Prof. Jose Y. Dalisay Jr., PhD, former vice president for public affairs, was appointed as professor emeritus by the UP Board of Regents (BOR) at its 1344th meeting on Apr. 29.
Dalisay
Dalisay retired as a Professor of English and Creative Writing at the
University of the Philippines, where he also chaired the English
department and served as Director of the UP Institute of Creative
Writing and Vice President for Public Affairs.
Dalisay published more than 30 books of fiction and nonfiction; his
second novel, “Soledad’s Sister,” was shortlisted for the inaugural Man
Asian Literary Prize in 2007. He is a Palanca Hall of Fame, TOYM, and
CCP Centennial Honors List awardee, and the Jose Y. Dalisay Jr.
Professorial Chair in Creative Writing has been endowed in his name.
According to the “UP Diliman Faculty Manual,”
professor emeritus, a title for life, is conferred upon retired faculty
members in recognition of their exceptional achievement and exemplary
service to the University. They remain in the faculty roster, giving
current students, junior faculty members and researchers the chance to
be mentored by these esteemed teachers and scholars.
Benefits for professors emeriti include a 1-time monetary award of P150,000, lifetime library privileges, UP Health Service privileges and free admission to cultural shows in UP, among others. Those who conduct researches and creative works are given P250,000 annually net of tax. —Haidee C. Pineda
The Government of Japan announced on May 21, 2019 the conferment of The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star on Ambassador Delia Domingo Albert, former foreign secretary, in recognition of her contribution to strengthening the economic relations between Japan and the Philippines.
Ambassador Delia Domingo Albert
When she was foreign secretary in 2003 to 2004, she took an initiative of the negotiation of Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA), which later greatly contributed to the enhancement of the economic relationship between the Philippines and Japan, especially in the area of people exchange.
She also contributed to the promotion of inviting Japanese private sectors in the Philippines in mining industry when she served as Presidential Advisor for Multilateral Cooperation and Development in 2004 to 2005.
Furthermore, as a senior advisor of Sycip Gorres Velayo & Co., she has being supporting the Japanese companies in the Philippines in a various ways.
The government of Japan extends its sincere congratulations to Ambassador Albert, and hopes that he will continue to take an active role in further strengthening the close relations between our two nations.
Cebu City, Philippines—When she was a kid, Cebuana beauty queen Karla Bautista-Siao dreamt of becoming a lawyer.
Karla Bautista-Siao: From beauty queen to lawyer. | contributed photos
“I am fascinated about law and I wanted to be the voice for the voiceless,” she told Cebu Daily News Digital.
Twenty-six years later, that childhood dream came true.
Last May 3, 2019, Karla’s name came out as among the 1,800 examinees who passed the recent Bar Examination.
The 1,800 examinees are equivalent to 22.07 percent of the 8,158
examinees who took the examination which was done in four Sundays in
November 2018.
The big day
According to the 34-year-old beauty-queen-turned-lawyer, she already saw signs that she would pass the Bar Examination.
She shared that prior to the release of the results, she saw Mama Mary in her dreams last April 28, Sunday.
The second sign came a day before the results were released, when her
her 7-year-old daughter handed her a plastic rose. Siao believed that
the rose was a symbol of intercession from Saint Padre Pio and Saint
Therese of the Child Jesus.
“That (rose) was an assurance na dili ko mag doubt (the results of the examination),” she added.
(That rose was an assurance for me not to doubt the results of the examinations.)
Siao learned that she became a lawyer while she accompanied her 7 seven-year-old daughter for an ear check-up in a clinic.
She received a photo from her friend which was sent via Messenger. She had no idea that it was a screenshot of the results.
“Dili pa mo load ang photo (The photo did not load). After my friend congratulated me, I assumed that I passed the examination,” she said.
It did not sink in first that she passed the Bar Examination since she had to focus on her daughter at the clinic.
Everything sinked in when she went back home after her daughter’s check-up.
The journey to her dream
It took Siao seven years to finish Mass Communication at the
University of the Philippines (UP) Cebu since she had to stop going to
school twice.
First, when she lost her mother in 2002 and second when she fulfilled
her dream to become a beauty queen and was crowned Miss Cebu in 2003.
Siao had to join Miss Cebu 2003 since she also wanted to fulfill her mother’s dream to become a beauty queen.
She then joined Binibining Pilipinas 2004 and became the country’s official representative in Miss World 2004 in Sanya, China.
Before competing for Miss World 2004, she underwent surgery because of an ovarian cyst.
Siao brought pride to the country after finishing Top 5 and earned the title Miss World 2004 Queen of Asia and Oceana.
After that, she continued to pursue her dream to become a lawyer.
“The dream was still there to become a lawyer,” Siao said after the height of her pageant career.
She earned her degree in Mass Communication in 2008 and later on worked as a flight attendant in an international airline.
It was part of the plan to work since she had to help her family and
at the same time a chance for her to save up for Law School.
In 2011 or three years after working as a flight attendant, she went back to Cebu and married Merrick Siao.
The couple is blessed with two daughters, aged 7 and 3 years old. Currently, she is six months pregnant to a baby boy.
After marriage, she helped her husband, Merrick, run a spa business in Cebu.
In 2013, she continued her childhood dream and enrolled for Law
School at the University of San Carlos (USC) and graduated in 2018.
Law school was not an easy journey for her.
She had to undergo a major operation on her first year because of adhesion of intestine. In 2014, her father passed away.
The law school also had to wait on her third year when she got
pregnant and underwent another surgery for adhesion during the cesarean
delivery of her second child.
Siao started reviewing for the Bar around August 2018. She had to
balance her time between reviewing in Manila and coming back to Cebu to
attend to her daughters.
Women with substance
After passing the Bar Examination, Siao wants to practice being a lawyer.
“I want to find an opportunity where I can expand public service,” she said.
Siao was not the only beauty queen who passed the recent Bar Examination.
Patricia Magtanong, one of the Binibining Pilipinas 2019 candidates,
also made it as part of the 22.07 percent passing population.
Siao said that there is now a paradigm shift to beauty queens.
“Not just their physical looks but people are now looking to beauty queens as women with substance,” she said.
Siao advised the beauty queens to pursue their advocacy.
“It has become a challenge. Beauty queens should not just have pretty faces but also serve their purpose,” she said. /bmjo
Emmanuel Bautista (BS Chemical Engineering, magna cum laude, 1986) is taking LF Logistics and its supply chain operation to the next level.
LF Logistics is on a mission to create the supply chain of the future. Part of a three-year plan launched by its parent supply chain company Li & Fung, it aims to satisfy customers in the digital economy. Continue reading →
Mindanao-based artist Kublai Millan is giving happiness to various forms in his massive, colorful sculpture pieces
Kublai Millan decided to make his art big so that people would start taking notice
A 25-foot durian greets arriving passengers at the Davao International Airport. Besides Giant Durian Genesis Lore, there are more of these around Mindanao. Artist Kublai Millan has created larger-than-life monuments set in parks, churches and landscapes. His sculptures demand passers-by to pause and pay attention. Among them are the statue of Sultan Kudarat in his namesake province the Risen Christ in Tagum, Davao Del Norte, and the roundabout depicting interfaith unity among indigenous peoples, Muslim and Christians at Surallah, South Cotabato.
Kublai Millan carves his name behind the easily recognizable monuments, murals and paintings depicting unique Mindanawon themes. The multi-awarded artist makes ten monuments a year. “Dahil walang pumapansin sa’kin, ginawa kong malaki ang art ko,” he says of his works.
Visa Rejected
Sometime in the mid 90’s, Kublai ventured to Manila and took up Visual Communication in UP Diliman. He went into advertising after graduation but quickly realized it was not to be his path; what stayed constant was his desire to go back to his native Mindanao.
“I came home hounded by personal demons, unable to escape the dark nights of my soul,” shares Kublai of his rough homecoming. To quiet the noise within, he turned to art for catharsis, creating the looming works at Ponce Suites—a family owned four-storey hotel-cum-gallery that is home to thousands of art pieces. The works around the place are the result of his artistic journey. He tried everything, from painting to photography, to myriad installations. The hotel is now widely-known in the international backpackers’ circuit as the only gallery you can sleep in.
One particular incident that determined the scale of his works was when he applied for a US visa for an exhibit. “Perhaps because of my Muslim sounding middle name, Mudjahid, I was denied. I then vowed to make sculptures bigger and taller than the biggest American,” Kublai shares.
Sabong, Kublai Millan
Personal Demons Purged by Art
Kublai uses his larger-than-life works to convey a specific message. His Ground Zero monuments are an offering to victims of Typhoon Yolanda in Leyte and Typhoon Pablo in Compostela Valley.
Kublai has always fought not just for Mindanawon representation, but for the reclaiming of the Philippine identity through rediscovering our roots: “Behind the art are the indigenous country’s wisdom. Finding the indigenous self may give us a better view. Malaking bagay na makilala ito. Hindi sapat ang pagsabi ng Pilipino ako kung hindi natin ito kilala.”
His closeness with the indigenous peoples is not just cerebral. During a time of personal strife when he almost lost his life, Kublai knew he needed to flee. He stayed for months in remote tribal areas of Mindanao, Palawan and Camiguin. “This was what I call my Hermitage Period. I lived as a monk,” says Kublai. His encounters prompted him to reconnect with his roots. “Every time I talk to an elder or datu, I realized how important rootedness is.”
He eventually settled in a remote area of Kapatagan in Davao Del Sur. “It was around 2005 that I built the Agong House. Agong means ‘gong.’ I built it because I discovered that to vibrate from within, you have to hit yourself hard to create the most beautiful sound.” In 2007, he created Buddha in Buda, a 70-foot seated Buddha in the middle of sprawling mountains at the boundary of Bukidnon and Davao—hence the name Bu-Da. “I was finally finding my middle path.”
Surallah Tri-people Monument by Kublai Millan, South Catabato
Earth Over Air
Finding love in 2003 bore him two sons. It led the artist to gravitate towards projects like the Children of Peace Park in North Cotabato. He had begun to find a measure of peace. “I saw the need to build on the ground so that my children can be grounded, literally and figuratively. [I wanted them to] roam and play, and touch dirt.”
His children were then living in the open-air penthouse of Ponce Suites. “In the penthouse, it was like their lives were floating on air and that’s not good. So I settled on some land in Ma-a where I built my home.”
Kublai’s current residence in Ma-a, Davao is his living space, studio, garden, and farm rolled into one. This is where he breathes life into his monuments, in a backyard workshop filled with wood, steel and repurposed objects.
Mangingisa, Kublai Millan
Mastering the Darkness
His creative explorations in the physical, mental and spiritual realms led to the current themes of Probinsaya, Dalisaya and Galaktika. This was the starting point of his artistic journey to get to where he is now.
The triptych, unveiled at ManilArt 2017 as Kapalipayapaan, captures the sum total of his sojourn thus far. Each title has “happiness” or “saya” snuck in, much like the vibrancy of Kublai’s chosen colors and each painting’s respective message. Probinsaya focuses on ordinary people living happy lives. He refers to this painting as “people looking at each other.”
Dalisaya is “looking down,” reflecting the posture of bowing to see the minute details that are not normally noticed. It captures how he felt when his art was finally flourishing. Galaktika is “looking upward,” painting the stars. Kublai believes that “the right to paint anything that only the imagination can limit is a right to be earned only after an artistic journey.”
Kublai continues to find peace in the continuous artistic endeavors, in his work with the communities, and with his fellow Mindanawon artists. The darkest of times, he believes, have passed; he continuous soul searching now reaps the complex joy of tireless creation.
Fernando Amorsolo accepted Araceli Dans in the College of Fine Arts while she was still a high school senior and allowed her to graduate in three years so she could pursue her painting career which now spans 80 years
Despite pushing 90, Araceli Limcaco Dans continues to paint with vibrancy and enthusiasm. “Imagination ko ‘yan lahat (That’s all my imagination),” she says, referring to her masterfully rendered scenarios of women in traditional Filipiniana.
“I started when I was eight years old,” she recounts. “I was drawing; I did not paint yet then. As a painter, I started by playing.” When asked about her earliest influences, she replies, “Mickey Mouse.”
Filipina artist Araceli Dans is pushing 90 but continues to paint
Art as Necessity
Her sense of humor and humility belie the difficulties she experienced early in life. War, parental separation, and assuming the role of breadwinner were part of her growing years.
Her talents, however, served her well. She possessed skills well beyond her years, and was enrolled as the only child in a program full of adults under Angela Fernandez at Santa Rosa College. She made the most out of her circumstances by drawing propaganda comics during the Japanese occupation. As a senior high school student at the Philippine Women’s University, she made ends meet by drawing commissioned portraits of American soldiers.
Araceli Dans, Ani (mixed media) 58×48 2008
College in Three Years
She also created oil portraits of her dormmates for twenty pesos each, an unfathomable price for a Dans painting today. Cheloy, as she is known to family and friends, recalls, “I was the only one earning money from the paintings I made. I paid for the rent, I paid for my schooling, and I paid for the schooling of my two sisters. I had to work hard not just because I loved what I’m doing, but because I also needed to earn money.”
While she was still a high school senior, Fernando Amorsolo allowed her to enroll at the School of Fine Arts at the University of the Philippines in Diliman. The National Artist, then the school’s director, took the precocious Cheloy under his tutelage, letting her graduate in three years instead of the usual four. “He did that so I could work straightaway. Sabi niya, ‘Hindi na kita papahirapin (He said he wouldn’t make it hard for me). You were advanced when you came in.’ When I was a freshman, he put me in senior classes.”
Araceli Dans, 2003
Painting Laceworks
Cheloy’s talent and hard work have paid off exponentially: she is an artistic treasure who has been considered for National Artist herself numerous times, having reaped awards throughout the span of her career, including the CCP’s Centennial Awards, Citizen’s Award for Television, and the Mariang Maya Award.
After well over 100 group and solo exhibitions both here and abroad, the life and works of Cheloy have been compiled in a coffee table book and in a retrospective exhibit at the Ayala Museum.
Perhaps her most iconic works are her masterful depictions of calados, intricate white patterned embroidery on pineapple fiber, often associated with 19th century Filipina sophisticates.
Araceli Dans, Looking In 1 and 2
Art in Trash
The artist is not afraid of pushing boundaries; she dabbled in different media, from oil to watercolor, and even paper pulp. Her home and studio are filled with her artistic ventures into different styles, such as modern art and bas-relief. Of her 1994 Flowers and Lace exhibit at the Ville Musée Fragonard in Grasse, southeastern France, she says that she chose watercolor as her medium to showcase something that “even the French, with their Louvre, are not as comfortable with.”
She sees art in everything. A work entitled Dakilang Basura is a realistic watercolor painting of a crumpled piece of cardboard on the ground. Cheloy is able to breathe life even into this mundane subject. “Pati sa basura, meron din namang istorya. Favorite ‘to ni BenCab (Even garbage has a story. That’s Bencab’s favorite).”
A vintage photograph of Araceli Dans doing what she does best
Mother of Ten
Cheloy found love at UP Diliman. She married civil engineering student Jose “Totoy” Dans Jr. in 1950 and went on to have ten children in eleven years. Full-time motherhood might have been the death of a painting career, but she said, “I just painted at night.” Mixing motherhood and painting came naturally to her, as did encouraging her children to think creatively through play.
“We were living here since 1961,” she says of their residence. “There would be a line of blackboards for children on a rainy day. Gustong gusto din nila magsulat. Kung wala kang blackboard, susulat sila sa wall with pentel pen, so you have all the konsumisyon (They liked to write. If there were no blackboards, they would write on the walls with pentel pen so you would have aggravations) ,” she laughs.
Araceli Dans, The Raincoat (ivatan vakul) acrylic on canvas (24×30) 2007
Painting to Survive
Cheloy is eager to teach, as well as to continually learn. She is generous with her advice to aspiring artists, passing down the wisdom of Amorsolo to, for instance, her physical therapist and her gardener—both of whom have progressed as artists because of her guidance. Because of her skill as an artist and teacher, she was a highly-regarded art teacher at Ateneo Grade School, as well as a lecturer for the graduate schools of Ateneo and La Salle, and the pioneer of the Fine Arts Department in her alma mater, the Philippine Women’s University.
The fame and recognition that Cheloy has garnered is only secondary to a dedication to improving her craft. Art is still very much a necessity to her now, as it was when she was a young girl trying to earn for her family.
“I can never stop painting. I would die if I stopped painting I should paint for as long I have my eyes and my mind and my thoughts. It’s like eating. It’s like breathing. You must paint to survive.”
Five alumni of the University of the Philippines have been named National Artists for 2018, achieving the highest honors given to practitioners in the arts and culture. Continue reading →
LAPU-LAPU CITY, Cebu — Dr. Gay Jane Perez was a postdoctoral fellow at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the United States when she realized how much data can be culled from satellite images. Continue reading →
Times have changed; things are done differently today.
Smart LTE posted speeds of almost 300 Mbps at the Sunken Garden.
Studying, for example, is no longer limited to classroom lessons, books, pen, and paper. Students can now attend live webcast lectures and download notes posted by their professors online. Projects and other school requirements are submitted via email. Reviewing for a quiz? It’s easy with a mobile device and a reliable internet connection.
At the University of the Philippines Diliman, there’s an online course management system called the University Virtual Learning Environment, or UVLê. It allows instructors to create online spaces for their classes to support and supplement classroom instruction.
“Most of our classes involve online submission,” says Moira Cruz, a 4th year Civil Engineering student. “It’s like online classes.”
Professors post slides and online quizzes on UVLê, adds Gabrielle Seva, who is in 5th year in Industrial Engineering. “So it is important to have a fast and reliable internet connection, especially if you have to email something right away,” she says.
Fortunately, Smart Communications has been upgrading its LTE sites in Metro Manila and other parts of the country to improve customers’ mobile data experience.
Seva notes that Smart LTE has a strong signal anywhere on campus. “Connection is always at full bar…very reliable,” she says.
Other students find it difficult to get a connection on the fourth floor of the College of Engineering building, but not Sellina Sy. The graduating Materials Engineering student reports that her Smart mobile data has never let her down whenever she needs to access the internet—even when she’s at the Engineering Thinking Space, a study area on the fourth floor.
Nicole Tan keeps her mobile data turned on. “I use it everywhere on campus. I use it to access resources and communicate with my friends,” says the 5th year student majoring in Industrial Engineering.
“It is definitely easier for our generation to access information because we have it at the palm of our hands. It’s easy compared to when my parents were studying. They had to go to the library to get information. With mobile data, we can just access it through our phone,” she notes.
In this information generation, students are also able to express their opinions and start campaigns if they want to, according to Sy.
This is exactly what all four Engineering students have been doing, together with other members of the UP Women in Engineering, an organization promoting the interest, competence, and leadership of Filipino women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM).
“We noticed that in the Philippines, the STEM field is male-dominated,” says Seva. She adds that she has personal knowledge of cases of discrimination against women in certain courses.
“UP Women in Engineering started last year. We believe that women and men should be given the equal chance to work in the STEM field. It is a matter of empowerment,” adds Sy.
“We started an empowerment series, a career talk for senior high school students to promote the science and engineering field,” says Cruz. The group is trying to correct the notion that STEM is a very tough field and that it is mainly for men.
“Soon we’re going to all-girls schools like Miriam and Poveda,” says Cruz.
They use Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to announce events and projects.
Also in the pipeline is the Female Friday project, wherein they would feature a Filipina in the STEM field on their Facebook page every Friday. “We hope to reach out to more young Filipinas and inspire them to take up the field,” explains Tan.
The org also recently launched its official brand, I AM. It has its own Facebook page where updates on an incoming product line will be posted.
“It’s mostly merchandise that has empowering words and promotes feminism, ecology and body positivity,” says Cruz.
Having access to mobile data facilitates information dissemination and widens their reach, Tan and Cruz agree.
No other generation of learners has this powerful tool at their disposal, and as these students are discovering, it is a key to success.
Josefa Llanes Escoda, founder of the Girl Scouts of the Philippines, has been honoured in the Google Doodle for September 20, 2018. Continue reading →
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