To write our literary and intellectual history is a significant undertaking, one that scholars of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) have embraced with dedication. Building on the successes of conferences honoring the late Edel Garcellano in 2018, 2019, and 2023, we organized a fourth iteration aimed at preserving his legacy as PUP’s foremost...
Tag: education
UP admin and University Council still at odds on UP-AFP accord
Editor’s Note: This report, originally run on Sept. 26, 2024, has been updated with interviews with the UP president and vice president for academic affairs. More than a month since the University of the Philippines (UP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) signed a “declaration of cooperation” (DOC) to conduct joint strategic research,...
UP University Council thumbs down declaration of cooperation between UP and AFP
It has been more than a month since the University of the Philippines (UP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) signed a “declaration of cooperation” (DOC) to conduct joint strategic research, and even before the first research topic was announced, the University Council (UC) of UP Diliman put its foot down on the...
Computer donation to benefit 53 schools in Angeles City
Operating on the principle that access to computers is essential for students, iQor Philippines, a managed services provider of customer engagement and technology-enabled business process outsourcing solutions, has donated 413 refurbished computers to the Department of Education (DepEd), benefiting 53 schools in Angeles City, Pampanga. The handover event, titled “Empowering Communities Through Education: iQor and...
Sure, let’s discuss so-called ‘grade inflation’
A week after the commencement exercises of the University of the Philippines, an article in Rappler by UP faculty member and proud summa cum laude graduate JC Punongbayan titled “Let’s discuss grade inflation in the Philippines” made the rounds in social media. It eventually reached my own Facebook feed because my newly graduated former students, many...
Alex Lacson and Rotary District 3810: A tension of viewpoints on patriotism
“I’m fighting for the truth,” he said, and the other countered: “We’re all fighting for the truth.” A meaningful tension of viewpoints hummed throughout the discourse that followed guest speaker Alex Lacson’s talk, titled “Patriotism and a Silent National Crisis,” during the Rotary Club of Manila Bay’s (RCMB) second membership meeting held last Aug. 15...
Digital martial law library launched, ‘to ensure that all Filipinos will remember’
With the click of a button, you’ll find a copy of Proclamation 1081; read excerpts of hard-to-find memoirs, including Benigno Aquino Jr.’s “Testament from A Prison Cell”; or view videos of Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. in the heyday of martial law. The possibilities are endless when you visit the Ateneo Martial Law Library and Museum...
Women in a Masbate barangay champion education
After completing their chores, eight mothers in Barangay Tugbo in Masbate come together to take on another role: as literacy champions for themselves and their children. Erlinda Cabarles, a mother of seven, rises at 3 a.m. to do her household routine. While her family sleeps, she cooks, cleans, and prepares for the day. She is...
To nourish a legacy of criticism and scholarship in the academe
In this age where power continuously redefines and reinvents itself, the response of an enlightened academe is clear: to critique, interrogate, and resist. It was in September when the secretariat started planning for the 3rd Edel Garcellano Conference on Literary and Cultural Studies at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) in Santa Mesa, Manila....
The crisis in Philippine education began 120 years ago
In the results of the 2022 Pisa study on the state of learning and equity in education worldwide released last Dec. 5, the average scores of Filipino 15-year-old students were about the same as those in 2018. There was no significant change in the rankings of students scoring below a baseline level of proficiency (Level...