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UP
gears up with first live system-wide lecture
BOR approves Diploma in Bioethics
IN WAKE OF IMPENDING FISCAL CRISIS: ‘Gov’t
economic measures don’t sell’
UPV alumnus appointed DAR Secretary
UP Pep Squad still number 2
UP
gears up with first live system-wide lecture
IN FULFILLMENT OF the University of the Philippines’ aim
of advancement in education and communication through state-of-the-art
technology, President Francisco Nemenzo delivered via videoconference
the first fully interactive lecture to different constituent universities
all over the country last September 8 at the PLDT Multimedia Lecture
Hall of the Electrical and Electronics Engineering Bldg. in UP Diliman.
The historic lecture, titled “Marxism
in our Time,” made use of the newly-acquired videoconferencing
facilities, which enable real-time interaction between the academic
communities of UP Baguio, UP Manila, UP Cebu, UP Open University, UP
Miag-ao, and UP Mindanao. The event was also made available online through
web streaming on the UP website.
A project of the Diliman Interactive
Learning Center (DILC) in cooperation with the UP Computer Center and
the Department of Political Science, the lecture was conceptualized
to complement the social science curriculum, particularly courses touching
on Marxism.
In his lecture, Nemenzo encouraged students
to “read Marx in his own words,” and study the “Marxism
of Marx,” saying that there is much to learn from the writings
of the great thinker. “I urge the intellectually curious and critically
thinking UP student to read the works of Karl Marx, because they can
help you understand the epoch of globalization and the age of information
technology,” he said.
Though not the first project of its
kind, the system-wide lecture is, thus far, the biggest ever mounted,
according to Dr. Celia T. Adriano, DILC director. “There were
already efforts to use this technology, but they were on a smaller scale,”
she said. Video-conferencing had also been used to simulcast the UP
Foundation Day celebrations last June 18.
The lecture, plans for which had been
made as early as April, will be reproduced in CD form for distribution
to the different CUs. “It’s a way of standardizing the delivery
of a particular lecture, and making it available to all the CUs,”
Adriano said. She expressed the hope that such an alternative teaching
method will catch on among the faculty. “The technology is motivating
to the students, and hopefully through this exposure, other faculty
members will be encouraged to try it,” she added. “It’s
a way of modeling the integration of technology into the way we teach
and also a way of building up the capabilities of our technical people,
as well as our academics.”
Along with plans to utilize the technology
in the instruction of Science Technology and Society courses, the DILC
is organizing another online lecture for December, with Prof. Felipe
Miranda of the Department of Political Science and Prof. Randy David
and Dr. Walden Bello of the Department of Sociology as possible lecturers.
BOR
approves Diploma in Bioethics
THE
UP DILIMAN Department of Philosophy and the UP Manila Social Medicine
Unit have joined forces to institute the first formal academic training
program on ethical issues related to health sciences and biomedical
research in the Philippines and in the Asia Pacific Region (except Australia
and New Zealand)—the Diploma in Bioethics.
Approved by the Board of Regents (BOR)
in its 1182nd meeting last May 27, the diploma program will be offered
starting this second semester of Academic Year 2004-2005.
The Diploma in Bioethics, according
to its proponents, “seeks to provide sufficient grounding in ethical
theory, develop skills in ethical analysis, and enhance understanding
of the socio-political and cultural environment of ethics and research.”
Bioethics covers a wide range of moral issues arising from cloning,
organ donation and transplantation, privacy and confidentiality in doctor-patient
relationship, euthanasia and suicide, abortion, and HIV/AIDS, among
many others.
“Bioethics,” stated the
proponents in the proposal submitted to the BOR, “is relatively
a new practical field that is anchored on the systematic and rigorous
nature of academic inquiry.” Two major conditions gave rise to
bioethics. The first was the introduction and sustained utilization
of advanced biomedical technologies in the second half of the 20th century,
which reinvigorated discussions on ancient and contemporary ethical
issues such as those that concern euthanasia, abortion, and frozen human
embryos. And the second is the increasing attention given to moral implications
of scientific research, which has dramatically raised the professional
participation of philosophers in interdisciplinary pursuits that address
common concerns such as those arising from health care and biomedical
research.
IN
WAKE OF IMPENDING FISCAL CRISIS
‘Gov’t economic measures don’t sell’
GOVERNMENT PRESENTED ITS economic plans for the next six years—including
controversial proposals for new taxes—and the academe found them
wanting, both in substance and in how they are being “sold”
to legislators and the general public. Such was the scenario during
an academe-meets-government forum last September 9 at the Pulungang
Claro M. Recto, Bulwagang Rizal of UP Diliman.
With the Philippines’ economic
policies as its focus, the UP Third World Studies Center and Department
of Political Science invited National Economic and Development Authority
Secretary Romulo Neri, Budget and Management Undersecretary Mario Relampagos,
Finance Undersecretary Maria Gracia Pulido-Tan, and Trade and Industry
Undersecretary Elmer Hernandez to present the government’s economic
plans. Economics professors Ma. Socorro Gochoco-Bautista of UP Dili-man
and Cristina Morales of Ateneo de Manila University, and Political Science
professor Amado Mendoza Jr. gave their reactions to the presentations
of the government panel.
Both panels agreed that a fiscal crisis—a
situation where the state no longer has the means to finance its operations—was
indeed imminent in two to three years if the current fiscal situation
continues to worsen. Both also seemed convinced of the need for government
to increase its revenues through taxes and cost-saving measures.
However, the panel representing the
academe, particularly Bautista, scored the government panel over the
statistical assumptions they made for the country to justify the economic
measures they are proposing for Congress to approve. Bautista asked
whether they were the same figures government used to convince its creditors
about its fiscal capabilities because they only served to give the impression
that government does not need new taxes. Economists feel that legislators
and the general public do not yet fully appreciate the gravity of the
situation and the Palace is unable to make people see this. Bautista
also questioned the intelligence behind such government measure as tax
amnesty in exchange for submission of Statement of Assets and Liabilities.
After the BIR undersecretary presented their tax collection targets,
the academe panel said they were way too low considering the gravity
of the fiscal problem.
Bautista is one of the so-called “UP
11,” a group of UP economics professors who presented to government
and the public last August a paper which warned of an imminent economic
crisis, out of a desire to make the public aware of the gravity of the
country’s fiscal problem which they said was serious enough to
cause economic collapse in two to three years. The UP paper disproves
that cost-cutting, curbing graft and corruption, and pursuing tax evaders
would be enough to stem the crisis. “Tax measures are needed but
are not a substitute for anything,” Bautista said.
The issue of “booty capitalism”
also came up, with Secretary Neri saying that it is one of the vicious
cycles against which government policies in the next six years are directed.
Neri hinted that the country’s oligarchs were the first and foremost
to oppose tax measures being proposed by government such as those for
sin products, medicine, telecommunications, and power. It can be recalled
that in 1997, with the passage of the Comprehensive Tax Reform Package,
the country’s “tax effort” declined. In one of its
provisions, corporations enjoyed a cut in their tax rates along with
other numerous tax incentives.
According to the paper of UP 11 with
the title “The Deepening Crisis: The Real Score on Deficits and
the Public Debt” (Emmanuel de Dios, Benjamin Diokno, Emmanuel
Esguerra, Raul Fabella, Gochoco-Bautista, Felipe Medalla, Solita Monsod,
Ernesto Pernia, Renato Reside Jr., Gerardo Sicat, and Edita Tan), “the
two largest failures that have led to the present critical state of
public finances are, first, the failure of the tax structure and bureaucracy,
and second, the inefficiency and lack of accountability on the part
of public corporations.” One of these corporations is the National
Power Corp., whose huge debts have been assumed by government.
UPV
alumnus appointed DAR Secretary
ATTY. RENE C. Villa, the University of the Philippines in the
Visayas 2004 Outstanding Professional Jubilarian in the Field of Law,
was recently appointed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to the highest
post in the Department of Agrarian Reform.
With
the exception of his high school, Villa is a product of the public school
system having graduated from UP in the Visayas where he earned his Bachelor
of Arts, major in Political Science in 1974 and UP Diliman where he
finished Bachelor of Laws in 1978. These, he acknowledges, were the
breeding ground for the broadmindedness that he imbibed both personally
and professionally.
After
earning his law degree, he embarked on a lucrative practice starting
at Villafuerte, Zamora and Associates law firm. He later became a founding
member of the law firm of Carpio, Villaraza, Barza, Cruz and Rosell
where he learned the ropes as far as running such an office was concerned.
He later formed his own firm, Villa and Partners in Iloilo City, which
specialized in corporate law. At the same time, he served as lecturer
and professor of Law in local universities. From 1991 to 1993, Atty.
Villa was Integrated Bar of the Philippines’ Governor and concurrent
Vice President for Western Visayas of the IBP House of Delegates.
He
answered the call of public service in 1999 when he was appointed by
then Pres. Joseph Estrada as Presidential Assistant for Western Visayas.
He was reappointed to the same position by Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
from January 23, 2001 until his appointment as Regional Development
Officer for Western Visayas on February 18, 2002. Atty. Villa notes,
“This work requires insights and understanding of what makes some
areas of the country very poor and what those who have been exposed
to better systems can do about it. Some areas do need miracles but others
simply need the attention of government to solve their problems regarding
roads, access to communication, and basic services.”
Villa
says he wants “to focus on projects and activities that would
serve the Filipinos well, thus remaining true to the UP vision of the
‘iskolar ng bayan’ and thereby answering his destiny: service
to the people”. (A. R. RAMIREZ With sources from Sec.
Villa’s Staff)
UP
Pep Squad still number 2
BETTER LUCK NEXT time. The UP Pep Squad again settled
for the second spot in the University Athletics Association of the Philippines
cheerdance competition last September 12 at the Araneta Coliseum.
Despite
their best efforts which involved several complicated routines, the
UP cheerdancers still fell three points short of the defending champion,
the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Salinggawi Dance Troupe. Third place
went to the Far Eastern University cheering squad. (ARLYN
VCD PALISOC ROMUALDO)
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