Despite inclement weather conditions, the annual sunflowers continue to bloom along University Avenue in time for the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman’s 112th General Commencement Exercises on Sunday, 30 July, at 7:00 in the morning, at the UP Amphitheater behind Quezon Hall. UP’s 22nd President, Angelo A. Jimenez, will grace the event as UP Diliman Class of 2023’s commencement speaker.
The theme for UP Diliman’s 112th commencement exercises, “Tayog,” symbolizes the bright and promising future awaiting the members of UP Diliman Class of 2023 in their professional and personal lives as well as in their service to their communities. Like the famous sunflowers that are a traditional feature of UP Diliman’s graduation season, the theme of “Tayog” also symbolizes how the over 4,000 UPD students graduating this year will continue to turn toward UP’s principles of honor, excellence, courage, and compassion in service to the nation.
Of the 4,478 total number of UP Diliman graduates for Academic Year 2022-2023—both from the undergraduate graduate levels—2,243 will be graduating with honors: 742 cum laude, 1,196 magna cum laude, and 305 summa cum laude. These figures are based on data supplied by the UPD Office of the University Registrar as of 28 July 2023.
Representing his class as a valedictory speaker and expounding on what “Tayog” means for the UP Diliman Class of 2023 is Jessie “Jeman” S. Malibiran, Jr., who will be graduating with a Bachelor of Arts – Master of Arts Honors in Political Science, summa cum laude. Malibiran is graduating with a general weighted average of 1.187.
This year’s commencement speaker, UP President Jimenez, is a labor lawyer and a respected authority on global worker migration whose work has contributed to the establishment of the Philippines’ new Department of Migrant Workers, as well as the labor migration regulatory framework in countries in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. A former Deputy Administrator of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, Jimenez’s expertise and experience in the field of migrant worker welfare have brought him to different parts of the world. He served as Labor Attaché in Japan, Kuwait, and Iraq. Former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo awarded him citations for ensuring the safety of Filipino workers during the Israel-Lebanon conflict and for rescuing a Filipino hostage held in Iraq.
His understanding of the factors that have led to the Filipino diaspora is the product of his education and experiences in Butuan, Agusan del Norte, where he was born and raised, and in UP Diliman, where he obtained both his Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts (Sociology) degrees. As a law student at UP Diliman, he was an Associate Editor of the Philippine Collegian and President of the College Editors Guild of the Philippines. He was also elected Chairperson of the University Student Council and, in 1992, was appointed Student Regent to the UP Board of Regents (BOR) by the late President Corazon C. Aquino. He later rejoined the BOR when he was appointed Regent by former President Rodrigo R. Duterte in 2016, during which he also served concurrently as Trustee of the UP Foundation, Inc. He earned his Master in Public Management degree from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy under the National University of Singapore (NUS). President Jimenez was also a Lee Kuan Yew Fellow of the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
A son of Mindanao, Jimenez believes that the Philippines’ premier state university must be a hub for transformational change and that engaging communities and helping solve real-world problems should be a part of the UP academic experience. Ultimately, the goal is for UP to become a global university that asks the consequential questions of our time and, acting locally, strives to address the serious issues confronting the country and the world.
Watch the livestream of the 112th General Commencement Exercises of UP Diliman on Sunday, 30 July 2023, 7:00 AM at the UP Diliman official website and UPD YouTube channel. Watch the teaser trailer for the event below.