GUEST COLUMNIST
On Aug. 17, 2024, the UP Alumni Association (UPAA) celebrated its annual general alumni–faculty homecoming. This event offers an opportunity to renew friendships, network, and reminisce about some of the best years spent on campus. This year's homecoming was a resounding success, centered around the theme, “One UP, from Vision to Reality.” The UPAA board, led by its President Robert Lester Aranton, a PEZA board member and an accomplished businessman and industrialist with interests in real estate development and logistics, deserves the highest accolades. Congratulations are also due to UP President Angelo A. Jimenez for the overall success of the affair.
This year, seven former UPAA presidents and alumni regents who are still living were awarded the presidential merit award for service in recognition of their leadership, achievements, and contributions to UPAA that have created changes benefiting the lives of many. These distinguished individuals are Estelito Mendoza, Gladys San Juan, Alfredo Pascual, Edgardo Espiritu, Ponciano Rivera, Reynaldo Laserna, and Jaime S. de los Santos. Their profiles represent legal luminaries, government technocrats, business executives, and one from the military and defense sector.
Outstanding alumni, selected from a group of exceptional achievers representing a widely diverse field across the globe, were also recognized. The most distinguished alumnus award was bestowed upon Isidro Consunji, BSCE ‘71, an accomplished professional and industrialist, and the 2024 Management Person of the Year. Newly-designated Education Secretary Juan Edgardo Angara, LLB ‘00, received the Lifetime Distinguished Achievement Award. I had the singular privilege of nominating Architect Felino Palafox, an outstanding urban planner par excellence.
UPAA's membership extends across nations and international borders, represented by many chapters. Cooperation and teamwork pervade its membership. UP alumni bear the responsibility to help build a nation that Filipinos can be truly proud of. Having benefited from UP's culture of academic excellence, they are in an ideal position to help UP fulfill its mandate of shaping the political, economic, and social landscape of the country. They are UP's greatest resource.
UPAA undertakes aggressive fundraising campaigns to support professorial chairs and the provision of new facilities and equipment. It also assists in efforts for more effective participation in the development of Philippine society and aims to establish an efficient job placement bureau for UP graduates. The challenge for the alumni is to provide an important link between the country and first-world modern technologies, new ideas, and other engines of change. They are in the best position to help UP find its place in the international academic community, particularly considering that many of its graduates have sought employment opportunities abroad. This must be viewed as brain gain rather than brain drain. The alumni assist UP in fostering and deepening nationalism among its citizenry.
My initiation to UPAA was abrupt and unprecedented. Right after retirement, former UP President Fidel Nemenzo invited me to teach at UP, which I willingly accepted. In retrospect, I must say that he was the most progressive and liberal-minded UP president, inviting a military professional with a steep military mindset to join the faculty. My initial appointment was as Professorial Lecturer I (part-time), and I was eventually promoted to Professorial Lecturer II. At the same time, the UPAA election process was in progress. I was invited by one party to join their slate, which eventually won, and I was subsequently elected as their president.
In retrospect, I can competently say that my leadership training in the military served me well. As a military professional, I can modestly assert that the management and leadership styles I exhibited were beneficial. Let me share some of these principles:
- Unity of command: This principle means that all forces act under one responsible commander. Unity of command creates unity of effort to concentrate combat power on the main objective. This principle forged a stable and relevant UPAA structure that transcended regional, cultural, and religious aggrupation. Concomitant with this principle is the continuous availability of dedicated officers as prescribed in a rational succession plan. This principle established an organizational climate that promoted teamwork and esprit de corps.
- Respect for all stakeholders: The heterogeneous character of its alumni opens diverse viewpoints, interpretations, and biases. UPAA, being the repository of the best and brightest, required patience and fortitude to accommodate all interest groups. The overall outcome was positive.
- Participative management: All input, whether suggestions, comments, or even criticisms, were welcomed. This approach served as a tool to extract the best ideas, encouraging creativity and innovation.
- Decisiveness: Decision-making must manifest organizational harmony. In non-military organizations, decisiveness is enhanced through diplomacy. This trait was firmly exercised through skillful communication, respect for diverse backgrounds and orientations, and good public relations.
UPAA is an institution that mirrors the values that define UP—values of honor, excellence, and service. Its graduates are dispersed across the world, beyond the boundaries of the Philippine archipelago. They cut across professional fields and endeavors in the arts and sciences, and their relevance is priceless and timeless. UPAA has greatly influenced the outcome of the political, social, and economic landscape of the nation.
(Lt. Gen. Jaime S. de los Santos served with distinction as a military professional, 42nd Commanding Gen. Philippine Army, 1st Force Commander, UN Multi-National Peacekeeping Force in East Timor, former member, UP Board of Regents and Professorial Lecturer II (part-time), UP-Diliman.)