DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 16 February) – The University of the Philppines in Mindanao ia postponing all its 25th anniversary events in solidarity with the City Government of Davao “in the enforcement of prudent measures discouraging the gathering of large crowds to prevent the possible transmission of COVID- 19”(Coronavirus Disease).
“Safeguarding the health and safety of our constituents and stakeholders is of primary concern to the university, and we enjoin everyone to take appropriate measures to this end,” UP Mindanao said in a press statement on Friday.
University of the Philippines Mindanao in Davao City. Photo from UP Mindanao’s FB page
Postponed are the Legacy Lectures series, supposedly on February 19; the Kick-off Program for the 25th Founding Anniversary on February 20; and the recognition ceremonies for employees and students on February 21.
Regular activities will proceed with the appropriate precautionary measures as prescribed by the Department of Health and the Department of Labor and Employment, it said.
UP Mindanao is the sixth constituent unit of the UP System and the lone UP unit created by law. Republic Act 7889 authored by Davao City 3rd district Rep. Elias B. Lopez, a lawyer and former mayor of Davao City, was signed into law by President Fidel Ramos on February 20, 1995.
Lopez was an alumnus of UP Diliman, and was the first and to date, only Bagobo who was elected chair of its University Student Council.
A previous attempt to establish a UP in Mindanao was made by then Davao City 1st district Rep. Prospero Nograles who filed House Bill 30358 in April 1990.
After Ramos signed RA 7889, the University of the Philippines’ Board of Regents passed a resolution on March 22 that year officially creating the University of the Philippines in Mindanao.
President Ramos reenacted the signing at the Central Bank in Davao City that same year, to emphasize the importance of RA 7889 to the Mindanawons.
According to its website, UP Mindanao’s first home in Davao City was the Lee Business Center on J. Luna corner J. dela Cruz Streets from March to September 1995, and the Casa Mercado Building in Matina from September 1995 to January 1996.
UP Mindanao received its first undergrad students at the College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Management in June 1996. The College of Arts and Sciences was split into the College of Humanities and Social Sciences and the College of Science and Mathematics a year later.
The Oblation was installed in the UP Mindanao campus in Bago Oshiro, Mintal on February 20, 1998 and on February 26 that same year, the UP Board of Regents granted full autonomy to UP Mindanao.
Dean Rogelio V. Cuyno was installed as its 1st Chancellor on December 11, 1998. After Cuyno, the next Chancellor was Ricardo de Ungria, followed by Gilda C. Rivero and Sylvia B. Concepcion and Larry Digal is serving as the fifth Chancellor from March 1, 2019 to February 28, 2022. (MindaNews)
