Panaad at Kabilin: Pagtatalaga kay Kgg. Angelo A. Jimenez bilang ika-22 Pangulo ng Unibersidad ng Pilipinas
[Investiture of Atty. Angelo A. Jimenez as 22nd President of the University of the Philippines]
Date: September 14, 2023
Time: 9:00 AM
Venue: UP Mindanao Atrium, Tugbok, Davao City, Davao del Sur
“The hallmark of UP in the next six years will be service to the nation. Service to the nation is constitutive of who we are and what we do. Together, we will work towards a UP that is more engaged with the nation,” Atty. Angelo A. Jimenez said in his speech on Feb. 10, when he accepted the position and authority of leading the University as its 22nd President.
Born and raised in the City of Butuan, Agusan del Norte, Jimenez is the first Mindanawan and the first Manobo, honored and named as “Datu Mankalagan” or “Great Spirit” in 2007, to become UP President. To mark the symbolic significance of his rise to become the head of UP as the national university, his formal investiture as the 22nd UP President will be held at the Atrium of UP Mindanao, in Tugbok, Davao City, on Sept. 14 at 9:00 AM.
For Jimenez, being a son of the South is integral to his UP Presidency. “It was when I got elected that people reminded me that I’m the first UP President who came from Mindanao; and I was amazed, actually surprised, maybe a little bit shocked,” he said in an interview he did for the UP Forum. “I never realized that my election would resonate in Mindanao. Finally, one of their own has become a UP President. I wanted to, in my own little way, remind UP where its ultimate loyalty belongs; and, I couldn’t imagine a more marginalized community than our IPs in the mountains where there has been an ongoing conflict and there still is right now.”
Jimenez is a labor lawyer and a respected authority on global worker migration. His work has contributed to the establishment of the country’s new Department of Migrant Workers, as well as to the labor migration regulatory framework in countries in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. A former Deputy Administrator of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, he served as Labor Attache in Japan, Kuwait, and Iraq, and was awarded Presidential citations for his work in ensuring the safety of Filipino workers during the Israel-Lebanon conflict, including the rescue of a Filipino hostage held in Iraq.
With his extensive background in labor migration, Jimenez has been tapped as an expert lecturer by the UP Centre International de Formation des Autorités et Leaders or International Training Center for Authorities and Leaders Philippines. He has also written papers for organizations such as the International Organization for Migration Philippines and the Blas Ople Policy Center He is a regular lecturer on Philippine overseas labor laws at the UP Law Center’s Mandatory Continuing Legal Education program.
Jimenez served on the UP Board of Regents twice, first as a Student Regent in 1992, when he was also elected Chair of the University Student Council of UP Diliman; and again when he was appointed Regent by former President Rodrigo R. Duterte in 2016, during which Jimenez also served concurrently as Trustee of the UP Foundation, Inc.
He obtained both his Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts (Sociology) degrees from UP Diliman. As a law student at UP Diliman, he was Associate Editor of the Philippine Collegian and President of the College Editors Guild of the Philippines. He went on to earn his Master in Public Management degree from the National University of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. He was also a Lee Kuan Yew Fellow at the Harvard School of Government.
Read more about his profile here
Taking inspiration from and being guided by his Mindanawan and indigenous roots, Jimenez aims to highlight the view from the margins and bring a unique perspective on how UP can further contribute to national development. Championing kindness in the University, and setting public service as a pillar of his vision and strategic initiatives for UP, his administration plans to widen access to UP and UP-quality education through various courses, modes, and platforms, as well as to strengthen partnerships with Philippine SUCs. These partnerships are intended to advance higher education in the country through shared knowledge and expertise.
UP Mindanao, which is hosting an investiture ceremony for the UP President for the first time, is the sixth constituent university under the UP System, and the only UP constituent university in Mindanao with the primary mandate to provide equitable access to quality UP education to Mindanawans. It offers academic programs in the fields of the humanities, architecture, mathematics, food, economics, social, natural, and computing sciences. As a graduate university, it offer a PhD by Research, and graduate degrees in management, food science, urban and regional planning, and sports science. Its development agenda focuses on opening additional academic programs and new Colleges in Human Kinetics, Medicine, and Engineering, to support Mindanao sports, health, technological, and bio-cultural diversity initiatives. UP Mindanao is headed by Chancellor Lyre Anni E. Murao. (For more news on UP Mindanao, visit their Facebook page)
