The University of the Philippines Visayas Tacloban College (UPVTC) marked its 49th founding anniversary on 23 May 2022 with the theme “Pagbuslak han Katahum,” which is a translation into Waray of “breaking into grace,” a line from Victor Sugbo’s poem titled “Continuities.”
The college is celebrating the grace of flourishing amid the pandemic, super typhoons, economic instability, and socio-political upheavals.
A highlight of the college’s anniversary celebration was a face-to-face gathering of UPVTC faculty and staff on the afternoon of 23 May 2022. The college honored recent retirees and personnel who have served the college for 10, 15, 20, 25, and 40 years. The anniversary program also marked the second year of Harangdon: The UP Tacloban Excellence Awards. Harangdon lauds and celebrates members of the UP Tacloban community who are exemplars of excellence, leadership, and public service.
The 2022 Harangdon awardees are Professor of Biology Dr. Leni Yap-Dejeto as Outstanding Faculty; university research associate Mr. John de la Cruz as Outstanding Research, Extension, and Professional Staff; and Supply and Property Services Office head Mr. Delfin Aledro, Jr. as Outstanding Administrative Staff (Supervisory Level). UP Runggiyan received the Harangdon award for Outstanding Student Organization and Pagpaangbit: A Teaching the Arts Workshop for Special Program for the Arts teachers of Taft National High School conducted by the faculty of the Division of Humanities received the award for Outstanding Public Service Program.
Students from the BA Communication Arts and BS Psychology program who were on campus for their limited face-to-face classes, also attended the anniversary program.
The afternoon-long program was concluded by a mini sportfest participated in by UP Tacloban faculty and staff and officiated by the college’s PE faculty. The games played were sack race, pukpok palayok (breaking the pot), kadang sa bao (a race while walking with coconut shells), table tennis, volleyball, and basketball.
This year’s anniversary activities also include “3 P’s: Panginano, Pag-atiman, Pagpakaupay,” a forum series with UPVTC students and staff on coping with stress and anxiety in the post-election context, organized by the Office of Student Affairs and Division of Social Sciences; a virtual open mic night organized by the UPVTC Student Council in partnership with student organization UP Amplify; “Placemaking sandbox: Shaping places that make sense,” an exit report presentation by Balik Scientist Dr. Iderlina Mateo-Babiano, hosted by the Leyte Samar Heritage Center and the Division of Management; and the 10th Annual Conference on Environmental Science (ACES) organized by the Division of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.
UP Tacloban started operations in 1973 when martial law was not even a year old. The UP administration at the time led by President Salvador P. Lopez sought to ensure that UP Tacloban would be a UP campus not only in name but also in substance. “Now, close to half a century later, we can proudly say that UP Tacloban has lived up to its name as a regional unit of the University of the Philippines, maintaining the same academic standards, upholding academic freedom, and turning out graduates with the knowledge, skills, and mindset that distinguish UP alumni no matter which campus they graduated from,” said UPVTC Dean Dr. Patricia Arinto in her keynote during the anniversary program.
Source: UPV Tacloban College Facebook post