Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Marvic MVF Leonen, the first Vice President for Legal Affairs of the University of the Philippines (UP) and former Dean of the UP College of Law, keynoted the 46th commencement exercises of the University’s newest autonomous unit, UP Tacloban, on July 16.
Leonen rallied the class and the UP alumni against “silence” in the face of “a widespread political economy of ignorance” which allows the greedy and the powerful to maintain the flaws weakening the country’s “democracy”.
“Our silence is what maintains the status quo. Our silence ensures that others will be victimized,” he argued.
“Our silence in the face of abuse of power skews the system in favor of those with resources and against those who need law and its implementers more. Our silence legitimizes greed,” Leonen added.
“Our silence when we have the ability to speak is also the cause of injustice,” he stressed.
Talking about the country’s kind of democracy, Leonen said, “As powerful and rich political factions wrestle for power and influence, those of us in the margins are left to fend for ourselves. This is not the democracy our Constitution has imagined.”
“If we let our democracy stay as empty inspirational musings, we allow those who will take advantage of the status quo, ultimately dooming democracy to fail,” he continued.
“There is a widespread political economy of ignorance infiltrating all our lives, and it is against this that we must struggle,” Leonen addressed the UP alumni.
“Do we still have the passion and the courage to do right, not for ourselves, but for our people?” he asked them.
“Wake up our people from our passivity and the tendency to succumb to false knowledge and to false ideologies,” he urged them.
Leonen asked the class to do four things: “Be critical. . . . Engage others through real and meaningful conversation, I do not mean, through digital media. . . . Act on your beliefs. . . . Remember the mantra: ‘enough is good’ “. On the last, he said this was the value that would make them immune to greed and to more power. Armed with this mantra, “[y]ou undermine the status quo, you will ensure that authentic democracies thrive and our rights and liberties will be guaranteed.”
The ceremony was held at the AS Grounds behind the seaward-facing Oblation, now a symbol of tenacity after remaining standing despite the direct hit of Typhoon Yolanda’s surges. It signified the successful completion by 249 students of their undergraduate programs, and by five of their Master’s. They marched onstage to receive their diplomas.
Of the 249, seven graduated magna cum laude; and 121, cum laude. Their parents marched with them onstage to award their children their medals. Volunteers of the Ugnayan ng Pahinungod received their pins from Dean Patricia Arinto.
The degrees were conferred by UP President Angelo Jimenez, who also led them in pledging loyalty to the University. Ateneones Bacale, President of the UP Tacloban Alumni Association, inducted them to the UP Alumni Association.
Rian Lorenzo Mascarinas, BS Biology, magna cum laude, delivered a speech on behalf of Class 2024, a class he described as carriers of the lessons of both Yolanda, which struck them before high school, and the pandemic and its aftermath during college. “As we enter the real world, let us carry with us the bonds we have forged, the strength and adaptability we have built, the empathy we have gained, and the determination to serve our communities–all to improve the lives of the Filipino people,” he said.
The graduating batch is the second after the elevation of the College, which currently offers 10 undergraduate and two graduate programs, to an autonomous unit under the Office of the UP President on April 27, 2023.
With a plan to be a full-fledged constituent university in the near future, UP Tacloban College, with its status of autonomy, is better positioned for the task of “building capacities and engaging communities toward sustainable development in Eastern Visayas”. Its special areas of research are biodiversity and environmental conservation, regional culture and heritage, and geo-humanities.
