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News & Announcements
UPOU Alumni gathers for first social event
UPOU Alumni gather for the first social event.
The UPOU Alumni Association, Inc. (UPOUAAI) conducted its first-ever Alumni Social Event, titled Coming Home: Reuniting, Reviving, and Rebuilding, on 28 February 2025 at the UPOU Headquarters, Los Baños, Laguna.
The event aimed to bring together alumni from different fields and generations to celebrate their successes while exploring ways to foster meaningful engagement with students, fellow alumni, and UPOU’s ongoing initiatives.
More photos on UPOU FB post
Source: UP Open University (UPOU) Facebook
2025 UPCM Grand Alumni Homecoming launches ‘DOS MILenyong Pagtanaw; DOS MILyong Pasasalamat’
It was a moment of reminiscing and reconnecting with old friends as various generations of the College of Medicine (UPCM) filled the hall of the Museum of a History of Ideas (MHI) for the launch of the 2025 UPCM Grand Alumni Homecoming on Jan. 15, 2025.
Organized by UPCM, the UP Medical Alumni Society (UPMAS), and the UPCM Silver Jubilarians Class of 2000 “Team Itim,” the launch saw former classmates and friends swapping tales of milestones and important life events in between raffle draws, video presentations, and heartfelt speeches.
UPCM Dean Charlotte Chiong congratulated the attendees and inspired them to support the college by sponsoring its scholarship programs and projects, especially as it celebrates its 120th anniversary.
Philippine General Hospital (PGH) Director Gerardo Legaspi reminded the attendees to maintain camaraderie and to support fellow alumni in notable endeavors. UPMAS President Dr. Krisinda Jamora acknowledged the contributions of the alumni in sharing their expertise to improve health outcomes of the nation.
Meanwhile, Chancellor Michael Tee encouraged the physicians to continue providing quality services to Filipinos with the help of fellow alumni and the institution.
Themed “DOS MILenyong Pagtanaw; DOS MILyong Pasasalamat,” the homecoming ball is slated on December following a series of related events: a homecoming parade, golf tournaments, and a scientific symposium.
Source: University of the Philippines Manila Facebook
UP alumni association donates piglets to Aurora community
The University of the Philippines (UP) Kalilayan deems the Neil Eria Educational Discussion Series (Needs) 2024 edition, also known as “Bigkis: An Outreach Program and Workshop on Livestock Management,” for the Alta community of Barangay Diteki, San Luis, Aurora a success.
The event at the community’s tribal hall on Dec. 20, 2024, capped off several months’ worth of planning.
With the support of the UP Kalilayan Alumni Association or UPKAA and multiple anonymous donors as sponsors, the organization was able to raise funds to facilitate the acquisition of four piglets, two male and two female, all sourced locally from Maria Aurora, Aurora, as an early Christmas gift to the Alta community.
During this event, UP Kalilayan turned over these piglets to the Alta locals, assigning a pair each to the care of each cluster and providing a week’s worth of starter feeds to help ease the transition.
The event was made possible with the cooperation and assistance of the local government of Aurora, especially the Sangguniang Kabataan of Barangay Diteki, San Luis and the Provincial Veterinary Office of Aurora.
Agricultural Center chief Bienvenido Ritual and government veterinarian Philip Francis Casao were guest speakers, who, through their educational talks, shared their expertise on animal husbandry and livestock farming, as well as helpful advice to the Alta locals to aid in their hog-raising venture.
Source: https://www.manilatimes.net/2025/01/13/tmt-newswire/up-alumni-association-donates-piglets-to-aurora-community
Alumni support livens TLRC Peer Tutorial Program
The Peer Tutorial program of the University of the Philippines Visayas (UPV) Teaching and Learning Resource Center continues its operations as alumni sponsors donate a total of PhP 73, 319.80 through the sponsor-a-tutee program of the TLRC.
The Peer Tutorial Program is one of the programs of the TLRC wherein student tutors are given the opportunity to mentor their fellow students. In return for their service, they are given an honoraria shelled out from the donations of alumni groups.
While the Peer Tutorial Program has been existing since the establishment of the TLRC, the initiative to find means to sponsor the tutorial fee for tutors started in 2019, an initiative that revitalized the program.
Since then, student tutees were able to avail free tutorial services without shelling out money on their own as their tutorial fees are covered by the TLRC.
By tapping a new set of alumni, present TLRC director Prof. Christi Florence C. Cala-or along with the TLRC aims that potential students would volunteer to become part of the growing TLRC Peer Tutorial Program aiming to enrich the learning experience of UPV students.
Written by Yan Esquivel
Source: University of the Philippines Visayas Facebook
UP Fine Arts exhibit, “Doon po sa amin”, draws on PH battle in WPS
PRESS RELEASE | Filipino gymnast Carlos Yulo’s twin gold medal-win in the 2024 Paris Olympics will long be remembered as a historic feat for the Philippines. But what was a truly magical moment for a hard-earned victory quickly turned into an emotional trigger to a deep cultural divide, in a society where social media has the power to polarize people.
Hyperactive netizens, at first glued to the curious case of Alice Guo and her links to illegal Philippine Offshore Gambling Operations or POGOs, shifted their short attention span to the Yulo Family saga and found themselves torn between euphoria and disappointment. Once national obsession over the new golden boy’s family drama waned, the spotlight turned to Vice President Sara being a “shining example of a bad public servant” amid the deepening political rift between Marcos and Duterte. A fanfare of arrests also took the limelight– those of fake Filipino Guō Huápíng and her cohorts, and the fake “son of god” Apollo Quiboloy and his “angels of death”. Massive manhunts for the country’s most wanted criminals and their coddlers kept most Filipinos on alert, and distracted from their own adversities.
For months on end, media feeds feasted on the evasive POGO fugitives Alice Guo and Harry Roque, Quiboloy’s sex crimes, VP Sara on “Duterte mode”, and the looming International Criminal Court arrest of her father Digong and their allies for extrajudicial killings. But just as incessant and infuriating in the news are the Chinese forces and their monstrous vessels ramming the Philippine Coast Guard and threatening local fishers with their intrusive patrolling in the Philippine waters.
Whereas news followers fought over binge-worthy livestreamed Senate and House committee hearings, Filipinos are united in taking a stand against China’s illegal activities in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) — even when the previous “popular” administration went the unpopular route. Former President Rodrigo Duterte downplayed Philippine’s victory in a 2016 ruling by an international tribunal at the Hague, refuting Beijing’s extensive claims of sovereignty and historic rights over the WPS. Seeking economic benefits from China while loosening ties with the U.S., Duterte’s China-friendly stance was just one of his bloody regime’s endless list of epic failures. China’s bullying did not stop, while their high-interest loans and defective infrastructure projects continue to drown Filipino taxpayers in debts until today. In place of promised economic gains, transnational thugs operating gambling hubs as front for financial frauds, human and drug trafficking, and money laundering thrived to abuse thousands of desperate jobseekers in the region.
Nearly three years into office, President Bongbong Marcos still fails to bring down the price of rice to P20 per kilo, as he bans POGOs and commits to de-escalate tensions in the WPS by strengthening strategic alliance with the U.S.; prompting China’s intensified hostilities against the Philippine vessels. The escalating maritime dispute between the Philippines and China goes back to the geopolitical competition between Beijing and Washington, with the Filipinos on the receiving end of Chinese harassment.
International affairs paint a ruthless world as geopolitical tensions and armed conflicts continue to intensify, taking thousands of lives and affecting millions more. The Philippine Navy logging the largest presence of Chinese ships in WPS to date, along with China’s military moves in the region, makes the Philippines a constant target. As the nation fights for its rightful territories, resources and livelihoods amid false narratives in this AI age of deepfake, political polarization due to disunity in the UniTeam further deters the country’s economic progress. And as influencers, traditional politicians and dynasties dominate the battle for next year’s national and local elections, poor Filipinos become poorer, suffering from worsening living conditions and deadlier environmental disasters due to power struggles and human greed.
UP professor and painter Marco Ruben T. Malto II offers his yearly recap of the country’s big events through his solo art exhibition titled, “Doon Po Sa Amin”. Malto’s narrative art comments on current socio-political conditions while remembering history, as he explores cultural references from thematic beliefs and practices that are distinctly Filipino. Doon Po Sa Amin is open for viewing at Gallery Two, Art & Design West Hall at UP Diliman’s College of Fine Arts from Nov 19- Dec 6, 2024. Gallery hours are from 9AM-4PM, Tue-Sat. The public is invited to the Artist’s Reception on Nov. 22, Fri, 5PM.
About the Artist:
Marco Ruben T. Malto II (b. 1972, Manila) is a graduate of University of the Philippines Diliman-College of Fine Arts (UPCFA) completing his Bachelor of Fine Arts Major in Painting degree in 1993, and his Master of Fine Arts degree in 2002.
For more than a decade, Malto’s annual solo exhibitions embody themes capturing the country’s current concerns and how they interplay with Philippine history and cultural nuances. The history enthusiast in the artist chronicles, as the professor educates by engaging his public in important national discourses through his art exhibits.
Malto has been teaching at UPCFA-Department of Studio Arts since 2002, and has been a recipient of the University Artist Award (for cycles 2018-2020 & 2021-2023), and the UP Diliman Centennial Professorial Chair Award for his annual solo exhibits from 2012 to 2023: Colors of Black, 2012; Bayang Magiting, 2013; Siete Estaciones, 2014; Ang Petroglyphs ng Angono, 2015; Susmaryosep!, 2016; Peksman!, 2017; Kahimanawari, 2018; Kalendaryo 20/20, 2019; Faith, Hope and Charity: Conquest of the Philippines, 2021; Sulat: Retelling Rizal through Philately, 2022; and Bisa, 2023.
UP Alumni Wins Again with “Balance of Life” Performance at Alumni Extravaganza 2024
By Jade Cadeliña
For the third year running, the University of the Philippines (UP) alumni team has won first place in the “Alumni Got Talent” competition at the Philippine Alumni Extravaganza Grand Soirée 2024. This year’s presentation, titled “Balance of Life,” brought to life the struggles many migrants face in trying to balance family and social life while staying connected to loved ones back home.
The concept, created by Joan Villarante (UP Los Baños Class 1996), highlighted the challenges and determination of Filipino migrants. Villarante, who also crafted previous award-winning themes like “Pagpupugay sa mga Magsasaka” (a tribute to farmers) and “Tres Generaciones,” shared her dedication to passing down Filipino culture to younger generations. “As Filipino migrants, it’s our responsibility to keep our heritage alive for our children,” she said. “Our family values and the bonds we share through music and dance are something special.”
The performance used traditional Filipino dances to tell a story of balance—both the literal balance in dance and the metaphorical balance in life. The medley included “Pandango sa Ilaw” (where dancers balance lights in glasses on their heads and hands), “Binoyugan” (with dancers carrying clay pots), and “Sayaw sa Bangko” (dancing on benches). These dances represented the careful balancing act of daily life for migrants.
In a creative nod to Australia, the team used milk crates in the “Sayaw Sa Bangko” dance, symbolising Australia’s dairy industry and its significance for Filipino-Australian families. This choice connected the two cultures beautifully, showing how both countries are a part of the Filipino migrant journey.
The performance’s touching message and strong execution earned UP’s team first place once again. Through this presentation, the UP alumni celebrated the spirit and strength of Filipino migrants, reminding everyone of the importance of balance in life.
Mabuhay ang mga Iskolar ng Bayan!
Source: https://philtimes.com.au/up-alumni-wins-again-with-balance-of-life-performance-at-alumni-extravaganza-2024/
OAR – Senior ICT Associate
We are hiring!
The UP Office of Alumni Relations is looking for a qualified individual to fill the Senior ICT Associate position.
If interested, send your application to [email protected] with the subject line “Application for [Position] – [Last Name], [First Name].”
Your application should include the following documents:
1. Letter of Application addressed to Mr. Jay C. Amorato – Officer-in-Charge for Office of Alumni Relations
2. Curriculum Vitae (CV)
3. Certificate/s of Training Attended
For further details, kindly refer to the attached photos.
Deadline for applications is on October 31, 2024.
UP Scientists Create Thermoresponsive Polymers for Potential Biomedical Use
By: Eunice Jean Patron
Thermoresponsive polymers are molecules that undergo significant changes in their properties in response to temperature changes and are widely used in biomedicine, such as drug delivery, tissue growth, and gene transfer, as noted by researchers Ward and Georgiou in their 2011 study.
One example of a thermoresponsive polymer is poly(N-isopropylacrylamide), which is used to deliver drugs, such as calcitonin and insulin, to their target organ. According to scientist Dirk Schmaljohann, poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) keeps the drug intact as it passes through the stomach, and once it reaches the intestines, which have a different pH level, the polymer breaks down and releases the drug.
While there are already existing conventional methods to synthesize polymers, it is difficult to control how monomers—small molecules that make up polymers—connect. This leads to varying polymer chain lengths, which affect the performance of the polymers. This prompted chemists from the University of the Philippines – Diliman College of Science (UPD-CS) to identify a simple, inexpensive, and environmentally friendly approach of creating thermoresponsive polymers.
“RAFT polymerization helps control the growth of polymer chains by mitigating the formation of chains that can no longer grow (a.k.a. ‘dead’ polymers), thereby creating a narrower molecular weight distribution which can allow more tailored polymer designs or properties,” Madrid explained. Solvents used in RAFT polymerization are also typically organic and volatile, posing environmental and health risks. To lessen these risks, the researchers used [HPY][PF6], a type of ionic liquid that has better polymerization kinetics and is less harmful to the environment.
Apart from demonstrating the effectiveness of synthesizing polymers with [HPY][PF6] through RAFT polymerization, the study introduced new possibilities in polymer research. “The results open up the potential for using other hexylpyridinium ionic liquids to create dual-responsive polymers (e.g. responsive to both temperature and pH), which are valuable for biomedical applications such as drug delivery,” Madrid concluded.
For interview requests and other concerns, please contact [email protected].
References:
Madrid, L. L., Perez, S. J., & Arco, S. (2024). RAFT copolymerization of methyl methacrylate and di(ethylene glycol) methyl Ether methacrylate in a hexylpyridinium Ionic liquid. Journal of the Chinese Chemical Society. https://doi.org/10.1002/jccs.202400197
Schmaljohann, D. (2006). Thermo- and pH-responsive polymers in drug delivery. Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews, 58(15), 1655-1670. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addr.2006.09.020
Ward, M. A., & Georgiou, T. K. (2011). Thermoresponsive polymers for biomedical applications. Polymers, 3(3), 1215-1242. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym3031215
UP Scientists Explore Non-Gaussian Laser Effects on Metal Heat Diffusion
By: Eunice Jean Patron
While existing research on material properties rarely examines changes in laser pulses, or the flashes of laser lights, over time, scientists from the University of the Philippines – Diliman College of Science (UPD-CS) approached laser exploration differently by investigating how non-Gaussian lasers affect the diffusion of heat in metals.
In their recent study, Jenny Lou Sagisi and Dr. Lean Dasallas of the UPD-CS Materials Science and Engineering Program (UPD-CS MSEP), along with Dr. Wilson Garcia of the UPD-CS National Institute of Physics (UPD-CS NIP), investigated the effects of different temporal laser source terms (TLSTs), or shapes of the laser pulses, on simulating heat diffusion in metals.
Validating Gaussian Assumptions in Studies
Dr. Dasallas explained that scientists often assume laser pulses to light up in a bell-shaped curve (known as Gaussian): “Dim at first, but slowly brightening until it becomes super bright in a very short time, before dimming again,” he further expounded. This assumption is common and accepted in laser research due to the laser pulse’s duration, which is one quadrillionth (10-15) of a second.
Simulations conducted by the scientists to compare the differences between Gaussian-shaped and non-Gaussian-shaped laser pulses showed that the rough edges on a non-Gaussian laser pulse make it difficult for the laser to vaporize the metal. They also noted that consecutively using laser pulses shows effects on metals that are not as distinct as those seen with Gaussian-shaped laser pulses.
“We were curious to see if there are any changes in the laser pulse’s effect on heat diffusion in metals when they are not Gaussian-shaped,” Dr. Dasallas shared. “Through our computer simulations, we were able to validate that assuming a Gaussian-shaped laser pulse has a basis. It also turns out that the shape of the laser pulses won’t matter if there are many of them.”
Implications in Industry
According to the researchers, exploring the effects of non-Gaussian laser pulses is vital for optimizing laser processing methods in more precise applications such as micro- or nano-machining, surface modification, and nanoparticle generation. Becoming more acquainted with non-Gaussian-based lasers also allows for more options and tools in laser material processing.
Extending this work to other materials, such as semiconductors, polymers, and insulators, would be very interesting. We plan to continue improving our understanding of complex laser-material interactions, which could involve experimental, theoretical, or computational approaches,” Dr. Dasallas said as he shared their team’s goals for research on laser-based material processing. “The laser industry is now worth billions of dollars. Various technologies already employ lasers, and the Philippines is catching up with these technologies.”
For interview requests and other concerns, please contact [email protected].
References:
Sagisi, J. L., Garcia, W. O., & Dasallas, L. L. (2024). Modification of the temporal laser source term in two-temperature model. Numerical Heat Transfer, Part A: Applications, 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1080/10407782.2024.2350687