Incoming University of the Philippines (UP) President Angelo A. Jimenez took his "Pledge to the People" in Butuan City on Wednesday, Feb. 1.
The oath was intended to remind the UP community that they owe the people their loyalty, Jimenez said in a Facebook post.
"We have yet to fulfill our mission to uplift lives where it matters most. This is our reason for being. We cannot stop from striving," he added.
Born and raised in Butuan City, the 22nd UP president noted that he is fully aware of the expectations and sufferings of the people in Caraga where his hometown belongs to.
He also pointed out that the UP community "cannot afford to indulge too much in self-absorption" and that honor and excellence are no longer enough as the present time calls for "humility and compassion. And kindness."
In his oath, delivered in Bisaya, Jimenez promised to fulfill his role as the next UP president with honesty and to perform his responsibilities in accordance with the rule of law.
Present at the ceremony were Anticala Barangay Captain Antonio Masamayor, Mahayahay Elementary School students and teachers, representatives from the indigenous people's community, and Legal Education Board Commissioner Atty. Josefe S. Ty.
A thanksgiving mass was also held at St. Joseph Cathedral after the oath-taking.
Jimenez finished his primary and secondary education at Father Saturnino Urios University before obtaining a sociology and law degree at UP.
He was also a Lee Kuan Yew Fellow of the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and earned his Master in Public Management degree from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore.
He will officially sit in the office on Feb. 10 and will serve as UP president until February 2029.
READ: UP Board of Regents elects Angelo Jimenez as next UP president