scenes from the u.p. college of arts and letters 2008 graduation rites, u.p. cal hardin ng mga diwata (26 april 2008)

u.p. college of arts and letters associate dean for academic affairs jose wendell capili, dean and national artist for literature virgilio s. almario and associate dean for administration regina banaag gochuico at the u.p. college of arts and letters-philippine daily inquirer room
(anril pineda tiatco)

u.p. arts and letters associate dean for research, extension and creative works maria corazon aspeli castro, college secretary teodoro maranan, spanish professor teresita alcantara, asst. university registrar heidy emily eusebio abad, associate dean for academic affairs jose wendell capili and dulaang u.p. co-artistic director alexander cortes
(anril pineda tiatco)

rising stars:u.p. theater arts faculty members dexter santos and anril pineda tiatco
(anril pineda tiatco)

popular arts and letters professors anril pineda tiatco, outgoing asst. college secretary erica jan enriquez valerio, outgoing dulaang u.p. managing director teresa paula sangil-de luna and u.p. sentro ng wikang filipino director galileo zafra
(anril pineda tiatco)

the view from the faculty center
(anril pineda tiatco)

MAGDANGAL
by national artist for sculpture napoleon abueva

u.p. arts and letters associate dean for research, development and creative works maria corazon aspeli castro announcing the winners of the 2008 best thesis awards, assisted by associate dean for academic affairs jose wendell capili, associate dean for administration regina banaag gochuico and dean / national artist virgilio s. almario

dulaang u.p. co-artistic director and professor alexander cortes

dulaang u.p. performers

prizewinning writer-professors jose y. dalisay jr. (former u.p. vice president for public affairs), cristina pantoja hidalgo (u.p. system vice president for public affairs), victor emmanuel "vim" nadera (u.p. institute of creative writing director) and virgilio s. almario (u.p. arts and letters dean and national artist)

u.p. arts and letters associate dean for administration regina banaag gochuico

dulaang u.p.'s theater arts majors performed awe-inspiring numbers throughout the graduation rites

metrobank outstanding teacher awardee, former u.p. open university humanities/social sciences dean, and former u.p. system avp for public affairs priscelina patajo legasto

prof. anril pineda tiatco, prof. winnie legaspi and mr. archie gineta emceeing the ceremonies leading to the first public display of national artist napoleon abueva's sculptural piece MAGDANGAL, described by many observers as the female counterpart of guillermo tolentino's THE OBLATION (2008)

opening number by u.p. cal speech communication majors encouraging words from u.p. arts and letters dean and national artist for literature virgilio s. almario

u.p. arts and letters (b.a. speech and drama) alumnus tony gloria

ed manguiat and the u.p. singing ambassadors

u.p. diliman registrar pamela cruz constantino and prof. jovi peregrino
filipino department staff susan alcantara, sentro ng wikang filipino director leo zafra and u.p. cal pre-graduation rites emcee winnie legaspi (right after costume change)
master of ceremonies celia tobia bulan and niel kenneth jamandre
u.p. arts and letters secretary teodoro maranan, arts and letters student angelo pascual (slated to appear in BOY, his screen debut, directed by the highly-acclaimed auraeus solito), associate dean for academic affairs jose wendell capili, and dean / national artist virgilio s. almario awarding medals, diplomas and other prizes to graduating b.a., m.a. and phd students

remembering robin and joven

when i arrived in manila from my studies overseas, i was shocked to discover that some of my mentors, relatives, colleagues, friends and even students passed on. i reckon, my mom was very careful not to keep me posted about these. perhaps, she knew that news about certain people passing on may affect the progress of my dissertation writing.

these past few months, my grieving was aggravated by the death of two colleagues in the university: robinson (robin) soria and juvenal (joven) velasco.

robin is a professor of art education at the u.p. college of education. he also served as college secretary for more than a decade. robin and i sat in many college and university committees involving student affairs. robin also required many students from his college to take my classes in philippine literature in english, creative writing: nonfiction, creative writing: poetry, literature of japan, introduction to creative writing, literature, society and the individual, and asian emporiums: networks of culture and trade in southeast asia. he was close particularly to seňor teodoro maranan, the college secretary of the u.p. college of arts and letters.

on the other hand, joven taught film at the u.p. college of mass communication. we shared many friends from the philippine film industry, especially leo abaya (producton designer), joji alonso antonio (producer), jeffrey jeturian (director), armando lao (screenwriter), ellen ongkeko marfil (director). he is also close to theater and literary luminaries like liza magtoto (playwright) and jovita zarate (poet).

other than these connections, i think robin and joven became my friends because we taught nearly the same set of students every semester. through them, i confirmed the importance of connecting to every student in class. not too many teachers are encouraging to students these days, robin and joven would say. eventually, i realized that i should always allow my students to work on their strengths, and to overcome their weaknesses.

as teachers, robin and joven insisted that students work best within a positive learning environment. now that they are gone, i will do my best to continue their mission by spreading the good message around.

benitez hall (u.p. college of education)

plaridel hall (u.p. college of mass communication)