UP naming mahal

This has been a busy, busy week for the University of the Philippines, specifically its Diliman campus, sometimes referred to as the Diliman Republic.

A new university president took office, the 22nd in its 115 years, Angelo Jimenez. Immediately he had to deal with the arrest of Philippine literature professor Melania Flores for the “crime” of not remitting the SSS contribution of a kasambahay. Which is really weird since there are companies that have not remitted the SSS contributions of their employees for months or even years and no one has been arrested or even charged in court. The professor is out on bail of P72,000; what kaya was the unremitted contribution amount?

On a positive note is the inauguration of a new theater at the College of Arts and Letters, the IBG-KAL Theater, named after Ignacio Gimenez who, I guess, footed the bill for the theater. By the way, Gimenez also has the Black Box Theater at the Cultural Center.

The IBG-KAL Theater, which also has exhibition spaces, will showcase the college’s “best and brightest,” said outgoing UP president Danilo Concepcion.

New president Jimenez promised to “do everything I can to build UPD as a center of art in the north of the capital city” in his six-year tenure.

More than that, he noted that “people are moved not by ideas but by emotions like love, devotion, search for justice, search to end injustice.” On that last note, it seems he has his work cut out for him, but it is work that everyone – especially those of the Diliman Republic – must pursue. – Angela Q. Lopez, Novaliches, Quezon City