Fresh from its elevation to an autonomous unit of the University of the Philippines (UP) under the Office of the President, UP Tacloban College celebrated its 50th founding anniversary on 23 May 2023 with a parade, an anniversary convocation, and a concert of the UP Symphony Orchestra (UPSO) at the old Leyte Provincial Capitol along Magsaysay Boulevard, Tacloban City.
Marking the transition from a College of UP Visayas to an autonomous unit on its way to being the newest constituent university of UP, President Angelo Jimenez swore in incumbent Prof. Patricia Arinto as Dean of the elevated College during the convocation.
Prior to the convocation, a motorcade drove around downtown, before the assembly of UP Tacloban’s past and present constituents and alumni marched from the Tacloban campus to the old Provincial Capitol. The convocation and concert were also attended by: members of the UP Board of Regents and officials of the UP System Administration; Chancellors of UP Constituent Universities; UP Tacloban institutional partners in government and the private sector; and the general public.
The UP Symphony Orchestra (UPSO), under the baton of its music director, Prof. Josefino “Chino” Toledo of the UP College of Music, performed a diverse program, which included a medley of Visayan songs. The back-to-back programs featured performances from UP an Balangaw, one of the oldest and award-winning performing arts groups in Eastern Visayas, and the Tacloban-based soprano, Mary Jeane Egloso-Cowan and tenor Malvin Macasaet, both UP College of Music alumni.
On April 27, 2023, the UP Board of Regents approved the proposal for autonomy of UP Tacloban to better enable the College to fulfill its mandate in Eastern Visayas and work toward becoming a full-fledged constituent university (CU) of the UP System within three to five years.
Welcoming the public to the convocation, Dean Arinto said it was fitting to hold the celebration in the Capitol where the idea for the regional UP unit was conceived and where the marker for its inauguration on 2 July 1973 was placed.
“Autonomy is the way for UP Tacloban to more fully situate itself in the political, economic, and social realities of the Eastern Visayas region and respond to the imperative for growth by, among others, expanding its courses and programs to promote access and equity and by pursuing more strategic research and public service programs in areas critical to the development of the region,” Arinto said.
“I pledge to you the full support of our administration in all your endeavors for the next six years, or at least for as long as I’m president,” Jimenez said in his speech. “It was not that easy for you to win you this autonomy…. There are members of the Board [of Regents] here today who saw how we fought for that autonomy, and our strongest interrogators were also our strongest supporters. There was no objection,” he said earlier.
He congratulated the entire community of UP Tacloban for the historic achievement, and Arinto, whom he described as the “dynamo” of the College.
Scenes from the UP Tacloban College 50th Anniversary celebration
