueness and roles of co-operatives in social and economic development. University extension initiatives were pursued in partnership with advocacy co-ops through advisory work with small and micro co-operatives especially in implementing the rehabilitation projects in areas affected by typhoon Yolanda in Leyte and Samar. The research agenda of the University on co-operatives was further emboldened in August 2012 when AsiaPro Workersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Co-operative, through the initiative of UA&P alumnus Mr. Leo Parma, endowed the University with a Professorial Chair in Social Entrepreneurship. Dr. Bernardo M. Villegas holds this Professorial Chair. Its objective is to promote co-operatives as one of various social enterprises and their many advantages as the preferred business model that contributes to nation building and social

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The research agenda of the University on co-operatives was further emboldened in August 2012 when AsiaPro Workersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Co-operative, through the initiative of UA&P alumnus Mr. Leo Parma, endowed the University with a Professorial Chair in Social Entrepreneurship. Dr. Bernardo M. Villegas holds this Professorial Chair.

development. The greatest advantage of co-operatives is their understanding of the needs of the local community, being member-based organizations with strong linkages with the community and civil society. According to the International Alliance of Co-operatives (ICA), the Belgium-based apex organization of cooperatives worldwide, serving the needs of the co-operative community injects the desired spirit and sense of belonging among the members and inspires them to be competitive to survive and progress. It is also the aim of the Professorial Chair to align the Philippines’ co-operative sector with ICA’s developmental trajectories through the Blueprint 2020. The “2020 vision,” building on the achievements of the International Year of Co-operatives held in 2011, seeks to make the co-operative form of business (1) the acknowledged leader in economic, environmental, and social sustainability; (2) the model preferred by people; and (3) the fastest-growing form of enterprise by 2020. The Blueprint has five pillars, namely, participation, sustainability, co-op identity, capital mobilization, and legal framework. Participation refers to the quality of member participation in the areas of governance. Co-operatives are viewed as schools of democracy. Sustainability would include economic, social, environmental, and—a more recent dimension—ethical standards. Co-operative identity refers to how co-operatives worldwide live the co-operative enterprise’s philosophy, principles, practices, and values that are uniquely found in co-operatives, and hence differentiate them from other forms of businesses. Capital mobilization highlights the logic of capital build-up from the membership, and hence avoids the unnecessary financial risks attendant to volatile external sources; during the 2008 global crisis, co-operatives worldwide were the least affected because of its focus on membership. Legal framework refers to the institutionalized policies enshrined in the legislation of respective countries. The 1987 Philippine Constitution declared that co-operatives shall be a vehicle for socio-economic development, equity, and social justice. The Philippine Co-operative

Participants in the first Asia Pacific Co-operative Research Partnership Conference held in Bangkok on February 5-7, 2015. The author stands second from left in the front row.

Participants in the CRC Asia Pacific Co-operative Leaders' Forum held in Cagayan de Oro City on July 9-11, 2014.

Dr. Bernardo M. Villegas, holder of the Leo Parma-Asiapro Professorial Chair for Social Entrepreneurship, talks on the role of co-operatives in agricultural development and the implications of the ASEAN economic integration. U N I V ER SI TA S / Ju ne 2 015

The author facilitates the open forum during the 1st Social Entrepreneurship Conference held on December 6, 2014 in UA&P.

FAQs on Co-operatives 1

What is a co-operative?

A co-operative is an association of persons with a common bond of interest who jointly undertake a social and economic enterprise and share risks and benefits equitably from it.

2 What are the principles behind a co-operative? A co-operative is based on the social principles of self-reliance and mutual help, which operationalize the principles of subsidiarity and solidarity, respectively. It also adheres to the following universal principles observed by co-operatives worldwide: 1. Open and voluntary membership. 2. Democratic control. 3. Member economic participation. 4. Autonomy and independence. 5. Continuing education, training, and information. 6. Cooperation among co-operatives. 7. Concern for the community. (ICA Declaration, Manchester 1995.)

3 Who can join a co-operative? A person of legal age and a citizen of the country where the co-operative

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is may join a particular type of a co-operative where he or she may be qualified according to a defined field of membership of the said cooperative. For instance, if the field of membership is institutional, those working in the said institution may join the co-operative. In the case of UA and P Credit Co-operative (UCC), all full-time employees may join. If a co-operative is residential, it may accept for membership only those residing where the co-operative is established.

4 What are the advantages of joining a co-operative? A member of a co-operative is able to access complementary and supplementary services for productive and providential needs, respectively, that are otherwise unavailable or expensive. Complementary services from a credit co-operative are productive business loans for working capital and asset acquisition. Supplementary services are providential loans for education, medical, house repair, and even burial expenses.

Code of 2008, also known as RA 9520, has provided a framework for the vision of the framers of the 1987 Constitution. The Leo Parma-Asiapro Professorial Chair, funded by Asiaproâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Kagawani Foundation, enables the undertaking of research focusing on how economics and business can be instruments for attaining societal goals. It has organized a number of annual conferences and workshops on social entrepreneurship and workersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; co-operatives. On February 5 to 7, 2015, the Professorial Chair co-convened the First Asia Pacific Co-operative Research Partnership Conference held in Bangkok, Thailand. The research conference tackled the rationale, objectives, methodology, outputs, and outcomes of the proposed five-year research

5 How does a co-operative operate? A co-operative operates on the basis of approved articles of cooperation and by-laws registered with the Cooperative Development Authority. The articles of cooperation and by-laws have all the defined conditions and descriptions of nature and type of co-operative, purposes, membership, areas of operation, structures, officers, their roles and functions, qualifications, duties and responsibilities, terms of office, manner of voting, manner of amendments, etc. These represent the agreement between and among the members of the co-operative. For the UCC, the membership, which is the highest body in the co-operative, elects a five-member Board of Directors, a three-member Audit

A member of a co-operative is able to access complementary and supplementary services for productive and providential needs, respectively, that are otherwise unavailable or expensive.

agenda. This agenda was initiated as an attempt by academics and encouraged by ICA Research Committee to the Blueprint 2020 of ICA to highlight the decade of cooperatives worldwide. This was heralded by the United Nations when it declared 2012 as the International Year of Cooperatives. In a special audience on February 28, 2015, Pope Francis suggested that co-operatives should be in the forefront of creating new employment opportunities especially for the youth; lead in offering social welfare solutions particularly in the area of healthcare for the elderly; invent new ways of cooperation to address the needs of those in existential peripheries; promote work-life balance to allow mothers to develop their potentials both in the workplace and in family life; and

Committee, and a three-member Election Committee in an annual general assembly held every March or within ninety days after the Calendar Year. The Board of Directors, which is the policy and planning body, is responsible for the overall management of the co-operative and appoints the prescribed working committees and management staff to perform day-to-day operations to serve the needs of the members according to the purposes indicated in its article of cooperation.

6 Who makes the decisions in a co-operative? The decision making in a cooperative is based on the principle of democratic control, that is, â&#x20AC;&#x153;one man, one vote.â&#x20AC;? There is no proxy voting in the primary level. A member is allowed to own a maximum of 10% of the total subscribed capital. A member in good standing, that is, a member who is not delinquent, may vote and actively deliberate in the Annual General Assembly. The General Membership entrusts the management of the co-operative to the duly elected Board of Directors, which is certified by the Election Committee as members in good standing and qualified to serve,

invest well and collaborate with other cooperatives toward an honest and healing economy, which will ensure that families live with dignity and serenity. Truly, self-reliance and mutual help are

co-operative principles that operationalize the social principles of subsidiarity and solidarity, respectively. A co-operative organization is, in essence, a socioeconomic organization.

Co-operatives should be in the forefront of creating new employment opportunities especially for the youth; lead in offering social welfare solutions particularly in the area of healthcare for the elderly; invent new ways of cooperation to address the needs of those in existential peripheries; promote work-life balance to allow mothers to develop their potentials both in the workplace and in family life; and invest well and collaborate with other co-operatives towards an honest and healing economy which will ensure that families live with dignity and serenity.

and whose decisions are regularly reviewed by the elected members of the Audit Committee. The Board of Directors then appoints members of the working committees and management staff to act on day-to-day concerns of members. The Board of Directors is prohibited from getting involved in the day-to-day affairs of the co-operative.

7 Is there only one kind of co-operative? The Philippines has 20 types of co-operatives under RA 9520. The credit co-operative, like the UCC, is only one of them. Other types include consumer, producer, workers, service, marketing, transport, housing, electric, water service, co-op bank, co-op insurance, health service, agrarian reform, dairy, and fishery.

8 In the Philippines, is there a regulating body for co-operatives? The Philippine Co-operative Code of 2008, otherwise known as RA 9520, is the legal framework for the establishment and management of cooperatives. This law repealed RA 6938 of 1990. In the same year, RA 6939 was also passed, creating the Cooperative Development Authority, the agency

mandated to register and regulate the operations of co-operatives to become vehicles of social and economic development and instruments of social justice and equity as envisioned in the 1987 Constitution.

9 What type of co-operative does UA&P have? The UA and P Credit Co-operative is registered as a credit co-operative whose primary purpose is to promote thrift among members, to provide loans for productive and providential uses, foster wise use of money, and promote the social values of selfreliance and mutual help in UA&P as a way of contributing to nation building and the common good.

10 Who should I contact if I want to join the UA and P Co-operative? Please contact Dr. Gladys Golo, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of UCC, at local 282. UCC Board of Directors for 2015: Mrs. Lydia Yuson, Chairman Dr. Gladys Golo, Vice Chairman Mrs. Annie Mendoza, Member Atty. Delia Tantuico, Member Miss Jodie Ngo, Member Ex Officio Members as Advisers: Dr. Jose Maria Mariano Mr. Bienvenido Nito

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S T UDENT ORG ANIZ AT ION

SOARING TO NEW HEIGHTS MARY GLEEFER JALEA AB Humanities, Year IV

ociety today needs to look at itself from the perspective of facilitating positive changes. Projects that uplift the economic, moral, and intellectual state of individuals, communities, and sectors that are most in need must be mounted to bring about positive change in society. This has always been the goal of CATALYST—the leadership, advocacy, and outreach organization of the University of Asia and the Pacific. The organization has been providing free medical and dental services for the University’s auxiliary staff and their families for the past five years, with the aim of giving back to the people who render their service to the University every day. The annual medical mission held August last year, named “CAPWA: CATALYST Para sa Wastong Alaga,” served over 200 beneficiaries. “ Wala na akong hahanapin pa,” says University lady guard Teresa Saladino regarding the medical mission. “Nakakuha ako ng vitamins para sa akin at sa mga anak ko. Binabahagi ng CATALYST ang blessings nila sa magandang paraan.” (I could not ask for

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more. I was able to get vitamins for myself and for my children. CATALYST shares their blessings in a great way). CATALYST welcomed 2015 by organizing its first-ever blood drive, entitled "Straight from the Heart," held last February 21 in partnership with Philippine Red Cross of the Makati Branch. Sixty people from the UA&P community voluntarily participated, and about 40 were able to successfully give their blood donations, saving approximately PHP 200,000 from all the blood bags collected. “I’ve always wanted to experience what it’s like to donate blood. In fact, it’s included in my bucket list. Thanks to CATALYST of UA&P and the Philippine Red Cross, I was given the opportunity to do so. Truly, it was a rewarding and fulfilling experience, especially when you know that the 450 ml bag of your own blood may actually change and save another person’s life. It’s literally giving another part of yourself to another person,” says Francis Galeon, a fifth-year student of the Industrial Economics Program and CATALYST’s former executive vice president.

Collaborations On December 17, 2012, CATALYST achieved NGO status, which opened more doors for larger projects that target a wider group of people. Its work is no longer confined within UA&P. It can now push for collaborations with existing socio-civic groups in order to initiate an even larger impact on society. From holding LIVE (Leadership, Intellect and Values Education) seminars at different high schools across Metro Manila to teach the value of freedom, responsibility, and morality, CATALYST has already reached Cebu, Bohol, Guimaras, Davao, Tarlac, Pangasinan, and Iloilo and hopes to reach more places to spread the essence of being effective citizens and leaders in our society. Along with these conferences is the Real Love Revolution (RLR), a chastity and pro-life conference organized by the youth and for the youth and is considered as the biggest flagship project of CATALYST. Having partnered with UA&P's character education program I Keep Love Real—I AM STRONG, RLR has been taking place for almost three years, with speakers such as Jason and Crystalina Evert, Leah Darrow, and Chris Stefanick touching the lives of 31,000 people. The organization has also collaborated with Character Education Philippines (CEP), a private initiative, in holding seminars benefiting society through school reforms that focus on building character education and empowering teachers, students, schools, and community members. The recently held 19th SPC National Leadership Training Congress hosted by St. Paul College on April 6 to 9, 2015 is an example of this collaboration. CATALYST also held two youth conferences in 2014 as second and third installments of the I Change Series. The series aimed to highlight CATALYST’s core values: Advocacy (I Write for Change), Leadership (I Lead to Change), and Service (I Serve to Change). After the I Write for Change in 2012, the I Lead to Change Conference took place in UA&P on February 15, 2014, focusing on CATALYST leadership. Nine months after, the I Serve to Change Conference followed with about 280 participants from public and private high schools in Metro Manila listening to talks on building bridges in society through excellent service. Last September, the organization kicked off its Service Month by holding its first outreach fair in the University, benefiting over 80 children from Alay Pag-asa Christian Life Foundation and the municipality of San Mateo, Rizal. The project, entitled “A Handful of Dreams,” aimed to deliver one powerful theme: Dreaming big. The outreach fair was conducted in partnership with participating university organizations ViARE, LOGOS, POLIS, SeNS, SINE, FU, Er+go, I-SA Dance Crew, UA&P Chorale, Dulaang ROC, BEA, Pharos, YUP, and Sabio. “…What makes the outreach fair a very fulfilling project is that apart from making the beneficiaries feel loved, unitas among the organizations was also achieved,” says Bettina Torres, CATALYST’s Chief Finance Officer and Project Head for the event.

Awards and recognitions UNITAS Awards has recognized CATALYST’s exceptional work since 2012, with the Organization of the Year award for two

Making a change in society takes a lot of effort, hard work, and, indeed, passion for doing a task that seems to be overwhelming. At the end of the day, however, the most rewarding part is seeing the smile on people's faces. consecutive years alongside Real Love Revolution as Project of the Year. Last year, the municipality of San Mateo, Rizal honored the organization with two Gawad Parangal awards for its outstanding service to the youth of San Mateo. CATALYST was lauded for their project “A Handful of Dreams: CATALYST Outreach Fair 2014” while UA&P alumnus and CATALYST senior president Patrick Lim was awarded for his service and work with CATALYST. Yet, with all these achievements, CATALYST still tries to soar new heights together with many other young people accompanying and supporting the organization in the same journey. Making a change in society takes a lot of effort, hard work, and, indeed, passion for doing a task that seems to be overwhelming. At the end of the day, however, the most rewarding part is seeing the smile on people's faces. That alone could already define how the organization can spark change among the lives of others. Indeed, to be a CATALYST is not easy, but if you ask if it is worth it, I would say “Absolutely!” U N I V ER SI TA S / Ju ne 2 015

OFWs

Promoting Integral Human Development among OFW Families DR. VERONICA E. RAMIREZ Director for Operations, Center for Research and Communication

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verseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) have gained recognition for the major contribution of their remittances to the growth of the Philippine economy, which has reached USD 26.9 B in 2014. They have also increasingly become the subjects of several migration studies that determine the things that need to be done, so that more people benefit from the boon that overseas work has brought about. Veronica Esposo Ramirez, Ph.D., CRC Director for Operations, has conducted a number of such studies as holder of the BPI Professorial Chair for Migration and Overseas Filipino Work. Two research projects, aimed at guiding policy makers toward inclusive growth and integral human development, have been conducted in the first year of the Professorial Chair. The first one focuses on reintegration. The second, on the training needs of OFW families left behind, was done with the help of sociologist Dr. Nanette Dungo, who focused on their skills and competencies.

Pre-Departure Orientation Seminar in Region X Welfare Office.

Migrant Worker Reintegration as a Strategy toward Integral Human Development This study looks into how migrant worker reintegration can promote integral human development. It describes the condition of Filipino migrant workers who have returned home after temporary overseas employment, and examines the reintegration program's effectiveness, relevance, efficiency, and sustainability. It also presents policy implications of implementing livelihood programs that facilitate effective reintegration and promote integral human development. Reintegration means the OFWs are fully integrated socially and economically in their home community. More than individual effort, the process requires a collaborative effort among the migrant returnee and his/her family, the community, industry, and government. If reintegration is effective and sustainable, it can promote integral human development, eliminate the need for re-migration, and enable migrant returnees to participate in nation building. The study used primary data from the following sources: (1) the National Reintegration Center for OFWs (NRCO) Summary of OFW Beneficiaries of the Php 2 Billion Reintegration Program Loan Fund as of 22 May 2013; and (2) findings from the focus group discussions among migrant returnees who had benefited from the NRCO's Php 10K Livelihood Assistance under the Balik Pinay! Balik Hanapbuhay! Program. It also drew from published research, industry reports, and news. U N I V ER SI TA S / Ju ne 2 015

Work and reintegration outcomes of OFWs When Filipinos go abroad for Temporary Overseas Employment (TOE), they are exposed to possible risks as well as to different settings that require skills they did not previously have. Upon their return, the success of their reintegration depends on their savings, their entrepreneurial skills, and their ability to pool their resources with those of other OFWs. The participant migrant returnees had spent an average of two years in host countries such as Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Korea, Taiwan, Cyprus, Brunei, Kuwait, and Dubai. Part of their salary was used to pay the recruitment agency and the rest was sent to their family left behind. In some cases, they were not paid their salaries on time. They also suffered from the practice in Middle East employment of surrendering the passport (and at times even cellphone) to the employer upon arrival. This was a major problem for migrant workers who do not speak the employers' native language, especially when they wanted to communicate with their family left behind or, in case of problems, had to seek legal assistance. Across the regions, many were also victims of illegal recruitment despite the efforts of local government to expose the problems. They also experienced family problems and marital separations. Most of the distressed and displaced workers were domestic helpers, some of whom were undocumented. While a few workers who left for TOE were fortunate to have good employers and enjoyed benefits including travel and vacation, many women experienced physical abuse. Those who obtained a college education before working overseas had better chances of work placement and a more positive work experience. On the other hand, the successful OFWs had spent more time in the host country and developed the skills, competencies, and attitudes needed in the workplace—skills in language, human relations, use of technology, or machine operation—that they could use upon their return. However, because conditions at home were not the same, some who had worked in first-world cities had to go

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Overseas employment should be dealt with, not anymore as a “stopgap” measure to address economic crisis, unemployment, and foreign debt, but as “human work that serves man outside the country.”

back to their agriculture-based life in the countryside. To earn income, they sought assistance from friends, explored possibilities, or availed themselves of their benefits from the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA). They went through the process of choosing from the available livelihood training programs that local government units offer, in collaboration with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA). After undergoing skills training, migrant returnees were provided with NRCO's Php 10K Livelihood Assistance under the Balik Pinay! Balik Hanapbuhay! Program. However, in some cases, the cash assistance was channeled to other purposes and the new skills acquired were not put into use. Those who are successful already had a business to start with and used the cash assistance for its expansion. However, there are those who lost it due to natural calamity. One participant pointed out that because "there was no assistance given for marketing the finished products," her plastic flower products are stored at home. Many assistance beneficiaries put the money into small-scale business, the most popular of which is the sarisari store. Another sought-after training is that for massage, reflexology, and therapy; some have put up a parlor for these services, but many who lack capital provide “home service.” Rice

retail is also a preferred livelihood, but most of the time, the business lasted only while there was a supply of rice. Because the small profit goes to daily family expenses, nothing is left for the purchase of new supplies. Others have used the assistance to acquire public transportation and computer units. Hog fattening is a popular livelihood among beneficiaries in Ilocos. Those who form part of associations are more successful than individual recipients. They pool their resources and invest in businesses that bring regular income to the group, as in the case of the OFW Golden Friendship Association and the Makabalan Overseas Beneficiaries Association.

Promotion of integral human development If policy makers consider only the exceptional amounts of remittances received by OFWs, efforts to send them out would be greater. However, 86.5% of them are under TOE and will return home and reintegrate either immediately after contract work or after an extended stay. After 40 years of engaging in overseas employment, the country should begin to deal with it (and everything that comes with it) in a holistic way, in order to promote integral human development. The government has offered loans and livelihood options to migrant returnees. But these are often not enough to sustain life after overseas work. What needs to be done is for

Dr. Ramirez with migrant returnees from Ilocos Norte.

migrant returnees and their families to be “handled with care” through integral human development. Overseas employment should be dealt with, not anymore as a "stopgap" measure to address economic crisis, unemployment, and foreign debt, but as "human work that serves man outside the country." As such, the workers' integral human development should be a prime consideration, covering the individual's cultural, economic,political, social, and spiritual wholeness. A goal to pursue for government is to define and develop a strategy toward an effective national program of reintegration that will (a) not only address the needs of distressed and displaced migrant workers but also allow all migrant returnees to reintegrate into society and contribute to nation building; and (b) review the reintegration programs in light of integral human development, which should consider the broader aspects of human life, including "their hopes and aspirations, human dignity and social justice." As a guide to formulating a framework for a national program of reintegration, the following questions can be addressed: • How can the migrant worker be helped in planning for reintegration before TOE? • What supports or threatens people’s livelihoods, fair treatment, and human dignity? • What policies, institutions, and values support or constrain the ability of migrant returnees and families left behind to earn a living and to lead full and productive lives, with peace, dignity, and social justice? • How can reintegration programs be best conducted to improve post-overseas work outcomes in terms of the effectiveness, relevance, efficiency, and sustainability of the reintegration program?

The Skills, Competencies, and Training Needs of OFW Family Left Behind (FLB): Implications for Employment and Livelihood As of 2014, there were 2.56 million Filipino families with at least one member working abroad (Rappler.com). The study sought to find out what skills and competencies the family they left behind possess and what their training needs are. This information is a valuable input in drafting policy recommendations for the development and implementation of responsive employment and livelihood programs for the OFW families. Knowing the skills and competencies that the FLB have can help determine the training needed in preparation for the target employment. By working or having their own business, the FLB can sustain family income and not have to rely on the remittances from the migrant worker engaged in TOE. The OFWs will then have the option of coming home after the expiry of the contract to be reunited with their family and participate together in nation building. A survey questionnaire was crafted to determine the FLB's skills and

Through employment, selfemployment or entrepreneurship, families left behind can sustain their income and not rely on the remittances from the migrant worker engaged in temporary overseas employment.

Ramirez, Veronica (Ed.) 2014. Social Enterprise: Work that Uplifts Human Life. Pasig City: University of Asia and the Pacific

competencies, as well as the training they need to enhance these to obtain employment, enable self-employment, or engage in entrepreneurship. The relevant data gathered were analyzed and matched with the employment and product priorities of the Philippine government in the next five years, as stated in the DOLE JobsFit 2020. The study shows the work areas in which FLBs need training for skills development. For labor skills: care-giving, cooking, sewing, baking, catering, electrical skills, food processing, and household service. For hard skills: computer technology. For people and soft skills: livelihood, entrepreneurship, bartending, and English speech. For competencies: hotel and restaurant management, fashion design, and hospitaI service. The skills and competencies identified by the study can be considered by training providers such as DTI, TESDA, and local government units. The Public Employment Service Offices (PESO) present in every province can also match these skills and competencies with the dominant industries in each region.DOLE has identified 12 Key Employment Generators (KEGs) as well as the emerging industries and investment priorities that can provide jobs for the reintegrated labor force. Another possibility is tapping cooperatives and social enterprises for employment. There are Philippine worker cooperatives that successfully promote the socio-economic development of their members: Asiapro, Quezon Medical Group Hospitals and Health Services Cooperative, FOODLink Advocacy Cooperative, and Global Skills Providers Multi-Purpose Cooperative (Globalpro).* The skills and competencies, desired work, and training needs of FLBs can guide key stakeholders in government and industry in providing employment, self-employment, and entrepreneurship. For those who are already employed, programs can be designed to upgrade workers’ skills to meet new demands. In so doing, FLBs can be empowered to sustain family income, reduce dependency on OFW remittances, and guarantee their participation in nation building. U N I V ER SI TA S / Ju ne 2 015

WORK-LIFE BAL ANCE

Enriching workplaces, homes, and society DR. MA. VICTORIA Q. CAPARAS Faculty, School of Management

A self-professed feminist once scanned through a list of CEOs of big-time companies and grew indignant at the fact that none of the names she came across were female. I do not know whether the â&#x20AC;&#x153;problemâ&#x20AC;? in that anecdote ever was resolved, but it does make one think: why do so few women reach the top of the corporate ladder?

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rushing aside the usual reaction of putting the blame on a society that gives men all the advantages, Laura Perrins, co-editor of the UK online publication The Conservative Woman, writes an article on something she calls the “gender pay gap,” which perhaps gives the most logical explanation for it: I believe that the ‘gender pay gap’ is mostly down to female preferences for different work, and not either de jure or de facto discrimination against women on a systematic or industrial scale. Now you must be saying, what does this have to do with work-life balance? I bring this up because it begs the question: what makes women choose their career paths? The reasons are not difficult to deduce, as proven by one of the VPs of HR I have interviewed—a married man—who explained, "When you hire an excellent woman with a lot of potential, sooner or later this woman would want to get married and start a family. And when she has her family, you would observe changes in her—she would look for a balance. When you start talking to her about a promotion and bigger job, she would have doubts whether she wants it or she is happy with her current job."

It’s about balance Possibly the most comprehensive study created to see how balance influences women’s—or employees’—career decisions began in 1999, as a project headed by Professor Nuria Chinchilla of the IESE Business School’s International Center for Work and Family (IESE-ICWF). The study is called the IESE Family-Responsible Employer Index (IFREI). The IFREI looks at “leaders, culture, and policies of flexibility that foster the integration of work, family and personal life,” and is designed to measure Corporate Family Responsibility (CFR), which is an “internal, essential, and nuclear dimension of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).” (Las Heras, Chinchilla, Jimenez) The three—leaders, culture, and policies—are dimensions that determine a company’s CFR level, better visualized as workplace environments: Enriching, Favorable, Unfavorable, and Polluted in terms of how successful the work and life integration actually is for employees in the company. These environments determine the results—that is, whether or not employees are able to balance their work and family life, achieve good health, and be productive and generally be satisfied or happy.

Happy, sustainable How employees feel at the ground level is crucial to CFR. As an internal CSR, CFR deals with

the company’s responsibility to its people and to those connected to them. Sustainable development is sought through a construct that puts the person at the center, surrounded by the three places in which he contributes: the company, the family, and society. Why the emphasis on the individual? The IESEICWF’s basis for the IFREI study is that the person— an executive, a manager, an employee—is central to any effort pertaining to sustainability: neglecting him in the quest for social responsibility means creating just another project that people who work for the company have to carry out. Consider this hypothetical situation: a company gets into CSR and decides that it would like to help beautify a community located nearby. They get the employees to buy plants and paint the surrounding walls. The place turns out beautifully. But to get there, the employees had to give up their Saturday, plus spend after-work hours to plan it out. In the end, it seems they just did some form of overtime, which took them away from life outside the workplace. What CFR fosters is a work culture that sees a person’s many roles outside the office as valid and important. Family concerns, relationships, personal aspirations, and health form a significant part of that person, and, when they are neglected, his performance at the workplace suffers.

The company, the person, the home, the future Think about it: for every home with both parents working 8-5 (or longer), more and more children are growing up being raised by the television. There could be many reasons—mostly financial— why parents choose to keep to this lifestyle up to a certain time, but like the many female non-CEOs in the anecdote mentioned earlier, there does come a point when people rewrite their set of priorities and realize they are happier with a more flexible, if not as ambitious, type of work. The aim of the IFREI is to help companies identify whether or not their workplace environment empowers employees to enjoy such flexibility. Having successful integration of work life and family life offers benefits in two ways: as it helps employees regain command of their personal roles and personal goals, it helps companies retain talent, and, as an effect, expect better performance from every employee and, overall, achieve more productivity. It may be an internal CSR, but in the long term, it will make some external manifestations, making changes slowly, and creating a society in which happy families thrive.

UA&P accredited as familyresponsible employer In 2014, UA&P became the first organization in Asia to be granted the Corporate Family Responsibility (CFR) accreditation by the International Center for Work and Family (ICWF) of the IESE Business School (Instituto de Estudios Superiores de la Empresa). IESE Business School is the graduate business school of the University of Navarra (Spain) and is consistently ranked among the top 10 in the world. The CFR accreditation measures the commitment of a company to promoting leadership, culture, and reconciliation policies that facilitate the integration of the professional, family, and personal life of its employees. The ICWF studied the responses of UA&P employees and supervisors regarding the various policies and the types and levels of support given by the University to its employees’ work-family and work-life balance. According to the study, 68% of UA&P respondents consider UA&P’s environment as favorable for work-family reconciliation. In fact, in the world, UA&P has the smallest percentage (2%) of the employees who reported the environment as “systematically hindering work-family reconciliation.” The employee benefits and services most appreciated by the UA&P respondents include the support/opportunities given for employees to provide care for family members, professional counseling, seminars and workshops, and flexible vacation schedules. The CFR accreditation received by UA&P is a testament to the University’s dedication to fostering a culture that focuses on its people. The University had also led a local initiative to promote policies that support work-life balance in Filipino companies. As part of an international research team led by Dr. Nuria Chinchilla of IESE Business School, UA&P Associate Professor Dr. Ma. Victoria Caparas conducted a study of how well Philippine businesses support the integration of work and family life of their employees. The results were featured in a major daily, introducing to readers all over the Philippines the concept of Corporate Family Responsibility and its positive impact on people and businesses. U N I V ER SI TA S / Ju ne 2 015

Pope Francis on Social Responsibility 20

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I ask all of you, and all responsible for the good of society, to renew your commitment to social justice and the betterment of the poor, both here and in the Philippines as a whole.

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILIT Y

n a world that is steadily becoming interdependent, there is no question about the need for a sense of obligation toward the good of the other and ultimately toward the betterment of society. Individuals and organizations now recognize their responsibility to provide the basic necessities for the underprivileged and uphold the dignity and rights of all individuals. Many organizations have shouldered this social responsibility, integrating them in their programs and plans. The Catholic Church, in fulfillment of its mission, has instituted a social doctrine regarding the way of dealing with social issues. The different Popes have spoken out and explained this doctrine. Social responsibility has also been front and center of the papacy of Pope Francis. He has, in his audiences and actions, reiterated and thrown fresh light on the social teaching of the Church. Social justice and concern for the poor are the themes in many of his writings and speeches as well as activities. From his encyclical Evangelii Gaudium

Each individual Christian and every community is called to be an instrument of God for the liberation and promotion of the poor, and for enabling them to be fully a part of society. This demands that we be docile and attentive to the cry of the poor and to come to their aid. From his Message for the World Economic Forum, Davos, on January 17, 2014

The growth of equality demands something more than economic growth, even though it presupposes it. It demands first of all 'a transcendent vision of the person.' It also calls for decisions, mechanisms and processes directed to a better distribution of wealth, the creation of sources of employment and an integral promotion of the poor which goes beyond a simple welfare mentality.

From his address to representatives of the Confederation of Italian Cooperatives on February 28, 2015

Today globalizing solidarity…means thinking about the spiraling increase of unemployed people, of the unending tears of the poor, of the need to resume development that is both a true, integral progress of the person who certainly needs income, but not only income! Let us think of health needs, which traditional welfare systems no longer manage to satisfy; of the urgent need of solidarity, placing once again the dignity of the human being at the centre of the economy. Pope Francis also launched many concrete initiatives to reach out to the marginalized. In November, he ordered showers to be installed around the Vatican in St. Peter’s Square for the homeless to use. For his birthday, he received 400 sleeping bags with the seal of the Vatican sewed on; they were distributed to the homeless in Rome. Last January, a raffle was held for the Pope’s charitable works; the prizes consisted of gifts the Pope received, including a Fiat and several bikes. In March, the homeless was given a free tour of the Vatican, including the Sistine Chapel. And in May, more than 3,000 homeless and poor people were treated to a special classical music concert. The theme of the Pope’s visit to the Philippines in January is “Mercy and Compassion.” All his speeches and homilies in Manila and Tacloban have focused on serving the poor, on social justice and human dignity: I ask all of you, and all responsible for the good of society, to renew your commitment to social justice and the betterment of the poor, both here and in the Philippines as a whole. As many parts of the world continue to suffer from poverty and injustice, organizations and individuals need to be continually reminded of their duty to uplift the deplorable conditions of hundreds of millions of the poor. U N I V ER SI TA S / Ju ne 2 015

When the head of almost 1.2 billion Catholics worldwide came to the Philippines early this year primarily to visit the victims of super typhoon Yolanda, the Filipino people welcomed him with the warmth that only this nation can offer. Pope Francis conquered the hearts of Catholics and non-Catholics alike, drawing close to six million attendees in his last mass in Rizal Park. Everywhere he went or his popemobile passed, multitudes waited, rain or shine, to catch a glimpse of the 266th pope of the Catholic Church. This prompted us to ask:

Where were you during the Pope’s visit? Pope’s Arrival January 15, 2015 Ericka Joy Rufino (HRM Staff) My friends and I waited at the corner of Roxas Boulevard and Quirino Road for the arrival of the Pope. We were part of the human barricade of the San Vicente De Paul Parish (Adamson Parish). The camaraderie formed among all volunteers was really instantaneous, and everyone was in high spirits despite the long wait and the heat of the sun. It was unforgettable not only because of the surreal experience of seeing the genial face of the Pope in person but also because of the enthusiasm and oneness I saw in the crowds from all walks of life. Engr. Paulino Lazarte (AFM Managing Director) It was so memorable and inspiring. Just to hear that his plane had already touched down at the NAIA made us teary-eyed. My wife and I waited for the Pope at the center Island of Quirino & Taft a Avenue under the LRT Quirino Station. We struck conversations with the people who were also looking forward to the Pope's arrival with as much excitement as we had. Although it was quite tiring to be standing for a long time, we patiently waited for him. When the popemobile passed by, everyone shouted with joy and waved to his Holiness. We were ecstatic when he faced our direction and waved back to us. Viena Vanesa Reyes (SMN Staff) I was in my parents’ house as I had just given birth four months prior to the Pope’s visit. I just watched him on TV, but I felt so blessed. It gave me goose bumps. I cannot forget how well-behaved the Filipinos were during that time.

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Holy Mass at Manila Cathedral January 16, 2015 Liza Sira (MS Pol Eco, Year IV) I was part of the Manila Cathedral choir during Pope Francis’ visit. When we saw the Pope (on the LCD screen installed at the loft) leaving Malacañang and heading for the cathedral, we all stood up and prepared, but we could never have prepared for it. The first

song in the repertoire was “Ikaw ay Pedro,” to be sung once the Pope enters. We did sing it, but mostly we were restraining our tears. Who would not? We were in the same building as the Pope, and he can hear us, maybe not individually, but as a group of people who wished that our music would help him pray.

EVENTS

Meeting with Families at Mall of Asia Arena, Pasay City January 16, 2015

Holy Mass at Rizal Park, Manila January 18, 2015

Cherie Mae Andreo (SMN Staff) I was in MOA, supposed to be part of the human barricade, when I saw the Pope. It was a dream come true. I got tearyeyed but felt so overjoyed and so blessed to see him. We waited for almost six hours under the sun, but it was all worth it. I felt the love of the Holy Father for all Filipinos. I was amazed by the grace that seemed to overflow from Him. My companions and I were moved by his presence and his examples of humility and simplicity.

Chela Karaan (MSIE, Year V) During the Mass in Luneta, my friends and I were near the carabao statue along Roxas Blvd., right in front of a big screen. On that screen, we saw the tears in the corners of Pope Francis' eyes when Cardinal Tagle told him that we Filipinos will be with him, praying for him, praying with him, and going to the peripheries with him. When I saw the tears in the Pope's eyes, I couldn't hold my own tears, and I found myself crying with those beside me, friends and strangers alike, under the pouring rain.

Lydia Yuson (FMR Managing Director) We were in front of SM MOA sidewalk (Bayview). I was the group leader of one of the human barricade groups organized by the Alliance for Families. When Pope Francis finally passed by our area, we had to look for a place to stand on because our view was blocked by the cameras and iPads of people taking pictures/ video of the Pope. I will never forget how the people cheered for the Pope as he passed by.

Some colleagues’ relatives from the US came here to join our group just to see the Pope and were very thankful that they had a good glimpse of Pope Francis. Fr. Antonio Elizer Bermejo (Chaplain) I was inside the MOA Arena. My sister and I accompanied our parents, who were seated on wheelchairs on the first row right in front of the stage. I will not forget how the Holy Father spent some 45 seconds talking with us. I told him that it was the 60th wedding anniversary of my parents. He told them that it is a beautiful testimony of 60 years of marriage. We asked Pope Francis to bless us and the family pictures, which he did. He was all smiles and completely available. I was also deeply moved by the presence of so many cheerful little children singing and dancing as we waited for the Pope. It was a heartwarming and uplifting experience that injected hope. While in Italy and Europe, I had grown accustomed to not seeing many little children.

Josette Quintos (MSIE, Year V) After around 16+ hours of waiting on an empty stomach and without proper rain gear, just being able to be in the presence of Pope Francis and seeing him from where I was—that is, behind the ground security—was more than enough for me to feel God's love for us Filipinos and vice versa. Being blessed in my native country by the personification of Christ revitalized my spiritual life and made me feel that He is just there, ready to welcome and accept me anywhere and anytime. Mary Grace Agner (SEC Faculty) I was in Quirino Grandstand, fangirling with my sister and friends. We were wet from head to toe. We were in the venue from 4:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., but we considered ourselves lucky that we were there. I will never forget that rare opportunity to see the Pope so close to me. It was only the metal barrier that separated us.

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Escrivá, the real founder of UA&P and its parent institution CRC. From him we learned the transcendent value of ordinary work, the significance of performing small hidden duties extraordinarily well, love for those in greater need in society, the duty of governance to serve the freedom of individuals, and the abiding joy of engaging the formation of the whole person. From his teachings, and those of our Grand Chancellor, St Josemaría’s second successor, we derived the inspiration that sustained us all these years to keep faith with the Christian identity of our institution and its mission. We are also grateful to the founders of CRC, Dr. Bernardo Villegas and Dr. Jesus Estanislao, together with the other men and women who faithfully carried out the mandate to bring the inspiration of St Josemaría “to the Philippines and to the rest of Asia.”

During my term as President, you showed real love for the University, which is the one sure support for any university presidency.

Valediction

Jose Maria Arsenio G. Mariano, Ph.D. 3rd President of UA&P Fr. Carlos Estrada, Vice Grand Chancellor of UA&P Dr. Placido Mapa and members of the UA&P Board of Trustees Dr. Jesus Estanislao, Founding President of UA&P Members of the UA&P Management Committee President-Designate Dr. Winston Conrad Padojinog Your Excellencies, members of the Diplomatic Corps Official representatives of the Philippine Government University Presidents and Officials of Higher Education Institutions School Deans and Executive Directors Faculty and Staff of the University Students and Parents Benefactors and Friends of the University Distinguished Guests Today our University arrives at another pivotal moment in its history—the handing of the torch from the third university president to the fourth. As the torch is passed, it lights up the terrain we traveled over. And by this light, we see all the graces we received these past fifteen years for which we are truly grateful. We are grateful for the abiding intercession of St Josemaría

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To our founding president, Dr. Estanislao, we owe a special tribute for inscribing that universality of vision into the very name of our University. We are grateful to our personal and corporate friends, as well as our partners in government, private business, and civil society, and most especially the parents who entrusted to us the personal and professional education of their children. You nurtured a continuing confidence in us despite our relative youth, and spurred us on to strive continuously to overcome our imperfections. Above all, we give tribute to those who themselves lived the dayto-day life of UA&P — our faculty and staff, our university officials, and also those who cleaned our corridors, prepared our meals, and maintained our facilities, and, of course, our students and alumni. In your daily work and study, you operationalized the indispensables of our corporate spirit: you sustained our hallmarks of research and communication, people development, and values formation; you kept alive our liberal education orientation integrated with a professional specialization; you lived the many dimensions of unitas. During my term as President, you showed real love for the University, which is the one sure support for any university presidency. To all of you, our deepest gratitude. Many other things comprised the last fifteen years—trends and statistics, advances and retreats, competitive advantages, and strategic challenges. But at this close to fifty totally exciting and engrossing years of setting up a university, it is the fundamentals of the foundational spirit that today bring to mind the first book of the Aeneid, of Publius Virgilius Maro, where we read: Forsan et haec olim meminisse juvabit! Then, one day, we will recall these things with delight! Thank you.

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Inaugural Speech

Winston Conrad B. Padojinog, DBA 4th President of UA&P Fr. Carlos Estrada, Vice Grand Chancellor of UA&P Dr. Placido Mapa, Chairman of the Board of Trustees Dr. Jose Maria Mariano & Dr. Jesus Estanislao, past presidents of UA&P Members of the Board of Trustees The Management Committee Benefactors and supporters of the University Official representatives of the Philippine Government Your Excellencies, members of the Diplomatic Corps Presidents and officials of higher education institutions Deans, faculty, and the academic community The administrative staff Students and alumni, parents Primrose, my wife, and Regina, our daughter My parents, Atty. Arthur and Prof. Lorenza Padojinog Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen Good morning! After 15 years, the University has a new president. The burden of the presidency has been passed on to me—and even if it is heavy and daunting, I have embraced it, out of a deep and abiding love for everything that UA&P stands for.

But I know I am not the only one in this hall with mixed feelings about today’s turnover ceremonies. You need not say it; I can sense that many of you feel the same way. On the one hand, we are understandably anxious, especially about the future, and about how prepared we are to face the challenges that are coming our way. On the other, we are excited, because we also see a lot of great new possibilities for the University. As the newly installed president, I feel an inner tension arising from what I consider a twofold obligation on my part: to ensure the continuity of our best institutional traditions and practices and, at the same time, to challenge the status quo and lead the process of bringing about much-needed change in the organization. I thus invite you to step back together with me and see clearly that while continuity is essential for keeping our institutional identity, change becomes imperative when organizational health, if not survival, is at stake. And when the desire for change is driven by a strong sense of mission and by a pressing need to make positive things happen, we would be foolish not to welcome such change and work hard to bring it about. So, I stand here before you, admittedly with mixed feelings and inner tension, but also with great trust in the good will of everyone in the organization, as well as in our common commitment to the ideals and principles that have guided our institution since it was founded 48 years ago. Now let me go to the questions that are probably uppermost in your minds. What are the challenges that we face, and what are we going to do about them? To answer the first question, it is clear that our challenges are both external and internal. Next school year, we will start feeling the impact of the K to 12 program and see its effects: on our student intake, on our curriculum, on our faculty, and on our bottom line. All other higher education institutions are “stepping up” and thus competition will only grow more intense. Soon the competition with older, larger, better established universities not only here in the Philippines but also in Southeast Asia will become even tougher. And we all know that we also face internal challenges. In the past few months, I have done my best to talk to as many members of the UA&P community as possible, to get a better idea of what your concerns are, what anxieties take away your peace, and, equally important, what dreams you have for our beloved University. I have tried to listen well, and I would like you to know that I have heard you. Going to the second question, what exactly are we going to do about it? I offer you not a plan, but a challenge. For some time U N I V ER SI TA S / Ju ne 2 015

The next few years will not be easy for us. To successfully hurdle the difficulties and obstacles that we will face, we will each have to give our best. And in facing these difficulties and obstacles, our mindset should be that of turning them into opportunities and occasions for us individually and for UA&P as an institution to grow and become better at what we are doing.

now, we have allowed circumstances to define who we are. We are anxious, we are dispirited, and we may have even lost our enthusiasm because we are uncertain about what the future holds. Well then, let me challenge you. If the future is not clear for us, then let us create one that is! Let us stop dissipating our energies by worrying, and start using them to begin creating our future instead! To begin creating this future, I would like to suggest something counter-intuitive: that we look to the past and learn the lessons we need to be successful in the years to come.

ike some of you, I have had the privilege of listening to and learning from the stories of the founders of our institution, many of whom are still with us. They started CRC in 1967 and soon moved into a house along Jorge Bocobo Street in Malate, whose rent they could barely afford. They had very limited resources, no experience, and no track record to speak of. But they had a clear focus, they had a keen spirit of enterprise and innovation, and they were driven by a strong sense of mission. Instead of waiting for ideal circumstances to come their way, they worked to transform the environment around them. They wanted to transform all levels of society by mobilizing like-minded individuals to focus on transmitting to the business community and policy makers good business economics and a strong Christian outlook, doing and sharing the results of research on issues very relevant to the needs of firms, industries, and the social milieu, and helping build and rebuild institutions. By and large, they succeeded, producing graduates who are now in positions—

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in government, in various industries—to influence their institutions and society for the good. We are the heirs to this legacy. And it is no small accomplishment of ours that, despite everything else, we have kept alive the innovative spirit of our founders. From CRC’s original pioneering courses in industrial economics and economics education, we have continued to blaze a trail—in values education, in the humanities and liberal education, entrepreneurial management, in integrated marketing communications, in political economy, in human capital development, in general management, and in our sustainability programs. Indeed, one of our best traditions as an institution is that of being an academic innovator. The next few years will not be easy for us. To successfully hurdle the difficulties and obstacles that we will face, we will each have to give our best. And in facing these difficulties and obstacles, our mindset should be that of turning them into opportunities and occasions for us individually and for UA&P as an institution to grow and become better at what we are doing. Yes, I am confident that we have what it takes to continue offering innovative, high-quality academic programs in well-selected fields, delivered with personalized attention to our students and following the best traditions of liberal education. We have what it takes to produce graduates who are liberally educated professionals and who will live and spread the Christian spirit in the family, in the workplace and in society. Let me give just a few illustrative examples of the positive things that I would like us to make happen in our University: When we conducted a midterm review of our current eight-year plan, we agreed that our overall strategy is to build up and invest in strengthening a distinctive UA&P brand through institutional and product-service differentiation. So, in pursuit of this strategy, I would like to see the different academic units review their current degree programs to make sure these programs are truly high-quality, distinct, and innovative. I also would like to see the different academic units work together on strongly multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary academic, research, and extension projects with a high economic and social impact, while enriching the curricular content of our degree programs and the teaching practice of our faculty. I would like to see our frontline and support service units deliver the kind of help and service that makes every student, applicant, seminar participant, and even their fellow workers feel that this is the place where they can do their best work because they can count on us to do it. So, we have our work cut out for us. If our overall strategy is to build up and strengthen the UA&P brand, then I would encourage every one of us, as well as every school, unit, department, section, and program in the University, to ask ourselves these key questions every day:

This thing that I am doing now—how does it make my school, unit, department, section, or program better? How does it contribute to making UA&P a better school, a better workplace, a better institution? How else can I add value to what my school, unit, department, section, or program is doing? How can I help the people in my school, unit, department, section, or program work together to build up and strengthen the UA&P brand?

o drive home this most important point, I would like to share with you a story. During the graduation rites on June 6, a faculty member introduced me to a new graduate of UA&P. He had just finished a five-year master’s course and had been a scholar since his freshman year. I found out that he graduated from a public high school and finished seventh in his batch of 1,700 students. He is the third of six children; his mother is a housewife and his father a taxi driver, and all eight of them live together in a makeshift house of about 20—yes, “two” “zero”—square meters. I think you can imagine how grateful he is for his education in UA&P. Now he is confident that he can put food regularly on his family’s table and make sure that his two youngest siblings finish their education. He said he is especially grateful to the Accounting Office for releasing his stipend regularly, to the CSA Guidance Desk and his mentor for helping him through his most difficult moments, and to the Library staff for their kindness and help when he was writing his thesis. I am telling you this because I want to remind everyone that the work we do matters to many people. Indeed, to each and every person who comes our way. Not all our students have stories as dramatic as this one, but we can all contribute to making them better persons with admirable virtues. And we do this by always giving our best, by always being ready to help, or at least to encourage those with whom we come into contact in the course of our work. I wish—and I am sure all of you do, too—that every person

who comes to the University, whether to work, to study, to attend a meeting, conference, or seminar, or simply to inquire or just to deliver a package, immediately understands that here we do our best, as our Credo states, to live “sound and time-tested human and social values,” as well as to show “mutual respect, openness, understanding, and friendship, without discrimination of any kind.” Let us seize this moment to rekindle our sense of mission. It is this unique mission that distinguishes our University from other institutions and that gives meaning and impetus to who we are and what we do in UA&P. Through the quality of the service that we render to the people around us—fellow UA&P employees, students, parents, visitors, seminar participants, industry partners—we should be able to form “individuals who are professionally competent, creative and enterprising, zealous for the common good, and capable of making free and morally upright choices, and who can thus act as positive agents of change in service to society.” We can do all of this, if we are willing to work together. I invite everyone to join me, as we work to create this future. When we recite the University Credo and sing the University Hymn later in the program, let us mean every word and do so as a community ready to serve, and imbued with a sense of mission. Let me end by urging everyone to reflect on some words of the holy priest who inspired our founders to establish this University. These words of St Josemaría Escrivá best capture the spirit with which we should all do our work in UA&P:

We must give what we receive, we must teach what we learn. Very simply, without any kind of conceit, we must help others to share in the knowledge of God’s love. As you go about your work, doing your job in society, each of you can and should turn your occupation into a real service. Your work should be done well, mindful of others’ needs, taking advantage of all advances in technology and culture. Such work fulfills a very important function and is useful to the whole of humanity, if it is motivated by generosity, not selfishness, and directed to the welfare of all, not our own advantage, if it is filled with the Christian sense of life. Thank you.

I wish—and I am sure all of you do, too—that every person who comes to the University, whether to work, to study, to attend a meeting, conference, or seminar, or simply to inquire or just to deliver a package, immediately understands that here we do our best, as our Credo states, to live “sound and time-tested human and social values,” as well as to show “mutual respect, openness, understanding, and friendship, without discrimination of any kind.” U N I V ER SI TA S / Ju ne 2 015

SPECIAL FE AT URE

Q&A WITH THE NEW MAN AT THE UNIVERSITY’S HELM On February 4, the Board of Trustees of the University of Asia and the Pacific Foundation, Inc. (UA&PFI) announced to the UA&P community the appointment of Dr. Winston Conrad B. Padojinog as fourth president of the University effective June 2015. Dr. Padojinog has served the University for the past 15 years. He was in the Operations Committees of the School of Economics and the Faculty of Sciences and Technology before joining the School of Management in 2009, which he headed for four years. He is key to the development and continuous innovation of the course design and curriculum of the country’s first Advanced Management Program, nurturing its contribution to the development of a full-blown, degree-granting, global management executive program. He obtained his Doctor in Business Administration degree from De La Salle University in 2009 and his Master of Science in Industrial Economics degree from the Center for Research and Communication (CRC) in 1991. He attended the International Faculty Program and Advanced Management Program of the IESE Business School in Barcelona, Spain on 2009, 2010, 2013, and 2014. We asked some members of the UA&P community what questions they would like to direct to the newly installed President. Below are his answers to the questions we received. 1. What led you to agree to become president? Lya Ambagan, MScM, Year IV It was not easy to agree the first time I was asked to be the next UA&P President. However, when I looked back and reflected on how much CRC, and now UA&P, has helped me become what I am now—at least professionally—I felt a deep sense of gratitude. The institution has helped me in countless ways—from awarding me generous scholarships to obtain my master’s degree in industrial economics way back in 1991 and my doctoral degree in business administration in 2009 and other postdoctoral studies and development programs

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in the Philippines and abroad, to exposing me at an early stage of my professional career to top-level research and business consulting engagements with senior business executives, to providing the series of formation activities that I continue to receive to this day. I could not think of any other better way to give back than to accept the assignment and to serve the institution as its fourth president. 2. What is your vision for the University? How do you intend to attain it? Rachel Belandres, Faculty, SEC UA&P—through instruction, research, and people development activities—should

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help persons within UA&P and those who get in contact with it either as students, seminar participants, visitors, alumni, and benefactors to become agents of positive influence in society, such as, among others, providing Christian solutions to real-world problems, being in the forefront of debates and dialogues on relevant societal issues, and helping build and strengthen institutions that directly benefit society, especially the poorer sectors. This vision for UA&P extends not only to the Philippines but also, as our University’s name suggests, to other nations in Asia and the Pacific, like Indonesia, Vietnam, and China. How? Let me try to summarize my answer. To achieve this dream, we need to have four things: a sense of mission, focus, alignment of activities, and innovation. We are a small institution but we have a sense of mission built on our Christian identity and the goal of helping society progress. To magnify our impact, we should focus our efforts on sectors where we have the expertise and are already known, particularly in the fields of business, economics, management, entrepreneurship, and executive education. Then we align all our activities to add new value, rather than mimic what other larger institutions are doing, by offering our unique brand of multidisciplinary instruction, extension, and research services as well as establishing new capabilities, such as strong alumni support, graduate placements, and continuing education. To do these, we should allow, encourage, and support programs and units to innovate in the delivery of such services. These aspirations are not new and therefore not difficult to pursue. They are part of our DNA as an institution. The founders and pioneers of our institution began and developed our institution along these pursuits. We need to go back to our roots to bring our institution to the next level.

4. What is your priority on your first 100 days in office? Benilda Salazar, Staff, FMR

3. What is your management style? Joseph Delano, Staff, DEV

6. What do you have in mind for the 50th anniversary of UA&P? Leah May Tacuel, Staff, EO

I always work toward moving everyone to pursue a goal and to craft and implement strategies by winning their commitment and then supporting them to achieve it. I derive deep satisfaction and motivation from seeing my colleagues and friends gain progress in their life, such as obtaining a promotion or a raise, buying their first car or housing unit, giving a treat to their parents, sending their children to school, finishing a higher degree, or even going abroad for a much-needed vacation or educational tour.

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We need to augment our existing efforts heavily focused on drawing top high-school graduates into our University. I will work toward two goals. First, we need to empower the academic units and allow them to reposition our offerings to “K-12 proof initiatives,” such as executive education, graduate degree programs for working professionals, and highly specialized programs on, for instance, leadership, accounting, integrated marketing, analytics, and human capital development. Second, in order to improve internal productivity and stakeholder services, we should install systems such as faculty and administrative personnel evaluation and career path programs, the manualization of our operations and processes and policies, and the support of all these with a strong IT system. Installing systems is crucial because we should be able to provide a strong foundation to expand efficiently and effectively to other areas, such as Makati, Davao, and, God willing, even Jakarta and Vietnam within the next two years. 5. What are your plans for the K-12? Drew Ticzon, MA Hum, Year IV We should complement our existing marketing campaign by repositioning our programs on fields that are K-12 neutral and in which we possess core competencies and strong reputation. In other words, we should make K-12 issues completely irrelevant and instead allow it to work in our favor. We may even explore possibilities of helping other universities in their K-12 programs, lending them our expertise in the fields of management, entrepreneurship, integrated marketing, and economics.

I dream of our inaugurating the University’s 50th anniversary with a new facility for graduate and executive programs outside Ortigas. 7. There used to be an influx of IT students into UA&P. How can UA&P bring back the appeal of its IT program? Jus Puntay, BSIT, Year IV Before we even consider enhancing the

marketing communication efforts for IT and other UA&P programs, we need to enhance the value proposition of our programs by forging a strong industry-academe partnership so that our students undergo an up-to-date and industry-relevant curriculum, get exposed early on to the industry, and secure their jobs even before they graduate. 8. How can we increase our partnerships or tie-ups with companies? Ana Louisa Abrau, Staff, Chaplaincy We should revolve our research efforts and extension activities around relevant business and industry issues, whether you are involved in the business or non-business programs of the University. From there, we organize roundtable discussions, offer liberal-education-based executive programs, and even advocacy efforts—all worthwhile initiatives that will allow companies to value partnering with us. This is nothing new. This is how CRC began—by developing its services around the business community, which responded in turn by becoming one of our most important benefactors. 9. Are you interested in the performing arts? What is its place in the school's future? Joanna Castro, Instructor/Alumna, CDE '08 I am interested in the performing arts. It is the reason why I encourage my daughter to take her ballet and piano lessons seriously. The performing arts should be part of the liberal education component of all our business and other programs. It is in our mission that we need to bring back the human soul into business, management, economics, and entrepreneurship programs so that we bring businesses closer to society and help them not only to become successful but also to resolve the social issues facing them. 10. Managing groups of people is not that easy. How do you de-stress? Dr. Veronica Quilinguin, Faculty, SSE I feel privileged that our institutional culture allows me to “escape” during breaks in the office hours to go to one of the quiet corners in the oratory, or talk to friends and colleagues and enjoy their company. After office hours, I drop everything related to work and enjoy the company of my family. On weekends, I look forward to a competitive game of tennis, hoping I can finally defeat my tennis instructors.

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Past president Dr. Jose Maria Mariano hands over the University mace to Dr. Padojinog. To the left is Chairman of the UA&PFI Board of Trustees Dr. Placido Mapa, who read the appointment of the new president.

WHEN THE TORCH IS PASSED The Opening Rites of the University for School Year 20152016 was markedly different from the 15 other occasions it was held. In this year’s rites, the turnover ceremonies for the presidency occurred, installing the 4th president of UA&P since the awarding of university status to the Center for Research and Communication in 1995. Dr. Winston Conrad Padojinog succeeded Dr. Jose Maria Mariano, who took on the presidency after Mr. Mario Camacho, the second in line after the founding president Dr. Jesus Estanislao. The ceremonies involved the reading of the appointment of the new president and the passing on of the university symbols, which include a ring, a band, and a mace. The University Ring, as in any ring of top governance but especially in the university context, is the symbol of the authority of a person at the governance helm (e.g., papal ring). In medieval universities, the official seal of the university’s escutcheon or heraldry in the president’s ring is pressed on molten wax poured on diplomas,

certifying, together with the president’s signature, to whatever the diploma states. In modern times, the seal has been changed to dry seal, pressed on a circular gold or red sticker at the bottom middle or corner of the diploma. The president’s ring, however, remains as a symbol of his authority as person at the helm (pre-sede). In UA&P, the president’s gold ring holds the heraldry of the University, which has the following elements: • The galleon ship indicative of the linkage between Europe and the Americas via the Philippines in Spanish times (when we were governed by the king of Spain through his viceroy based in Mexico); • The Stella Orientis, an appellation of Our Lady, the patroness of the University, because the sun (wisdom) rises in the orient, shedding light on the dark night of ignorance; • The triple sea waves, representing the three hallmarks of values formation, people development, and research and communication.

• The red and gold, the predominant colors of Asia • Universitas Asiae et Pacificarum, literally, University of Asia and countries in the Pacific ream (including the United States, Canada, some countries of South America, Australia and New Zealand). These are the regions included in our six-course APS studies. • The slogan Unitas, the catchword for our liberal education orientation, Christian outlook, and the three hallmarks. The University Mace, as in the mace of governance, is the symbol of the authority of the institution itself when it exercises formal functions of governance. The mace during the session of congress shows the official heraldry of the state; the mace during graduation rites shows

the official heraldry of the university. The university mace shows on the four sides of the “globe” the heraldries of the University and the three hallmarks, crowned in gold by the two rallying points of the University, liberal education orientation and Christian outlook, in unitas with the three hallmarks and everything else that is in the University: the curriculum, the co-curriculum, and the hidden curriculum. The University Band or necklace is donned on the neck of the president whenever he wears the academic gown to publicly showcase his authority as magister magistrorum (teacher of teachers or headmaster) in official functions. The centerpiece of the necklace is the heraldry of the University. Its chain shows the heraldries of the University’s three hallmarks.

Newly installed UA&P President Dr. Winston Conrad Padojinog dons the University necklace. Visibly seen on the middle finger of his left hand is the University ring.

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AWARDS

THE 2014 TRAILBLAZERS

The University recognized the loyalty and dedicated service of 28 employees in a ceremony on December 19, 2014. The Recognition of the Trailblazers (RTB) Ceremony during the University Christmas Celebration carried the theme "Serving, the UA&P Way.â&#x20AC;?

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Renato Batis

Jovi Dacanay

Dr. Roberto De Vera

Antonio Garcia

Dr. George Manzano

Dr. Jose Maria Arsenio Mariano

PLATINUM

25 years Lenie Parales

Estrellita Tan U N I V ER SI TA S / Ju ne 2 015

Ma. Theresa Benitez

GOLD

20 years 34

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Dr. Fe Gladys Golo

Colin Hubo

Nonna Parrilla

Adoracion Relos

Marie Annette Dacul

Jennifer Delfino

Ditas Macabasco

Dr. Winston Conrad Padojinog

Joel Pira

Florence Sevilla

SILVER

15 years Vivencio Talegon, Jr. U N I V ER SI TA S / Ju ne 2 015

Dr. Monica Ang

Rowena Ara単a

Zoila Pilola

Victor Primo

Philip Jay Pronstroller

Joseph Duke Real

Dr. Noemi Torre

Stella Marie Urbiztondo

BRONZE

10 years 36

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SOCIAL JUSTICE

A Liberal Education Approach to Economic Inequality and World Justice DR. CORAZON TORALBA Faculty, Department of Philosophy

Dr. Corazon Toralba presented her paper on “Economic Inequality and World Justice: Liberal Education” at the World Cultural Development Forum at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota, USA on July 18, 2014. Using St. Thomas Aquinas’ notion of justice and with the Philippines as a case, the paper points out that economic solutions to economic problems are not enough. It emphasizes the need for liberal education in solving the unwelcome effects of economic inequality. Below are excerpts from her paper. You may reach the author at corazon.toralba@uap.asia. Economic inequality is usually defined by economists as the difference in the measurement of wealth across households. It is a relative comparison of the gap in household incomes across a given region, country or the world.1 Reviewing the causes (of economic inequality) and the proposed and adopted solutions with the accomplishment reports both on the global and local scene, one would note that the adopted solutions contributing greatly

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to reducing income inequality are those investments, specifically in education and health programs, that benefited directly the marginalized sector, while those that hinder the success of the program refer to policy defects and corruption. The person is at the center and root of development as has been argued elsewhere.2 Persons are both the benefactors and beneficiaries of development. They, simultaneously, are the ones who solve the problem or are part of the problem, provide or are part of the solution, and are being challenged to be different or make a difference in one’s life or that of another. However, the lens through which people look at a problem or propose a solution is the understanding of what a person is and how that person should be dealt with.

The person is a complex reality, a being both spiritual and material, whose mode of being in the material world is that of reflective relational co-existence.3 The person lives with other beings whose existence he/she affects.4 Living with others demands living harmoniously with them and anticipating their needs and probable course of action in relation to a single or collective concern whether or not he/she is responsible for answering or providing that need. Economic justice or equality may be elusive because of the differing existential conditions among individuals; there may be no equal one-on-one correspondence of economic benefits. Persons differ in using their talents and relating to others as well as in meeting the challenges of their particular milieu. Inequality is part of life, but one cannot allow the perpetuation of enormous inequality that deprives the majority of the means needed for survival while the fortunate minority live in the lap of luxury. One might argue that what the affluent members of society enjoy are legitimate fruits of one’s work. Such is a legitimate claim.

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Justice, then, must be coupled with charity, as proclaimed by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. Justice without charity is philanthropy, whereas charity without justice falls short of addressing the needs of the other. “Charity goes beyond justice, because to love is to give, to offer what is ‘mine’ to the other; but it never lacks justice, which prompts us to give the other what is ‘his,’ what is due to him by reason of his being or his acting. I cannot ‘give’ what is mine to the other without first giving him what pertains to him in justice. If we love others with charity, then first of all we are just toward them. Not only is justice not extraneous to charity, not only is it not an alternative or parallel path to charity: justice is inseparable from charity.”5 Moreover, technical expertise is not enough to solve the challenges that economic inequality brings. “True development does not consist primarily in ‘doing.’ The key to development is a mind capable of thinking in technological terms and grasping the fully human meaning of human activities, within the context of the holistic meaning of the individual's being.”6 As Alasdair McIntyre notes, the major disorders of the 20th century and the first decade of the 21st were results of the actions of distinguished graduates of distinguished schools who have forgotten Newman’s idea of an educated mind because the universities where they come from have overspecialized, forgetting the unity of knowledge, unity of understanding, and academic division of labor.7 A holistic approach to development demands a mind that is capable of integrating the various disciplines involved and the hierarchy that reigns among these disciplines. The type of education that trains the mind of the person toward that end is liberal education. Liberal education is an approach to learning that empowers individuals and prepares them to deal with complexity, diversity, and change. It provides students with a broad knowledge of the wider world (for instance, science, culture, and society) as well as an indepth study of a specific area of interest. A liberal education helps students develop a sense of social responsibility as well as strong and transferable intellectual and practical skills, such as communication, analytical and problem-solving skills, and a demonstrated ability to apply knowledge and skills in real-world settings.8 Liberal education is a philosophy of education characterized by challenging encounters with important issues, and more a way of studying than a specific content, liberal education can occur at all types of colleges and universities. By drawing on a broad range of knowledge, it asks students to grapple with

complicated, important issues, and usually expects them to learn at least one subject in greater depth and at an advanced level. Graduates with this kind of liberal education will have gained high-level abilities, transferable from discipline to discipline and from one environment to another. By knowing the lessons of the past, possessing the ability to hear others in their own languages, and demonstrating an impressive toolbox of skills, graduates will look toward the future, prepared for whatever arises. They will be flexible employees, as fields not yet imagined emerge.9 Liberal education differs from the liberal arts in that the former is an approach to college learning, while the latter originally referred to the education proper of a free man that includes the trivium (grammar, logic, and rhetoric) and the quadrivium (arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music). It is a skills-based education that challenges and forms the intellect not to be content with a simplistic approach to problems but to wrestle with the complexities that one encounters in the real world. “The liberal arts are dedicated to the individual—to the education of the whole person (intellectually, socially, morally, emotionally, physically [and spiritually at church-affiliated liberal arts institutions]), with studies undertaken across the range of human experience. Students learn about the past and possibilities for the future, become involved in self-discovery, and understand the importance of being a caring, effective, and responsible citizen.”10 Since this type of education looks at the person in his totality and not simply as a number, a consumer, or a function, then profes-

sionals who have received a good dose of liberal education are, in principle, more apt to study the complexities involved in developmental efforts. Faced with the challenges of the effects of economic inequality, the graduates of liberal education are not simply focused on the problem at hand but looks at the past, projects the solution to the future, and are committed to help others to help themselves. They will not be content with quick-fix solutions but will dedicate time to reflecting on the problem and coming up with an integrative evaluation to the solutions proposed and implemented because the ultimate aim of liberal education is for the educated person armed with knowledge and virtue to improve the world. Economic inequality is not the result of chance but of the purposive actions of persons with strongly motivated interests who may or may not have foreseen the unintended consequences of intended actions. The critical thinking skills honed by liberal education encourage persons to refine their capacity for analytic thinking; ask difficult questions and formulate responses; evaluate, interpret, and synthesize evidence; make clear, wellreasoned arguments; and develop their intellectual agility.11 Above all, the reflective modes by which persons examine their life and actions leading to self-knowledge is what makes them better persons who acknowledge that with their freedom to pursue a certain mode of conduct comes a sense of responsibility for facing the consequences of those actions. To be an educated person involves “learning how to be a human being capable of something more. It means learning how to be a human being capable of love and imagination.”12 Unfortunately, this type of education has been eclipsed by the trend to specialize or be more responsive to the demands of the industry.13 Idealism has given way to pragmatic concerns. Nevertheless, we need liberal education to liberate us from being immersed in the humdrum of everyday existence. There is a need to go back to the transcendent dimension of education, that is, to step out of the narrow confines of what works here and now rather than being concerned about the morrow. Thus, solutions to challenges that economic inequality brings with it must not be limited to measurable and tangible criteria but must take into account the creativity in man when he tries to lift himself up from the banality of quick-fix solutions.

“Why does income inequality exist?” http://tifwe.org/resources/income-inequality/ part-one/ accessed May 19, 2104. 2 Corazon T. Toralba, “The Person at the Center of Development,” Selected papers on Caritas in Veritate The Philippine Experience (Manila: University of Asia and the Pacific) 2010, 3-19. 3 The notion of person that is used in this essay is Karol Wojtyla’s. He defined the person as “an objective entity, which as a definite subject has the closest contact with the whole (external) world and is most intimately involved with it precisely because of its inwardness, its interior life.” - Karol Wojtyla, Love and Responsibility (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1993), 23. 4 In this essay, the concept of others is limited to fellow human beings. 5 Benedict XVI, Encyclical Letter Caritas in Veritate, 6 http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/ benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20090629_caritas-in-veritate_ en.html accessed May 30, 2014. 6 Benedict XVI, Caritas in Veritate, 70. 7 Alasdair McIntyre, “The Very Idea of University: Aristotle, Newman and Us”, British

Journal of Educational Studies, DOI number: 10.1111/j.1467-8527.2009.00443.x Vol. 57, No. 4 , December 2009, pp 347–362. 8 http://www.aacu.org/leap/what_is_liberal_education.cfm. 9 http://www.greaterexpectations.org/report/3b.html accessed May 26, 2014. 10 Galan M Janeksela, “The Value of a Liberal Arts Education,” Academic Exchange Quarterly Winter 2012 Volume 16, Issue 4 http://rapidintellect.com/AEQweb/5192NEW. pdf accessed May 30, 2014. 11 Rebecca Chopp, “Against the Grain: Liberal Arts in the 21st Century,” http://www. swarthmore.edu/presidents-office/against-the-grain—liberal-arts-in-the-21st-century. xml accessed May 30, 2014. 12 Martha Naussbaum, “Cultivating Humanity,” http://catotheyounger.org/academics/ courses/PSC103/classes/readings/0011_Nussbaum/0011_Nussbaum_cultivating.pdf accessed May 30, 2104. 13 David Corson, “The Eclipse of Liberal Education in the Twenty First Century?” Educational Review, Vol. 52, No. 2, 2000, 111-123.

Nevertheless, we need liberal education to liberate us from being immersed in the humdrum of everyday existence. There is a need to go back to the transcendent dimension of education, that is, to step out of the narrow confines of what works here and now rather than to be concerned about the morrow.

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PHILIPPINE PRESS:

FREEST? On July 18, 2014, Atty. Delia Tantuico, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, presented her paper “New York Times vs. Sullivan: How Relevant Is It in the Philippine Setting?” at the three-day Association for Asian Studies (AAS in Asia) Conference 2014 held at the National University of Singapore. She was part of a panel on Defaming Public Figures in Asia: A Half Century of the Impact of New York Times v. Sullivan. The other members of the panel were from Korea, Singapore, and China. The United States Supreme Court ruling on the 1964 case of New York Times Company versus Sullivan (376 U.S., 254) established the actual malice standard, where the offended party in a defamation or a libel case has to prove that the publisher in question knew that the statement was false or that it had acted with utter disregard for truth. The court ruled for the paper. The ruling was seen as a support to freedom of the press. Atty. Tantuico, in her paper, presented the instances in the Philippines where this U.S. landmark case was quoted, providing a backdrop for the readers’ review of the freedom of speech in this country and our laws on libel, privileged communication, and the like. Though there have been many developments on freedom of the press since New York vs. Sullivan, the need for us to be reminded that freedom of speech is not absolute remains. The following are highlights of Atty. Tantuico’s paper. You may reach her at delia.tantuico@uap.asia.

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The Philippine press has been described as the freest in Asia. Freedom of speech, of the press, and of expression are enshrined in the present Philippine Constitution of 1987. When the United States of America took control of the Philippines as a result of the Treaty of Paris between Spain and the United States, the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, commonly known as the Bill of Rights, was transplanted to the Philippines through American President McKinley’s Instruction to the Second Philippine Commission of April 7, 1900. The guaranty of free speech was continued all throughout the American rule. In the landmark case U.S. v. Bustos on seditious libel in 1918, then Justice George Malcolm stated: “The interest of society and the maintenance of good government demand a full discussion of public affairs. Complete liberty to comment on the conduct of public officers is a scalpel in the case of free speech. Of course, criticism does not authorize defamation. Nevertheless, as the individual is less than the state, so must expected criticism be born(e) for the common good…. Public opinion should be the constant source of liberty and democracy.” Several legal principles on free speech/seditious libel were established in the above case of U.S. v. Bustos in 1918 which are still applicable, namely: 1. A full discussion of public affairs is necessary in the interest of society and the maintenance of good government; 2. Complete liberty to comment on the conduct of public officers is a scalpel in the case of free speech. 3. Criticism does not authorize defamation. 4. Criticism must be borne for the common good. 5. Public opinion should be the constant source of liberty and democracy.

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As early as 1918, therefore, the Philippine courts had already recognized the right of the citizens to comment on the conduct of public officers as an exercise of free speech. The law had also provided for one of the limits of criticism, which is defamation.

Freedom of Speech in the Philippine Constitution of 1987 The pertinent provision in the Philippine Constitution of 1987 that guarantees free speech is Article III Section 4, which provides: “No law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech, of expression, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and petition the government for redress of grievances.” While it would seem from the words of the constitutional provision that the freedom of speech is absolute, limitations to the freedom are accepted because we all believe that no freedom is absolute. In the case of Gonzales v. Comelec (G.R. L-27833 April 18, 1969), which involved election materials that were distributed prior to the elections, the Philippine Supreme Court stated: “From the language of the constitutional provision, it would appear that the right is not susceptible of any limitation. No law may be passed abridging the freedom of speech and of the press. The realities of life in a complex society preclude however a literal interpretation. Freedom of expression is not an absolute. It would be too much to insist that at all times and under all circumstances it should remain unfettered and unrestrained. There are other social values that press for recognition.”

Philippine Law on Libel or Defamation Libel is one of the limitations to freedom of speech, of the press, and of

expression. In the Philippines, libel is a criminal act punishable under Article 353 of the Revised Penal Code. Libel is any attack against honor; thus, libel falls under crimes against honor. Prior to the Revised Penal Code, attacks against honor were penalized under the provision of the Spanish Penal Code on calumny and insults. The provision penalizing libel includes all kinds of attacks against honor and reputation (People v. del Rosario, 86 Phil. 163 [1950]). Seditious libel, however, is punished under Art. 142 of the Revised Penal Code or crimes against national security. In the case of Lopez v. Court of Appeals (34 SCRA 116 [1970]), the Philippine Supreme Court, citing Hale’s Law of the Press (3rd Edition 1948), indicated the reason for making libel a crime when it stated: “On the one hand, libeling a person results in depriving him of his good reputation. Since reputation is a thing of value, truly rather to be chosen than great riches, an impairment of it is a personal wrong. To redress this personal wrong, money damages are awarded to the wronged person. On the other hand, the publication of defamatory statements tends strongly to induce breach of peace by the person defamed, and hence is of peculiar moment to the state as to the guardian of public peace. Viewed from this angle, libel is a crime and as such subjects the offender to a fine or imprisonment.”

Elements of Libel The elements of libel under the Philippine Revised Penal Code (Article 353) are: 1. There must be an imputation of a crime, or of a vice or defect, real or imaginary, or any act, omission, condition, status or circumstance; 2. The imputation must be made publicly; 3. The imputation must be malicious; 4. It must be directed at a

natural or juridical person, or one who is dead; 5. It must tend to cause dishonor, discredit, or contempt of the person defamed. If malice is absent, there is no crime of libel or seditious libel for that matter. It may be said that the requirement of malice is a safeguard for the exercise of freedom of speech and of the press. While there is a presumption of malice in every defamatory statement as indicated in the elements of libel previously indicated, the presumption of malice disappears upon proof of good and justifiable motive. The guarantees of freedom of speech and of the press allow criticism of public officials and public figures when done in the interest of the public good.

Privileged Communication Philippine law recognizes certain communications as privileged. Privileged communications destroy the presumed malice in law in non-privileged defamatory statements. There are two kinds of privileged communications: the absolute and the qualified conditional.

Absolute Privileged Communication An absolutely privileged communication is not actionable. Thus, when a Congressman or a Senator delivers a speech on the floor of Congress, he cannot be questioned regarding such a statement outside of Congress (Section 15, Article VI of the Philippine Constitution). Qualified Conditional Privileged Communication Article 354 of the Revised Penal Code provides: “Requirement for publicity – Every defamatory imputation is presumed to be malicious, even if it be true, if no good intention and justifiable motive for making it is shown, except in the following cases: 1. A private communication made by any person to another in the performance of any legal, moral or social duty; and

2. A fair and true report, made in good faith, without any comments or remarks, of any judicial, legislative or other official proceedings which are not of confidential nature, or of any statement, report or speech delivered in said proceedings or of any other act performed by public officers in the exercise of their functions.” The privileged character of a defamatory statement in a qualified privileged communication simply does away with the presumption of malice, which the plaintiff has to prove in such a case. The fact that defamatory matter is privileged is a matter of defense.

Limitations to the freedom are accepted because we all believe that no freedom is absolute. The case of Borjal vs. Court of Appeals (301 SCRA 21 [1999]) is the Philippine landmark case of libel against a public official. Borjal was one of the incorporators of a daily newspaper. The respondent was a businessman who organized the First National Conference on National Transportation and who wrote numerous solicitation letters to the business community for the support of the conference. Borjal wrote several articles alleging anomalous activities of the respondent without actually naming him. The Supreme Court in dismissing the libel case, added a third kind of privileged communication to the two existing under Article 354 of the Revised Penal Code. The third kind of privileged communication added by the Borjal case refers to “fair commentaries on matters of public interest.” The Borjal case also indicated that the enumeration of qualified privileged communication in the Revised Penal Code is

not exclusive. “Fair commentaries of public interest” are privileged and constitute a valid defense in an action for libel or slander. When the alleged libelous statement falls under any of the qualified privileged communication, actual malice must be proven, that is, the offended party must prove that the libelous statements were made with the knowledge that the statements were false or in reckless disregard of whether they are false or not. The Philippine Supreme Court in quoting NY Times v. Sullivan also stated that: “Debate on public issues should be uninhibited, robust and wide open, and that it may well include vehement, caustic and sometimes unpleasantly sharp attacks on the government and public officials.”

More Recent Developments on Libel and Free Speech The Philippine Congress passed the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, which penalizes crimes committed on the Internet, such as cybersex and child pornography. It also penalizes authors of libelous online content. The constitutionality of the law was challenged shortly after it became a law. The Supreme Court upheld the provision penalizing the author of the libelous online content but not those receiving or reacting to it. The Supreme Court, however, struck down a provision that would have allowed the Department of Justice to block access to online content.

Conclusion In the Philippines, the robust exercise of freedom of speech and of the press continues to this day. Newspapers criticize public officials, the public officials explain their side and the exchange of opinions goes on and on. Perhaps because of this open dialogue in the press and even in social media, there has been no landmark case on freedom of speech and of the press after the case of Borjal v. Court of Appeals in 1999. Or, perhaps, it is really true that the Philippine press is the freest in Asia. U N I V ER SI TA S / Ju ne 2 015

Reflections on the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act This article is based on the talk given by the author at the roundtable discussion on “Empowering our Tribal Communities and Indigenous People in the Philippines” organized by the Center for Research and Communication on August 9, 2014. ATTY. JOAQUIN E. SAN DIEGO Dean, School of Law and Governance Republic Act No. 8371 or the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA) was signed into law by former President Fidel Ramos on October 29, 1997 and took effect on November 22, 1997. It was and still is a contentious piece of legislation, particularly those sections recognizing ancestral lands and ancestral domains as belonging to indigenous peoples for having occupied them “since time immemorial.” In fact, on September 28, 1998, less than one year after the law took effect, retired Supreme Court Justice Isagani Cruz asked the Supreme Court to strike it down for violating the Constitution, which states that “all lands of the public domain, waters...forests... natural resources are owned by the State...” (Article XII, Section 2). The Supreme Court was deadlocked 7-7 on first voting. After re-deliberation, the Court voted again, but since the result was still 7-7, the Court dismissed Justice Cruz’s petition. That was December 2000. Today, 17 years after the law took effect, and 14 years since Justice Cruz’s challenge was dismissed, how many people in my profession actually know that this law exists? Among those who know, how many really care?

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Indigenous people’s rights Why should we, ordinary citizens, care about the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act? Because we must care for our indigenous communities. These are communities that, in the words of Pope Francis, lie on the “peripheries.” If we, government and private citizens, are to truly pursue the common good, we must help these indigenous communities because they form a significant part of our population, roughly 17% by some estimates. How does the IPRA help our indigenous peoples? The IPRA protects communities who have long occupied portions of the Philippine territory, long before the Spaniards came. Section 3a recognizes and protects their rights to their ancestral domain, meaning their “lands, coastal areas and natural resources… occupied or possessed…since time immemorial.” Recognizing and protecting these communities’ rights to their ancestral domain is significant for the following reasons: 1. It does them justice. In law we have the principle that he who is prior in time has the better right (qui prior est in tempore potior est in jure). As our Civil Code provides, “actual possession

L AW under claim of ownership raises disputable presumption of ownership” (Article 433). 2. It shows respect for their customs, their culture, and their rights as human beings. For these communities, their land is a collective legacy to be passed on from one generation to the next. Their land is their place of worship, where they have their institutions of learning, their territory or area of governance, their source of livelihood, food and medicines, their shelter, their home. Their land gives them their identity. It is where their history has taken place and continues to unfold. 3. It removes a frequent cause of their impoverishment. Some studies claim that “indigenous peoples are among the poorest and most marginalized sectors of Philippine society.”1 While there is no hard evidence that these communities are poorer than other sectors of the national population, they face “the growing risk of impoverishment, as their traditional lands and natural resources come under increasing threat.”2

Challenges of IPRA and how to face them I have heard some businessmen and some of my colleagues in the profession criticize the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act for making it more difficult to do business. I do not blame them. One of my clients is a coal mining company that obtained a development and production permit to mine coal in Surigao del Sur in July 2011. After three years, the company had not been able to commence operations because it had not been able to get the consent of the indigenous communities. There are many similar sad stories among businessmen. I have just come from an information and education conference that the Department of Energy organized for its 5th Energy Contracting Round, and many participants in the conference raise similar concerns about the hurdles due to the IPRA. At any rate, more than looking at the IPRA as a source of problems, our businessmen should see it as a challenge. Through their chambers of commerce or industry, they can work together with the government to come up with creative solutions. For example, one of the participants in the conference I attended pointed out the lack of coordination between the Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP). The DOE has already called for private companies to submit proposals to develop coal mining properties, and yet neither the DOE nor the NCIP can give assurance that interested parties can enter the very same properties to gather the data they need to prepare their proposals. One of the participants suggested that the DOE work with NCIP so that the coal areas offered come with a full package of clearances, including the NCIP clearance. Furthermore, the IPRA is a good reminder to our businessmen to look beyond the bottom line: to think about their responsibility to the indigenous communities, which is part of their responsibility to the common good. The IPRA, therefore, is a good piece of legislation, but two issues need to be dealt with. First, while it is fair to recognize indigenous peoples’ rights to ancestral domains, there is a need to prescribe, by further legisla-

tion, standards to guide the NCIP in determining the size or extent of the area that may be fairly titled in a specific case to an indigenous community. Without such standards, there is no limit to the NCIP’s discretion, so situations of reverse discrimination may arise. This is not a mere question of determining national numerical totals that would be acceptable.3 It is a question of having standards for deciding what would be fairly entrusted in stewardship to a specific indigenous community, with a view to the common good. Second, it is true that the customs and traditions of indigenous communities, for example, as to concepts of property holding, governance, or decision making should be respected, and violence and deceit totally avoided. However, there must be room for the possibility that the ways of these communities will also evolve— change—over time, whether these communities remain in isolation or come into contact with and be influenced by other communities, including communities of Filipinos living in towns and cities or in other countries. There must also be room to recognize that there are generally accepted concepts, beliefs, or practices that, again without violence or deceit, may be introduced to these communities without detriment to their customs and traditions.

It is not unreasonable, for example, for these communities in the future to begin to understand that their community rights to their ancestral domains may submit to the rest of the larger Philippine community, or that they may be compelled, for reasonable cause and for the common good, to share these rights with government, business groups, or civil society. One such concept is that all rights are limited, be they individual rights or community (or communal) rights. It is not unreasonable, for example, for these communities in the future to begin to understand that their community rights to their ancestral domains may submit to the rest of the larger Philippine community, or that they may be compelled, for reasonable cause and for the common good, to share these rights with government, business groups, or civil society. Even today it is not unreasonable for the Philippine government to exercise its power of eminent domain over portions of ancestral domains. Otherwise, if the Philippine government were not able to exercise this power because of the IPRA and its concept of ancestral domain, there would be reason to believe that the IPRA is really fundamentally unconstitutional. International Fund for Agricultural Development, “Republic of the Philippines: Country Technical Note on Indigenous Peoples’ Issues” (November 2012), pp. 1 and 7, available at http://www.ifad.org/english/indigenous/ pub/documents/tnotes/philippines.pdf 2 Asian Development Bank, “Indigenous Peoples/Ethnic Minorities and Poverty Reduction: Philippines” (June 2002), p. 18, available at http://adb.org/sites/default/files/pub/2002/ indigenous_phi.pdf 3 The PCIJ article “Still strangers in their own land” by Rorie R. Fajardo (July 2007), http:// pcij.org/stories/still-strangers-in-their-own-land/, cites the figure of 6 million of the 30 million hectares total land area of the Philippines. Justice Panganiban mentions 8-10 million hectares in his concurring and dissenting opinion in the Supreme Court case. 1

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RELIGION

Christian-Moslem Relations in Southeast Asia: Toward Peace and Harmony This article is an abridged version of the paper presented during the 25th CESNUR (Center for Studies on New Religions) Conference on “Changing Religious Movements in a Changing World” at Dalarna University, Falun, Sweden on 21-24 June 2013. DR. ELIZABETH T. URGEL Chair, Department of Asia Pacific Studies

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Contrary to the common belief that the Christian-Muslim conflict in Southeast Asia (SEA) emanated from the personal interactions between the native Christians and Muslims, the long-standing conflict between the two religious communities was among the pieces of baggage brought to SEA during the colonial period. Prior to the dawning of Western colonialism in the region, wars were being waged between Christianity and Islam in the international arena: the military religious wars of the Crusades from the 11th century; the Turks’ animosity toward the gavur (non-believer) Christians; and Henry the Navigator’s successful recovery of the city of Ceuta from captivity by the Moors, to mention a few. Starting the colonial period when the two religions had initial contact in the region, the Christian-Muslim conflict has become a lingering problem. It was downplayed toward the end of the colonial period, as both the Christians and Muslims were preoccupied with ousting their Western colonial masters, during WW II when they concerned themselves with fighting a common enemy, and after gaining independence as they focused more on nationbuilding and economic development. But differing perceptions of political and economic priorities, coupled with socio-religious divergence, reopened the scars in Christian-Muslim relations. The issue was heightened by the Christian-Muslim conflict situations in the international scene. Lasting peace and harmony seemed elusive. Some countries in the region, however, have opted to make significant inroads into peace and harmony despite their multireligious societies. Christians and Muslims have generally treated each other with tolerance and even made a bolder step by conducting interfaith or interreligious dialogues. Focusing on the Philippines, Indonesia, and Singapore, this paper seeks to identify the circumstances that led these three countries to adopt the posture of religious tolerance; determine the forms of interfaith dialogue they have conducted and the religious underpinnings, legal framework, or policies behind the process; identify the leading personalities, institutions, or groups involved; and assess whether or not their efforts are smoothly treading the trajectory toward peace and harmony. Religious tolerance or toleration is “the magnanimous indulgence which one shows toward a religion other than his own, accompanied by the moral determination to leave it and its adherents unmolested in private and public...” while still believing that his is the true religion.1 It refers to a relation that is based solely on love and emanates primarily from “respect for another’s religious conviction….” For the Catholic Church, it is discerning the negative elements and taking cognizance of the existing goodness and faith; these goodness and faith can be utilized in the collaborative pursuit of peace.2 Cognizant of the value that everyone of faith possesses despite the variance, religious tolerance has been expressed

through a variety of ways, one of which, if not the most popular, is interfaith dialogue. Interfaith or interreligious dialogue refers to “all positive and constructive interreligious relations with individuals and communities of other faiths that are directed at mutual understanding and enrichment in obedience to truth and respect for freedom.”3 It is a dialogue between members of various religions for the purpose of minimizing conflicts between their religions and attaining mutually desirable goals. The goal of the encounter is to understand each other and to respect religious freedom. The motivation comes from the recognition of a common humanity.4 Recent trends in interfaith dialogue show the dialogue participants “express and explain their own views in their own terms while respectfully and actively listening to the views of others.”5 The focus is no longer limited to theological convergence and divergence but, more important, to “increasing mutual awareness, understanding and respect.” The primary aim is to correct “stereotypes and misinformation and to find ways to work together to solve problems of mutual concern, including social, political, economic, and environmental issues.”6

Realization and transformation Independence placed the Southeast Asian governments in direct involvement with the problems of nation building, economic development, and peace building. At the national level, it was realized that ethnic and religious differences should be downplayed, if not settled, for the advancement of nation building, progress, unity and peace. Highlighting differences in beliefs and practices serves as an obstacle for cooperative endeavors toward the advancement of society. At the community level, this insight is said to have dawned especially in the urban areas, where people with ethnic, religious, political, educational, and economic variations reside. It appeared to be in line with the adage that peacemaking literally begins at home. Progress and peace among neighbors and communities were not possible in areas torn by religious wars. Peaceful coexistence and religious tolerance are necessary ingredients in the framing of a formula for peaceful and harmonious neighborhood, community, and nation. This realization has led to several transformations.

A more open attitude of learning and listening In the past, there prevailed religious competition in which “each religion attempted to explain why it was superior to the others, portraying other religions according to their purported errors when compared to one’s own,” and “presenting their own arguments, rather than listening to what others had to say.”7 There is now a shift to an open attitude of learning about and listening to the other. Indonesia, the Philippines, and Singapore have each held conferences and established organizations and centers purposely U N I V ER SI TA S / Ju ne 2 015

for conducting workshops, dialogues, and other activities involving participants from various faiths. The common goal was for religious leaders and other adherents to come together and strengthen their friendship and deepen mutual trust and understanding. They also started to celebrate certain holidays being observed by other religions such as the Muslim Feast Day, Eid’il Fitr, which is now a public holiday in predominantly Catholic Philippines.

Creation of constructive avenues for cooperative work A parallel transformation occurred at the international level. This shift in Christian-Muslim attitude reflects an alternative approach to interreligious associations worldwide brought about by twin factors:8 (1) a series of missionary and faith conferences toward the late 19th century, which sparked “interest in formal person-to-person encounters with religious others at the theological level”, and 2) globalization, which facilitated migration of peoples and ideas, resulting in increased interfaith associations at the informal level. Attention has been shifted to building constructive avenues for people of varying religious persuasions and cultures in order “to work cooperatively and collectively for the broader good.” Related illustrations are further presented in the course of the discussion. Respect for other’s creed: Interreligious dialogue Claiming one’s faith as superior and the only truth while demonizing others used to be customary. There is now, however, increased respect for others’ creeds for the purpose of avoiding conflict and encouraging peaceful encounters between and among religions. This attitude of religious tolerance was better concretized by an interreligious dialogue movement beginning in the 1950s when the Vatican and the World Council of Churches initiated a series of meetings between Christian and non-Christian leaders. New institutions, including the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue (formerly Secretariat for Non-Christian Religions), were formed to study religious traditions and promote interfaith dialogue through education. During the papacy of Pope John Paul

Indeed, it can be said that Southeast Asian Christians and Muslims, through their interfaith dialogue, have likewise contributed to the promotion of the “cultures of dialogue” which also include the dialogue within a faith, the dialogue between societies, and the “dialogue of civilizations.” 48

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II, a number of important documents on interreligious relations were produced by Vatican II. Pope John Paul II stressed “mutual respect and encouraging each other to engage in good works and to pursue the path of righteousness.”9 Other leading organizations followed through; these include the Muslim World League, the World Muslim Congress, and the Middle East Council of Churches. In recent years, two major interreligious dialogue initiatives have caught the interest of the international community and have been adopted by groups, institutions, and governments as well: (1) A Common Word initiated by His Royal Highness Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad of Jordan, and (2) King Abdullah’s Interfaith Initiative. “A Common Word between Us and You” is a movement spearheaded by HRH Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad in October 2007. It calls for Christians and Muslims alike to achieve a higher level of mutual peace and understanding based on two commandments central to both religious traditions: love of God and love of one’s neighbor.10 In 2008, the initiative earned the "Eugen Biser Award" from the Eugen Biser Foundation (Munich) as well as the "Building Bridges Award" from the UK's Association of Muslim Social Scientists. King Abdullah’s Interfaith Initiative, which was launched during the World Conference on Dialogue in Madrid in July 2008,11 on the other hand, “seeks to bring humanity together on the basis of shared values, the good teachings of all religions, and joint efforts to resolve problems and challenges common to all peoples regardless of religion, culture or country.” It should be noted that conversion is not the utmost goal of this initiative. Rather, it aims to build respect and prevent the so-called clash of civilizations. There was, thus, a shift from “ritual correctness and judgmentalism” to “leaving judgment to God so that attention can be focused on shared moral values and better understanding and communication between faiths.”12 Based on the experiences of Indonesia, the Philippines, and Singapore on interfaith dialogue, the following methods identified by Natana J. DeLong-Bas, author of a number of books on Islam, have been employed: (1) structural, as exemplified by the parliamentary approach whereby huge crowds of Christians and Muslims would assemble to hold interfaith discussions; (2) institutional, as in the promotion and facilitation of dialogue meetings by the Interreligious Harmony Center and the National Council of Churches; and 3) contextual, such as the religious and philosophical discussions and exchanges among Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, and Baha’i Faith religious leaders in the context of religious pluralism. Interfaith dialogue was likewise employed in the areas of practical issues of common concern such as nation building, peacekeeping, livelihood, environmental management, resource generation, and conflict resolution in order to stimulate formal and informal cooperative actions. There was also spiritual deepening and nurturing through joint worship service, praying, fasting, or scripture reading. The common goal of all these is “building and expanding relationships that can lead to interfaith cooperation” that will bring about long-lasting peace and harmony. Engaged in these endeavors aside from religious leaders such as bishops and ulamas are the following: government officials including the heads of state; NGOs such as the Inter-religious Organization and the Philippine Council for Islam and Democracy;

youth groups in the likes of the Muslim-Christian Youth for Peace and Development; academic scholars in the likes of Dr. Farid Al-Atas; foreign academic institutions exemplified by Northern Illinois University; embassies such as the Australian Embassy; and the grassroots or community folks. The means employed include media, peace talks, workshops, the Internet, and academic and community programs and conferences. The observance of religious tolerance and conduct of interfaith dialogues are strengthened by the policies, resolutions, and other legal framework most especially the respective secular Constitutions of Indonesia, the Philippines, and Singapore.

The Cross and the Crescent The shift in the attitude of Southeast Asian Christians and Muslims as regards their treatment of each other’s religious beliefs, objects, and acts of worship stemmed first of all from living in the same neighborhood and community and being victims of war and strife, poverty, and prejudice. They have realized that a peaceful and progressive community would be unachievable in an atmosphere of animosity, indifference, and hatred due to religious differences. As developing countries, Indonesia and the Philippines should launch a tremendous amount of cooperative and unifying nation-building efforts to attain economic growth and other development goals. Even Singapore had to do it during its developing stage. Increasing issues and challenges of regional and even universal scope, moreover, affected Southeast Asians regardless of religious persuasion, thus calling for joint approaches and collaborative engagements. Southeast Asians—particularly Indonesians, Filipinos, and Singaporeans—have realized that such collaboration would be possible only if those involved manifest (1) an open attitude toward each other and respect and acceptance of one another as members of the community of nations and of the human race; (2) a higher level of interaction, glossing over divisions and giving more value to convergence; and (3) a new perspective on interreligious relations, especially Christian-Muslim relations. Another type of diplomacy could be employed. Religious tolerance has served as the springboard for joint undertakings that enabled the deepening of understanding of each other’s perspective, thoughts, and actions; respect of each other’s uniqueness; and appreciation of the value that each faith

tradition possesses. Supporting this stance are government policies and other legal frameworks such as the Constitution. Despite their sporadic conflict, Christians and Muslims in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Singapore appear to have preferred obeisance to the twin commandments of loving God and neighbor, thus, setting aside their theological differences in order to live together in harmony and enjoy the blessings of peace. Furthermore, religious diplomacy has proven to be an effective instrument for promoting understanding, improving relations, and resolving regional issues alongside political diplomacy in Southeast Asia. More significantly, Southeast Asians have learned to accord due respect for others’ creeds as illustrated by the interfaith dialogues. Employing the strategy of interfaith dialogue has significantly torn down the barriers emanating from religious and cultural differences. It has narrowed down the gap existing between Christian and Muslim leaders in Indonesia as manifested in meetings and other occasions where the Ulamas and the bishops sat side-by-side to explain their theological standpoint and at the same time listen to and learn from one another. It has been demonstrated at the government level when Philippine government officials, composed mostly of Christians, discussed with representatives of the Moro National Liberation Front and later on convinced the latter to join the mainstream society, and more recently with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front for the purpose of attaining long-lasting peace in Mindanao. In Singapore, the people acknowledged the diversity of their racial origins, but they have considered themselves more as Singaporeans with a common identity. Interfaith dialogue thus remains unobstructed. Various sectors had to be involved in the process of interfaith dialogue. That the dialogue between Christians and Muslims came about earlier in the region, particularly in the Philippines, than it did in other countries testifies to the seriousness and determination of the Southeast Asian adherents of these religious traditions to travel the road to lasting peace and harmony no matter what. Interfaith dialogue has served as a potent tool for them to face and hurdle the myriad challenging issues that confront the global community today. Indeed, it can be said that Southeast Asian Christians and Muslims, through their interfaith dialogue, have likewise contributed to the promotion of the “cultures of dialogue” which also include the dialogue within a faith, the dialogue between societies, and the “dialogue of civilizations.”

Catholic Encyclopedia: Religious Toleration. Downloaded from http://www.newadvent. org/cathen/14763a.htm Accessed April 2, 2013 2 Lecture by Fr. Roberto Latorre on “Ecumenism and Religious Tolerance,” April 24, 2013, University of Asia and the Pacific, Pasig City, Phils. 3 Quoted in 2005 by Archbishop Michael C. Fitzgerald, Pres. of Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogues, from a document in 1991 titled “Dialogues and Proclamation,” and requoted by Jaime delos Santos in his paper, “Building Interfaith Bridges through Dialogue: Perspectives from ASEAN and the Philippines.” World Public Forum Dialogue of Civilizations Oct. 23, 2012. Downloaded 1

from http://www.regionalinterfaith.org.au Accessed January 6, 2013 4 Latorre 5 Natana J. DeLong-Bas. “Interfaith Dialogue,” Oxford Islamic Studies Online. (n.d.) http:// www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/Public/ focus/essay0310_interfaith_dialogue.html. Accessed April 4, 2013 6 Ibid. 7 Ibid. 8 Ibid. 9 Ibid. 10 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Common_ Word_Between_Us_and_You Accessed April 26, 2013 11 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ 12 DeLong-Bas

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ECONOMICS

Capitalism and the

SOCIAL DOCTRINE AMBASSADOR JOSE V. ROMERO, JR., PH.D.

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t the last annual meet of the Philippine Economic Society, there was a discussion on a currently controversial book entitled Capital in the Twenty-first Century written by Thomas Picketty, a French professor in economics at the Paris School of Economics. The book, published in English in April 2014, is a compelling narrative of the dynamics that drive capital formation and its distribution. In this book, Picketty has collected, classified, and analyzed a humongous wealth of economic information and statistical data relating to socio-economic patterns of development from some two dozen countries going back to the eighteenth century. The book tries to show somewhat persuasively that the development and diffusion of knowledge driven by the communications revolution have prevented the apocalyptic vision of Karl Marx’s Das Kapital. It claims, however, that global economies in general have failed to modify and improve structures of inequality that have evolved from the capitalist system common to the modern world since the last world war. This, despite the promise of a new world economic order envisioned by the creation of the United Nations and its multilateral development institutions that came out of the Bretton-Woods agreement. These include such institutions as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

Flawed government interventions? Pointing a finger at what he considers as the main driver of inequality—the tendency of returns on capital to exceed the rate of economic growth—Professor Picketty blames government initiatives in the past for worsening poverty conditions of the present and threatening those of the future as shown by studies using the Gini coefficient analysis and other methods of tracking poverty incidence. The cognoscenti would be quick to draw a parallel with observations of liberal economists that Marxists interventions in the capitalist system can only create an increasingly skewed distribution of income in favor of the masa and at the expense of the affluent. Conversely, Marxist economists argue that the owners of capital dominate the economy, allowing them to control the bourgeois state and facilitate regulatory capture. Parenthetically, it will be recalled that in the seventies, the mantra of leftist students in this country was monopoly capitalism. Today, the “New People” led by Joma Sison still clings to this shibboleth. In my undergraduate days in Cambridge, my director of studies, Maurice Dobb, a Marxist economist and a recognized expert in labor economics who helped draft the Gosplan of Stalinist Russia, was a huge advocate of Sovietstyle economic planning. As a great proponent of Ricardian economics from which Karl Marx, a Jewish librarian, drew his theories of value and exploitation, Professor Dobb lectured his class unceasingly on the virtues of government planning in accelerating development, which is precisely the primary focus of Professor Picketty’s critique. Today, most of us economists agree that Marxist socialism expired after the success of the Industrial Revolution. This is not to say that some of Professor Dobb’s analyses on development based on David Ricardo’s magna opera had no merits or did not in any way influence me in my work: (1) first at the Central Bank, which introduced the concept of social productivity ratings in the management of import and exchange controls in the fifties, and (2) as chief economist in the House of Representatives in the crafting of House Joint Resolution No. 2—the Magna Carta of Social Justice and Economic Freedom—which proposed a full employment plan and a preferential treatment for local entrepreneurs. This provided the enabling legislation for the creation of the Board of Investments and the concept of measured capacity. While working on the measure, I had in the back of my mind my tutor’s insistence that development was too important to be left entirely to the whims and caprices of the market. Parenthetically, at that time, this congressional initiative was slammed by critics in business and academe as too nationalistic, equating it with socialism. Today, we have sprouting all over the land government-supervised industrial enclaves that are fed with all kinds of fiscal incentives.

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brought about a high level of discontent. In sum, the government in this country has run the gamut of economic experimentations ranging from a controlled economy characterized by controls in the fifties to a gradually decontrolled or market-dictated economy in the sixties up to the EDSA Revolution. Perhaps the shifting of economic gears would have worked if this country was not affected by the curse of Sisyphus, marked by a continuous reinventing of the wheels of policy initiatives with every change of administration.

What is the path to progress?

Indeed, this country, whose economy has been characterized by booms and busts, has experimented with all sorts of development paradigms but has only partially promoted growth with equity. One thing for sure is that this country has never departed from the trickle-down approach to development favored only by the economic elite.

Clash of development ideologies The Picketty book, with its critique on flawed government intervention in economic development, is expected to be welcomed by economists of liberal economic persuasion, notably those from the Chicago School founded by Milton Friedman. The followers of the school adhere closely to the belief in the almighty power of market forces to solve most economic problems and the desirability of minimizing the role of the state. Recent advocacies of the school have included unrestricted capitalism only to be tempered by monetarism. It will be recalled that in the eighties, our liberal economists in government were quite partial toward supply-side economics advocated by Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan (the so-called Washington Consensus). This approach opposed the Keynesian economics with its emphasis on the control on the demand side of monetary equation through the mechanics of macroeconomics. Incidentally, some economists point to the hyperinflation and ensuing massive devaluation that followed the open economy marked by the floating exchange rates and fiscal indiscipline of the early eighties as contributory factors in undermining the internal and external stability of the currency. They believe that this had the unintended consequence of bringing down the dictatorship when the socio-economic dislocation

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Should we continue with the path of liberal democracy and an open economy? The advantages of democratic regimes with its bias for private initiatives are enunciated by even non-liberal economists like Cambridge professor and Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, who, as reported in a recent article in a major daily, believes that the jury is still out as to who is a more optimal allocator of income: the public or private sector. Professor Sen has also cited the advantages of free choice in preventing large famines—an observation backed up by massive empirical evidence that helped him to receive the coveted international prize for economics. That said, what is the socioeconomic score for this country’s so-called democratic governance with its substantially private enterprise economy since independence? If we are to go by the latest statistics despite all that hullabaloo about Moody’s credit upgrade and the rise of Philippine bonds from junk to investment grade, the fact is that the accumulated wealth of our taipans, some of whom are listed among the billionaires according to Forbes, most of the riches of this economy has not trickled down to the masa. The per capita income of this country at P16,841 per annum is at roughly the same level as Haiti’s, reflecting the immense gap between the income of Forbes Park residents and that of hard-up Mang Pandoy in Tondo. What is embarrassing is that even in the ASEAN community, we are just above the hindmost in the list in terms of poverty levels. Moreover, almost a dozen basic sectors in the country have a poverty incidence of 39.2%. This was driven up in recent years by the increase in unemployment and underemployment. The latest SWS reports state that 11.4 million or more than half of Filipino families claim they are poor. The most severe cases of poverty are found in rural areas. In the past four decades, the proportion of households living below the official poverty line has declined slowly and unevenly, and the poverty alleviation policies have been painfully slow and ineffective. This has been caused by a trickle-down

approach to development, the benign neglect of the rural sector, a flawed agrarian reform program, fiscal indiscipline and regressive taxation, regulatory capture by a politically entrenched economic elite and rent-seeking crony capitalists, plus endemic graft and corruption in the bureaucracy.

Social doctrine of the Church Ironically, we have a situation perpetrated by a nation that considers itself 80% Catholic—the only one in Asia and with the third biggest Catholic population in the world. It is even more surprising considering that the Church has produced a social doctrine that is clearly pro-poor. Although Christian social doctrine is not egalitarian (to each according to his needs), which differentiates it from Marxism, it nevertheless mandates that all men and women are equal in human dignity and that the world’s wealth was given to the world in order that all might enjoy a good life from it; thus, the degree of inequality in society should not be so great that it creates social injustice. While the Church does not deny that gross injustice occurs under liberal capitalism as in our case, it does not advocate the abolition of private ownership of productive goods and the capitalist class. It does mandate the application of moral principles and government intervention on a case-to-case basis as warranted by circumstances. Indeed, papal encyclicals going back to Leo XIII’s on The Condition of Labor in the middle of the 19th century to Pope Francis’ insistence on governments' adopting the inclusive growth development paradigm reveals the Church’s concern for total or integral development.

Breaking the vicious cycle In accordance with these principles derived from the Christian doctrine of the Church, where

are the points of intervention by the public sector in society and the economy? First, something must be done to correct the flawed agrarian reform program that has clearly pauperized a large segment of the population in the rural areas. It is the most important cause of poverty. Without modernizing the agriculture sector, no development can occur. Sir Arthur Lewis, a Nobel laureate, asserted that a nation that cannot feed itself cannot grow. Modernizing the agricultural sector is synonymous to infrastructure development. Increasing the levels of productivity in this sector to increase levels of incomes and employment requires farm-to-market roads, power generation, availability of credit, transfer of technology, and improvement of the supply chain to enable access to markets. Today, the economy is sitting on a tripod with only one good leg. This is the service sector. The other legs of agriculture and industry are simply too weak to prop up the economy. Overseas Filipino workers, employees of business process outsourcing companies, and even those in the tourism and health industries can contribute only so much to produce self-sustaining growth for the economy. Manufacturing and mining companies as well as farms are the huge receptacles for employment opportunities.

Participatory planning What is needed then is a new development paradigm, one that adopts a full employment program. The plan must be participatory, one that counts on the local government units as full partners through the grants of full fiscal autonomy. If the national government can grant this to a relatively small religious minority in Mindanao, it can certainly grant more or less the same degree of decentralization and devolution of powers to the rest of the regions in the country, some of whom feel as alienated and marginalized as our Muslim brethren.

AMBASSADOR JOSE V. ROMERO, JR., PH.D., is a member of the Board of Trustees of UA&P and is a professor of political economy in the University. He served as Philippine Ambassador to the Republic of Italy.

Redistribution with growth

Is there a middle road between income concentration and radical restructuring of the same? World Bank economists have proposed a policy acronymed RWG (Redistribution with Growth).

Is there a middle road between income concentration and radical restructuring of the same? World Bank economists have proposed a policy acronymed RWG (Redistribution with Growth). What are the elements of the template? Basically, government intervention in increasing agricultural productivity of small farms (which in this country is probably more than 90%); improving skills and literacy; implementing progressive taxation; making food cheaper by improving the supply chain; making the delivery of food products more efficient; producing more and cheaper transportation; building more and lower-priced housing; and developing new technologies to increase the productivity of households and small and medium enterprises. Other such interventions could be proposed by sincere and creative governance.

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EDUC AT ION

Sports and

K-12 I

RALPH DANIEL SANTOS AB Humanities, Year II

n 2012, the government put in place the basic education program called K-12. Under this program, when learners reach senior high school (Grades 11-12), they would need to choose a pre-college course, which is called a â&#x20AC;&#x153;track.â&#x20AC;? These tracks include academic, technical-vocational livelihood, sports, and arts and design. Each track covers basic subjects such as English and Math. However, these subjects are incorporated into and related to the chosen track. The rationale behind this entire senior high curriculum is for the students to obtain further competency in learning in preparation for college education, entrepreneurship, or employment. Students have the option to switch to another field in college, say, from sports track in senior high to humanities in college.

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The switch to K-12 is not without bumps, however. The concerns include the layoffs of college instructors teaching basic education subjects as well as the unpreparedness of high schools in providing the necessary facilities and, most important, quality instruction. College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) instructor Stella Marie Urbiztondo knows these difficulties better than others. The physical education teacher has been tapped by the Department of Education (DepEd) to help develop the sports curriculum for senior high school as a pilot program for the entire Philippines in preparation for the full implementation of K-12. With K-12, children who wish to be part of the world of sports can learn fundamental coaching in Grade 11 and sports officiating in Grade 12. Physical education and health is

also a core subject in senior high school. In her capacity as DepEd consultant, Coach Stella was assigned to brief teachers in different schools across the Philippines about the sports track. Among these schools, Rizal High School (RHS) in Pasig City showed interest in offering the sports track in their school as soon as the education reform took shape. The problem, however, was that the teachers felt that they were not competent in this field, so Coach Stella teamed up with RHS. Her experiences from teaching at her alma mater, UP Diliman, and at her current university, UA&P, are more than enough to be able to "help beef up their [teachers’] capability," she said. She would be teaching both the students and the teachers until the teachers become confident to handle the entire program. “UA&P has the capacity to extend itself

beyond [the University]… and influence others,” Coach Stella said when asked how she sees this act of teaming up with RHS. “Unitas?” asked the author. She nodded and then pointed out the commonality between UA&P and RHS—the community of Pasig where they are in. Coach Stella remarked that she would rather teach other people and reach out to those who need it than just be idle during the years when there would be a significant decrease in freshmen intake. With her volunteering at RHS and DepEd, she gets to share her expertise with her colleagues in the field and with people who need to learn. Extension works such as Coach Stella’s can be compared to true sportsmanship, in which one plays or works with others in order to win or, in this case, make an impact on Philippine education.

Suggested Sports Track Scheduling of Subjects* Grade 11 1st Semester 2nd Semester Komunikasyon at Pananaliksik Oral Communication in Context sa Wika at Kulturang Pilipino Contemporary Philippine Arts Statistcs and Probability from the Regions Media and Information Literacy Physical Education and Health General Mathaematics Earth and Life Science Personal Development/ Pansariling Kaunlaran Understanding Culture, Society and Politics Physical Education and Health Empowerment Technologies Research in Daily Life 1 (E-Tech): ICT for Professional Tracks Pagsulat sa Filipino sa Piling Larangan (Isports) Safety and First Aid

SPECIALIZATION SUBJECTS

CONTEXTUALIZED SUBJECTS

CORE SUBJECTS

SPORTS

Hrs/day

Human Movement Fundamentals of Coaching

6.6

Psychosocial Aspects of Sports and Exercise 6.6

Grade 12 1st Semester 2nd Semester Pagbasa at Pagsusuri ng Iba’t-Ibang Reading and Writing Skills Teksto Tungo sa Pananaliksik Physical Education and Health 21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World Physical Science Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person/Pambungad sa Pilosopiya ng Tao Physical Education and Health

English for Academic and Professional Purposes Research in Daily Life 2

Entrepreneurship

Fitness Testing and Exercise Programming Sports Officiating and Activity Management Fitness, Sports and Recreation Leadership Practicum (in-campus)

Apprenticeship (off-campus)

5.8

Research Project

Please note that some subjects have prerequisites. These are indicated in the Curriculum Guides and are listed below for easy referral. SUBJECT Research in Daily Life 2 Apprenticeship (Off-campus)

PREREQUISITE/S Statistics and Probability Practicum (In-campus)

K to 12 Senior High School Sports Track Scheduling

Retrieved from http://www.deped.gov.ph/k-to-12/About/curriculum-guides/Sports-Track, May 8, 2015

*80 hours per subect

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What the

BEAUTIF

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ADVOCACY

UL GAME teaches MARTIN JOSEPH M. BADOY Center for Research and Communication

Glaring lights. Palpable tension and excitement. Children, youth, and adults—numbering around 350—huddled around a single futsal (indoor football) court. It was the championship match of the Ambassadors Cup Tournament Under-11 age group on May 10, 2014 at UA&P’s Parking and Sports Building. And worthy of any football final, regulation time ended in a two-all tie between Team San Ildefonso Parish-South Africa and Team Barangay Marikina HeightsTimor Leste. It was time for the most revered of finals rituals: the penalty shootout. The referee’s whistle broke the calm. Duels between strikers and goalies began in earnest. Both teams were aiming for the net, but after two rounds the score was still even at two. On the third round, the San Ildefonso striker made his run and scored. Then it was the turn of Barangay Marikina Heights-Timor Leste. The striker fired. For a split second, the San Ildefonso goalie saw the flash of the yellow futsal ball and instinctively pushed his hands toward it. Saved! Only one more advantage point and they would win. The South Africa-Timor Leste final was the climax of the 2014 Ambassadors Cup, an outreach project organized by the University of Asia and the Pacific, Team Socceroo Football Club, and The Henry V. Moran Foundation from December 2013 to May 10, 2014. With the goal of inculcating virtues and values in underprivileged children through street football, the Ambassadors Cup was inspired by the “ABC Cup” of the ambassadors of Argentina, Brazil, and Chile, who in late 2012 visited communities in Caloocan, Antipolo, and Novaliches to bring street football to children. Hearing about the ABC Cup and being encouraged by former Chilean Ambassador Roberto Mayorga, in the summer of 2013 UA&P co-founder Dr. Bernardo Villegas and UA&P President Dr. Jose Maria Mariano offered to promote a similar U N I V ER SI TA S / Ju ne 2 015

but expanded project to other ambassadors. After initial meetings with representatives from interested embassies, the project was launched on February 28, 2014 in UA&P. Embassy contributions to the Cup were directed at sponsoring community coaches to train the children in street football and providing uniforms for the children. The Ambassadors Cup also called on the generosity of private donors, the organizers, and especially major corporate sponsor TELUS International Philippines, which provided not only tournament needs but also children’s shoes, meals, and transportation for a field trip to Emperador Stadium, Taguig. Team San Ildefonso Parish from Bangkal, Makati, supported by former South African Ambassador Agnes Nyamande-Pitso, was one of the most financially challenged communities that participated in the Cup. Many of the children live in cramped houses made of light materials. The parish priest and head

As the children jumped for joy and with the ambassadors all smiles, fr. Beng summed up their experience: “that’s the beauty of football.” Indeed, the beautiful game trains winners—Both on the futsal court and in real life. coach Fr. Antonio “Beng” Molavin requested the organizers to get smaller jerseys for the children in his team. However, like some other communities, they had a head start in values training: even before the Cup, Fr. Beng had been conducting intermittent football practice sessions with the children as an incentive for attending catechism classes. In the initial phase of the Ambassadors Cup, San Ildefonso’s junior coaches Maricar Miranda and Jeffrey Solis joined the other community coaches for a three-day training seminar conducted by Coach Essie Sedigh of the Philippine Football Federation from March 28 to 30, 2014 at UA&P. After learning a range of futsal drills,

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Maricar and Jeffrey put the children to their paces during the community training period from April 5 to May 9, 2014. Simultaneous with the training period was a project by the Center for Research and Communication on “The Influence of Sports on the Cultivation of Virtue,” headed by Dr. Antonio Torralba, holder of the Mariano and Estelita de Jesus Que Professorial Chair for Family and Youth Education. Dr. Torralba’s team, supported by Mercury Drug and the Moran Foundation, was made up of student researchers who interviewed selected coaches, children, and parents from the 11 embassy-sponsored teams. As Coaches Maricar and Jeffrey ran passing drills and scoring drills, the research interviews showed that their main challenges were the short attention span of the children and their inevitably unruly behavior. However, Coach Jeffrey would recount to the children how he himself was a former street child, who, through football, was given the opportunity to be a scholar athlete and play in an international youth tournament. As the training sessions transpired, both those organized by Fr. Beng and for the Ambassador’s Cup, the children’s parents noticed improvements in their children’s behavior. After missing several classes, one particular child’s attendance became more regular, while another who used to spend long hours in computer games spent his allowance instead on a pair of training shoes. With visits from Ambassador Nyamande-Pitso and coaching assistance from two South African citizens and a Cameroonian, the children of San Ildefonso Parish put together the lessons from Fr. Beng’s sessions; the technical futsal skills taught by Coaches Jeffrey and Maricar; the teamwork, perseverance, and sportsmanship inherent in football; and the confidence gained from realizing that, with their effort and new skills, they can contribute to their team’s victory. All that preparation brought San Ildefonso to the fourth round of the finals penalty shootout. With a 3-2 advantage over Team Marikina Heights-Timor Leste, the San Ildefonso striker took his place. The pressure and intensity were at a higher level, but the movement was the same old, well-placed kick into an upper corner, practiced over the past month. The net quivered upon the ball’s contact. 4-2. Upon Marikina Heights’ turn, the San Ildefonso goalie braced himself, trying to suppress tension, focusing on the moment. Following the yellow projectile’s angle, he crouched down to one side, chest and arms attempting to block the ball’s flight path. Another save! With that, Team San Ildefonso-South Africa won the U-11 final. As the children jumped for joy and with the ambassadors all smiles, Fr. Beng summed up their experience: “That’s the beauty of football.” Indeed, the beautiful game trains winners—both on the futsal court and in real life.

2014 Ambassadors Cup Match Results Under-11 Age Group Champion 1st Runner-up 2nd Runner-up 3rd Runner-up

San Ildefonso Parish (Makati) - South Africa Barangay Marikina Heights - Timor Leste Gawad Kalinga Barangka (Mandaluyong) - Nigeria Birhen ng Lujan Quasi Parish (Caloocan) - Argentina

Under-13 Age Group Champion 1st Runner-up 2nd Runner-up 3rd Runner-up

Gawad Kalinga Tatalon (QC) - Indonesia Western Bicutan Football Club (Taguig) - USA Gawad Kalinga Concepcion (Mandaluyong) - South Korea Gawad Kalinga Pinagsama (Taguig) - UK

Two-time U-11 champion San Ildefonso Parish happily poses with Ambassadors Cup Task Force Head Rene Ledesma, Gawad Kalinga SipaG Program Volunteer Director Kevin Goco, Team Socceroo Football Club Manager Nicholas Reyes, UA&P President Dr. Jose Maria Mariano, Ambassador of South Africa to the Philippines Martin Slabber, and South Africa Embassy's Political Counsellor Tshire Kau. Photo by UA&P Media Management Committee

Ambassadors Cup 2 bares mythical five; South Africa retains U11 title

eason 2 of the grassroots indoor football tournament Ambassadors Cup ended with Team South Africa boasting of a back-to-back championship in the Under-11 category and the best futsal players cited at the close of the May 16, 2015 tournament held at the University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P). San Ildefonso Parish, under the Embassy of South Africa, proved to be the team to beat when they drew 3-0 on the scoreboard against Mexico (Immaculate Conception Cathedral Soup Kitchen), with Canada (GK Sampaloc II) copping the third place finish. Timor Leste (Dream Big Pilipinas) ruled the Under-13 division, beating former champion GK Tatalon (under new entrant Germany) at

through futsal training and competition. This year’s cup had the Embassies of Chile, Argentina, Timor Leste, Spain, United Kingdom, Nigeria, Germany, Canada, Mexico, United States, South Africa, and guest team ANZ Pilipinas partnered with the communities of San Idelfonso Parish, GK Tatalon, GK Pinagsama, GK Barangka, GK Sampaloc II, Western Bicutan Football Club, GK Concepcion, Immaculate Conception Cathedral Soup Kitchen, Birhen ng Lujan Parish, Fundacion Santiago, and football team Dream Big Pilipinas. “It is energizing to see children run, kick, tumble, work, “Hopefully, next and laugh,” said UA&P Presiyear, we will go out of Metro Manila and dent Dr. Jose Maria Mariano. “We hope we have really helped have a lot of other teams so that we can them become better persons.” Awaiting the little players have what economists who not only played well but call inclusive growth.”

showed sportsmanship and fighting spirit was the recognition of the mythical five. Getting a medal each from U-11 were Reymuel Capilos (ICC Soup Kitchen), Russel Agnes (GK Tatalon), Lorenz Padre (San Ildefonso Parish), Reach Nival (GK Sampaloc II), and Cian Gabriel Galsim (GK Barangka). Recognized as the best players from U-13 were Kyle Gilan (Dream Big Pilipinas), Hanz Gabriel Alvarez (GK Tatalon), John Mark Silvosa (San Ildefonso Parish), Graham Eugenio (ICC Soup Kitchen), and Justin Arenas (Fundacion Santiago). “Hopefully, next year, we will go out of Metro Manila and have a lot of other teams so that we can have what economists call inclusive growth,” Dr. Villegas added, praising the players from Batangas and citing the possible inclusion of Tacloban players in next year’s cup. Organized in collaboration with Team Socceroo Football Club and The Henry V. Moran Foundation, Season 2 of the envoys’ cup was sponsored by ABS-CBN Sports+Action, The Philippine Star, Manila Bulletin, and Bootcamp.

¬5-0, leaving Mexico (ICC Soup Kitchen) on the third spot. “Our interest in football goes much beyond physical fitness, sport, entertainment…UA&P has a magnificent obsession with the beautiful game because it is one sport that nurtures character, virtues, values,” UA&P cofounder and football aficionado Dr. Bernardo Villegas said. The Ambassadors Cup Futsal Tournament, a project of UA&P, aims to instill virtues and values among children from underprivileged communities

Team Germany (in white) tries to take the ball from U13 champion Timor Leste in Season 2 of Ambassadors Cup. Photo by UA&P Media Management Committee U N I V ER SI TA S / Ju ne 2 015

ENVIRONMENT

06 05 2014

UA&P

SOLAR Power System

300 KW

1st

Php 4

million

June 5, 2014, World Environment Day. UA&P had its formal switch-on ceremony at the PSB

Estimated cost savings in heat insulation of the PSB due to the solar panels covering the steel roofing sheets

Amount of energy generated by the photovoltaic solar power system of UA&P, the largest in capacity among all solar-powered schools in the Philippines (as of May 2015) UA&P is the second building in Ortigas Center to be solar-powered

BY T HE NUMBER S

UA&P is the first school in Pasig City, and perhaps the first university in the Philippines, to switch to solar power

560

1,200

48 Pieces of battery banks included in the system for lightings only

Number of high-efficiency black monocrystalline solar panels installed at the roof of the Parking and Sports Building (PSB)

Amount of energy needed to power the PSB

U N I V ER SI TA S / Ju ne 2 015

Number of manpower hours it took to install UA&Pâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s solar power system

52 KW

x 10

100%

The PSB lightings are now operating fully on solar power during daytime

50%

The PSB motors and outlets are powered partially by the sun at daytime

UA&P at a Glance The University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P) is a private, not-for-profit institution of higher learning that offers some of the most outstanding academic programs in Asia. It provides a powerful combination of liberal education and professional specialization. The formation of UA&P students is facilitated by an environment conducive to learning, qualified and dedicated teachers, a superior faculty-to-student ratio, and well-maintained facilities. The University’s programs are distinct in their focus on the human person’s multi-faceted development. Faithful to our Credo, we aspire to form “individuals who are professionally competent, creative and enterprising, zealous for the common good, and capable of making free, morally upright choices, and who can thus act as positive agents of change and service to society.” Since its inception in 1967, the Center for Research and Communication has grown to become the University of Asia and the Pacific in a tradition of excellence, service, and whole-person education.

FIVE-YEAR PROGRAMS • Master of Arts in Communication Major in Integrated Marketing Communications • Master of Arts in Humanities • Master of Arts in Political Economy with Specialization in International Relations and Development • Master of Science in Industrial Economics • Master of Science in Management UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMS • Bachelor of Arts in Economics • Bachelor of Arts in Humanities • Bachelor of Arts in Integrated Marketing Communications • Bachelor of Arts in Media and Entertainment Management • Bachelor of Arts in Political Economy • Bachelor of Science in Applied Mathematics • Bachelor of Science in Business Administration Major in Management • Bachelor of Science in Business Administration Major in Management with Specialization in Business Analytics • Bachelor of Science in Child Development and Education • Bachelor of Science in Entrepreneurial Management • Bachelor of Science in Human Capital Development • Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering • Bachelor of Science in Information Technology OTHER GRADUATE PROGRAMS • Juris Doctor • Master in Applied Business Economics • Master in Business Economics • Master in Education Major in Child Development Education • Master in Education Major in Educational Leadership • Master of Arts in Education Major in Child Development Education • Master of Arts in Education Major in Educational Leadership • Master of Science in Management – Evening Program

Installation and Turn-Over Ceremonies JUNE 15, 2015 Embracing our mission and creating our future together

Dr. Winston Conrad B. Padojinog N E W LY I N S TA L L E D UA & P P R E S I D E N T

Dr. Jose Maria Arsenio G. Mariano T H I R D P R E S I D E N T O F UA & P