The University of the Philippines (UP) celebrated the inaugural Gawad Pahinungod, an award established to recognize those who best exemplify exceptional volunteerism—of going “above and beyond service in their respective fields, [and] contributing to the values of excellence and civic responsibility that are central to the University’s mission.”
The historic ceremony, held on Dec. 9, 2024, at the David M. Consunji Theater, Institute of Civil Engineering, UP Diliman, was attended by National Scientists Emil Javier and Carmencita Padilla. Javier, who during his term as UP President instituted in 1994 the Ugnayan ng Pahinungod as the volunteer service program of the University, delivered the closing remarks. Padilla, a former UP Manila Pahinungod director and UP Manila chancellor, was also a Gawad Pahinungod recipient.
The 32 honorees were recognize according to their constituent unit (CU) where they belong and which nominated them, with the UP System treated as a separate unit. The awardees received certificates of recognition and Oblation trophies.
Padilla was among the UP System Ugnayan awardees. She was joined by Grace Aguiling Dalisay, who served as the UP System-wide Ugnayan director in 1999 following founding director Ledivina Cariño, and again in 2019 when the when the Ugnayan, which had been devolved to constituent units after Javier’s term, was instituted once again as a System-wide program. Other UP System Ugnayan awardees included Francis Grace Duka-Pante, a pioneer Pahinungod volunteer teacher who has been training the Gurong Pahinungod from all CUs for deployment, and Donald James Gawe, executive director of the Philippine National Volunteer Service Coordinating Agency.
“If there’s anything that I’d like to be associated with and be very proud of in my career, it was and is Pahinungod,” Javier said in ending his closing remarks.
Javier’s impromptu speech recounted the establishment of a national high school in a remote, conflict-ridden area of Compostela Valley, thanks to the efforts of four fresh UP Visayas graduates who volunteered as teachers. It was one of the concrete legacies of the System-wide program in the five years within Javier’s presidential term.
Speaking on behalf of the awardees, Padilla and Justin Bryll Andrada of UP Baguio highlighted the benefits of Pahinungod voluntarism, including “paglinang sa kasanayan,” “pagbigay-inspirasyon sa iba,” “pagpapalaganap ng malasakit,” “pagkamit ng kasiyahan,” and “pagtutulak sa pagbabago.” Padilla noted the significance of the Gawad in recognizing volunteers for whom serving others is already its own and enough reward, and promoting volunteerism by providing exemplars to the public. “Sa araw na ito ipinakita natin na dapat lang itong bigyang-pagkilala, para marinig ng iba na meron palang nagbo-volunteer sa malalayong lugar—isang linggo, isang buwan, isang taon—at bumabalik silang mas magagaling at masasayang tao,” she said.
UP President Angelo Jimenez, in his keynote address, linked the Pahinungod program to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. He reported his participation in recent discussions of university leaders who resolved to place education front and center of achieving the SDGs in a world where a “state system” has proved inherently incapable for the task. This system, he explained, was “only loyal to the political processes.”
“If we have to put education in front and center, we have to be a moral force,” Jimenez said. “The primary duty of education today is to spread universal values beyond the state system. I am becoming more and more pessimistic about the ability of the current international system to respond to the challenges. And I am advocating, in front of university presidents, that our goal today is community action.”
Jimenez spoke of small acts, much like the work of Pahinungod volunteers, creating chain reactions that travel around the world, demonstrating the “globality of our community and the community in our globality.”
“Voluntarism is a historic act. It has the potential to change the world,” he said. He called for knowledge from universities to extend beyond classrooms and laboratories to communities, declaring it a moral imperative.
The ceremony also acknowledged Ma. Gabriela Roldan-Concepcion, who coordinated volunteer efforts during the administration of her husband, former UP President Danilo Concepcion, credited with reviving the UP System Ugnayan program.
The directors of the CU Ugnayan offices in the constituent units, headed by UP System Ugnayan Director Marie Therese Angeline Bustos, presented the honorees their awards. The event was also attended by UP Vice President for Academic Affairs Leo Cubillan, Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs (Student Affairs) Shari Niña Oliquino, UP Visayas Chancellor Clement Camposano. UP Cebu Ugnayan Director Aurelio Vilbar served as master of ceremonies.
