FORUM
UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES
sh a p i ng
m i n d s
t h at
sh a p e
t h e
n at i on
VOLUME 15 NUMBER 4
JULY-AUGUST 2014
ASEAN
2015
HIGHER EDUCATION
IN THE ASEAN ECONOMIC
COMMUNITY
up.edu.ph
2 | Convergence in
Work Systems, ASEAN
Integration and
Implications to Professional Practice
W
ith the global movement of capital, people
and resource issues in work and employment, as well as labor and capital relations, have
become prominent. How would people, technology
and resources from various countries and cultures
effectively produce desired results? How would
the gains or losses arising from competition be
shared through improvements in income distribution and living standards? In what areas of work
systems—hiring, job design, employment terms
5 | Sharing Lessons
4 | Funding Science
Learned in Internationand Technology in an
Internationalized World alization
I
am not an expert in education and research specific to the ASEAN region or the on-going effort
to set a common framework for ASEAN educational
integration and internationalization. I will therefore
make no effort to regurgitate what I have just recently learned about these important discussions, as
I was attempting to contextualize my present contribution. I will simply use the ASEAN Qualifications
Reference Framework as an inevitable supposition
for any realistic strategy for promoting science and
technology in the ASEAN region. One message
from this contribution is that ASEAN educational
and research integration is not just something to
C
omprehensive internationalization is a commitment, confirmed through action, to infuse international and comparative perspectives
throughout the teaching, research, and service
missions of higher education. It shapes institutional ethos and values and touches the entire higher
education enterprise. It is essential that it be
embraced by institutional leadership, governance,
faculty, students, and all academic service and
support units. It is an institutional imperative, not
just a desirable possibility. (NAFSA, 2011)
My initial forays into international education
started in 1986 when I was a young recently ten-
2 UP FORUM Volume 15 No. 4 July-August 2014
CONVERGENCE IN WORK SYSTEMS...
continued from page 1
Maragtas S.V. Amante
and conditions, compensation, skills
development, social security and disputes settlement—will there be more
convergence?
These questions have been asked
during many periods of industrial history, and significantly by the postwar
scholars of industrialization. Kerr,
Dunlop, Harbison and Myers' Industrialism and Industrial Man (1960)
offered the classic statement of the
"logic of industrialism" thesis, which
the authors proposed as a response to
Marxian theory’s equation of industrial society with capitalism.
The authors suggested that as
nations embark on the irreversible
journey into industrialization, the
unifying forces of industrialism such
as class movement, bureaucracy and
technology, would conduce societies
towards convergence.
Specifically, Kerr et al. sought to
identify the "inherent tendencies and
implications of industrialization for
the work place," hoping to construct
from this a portrait of the "principal
features of the new society."
The overriding elements common
to industrial society which drive
convergence include "rapid changes
in science, technology, and methods
of production; a high degree of occupational mobility, with continual
training and retraining of the work
force; increasing emphasis on formal
education, particularly in the natural sciences, engineering, medicine,
managerial training, and administrative law." The convergence theorists
also predicted a workforce "highly
differentiated in terms of occupational titles and job classifications; the
increasing importance of urban areas
as centers of economic activity; and
the increasing role of government in
providing expanded public services,
orchestrating the varied activities of
a large and complex economy, and
administering the "web of rules of industrial society." Most significantly,
Kerr et al. envisioned these developments as cutting across categories
of political ideology and political
systems.
The convergence hypothesis
highlights the arguments that human
resource management (HRM) within
organizations would become increasingly similar due to a firm having a
structure free from cultural influences
with globalization. Multinational enterprises shall be free from the influence of national institutions making
these global transmission belts of
capital the main force for convergence. On the other hand, scholars
supporting the divergence hypothesis
argue that organizational structures
are not set and that management
practices would reflect national differences in regulations, government
policies, culture and beliefs as well
as national educational systems .
Within the ASEAN, it is important
to track and examine the convergence
towards improvements in the following:
w Enterprise development and job
creation by domestic and foreign
investment;
w Patterns of management control
brought about by the diversity in
capital equity;
w Management philosophy, structure and tools;
w Organizational culture and interventions: orientation seminars,
training, etc.;
w Organizational effectiveness and
tools: organizational
development
(OD), HRM,
organizational
behavior (OB)
tools;
w The role of
labor laws and
policies in
defining company policies
especially with
respect to workers rights.
Case study:
Opening up
the Philippine
professions to
foreigners
The test of
convergence is
highlighted in the
current efforts to
promote the opening
up of the practice of
Philippine professions to foreigners,
in the context of the
Constitution and
related laws, and
its strategic interface with the labor
market.
Article XII, Section 12 of the Philippine Constitution of 1987 provides
as follows:
"... xxx...The practice of all
continued on page 3
UP FORUM Volume 15 No. 4 July-August 2014 3
Photos from Wikicommons
CONVERGENCE IN WORK SYSTEMS...
continued from page 2
professions in the Philippines
shall be limited to Filipino
citizens, save in cases prescribed
by law." Other provisions of the
Philippine Constitution provide
for “...the sustained development
of a reservoir of national talents
consisting of Filipino scientists,
entrepreneurs, professionals,
managers, high level technical
manpower, and skilled workers..." (Article XII, Section 1)
In pursuit of this Constitutional
mandate, existing policy provides
that: "The State recognizes the
important role of professionals in
nation-building and, towards this
end, promotes the sustained development of a reservoir of professionals whose competence has been
determined by honest and credible
licensure examinations and whose
standards of professional service
and practice are internationally recognized and considered world-class
brought about the regulatory measures, programs and activities that
foster professional growth and advancement." (Section 2. Statement
of Policy, Professional Regulation
Commission (PRC) Modernization
Act of 2000, R.A. No. 8981)
In the spirit of the provisions of
the Constitution, Articles 40, 41 &
42 of the Philippine Labor Code
(PLC) requiring employment permits for non-resident aliens remain in
place.
While the practice of professions
is primarily reserved for Filipino
citizens, exceptions are recognized,
based on existing laws mandating
the professional regulatory boards,
which provide for both individual
and corporate business practice of
professions.
There are 46 laws that regulate
Philippine professions, in addition to
the practice of law, which is regulated by the Philippine Supreme Court.
There is diversity of the rules and
regulations regarding ownership and
control. Accredited specialty boards
exist for certain professions such as
medicine and dentistry.
The following professional regulatory laws do not provide for reciprocity in allowing foreigners to practice
their profession:
w Criminology: R.A. No. 6506 (An
Act Creating the Board of Examiners
for Criminologists in the Philippines
and for other Purposes);
w Forestry: R.A. No. 6239 (The
Forestry Profession Law);
w Pharmacy: R.A. No. 5921 (An
Act Regulating the Practice of
Pharmacy and Setting Standards
of Pharmaceutical Education
in the Philippines and for other
Purposes); and
w Radio Technology: R.A. No.
7431 (Radiologic Technology
Act of 1992)
w Law: the practice of law is regulated by the Supreme Court.
The following professional regulatory law does not provide for Special
Temporary Permit (STP):
w Pharmacy: R.A. No. 5921 (An
Act Regulating the Practice of
Pharmacy and Setting Standards
of Pharmaceutical Education
in the Philippines and for other
Purposes)
There are existing laws, rules and
regulations on the registration of
foreign professionals to enable them
to practice in the Philippines. Many
of the professional regulatory laws
also provide for reciprocity. Foreign
professionals are allowed limited
practice by virtue of Special Temporary Permits (STPs), which fall
within these exceptions.
The Philippines has entered into
commitments through the General
Agreement on Trade in Services
(GATS) and the ASEAN Framework
Agreement on Services (AFAS),
among others. The Philippines also
has Mutual Recognition Agreements
(MRAs) with other ASEAN countries
which include the health professions
(nursing, dentistry, etc.); accountancy; engineering; and architectural
services. These are existing arrangements which affirm and bolster the
country’s direction towards liberalizing the professional services.
Labor market pressures: Supply
and demand of professionals
As a force of convergence, the
foreign chambers of commerce in
the Philippines have lobbied for the
removal of the practice of professions
from the Foreign Investment Negative List (FINL). They have also
requested action on the liberalisation
of the entry of foreign managers and
professionals into the Philippines.
There is also a pending proposal to
repeal the requirement of reciprocity
for foreign professionals to practice
in the Philippines. While all other
laws, regulations and requirements
for the individual practice of professions remain in force, there would be
important implications such as equal
treatment of both Filipino and foreign professionals in registration and
processing requirements, including
the ownership and control of enterprises which would be channels of
investment for the corporate practice
of professions.
It is important to distinguish between foreign and local or domestic
labor market effects, in terms of the
surpluses or shortages for certain
skills and occupations. Many professional occupations have niches in
highly globalized industries, such
as shipping crew (both officers and
ordinary seafarers), airline pilots and
crew, health care, finance, engineering, architecture, and the like.
Elasticity of demand refers to the
response of employers to hire more
or less a certain group of skills or occupations, depending on changes in
pay rates and other compensation.
Elasticity of supply refers to the
response of professionals or skilled
workers to changes in pay rates and
other compensation.
Skills refer to both the ability and
capacity acquired through deliberate, systematic, and sustained effort
to smoothly and adaptively carry
out complex activities or job functions involving ideas (cognitive
skills), things (technical skills), and/
or people (interpersonal skills). Skills
continued on page 8
4 UP FORUM Volume 15 No. 4 July-August 2014
FUNDING SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY...
continued from page 1
Teofilo A. Abrajano
agree to; it is something we need.
What I will specifically address is
the strategy for funding science and
technology in educational institutions, a subject that I have a fair bit
of experience on as a former senior
executive at the US National Science
Foundation and now the Director of
the Office of Competitive Research
Funds at King Abdullah University of
Science and Technology (KAUST) in
Saudi Arabia.
the tree, but by
building substantive and sustainable partnerships.
This approach to
enriching, diversifying and linking
strengths and expertise
serves to lead to ecosystem
productivity and stability. The call for
ASEAN integration in education and
research is one such example of a path
to enable nations and universities to
cross-utilize talent and resources—
indeed by treating the knowledge and
innovation enterprise as an ecosystem.
These partnerships must exist at
all scales of the system, beginning
with strategic collaborations at the
country level—from integration of
stakeholder input and locating adequate resources. Imposing extraneous requirements is most certain to
discourage buy in and impede participation and collaboration.
In his recent Nature article entitled
“The Fourth Age of Research,” J.
Adams exalted the essentiality of
global collaborative partnerships. An
earlier Royal Society report likewise
concluded that international research
collaboration is crucial to
all countries and educational institutions. The
Philippines must pay
cognizance to these truths
in its science funding strategy beyond laissez-faire,
and ASEAN integration
is the first step towards a
win-win solution to the
resource requirements of
today’s global innovation
competition. Participating
in these partnerships, however, requires that we do
not surrender our ability to
create knowledge through
basic research. Excellence
will always seek excellence and our attractiveness as serious partners
in these collaborations
requires that we are active
creators of knowledge.
Not only does global partnership require it, basic research is essential for
the training of our future innovators.
-------------------Dr. Teofilo A. Abrajano, Jr. is the
director of the Office of Competitive
Research Funds at the King Abdullah
University of Science and Technology,
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He holds a
PhD in Earth and Planetary Sciences
from Washington University, and
finished his BS in Geology from UP.
He received the UPAA Distinguished
Alumni Award in 2005. Email him at
Teofilo.Abrajano@KAUST.EDU.SA.
Photo from Dr. Abrajano
In the former capacity, I helped draft
the latest NSF Strategic Plan, which
charted the US approach to transforming the frontiers of science, stimulating innovation and addressing societal
needs through science and technology
(http://www.nsf.gov/about/performance/strategic_plan.jsp). In my
present capacity at KAUST, I oversee
the design and implementation of the
University’s strategy for achieving its
ambitious goals of becoming a global
leader in research and innovation and
catalyzing and diversifying the Saudi
economy.
I recognize that the Philippines and
other ASEAN countries are quite unlike the US and Saudi Arabia, but let
me point out elements of the research
and education funding strategy that
should be relevant in every country
context, including ASEAN countries:
(1) the essential role of basic research,
(2) the urgency of community- and
country-wide integration and (3) the
need for international partnerships.
The goals of funding science are
to transform knowledge and to bring
about a positive impact on people’s
lives through discovery and innovation. Some mistakenly assume,
however, that these two objectives are
separately achievable—the former by
supporting basic research, and the lat-
ter by supporting applied or targeted
research.
Although never articulated as such,
some national science funding strategies, based on where the money is
allocated or spent, clearly consider
basic research as a luxury they can ill
afford. Such a premise for developing
a national strategy for science investment is patently shortsighted and
one dimensional, and this is a serious
detriment for sustaining a nation’s
knowledge ecosystem
and global competitiveness.
The assumption that
knowledge application
can be divorced from
knowledge creation is
false. This is precisely
the reason why we
have come to describe
research environments
as knowledge/innovation ecosystems; opting
to forego basic research
is akin to suggesting that
we can do without the
ecosystem life-support.
There is no choice to be
made between keeping
the soil or the plant, or
sacrificing the root for
the sake of the rest of
the tree. Knowledge
Abrajano (center) talks with King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
President Jean Lou Chameau (left) and Prof. John Archer (right) during a student
poster session in a symposium Abrajano hosted at KAUST.
creation and utilization is a continuum
in multiple dimensions (Pasteur Quadrant, e.g.,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Pasteur's_quadrant), and a weak basic
research posture necessarily harms our
ability to compete in identifying the
next big leap in technological innovation. Basic research is to application as
sin is to confession.
The dilemma of limited resources
matched against a great demand for innovative solutions to urgent problems
faced by many ASEAN countries is
solved not by severing the roots from
education and research strategy of the
university with the local community
and the private sector to the sort of
structured national framework that is
a prerequisite for compliance with the
ASEAN regional framework. I must
warn, however, that these partnerships
work best when they are organically
developed by the principal investigators and educators, not when they are
bureaucratically imposed from above.
Those charged with formulating these
frameworks must focus on “enabling
strategies,” including maximizing
UP FORUM Volume 15 No. 4 July-August 2014 5
SHARING LESSONS LEARNED...
continued from page 1
Luís María R. Calingo
ured professor and academic senator.
At that time, Fresno State was the
agricultural campus of the California
State University system. As “the
only game in town,” we had no
difficulty recruiting students and
attracting donors. We did not
even have to recruit international or out-of-state students—the
perfect condition for incubating
institutional inertia.
Since strategic planning was my
doctoral specialization, my dean
asked me to coordinate my department’s and our school’s strategic
planning processes. As we were
conducting strategic planning, we
saw internationalization as the
catalyst for bringing the school to a
higher level of distinctiveness and
the enabler for recruiting world-class
faculty. The perfect storm arrived
when AACSB (the business school’s
accrediting body) mandated all business schools to internationalize the
curriculum. These efforts led to the
business school spearheading the
crafting of the university’s Mission
Statement for International Education, which would serve as the big
tent for Fresno State’s internationalization initiatives. As academic
senator, I participated in developing
that mission statement, which the
academic senate eventually endorsed
and the president approved in the
springof 1986. You may find a copy
holder consultations and should
represent to the world how the
university defines comprehensive
internationalization.
At around 1988/1989, our business school began thinking of ways
by which we could introduce our
school into the international community of scholars. This gave rise to
the design to organize and support an
annual Asia Pacific Conference on
International Accounting Issues. The
first conference was held at Fresno
State in October 1989 and attracted
150 scholars and practitioners from
96 institutions and 17 countries to
participate, discuss, and share their
experiences in harmonizing international accounting practices in the
Asia Pacific region.
During my deanship, we decided
that the best way to ensure the effectiveness and sustainability of the
fledgling conference was to hold
the annual conference in different
venues in the Asia Pacific region
and to secure an institutional partner
as co-host of each conference. The
conference is now on its 26th year
and has been hosted by many business schools through the Asia Pacific
region. You may see details of the
conference at http://apconference.
org/
Lesson #2: Raise the visibility
of your school in the international
community of scholars-teachers
this happen. This was totally new territory for the CSU, which meant that
there were no rules and regulations
governing the offering of degree
programs overseas (let alone outside state borders). Over a two-year
period, I negotiated and secured approvals from Fresno State Academic
Senate, the system-wide Chancellor’s
Office, and WASC (Fresno State’s
accrediting body) before receiving the authority to negotiate with
overseas partners. I dealt not only
with risk-averse bureaucrats who
lacked international awareness, but
also with the then-prevailing thinking
that public universities were created
to educate local residents and not
foreign nationals in other countries.
Regrettably, a lot of valuable time
was lost during these negotiations
that, by the time we received our authorizations, our more agile competitors have beaten us in the market.
Lessons #3: Before launching
pioneering international programs
and going through the formal approval processes, secure the buy-in
of your institution’s highest executive. If your chief executive is not
willing to join you in crossing a
bridge while it is being built, don’t
waste your time.
During the period 1993 to 1996, I
took a sabbatical to join the business
school at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore’s
second public university, as
one of its founding faculty
members. I developed personal relationships with academicians from Singapore, Malaysia, China, and other Asian
countries. These relationships
proved beneficial in my future
leadership positions.
From 2002 to 2006, I introduced our undergraduate
business programs to foreign
locations, specifically in Malaysia, Singapore, and China. I
was then dean of the business
school at CSU Long Beach,
which, at that time, was
America’s eighth largest business school. Our objective was
to recapture the international
student enrollment that we
lost after 9/11. By this time,
the CSU system has had some
experience in offering MBA
programs overseas, but not undergraduate programs. Using
the lessons that I learned from
Calingo (center) receives his plaque as UPAA Alumni Awardee during the UPAA General Homecoming and Reunion in June
my Fresno State years and
2014. With him are UP President Alfredo Pascual (right) and UPAA President Ponciano Rivera.
using the contacts I developed
in Singapore, I successfully
launched
the programs in Malaysia
by organizing or collaborating
of this mission statement at http://
and Singapore and obtained accrediin scholarly events to which the
www.fresnostate.edu/academics/aps/
tation approval for them. The Singainternational community would be
documents/apm/276.pdf.
pore program became the destination
invited.
Lesson #1: The starting point of
program for students from ASEAN
From
1990
to
1993,
our
business
internationalizing the university is
countries, while students from the
school decided to introduce our
a mission statement, to which fuMiddle East populated the Malaysia
MBA program to foreign locations,
ture internationalization initiatives
program. I also successfully negotispecifically Taipei, Hong Kong, and
should be aligned. This statement
continued on page 8
Singapore, and I was tasked to make
should be the product of stake-
6 UP FORUM Volume 15 No. 4 July-August 2014
General Education at Globalisasyon
Isip, Salita at Gawa
Para Kanino?
Arbeen Acuña
A
pektado ang UP sa isterya ng internasyonalisasyon. Wika nga ni Assistant
Vice-President for Academic Affairs Marilou Nicolas, darating ang integrasyon sa Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) sa 2015, sa ayaw
natin at sa gusto. Susi sa pakikisama sa mga karatig-rehiyon sa Asya ang pagayon at paglapat ng General Education Program (GEP) sa pangangailangan ng
internasyonal na komunidad at pag-angkop sa programang K to 12 sa batayang
edukasyon.
Programa at Mga Panukala
Kasama sa mga ipinirisintang dokumento ni Nicolas sa Expanded GE Committee Workshop sa Subic noong ika-21 hanggang-23 ng Mayo ang tsart na
nagkukumpara sa Revitalized General Education Program (RGEP) Hybrid at
bagong GEP.
Layunin ng naturang palihan, ayon kay Nicolas, na pagsamahin at pangasiwaan ang “harmonized” na mga balangkas ng GE, pero maaaring bumatay ang
mga constituent unit (CU) sa niche nila; at nagtakda rin ang palihan ng mga CU
na punong-abala sa bawat asignatura. Paglilinaw pa niya, hindi madadagdagan o
mababawasan ang mga taon ng pag-aaral sa kolehiyo, kahit magiging 30-yunit
GE na lang sa bagong GEP (katumbas ng isang akademikong taon) mula sa dating 45 unit sa RGEP, dahil ilalaan sa major ang natitirang tatlong taon.
Asignaturang walang elektib ang gusto ni UP President Alfredo Pascual, ayon
kay Nicolas. Sa layunin naman, hindi tinanggal sa bagong GEP ang dating nasa
RGEP: pagpapalawak ng larangang intelektwal at kultural; at pagpapayabong
ng pagkatig sa nasyonalismong binabalanse ng pagpapahalaga sa internasyonalismo. Idinagdag lang sa bagong GEP ang pagpapalalim ng kapasidad sa integrasyon ng kaalaman at kasanayan (knowledge and skill); at pagkintal ng “passion
for life-long learning.”
Simula 1987 pa nagtuturo ng GE subject ang kasalukuyang tagapangulo ng
Diliman GE Committee at miyembro ng UP Diliman GE Committee na si Prop.
Robin Daniel Rivera ng Department of Art Studies. Sa panayam
ng UP Forum sinabi niyang noong 2009, muli nilang pinag-aralan
ang RGEP at pinagtibay ang taunang kumperensya hinggil dito
noong 2011. Sa kauna-unahang kumperensya, muling ipinakilala
ang ilang asignaturang required GE, at ito ang tinaguriang Diliman
“Hybrid” GEP, na siyang magsisilbing paunang hakbang para sa
potensyal na pagbabago—at pagrerepaso sa kalaunan.
Binubuo ng 45 yunit ang “Hybrid” GE, 15 yunit ang kukunin sa
bawat larangan (Arts & Humanities o AH, Social Sciences & Philosophy o SSP
at Math, Science & Technology o MST): sa AH, dalawa ang elektib at tatlo ang
required (English 10, Filipino 40, Communication 3); sa SSP, tatlo ang elektib,
dalawa ang required (Kasaysayan 1, Philosophy 1); at sa MST, tatlo ang elektib
at required ang isang Math GE at ang STS.
Kinailangan ding tugunan ang mga eksternal na pagbabago, sabi ni Rivera,
tulad ng (1) programang K to 12 ng Departamento ng Edukasyon (DepEd); (2)
bagong GEP at ng College Readiness Standards (CRS) ng Commission on Higher Education (CHED); (3) integrasyong ASEAN; at (4) panukalang GEP ng UP
System, na tinagurian niyang “System 8.” Kabilang naman sa unang panukalang
ito (Setyembre 2013) ang 36 yunit: 12 elektib at 24 batayang yunit na katumbas
ng walong asignatura: (1) Ethics; (2) Self and Society; (3) Mathematics, Culture
and Society; (4) Science Technology and Society; (5) Living Art and Culture; (6)
Living Systems; (7) Life and Works of Rizal; at (8) Understanding the Physical
Universe.
Oktubre 2013, isang buwan makalipas ang unang panukala, hinapag ni dating Chancellor Caesar Saloma ang planong may anim na yugto: (1) pagtatag ng
UPD GE Center; (2) pagdaraos ng mga konsultasyon; (3) pagpapaunlad ng mga
kurikulum; (4) pilot-tesing; (5) Curriculum Approvals; at (6) program roll-out
sa 2018, sa pagpasok ng unang mga nagsipagtapos sa ilalim ng programang K to
12.
Sa palihan ng Diliman, pinag-usapan ang rationale ng deadline para sa
bagong GEP. Sa kabila ng kagustuhan ng Diliman na repasuhin ang programa,
hindi nais madaliin ang proseso kaya naghapag si Rivera ng pagpapaunlad ng
GEP na maisasakatuparan makalipas ang limang taon. Ayon kay Rivera, iminungkahi ng mga CU ang ilang pagbabago tulad ng pagdaragdag ng kurso sa
komunikasyon at kasaysayan at pagpapanumbalik ng asignaturang Rizal. Hindi
rin agad nagkasundo sa pamagat ng mga batayang kurso at nakukulangan ang
mga CU sa panahong ibinigay ng UP System. Magpapatuloy ang UP Diliman sa
itutuloy sa pahina 12
UP FORUM Volume 15 No. 4 July-August 2014 7
T
Dangal at Husay Mula sa Kawani,
Para sa Kawani Tungong
Internasyonalisasyon
ungkulin ng Campus Maintenance Office (CMO) ang
pangalagaan ang mga gusali at pisikal na kapaligiran
ng UP Diliman. Isang sangay nito ang Grounds Service and
Arboretum Division (GSAD). Bahagi ng komprehensibong
gawain nito ang pangangalaga ng park at garden, nursery at
arboretum at beautification at landscaping.
Ang mga serbisyong ito ay mahigit dalawang dekada nang
trabaho ni Mang Rogelio. Siya ay regular na manggagawa na
may salary grade 4 (sagad). Sa kakapusan ng sahod, kabikabila ang kanyang loan na malaking bahagi ng mga kaltas
sa kaniyang sahod. Kung kaya may take-home pay na lamang siya na Php400-600
kada linggo.
Ilang taon na lamang ay magreretiro na si Mang Rogelio. Marahil ang bagong
kaalamang bunga ng kasalukuyang pag-aaral at pag-eeksperimento sa pagpapausbong ng Mirasol sa tag-ulan ay magiging malaking ambag lalo na ngayong nasa
kamay ng mga manggagawang tulad niya ang posibilidad na ang Mirasol ay para
rin sa mga magtatapos ng Hunyo.
Sariwa pa sa alaala ni Joy nang magtapos siyang cum laude sa Departamento ng
Filipino at Panitikang Pilipinas ng Kolehiyo ng Arte at Literatura sa UP Diliman
noong nakaraang taon. Gaya rin ng alaala ng kaniyang unang trabaho, ang mga
karanasan niya bilang isang community development officer (CDO) ng Office of
Community Relations (OCR). Para kay Joy, ang muling pagkakaroon ng dinamikong ugnayan ng mga sektor at ng Unibersidad ay susi sa tagumpay ng kanilang
opisina. Halimbawa nito ang pagpapaunlad ng sektor ng transportasyon upang
matiyak ang kaligtasan ng mga pasahero sa mga pampublikong sasakyan sa loob
ng kampus.
Hindi iniinda ang dami ng trabahong minsa’y inaabot hanggang Sabado at
Linggo ang mga isinasagawang capacity-building tulad nang sa mga drayber ng
pampublikong sasakyan. Bilang isang non-UP contractual na walang natatanggap na anumang benepisyo, umaasa lamang siya sa take-home pay na Php13,000
kada buwan. Mag-iisang taon na dapat siya sa trabaho pagsapit ng Hunyo, at sa
kalauna’y mananatili na lamang na mga hindi malilimutang alaala para sa tulad
niyang na-endo sa trabaho, sa unang pagkakataon.
Kawaning Pang-edukasyon
Sina Mang Rogelio at Joy ay halimbawa ng mga kawaning natatangi sa iba pang
empleyadong pampamahalaan dahil sila ay nakapaloob sa pang-edukasyong sangay nito. Bagamat hindi pangunahing gawain ang pagtuturo, ang kanilang prakti-
Stephanie S. Cabigao
kang nakatuon sa pananaliksik, administratibo, pangkalusugan, seguridad, kalinisan, at iba pang serbisyo ay mahalaga sa pang-araw-araw na operasyon ng UP.
Kaiba sa iba pang mga SUC, ang UP ay may pambansang saklaw, kaya inaasahang ito’y may malawak na sakop at kinapapalooban ng maunlad at umuunlad pang
mga programa, kung kaya nanganganak ito ng mga bagong opisina na kailangan
ng karagdagang serbisyo. Kailangan ng malalaking institusyon tulad ng UP ang
araw-araw at tuluy-tuloy na operasyon upang manatiling dinamiko, maayos at
ligtas ang bawat kampus nito.
Bilang pangunahing ahensyang pang-edukasyon ng gobyerno, hindi lamang mga
guro at REPS ang kailangan nito kundi pati mga taong may kasanayang magtitiyak sa tamang proseso ng mga gawain. Kung kaya mahalaga ang serbisyo ng mga
kawaning tulad ng administrative officer, administrative aid, clerk, at messenger.
Batay sa datos ng Plantilla 2012 ng All UP Academic Employees Union (AUPAEU), ang UP system ay may 12,572 empleyadong guro, REPS at kawani. Ang
62 porsyento nito ay binubuo ng 7,793 regular o kawaning may plantilla tulad ni
Mang Rogelio. Ang tatlo sa may malalaking bilang ng mga kawani ay makikita sa
mga yunit na may gawaing pangkalusugan, ang UP-PGH na may 3,570 kawani;
at sa malalaking kampus tulad ng Diliman na may 1,453 at Los Banos na may
tinatayang 1,438 kawani.
Ngunit bukod sa kanila ay may mga empleyado rin ang UP tulad ni Joy na nagbibigay ng pantay na serbisyo ngunit naiiba ang katangian tulad ng mga lecturer,
UP contractual, non-UP contractual, agency-hired, non-government workers at
job order. Maliban sa UP contractual, ang mga ito ay walang natatanggap na benepisyo at umaasa lamang sa kanilang sahod. Sa 12,572 na mga empleyado, 3,422
o 27.22 porsyento nito ay ang tulad nila. Batay naman sa sistema ng kanilang
appointment, 1,432 nito ay mga kawani. Sa pagsusuri ng AUPAEU, mahigit isa sa
limang empleyado ang mga kontraktwal sa UP.
itutuloy sa pahina 14
Artwork by Tilde Acuña
8 UP FORUM Volume 15 No. 4 July-August 2014
CONVERGENCE IN WORK SYSTEMS...
continued from page 3
are acquired through training, and
certification. Skills could be generic
to the industry, enabling workers to
move from one firm to another; or
firm-specific acquired through onthe-job training (OJT). Blue collar
workers are usually referred to as
skilled labor, while professionals
who are white collar workers have
certified competencies and expertise,
acquired through formal education
and licensure.
Skills occupational shortage or surplus is the interaction between labor
demand and supply, within a specific
time frame and geographic space.
Shortage or surplus is also a function of compensation and working
conditions, on the supply side. Labor
supply depends on compensation and
working conditions, and other terms
and conditions of the contract of
services. Critical skills such as rural
health professionals for instance have
inelastic demand, meaning poor and
rural communities need the doctors,
nurses and other health practitioners,
regardless of fees for professional
services. On the other hand, certain
professions such as nurses, marine
transport or aircraft mechanics have
continued on page 9
Photos from Wikicommons
ated the financial model for these programs with the CSU Chancellor’s Office, which created a
stream of net income to the business school. Today, these programs are no longer operational as
the restrictions on the inflow of international students have been relaxed.
Lesson # 4: Being a fast second is an appropriate strategy if you’re dealing with a riskaverse institutional culture. External degree programs should be self-supporting, and
you should ensure that no tax-funded funds are used to subsidize these programs.
From 2007 to 2010, as business dean and then provost at Dominican University of California, I negotiated 2+2 degree articulation and transfer admission (“twinning”) agreements
with business schools in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand. Crafting these articulation
agreements is a time-consuming process; figure about six months per degree program. Our
goal was to increase our population of international students from four percent to ten percent
of the total population. Cognizant that many international students transfer to US universities
from the two-year community colleges, we first reformed our General Education curriculum
to make our university transfer-friendly. Twinning programs had the potential of enabling international students to receive a US bachelor’s degree at a fraction of the cost that they would
have paid for four years of education in US soil. Despite this value proposition, of these three
institutions, only the university in Thailand became a feeder school. The main barrier to participation in the twinning programs was the cost of US education.
Lesson #5: A transfer-friendly lower-division curriculum enables mobility of students
who might wish to transfer to your school. Articulation is a time-consuming process;
therefore, conduct a thorough due-diligence of the attractiveness and affordability of
your degree programs to students from prospective overseas partners.
From 2009 to 2012, as provost, I centralized all activities pertaining to international students under one office—the Office of Internationalization and Global Education (OIGE).
OIGE initially had a staff of 3.5
FTE consisting of a full-time
director, a full-time international student advisor, one
half-time coordinator, and
one administrative assistant.
The international student advisor dealt with admissions,
legal, and regulatory requirements, while the coordinator dealt with international
student experiences. You may
find more information about
this unit at: http://www.
dominican.edu/admissions/
international
Lesson # 6: There should
be a university infrastructure for internationalization. Someone should be
accountable for the implementation of comprehensive
internationalization. The
university should ensure
that international students
obtain not only good education but also have a memorable campus experience.
From 2011 to the present,
as provost and president, I
have actively developed shortterm, study-abroad programs for students from overseas partners. At Dominican University
of California, we hosted MBA students from Thammasat University every summer where
they studied contemporary management issues at Stanford University one week and then
sustainable entrepreneurship at Dominican the next week. Woodbury University recently
hosted a Los Angeles fashion and business boot camp for students from Miriam College
over a two-week period. These were income-generating programs that also created a level
of internationalization in our constituent schools. They also enable confidence-building between educational partners, especially given the difficulty of launching the more aggressive
twinning programs.
Lesson # 7: Hosting a short-term, study-abroad course is an excellent way to build
confidence with overseas educational partners.
Looking back at these lessons learned and the obstacles that my school and I had to overcome on our way to internationalization, it is important that the academic leader championing comprehensive internationalization should include patience and tolerance for ambiguity
among his or her virtues. This is not the job for a risk-averse, impatient, short-term-oriented
dean, provost, or president. As the late Reverend William Shedd wrote, “A ship is safe in
harbor, but that’s not what ships are for.” Throughout my academic administrative career, I
have probably signed close to twenty agreements with overseas schools, of which only five
really got off the ground. A 25-percent success rate is an intelligent risk in the pursuit of
comprehensive internationalization. With these words, I wish you the best as you consider
how to internationalize your department, school, college, or university.
Whether you believe you can do a thing or not, you are right. (Henry Ford)
-------------------Dr. Luis Maria R. Calingo is a UPAA 2014 Alumni Awardee for Outstanding Achievement. He holds a PhD in Business Administration and MBA in Strategic Planning and
Policy from the University of Pittsburgh. He earned his BS in Industrial Engineering and
MA in Urban and Regional Planning from UP. At present, he is the president of Woodbury University in Burbank, California. Email him at Luis.Calingo@woodbury.edu.
Photos from Wikicommons
SHARING LESSONS LEARNED...
continued from page 5
UP FORUM Volume 15 No. 4 July-August 2014 9
CONVERGENCE IN WORK SYSTEMS...
continued from page 8
high supply elasticity—meaning
more young people are willing to
work for these professions due to the
high compensation offered in foreign
countries.
The Philippines has specific needs
in terms of critical skills and occupations to serve the nation, in both the
public and private sector. Examples
include rural health professionals.
These needs are over and above the
requirements of industry. The Constitutional mandate is to support and
promote “...the sustained development of a reservoir of national talents
to the nationality requirement.
Sound labor market policies should
include policies to put in place supportive human resource development
programs, such as competency skills
training, upgrading and retooling.
These include career or occupational
guidance programs for job seekers,
with timely access to information on
the availability and location of job
vacancies.
Conclusions: Towards a new
social contract
The interdependence of social and
and social dialogue with producers
and consumers, as well as business,
workers, employers and government
are keys to eliminating the social
tensions from the inequalities from
regional integration.
At the same time, the ASEAN community, through their people’s organizations, need to be fully provided
with the fundamental awareness for
them to directly benefit from the
regional integration, with guarantees
for the exercise of rights to freedom
of association and collective bargaining, to improve wages, health and
safety, job security and other working
conditions. Labor and employment
strong and sustainable economies
together, to guarantee the elimination
of social and income inequalities,
green-friendly competitive opportunities for entrepreneurship, mutually
beneficial and progressive trade and
business investments to create decent
and rewarding jobs.
With people-to-people cooperation,
a strong and prosperous ASEAN of
diverse cultures and communities
would be a reality through shared
values and expectations of the people
who are producers and consumers in
the real economy, including workers, employers, and economic and
business leaders who with their hard
relations need to be continuously
improved, through harmonized labor
laws, equal opportunities for employment, skills development, fair
procedures for the settlement of labor
disputes, and compensation.
The demand for greater people-topeople solidarity comes along with
the “mixed noodles” of bilateral and
multilateral free trade agreements between Asian countries (Japan, China,
and Korea; ASEAN), with India,
Europe, the United States, Australia,
and other emerging economies. Some
of the FTAs had provisions on labor
exchange, referred to as “the movement of natural persons,” including
skilled people.
A new social contract is built on
the rational expectation that ASEAN
peoples through their community and
people organizations are able to build
work are rewarded with better jobs,
higher incomes, social protection
and improved lives with sustainable,
green economies. With the commitment and hard work of the diverse
peoples and cultures of ASEAN, this
vision should be a reality soon.
-------------------The ideas expressed in this article are
the author’s own personal views, and
are not the official position of the UP.
Dr. Amante is vice-president for
Administration and professor, School
of Labor and Industrial Relations
(SoLAIR), University of the Philippines. He earned his BA in Economics from UP, MA in Policy Economics
from the University of Illinois, and
PhD in Business and Commerce,
major in Industrial Relations, from
Keio University in Tokyo. Email him
at maragtas.amante@gmail.com.
Amante (seated at the table, 3rd from right) joins a panel of speakers during the Regional
Discussion on the ASEAN Internship Program held at the UP Institute of Small-Scale
Industries Teodoro Room on January 10, 2014. In photo at right, Ms. Muhammad Nasir
Hilvati, Deputy Director of the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, addresses the audience.
consisting of Filipino scientists,
entrepreneurs, professionals, managers, high level technical manpower,
and skilled workers.”
Filipino professionals who used to
practice in foreign countries are highly specialized. These Filipino professional experts may decide to go home
and practice in the Philippines. Under
current regulations, they cannot
practice their high level profession in
the Philippines since they have not
taken the PRC board exams. There is
a need to provide for exemptions for
these cases. Visiting professors who
are also high level professionals and
experts in academe could practice
their profession in the Philippines.
The STPs are only for foreigners. But
Filipinos who are from abroad, and
decide to be returning scientists or
experts (“balik-scientist”) under the
DOST program could not be given
STPs to practice their professions due
economic systems, and mediated by
new technology influence the institutions, processes and outcomes of
such integration, are becoming more
evident as forces of convergence in
work systems, including the ASEAN.
International and transnational
linkages will continue to grow but
even more important, even as national and purely domestic policies
and practices will need to adjust to
the growing size and scope of an
integrating global economy. In Asia,
especially among the “emerging
economies,” the shift in framework
and processes at the workplace may
indicate a much more significant, and
dynamic field.
With increasing regional economic
integration especially in ASEAN,
there is a demand for best practices in
the priority areas of trade, business,
including labor and employment relations. People to people cooperation
10 UP FORUM Volume 15 No. 4 July-August 2014
THE UP FORUM ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION
ON ASEAN INTEGRATION AND INTERNATIONALIZATION
Q.
H ow ready is hi
2015?
What policy refo
HE competitiv
community?
Rex Victor O. Cruz, PhD
Chancellor
UP Los Baños
T
he readiness of Philippine higher education for Asean 2015 can be assessed in terms of the competitiveness of the country’s higher education institutions (HEIs) as institutions of choice for students from other
countries in the region. Come 2015 our HEIs must increase their competitiveness in attracting international students, at least 300,000 of them,
from the region (http://www.uis.unesco.org/Education/Pages/international-student-flow-viz.aspx).
We need to be able to compete with Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and
Indonesia who capture more than 20,000 international students within the
region. Latest estimates show that we only have about 5,000 international
students in 2014, of which less than 500 are from Asean countries.
One of the vital elements of competitiveness is the kind and quality of
programs. To be attractive, programs need to be responsive and relevant
to the current and emerging national, regional and international development goals. These include food security and safety, sustainable and green
energy, biodiversity conservation and natural resources, technological
innovations, climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction, use of
English as a medium of business transactions, and increasing appreciation
for the contribution of culture and arts to sustainable development.
Equally critical is the quality of teachers (i.e., top caliber multi-disciplinary, multi-cultural and multi-national faculty and staff), teaching and
research facilities, and research programs. The quality of living conditions, including cost of living and peace and security; language(s) spoken; quality of environment; and access to basic services are also important factors to insure the competitiveness of our HEIs.
On paper many of our older and established programs such as agriculture, forestry, veterinary medicine, environmental management, natural
and life sciences, engineering, and medical sciences along with some of
our newer programs such as computer science, biotechnology and information technology, are decent enough to compete with those of other
ASEAN HEIs. These programs also boast of competent professors and
researchers who are highly regarded locally and internationally. We also
have a distinct advantage with English as our medium of instruction.
The affordability of education in the Philippines could outweigh the
deterring effects of peace and security issues in some parts of the country
and the unnecessary inconvenience arising from red tape in transacting
business with government agencies.
The competitiveness of our programs and teachers notwithstanding, in
reality, we lag behind our Asean neighbors in attracting international students. It is conceivable that by 2015 the competitiveness of our HEIs will
continue to be limited by the state and quality of our physical and infrastructural assets for teaching and research. Government subsidy to HEIs
over the past two years is still insufficient to significantly modernize
teaching and research facilities that are largely dilapidated, ill-maintained
and inadequate. We might lose some of our best professors
and researchers to our Asean counterparts if we are unable to provide a competitive package of remuneration and
incentives to keep them.
Obviously we have a lot of ground to cover to catch up
with our ASEAN neighbors. Instituting several policy reforms will be key to improving the competitiveness of our
HEIs. These are:
• Substantially increase government investments in strategically selected centers of excellence for modernization of teaching and laboratory facilities as well as
accommodation, connectivity and other vital support
facilities; upgrade salaries and other incentives for
faculty and support staff.
• Rationalize accounting and auditing policies to suit
the needs of HEIs for swift and prompt procurement
of vital equipment, supplies and services. Current
regulations continue to impede the procurement
process for research, usually impinging on the timely
implementation of research activities.
• Strengthen and strictly implement policies on accreditation and monitoring of HEIs and programs to insure
quality and competitiveness.
• Create a policy to facilitate the accreditation of HEIs
and programs by international bodies. Sufficient
support must be provided to HEIs to accelerate their
compliance to all requirements for accreditation.
• Remove policy impediments for hiring foreign nationals as regular members of the faculty to enable HEIs
to recruit high profile international professors and
researchers.
• Review credit transfer policy to increase the flexibility of accepting international students as transferees
and for credit of units earned by local students in foreign HEIs through exchange, joint, dual and sandwich
degree programs.
• Revise immigration policies and procedures governing international students to reduce red tape and
significantly shorten the period of processing visa and
related documents.
-------------------Chancellor Rex Cruz earned his BS and MS in Forestry
from UP, and PhD in Watershed Management from the
University of Arizona. Email him at rocruz@up.edu.ph.
UP FORUM Volume 15 No. 4 July-August 2014 11
THE UP FORUM ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION
ON ASEAN INTEGRATION AND INTERNATIONALIZATION
gher education for ASEAN
orms are needed to make
e in an ASEAN regional
Lily Freida T. Macabangun-Milla, LLB
Director III
International Affairs Staff
Commission on Higher Education
T
o make ASEAN Member States’ national higher education
sectors and the region’s whole higher education system ready
and competitive for ASEAN 2015 and beyond, a lot of efforts
has been made by ASEAN Member States individually and as a
region.
For the Commission, the ASEAN Economic Community 2015
Strategy and Action Plan for Philippine Higher Education (HESAP) will be the main instrument in determining necessary policy
reforms for the Philippine HE system in light of AEC 2015.
The Action Plan has three dimensions: (1) macro-economic
policies, (2) the HEIs, and (3) the industry. Below are the initial considerations for drafting the HE-SAP:
1. The presence of a compelling need to ensure that the country
benefits from the integration process;
2. The changes economic integration will bring to the way we
deliver higher education;
3. The status of the Philippine HE sector vis-à-vis its fellow
ASEAN members;
4. The imperative to determine strategies for participation in the
AEC initiatives for HE aligned with the national strategy; and
5. The importance of consolidating and enhancing present HE
reforms in the context of the AEC.
Private institutions from NCR that are members of the
University Mobility for Asia and the Pacific (UMAP), ASEAN
International Mobility for Students (AIMS), and the ASEAN
University Network (AUN) were invited to the first Focus
Group Discussion (FGD). For the second FGD, state universities and colleges (SUCs) were represented by the Regional
Philippine Association of SUCs (PASUC) chairpersons. Organizations building industry-academe linkages were invited to
the third FGD. CHED aims to consult government offices for
the fourth FGD.
Meanwhile the following are ASEAN’s initiatives in HE.
Supported by CHED, they address challenges faced by the
ASEAN higher education sector:
1. ASEAN University Network- AUN was established as a
response to ASEAN Member States’ vision for integration
by helping in “hasten(ing) the solidarity and development
of a regional identity through the promotion of human
resource development to further strengthen the existing
network of leading universities and institutions of higher
learning in the region.”
AUN is a network of 30 HEIs from 10 ASEAN countries.
This network has a lot of components that make up its sys-
tem, as well as various sub-networks which deal with specific fields. The
most prominent sub-network will be the AUN Southeast Asia Engineering
Education Development Network (AUN/SEED-Net)whose aim is to promote human resources development in the ASEAN engineering field and
promote collaboration and solidarity between academics and professionals.
One of the most important components of AUN is the AUN Credit Transfer Scheme (ACTS). Its objective is “to create common mechanisms in
facilitating the recognition of qualifications and increasing student and
academic mobility in ASEAN.”
2. ASEAN Qualifications Reference Framework - the AQRF is currently
being designed to accommodate and support the various National Qualifications Frameworks (NQFs) of ASEAN countries to promote the recognition of qualifications, facilitate lifelong learning, credit transfer and learner
mobility, among others.
The AQRF is currently a work in progress but is close to completion.
3. ASEAN International Mobility for Students Program - the AIMS
Program is a platform for education cooperation among ASEAN countries. The fields of study/priority disciplines of the AIMS are: agriculture,
hospitality and tourism, language and culture, international business, food
science and technology, engineering and economics.
For student mobility programs like AIMS and AUN, credit transfer systems are essential. While AUN uses the ACTS as mentioned above, the
AIMS Program utilizes the University Mobility for Asia and the Pacific
(UMAP) Credit Transfer Scheme.
4. ASEAN Quality Assurance Network - the AQAN Project is currently overseen by the Malaysian Qualifications Agency. AQAN is open to accrediting
agencies or agencies responsible for quality assurance of higher education.
AQAN concentrates on building the ASEAN Quality Assurance Framework for higher education through discussions and sharing of QA best
practices and experiences.
Considering the aforesaid ASEAN-centered programs and networks, the
main factors which significantly affect national HE sectors and the regional HE
system are credit transfer schemes for student and professional mobility, qualifications referencing and compatibility, and quality assurance. These are where
reforms are concentrated. AIMS, AUN, and AQRF all complement the region’s
efforts to enhance quality assurance systems in the long run. QA is important
in the achievement of a regional higher education space and thus, the importance of a regional QA framework is on the spotlight.
As to how ready the ASEAN HE system is for 2015, readiness can be measured by how close ASEAN is to accomplishing the establishment of these QA
and Qualifications Referencing systems.
-------------------Atty. Lily Freida Milla earned her political science and law degrees from UP.
Email her at lily.freida@gmail.com.
12 UP FORUM Volume 15 No. 4 July-August 2014
ISIP, SALITA AT GAWA PARA KANINO...
mula sa pahina 6
pakikilahok sa mga palihan hinggil sa GE at sa naturang anim na hakbang, ayon kay Rivera, hindi bilang pagpayag sa orihinal na “System 8”
pero bilang konsultasyon sa mga kasamahang guro sa ibang CU.
Dagdag niya, sa kabila ng pagtutok ng administrasyon sa mga kasunduang may kinalaman sa integrasyon sa rehiyon (ng timog-silangang
Asya), ang interes naman nilang mga akademiko ay pagpapayabong
ng kaalaman at mga pedagohiya (o pamamaraan ng pagbabahagi ng
kaalaman) na siyang magtutulak sa paglago sa mga erya nang higit pa
sa ekonomiyang rehiyonal. “Walang kakulangan sa ganitong pagnanais
sa mga edukador ng UP Diliman. (...) Pinabubulaanan nito ang akalang
nagpapayaman lang ang mga guro sa overload teaching pay sa halip
na sumabak sa pananaliksik. (...) Nakadepende sa pondong ilalaan ng
administrasyon ng UP ang pagsabay ng pamantasan sa kalidad ng mga
karatig-rehiyon sa Asya, kung mabibigyan ng kinakailangang rekurso
ang mga guro sa GE man, propesyonal na pagsasanay, interaksyong
pangkolehiyo o pananaliksik,” ayon kay Rivera sa Ingles.
Makikita ang mga sumusunod na asignatura sa tsart ni Nicolas: (1) History (Philippine History, Heritage and Culture); (2) Rizal (The Life and
Works of Jose Rizal); (3) Living Art; (4) Communication; (5) Ethics; (6)
Self & Society; (7) Mathematics, Culture and Society (Mathematics, Culture and Society); (8) Science, Technology and Society (STS); (9) Living
Systems; at (10) Understanding the Physical Universe. Sa sampung asignatura, ang apat na may pamagat sa loob ng panaklong pa lamang ang may
“harmonized” na balangkas, kasama ang kursong Rizal na dating PI 100.
Walang Filipino sa GEP
Walang asignaturang Filipino sa GEP ng UP, na siyang magiging
mainit na isyu dulot ng CHED Memorandum No. 20 Series of 2013 na
nagtatanggal sa Filipino sa GE Curriculum (GEC).
Karaniwang maririnig sa mga nagnanais magpatanggal sa asignaturang
Filipino ang pagtuturo nito sa huling mga baitang sa programang K to 12.
Kultura naman ang binigyang diin ni Nicolas: Pambansang identidad ang
ating problema at hindi naman bawal magturo sa wikang Filipino.
Dagdag ni Nicolas, ituturo naman sa pangkulturang GE kung ano ba
ang “Filipino.” Para sa kanya, hindi pagiging hindi nasyonalista ang
hindi pagtuturo sa Filipino at mas mainam bigyang-diin ang kasaysayang
kultural kaysa politikal para mahanap ang ating “national identity.”
Hindi sapat at limitado ang asignaturang Filipino sa programang K to 12
dahil lampas pa sa balarila at komunikasyon ang Filipino, para kay Prop.
Rommel Rodriguez, pambansang secretary-general ng All-UP Academic
Employees Union (AUPAEU). “Sa kolehiyo, marami pang marapat
matutunan ang mga mag-aaral [na papasok sa UP] hinggil sa Filipino
bilang instrumento ng pananaliksik at panunuri sa lipunan, kasaysayan at
kultura. (…) at hinggil sa iba’t ibang larangan ng Filipino, tulad ng wika,
araling pilipino, panitikan, at malikhaing pagsulat.”
Mga Prototipo
“Maski yung ‘Thai-ness’ itinuturo sa Thailand in English kasi nga may
mga international students. Thais are one of the most nationalistic people
in the world,” ani Nicolas. Pero iba ang kalagayan sa Indonesia at Malaysia, kung saan ang mga dayong estudyante ang dapat umangkop sa kultura ng naturang mga bansa. Ayon sa nilahad sa porum na Bantay Wikang
Filipino ni DFPP Prop. Ramon Guillermo, pambansang presidente ng
AUWAEU, labindalawang taon din ang batayang edukasyon—elementarya at sekundarya—sa Indonesia at Malaysia. Ganito rin sa Thailand.
Ayon kay Guillermo, maraming unibersidad sa Indonesia at Malaysia—na katumbas ng UP bilang state university—ang may batayang
kurso sa bahasa (wika) na mandatory sa GEP. Mas maunlad ang mga naturang wika bilang wikang pambansa. Sa kani-kanilang Senado at Kongreso, kailangang humingi muna ng permiso bago magsalita ng Ingles
dahil dapat maintindihan ng ordinaryong tao ang lehislasyon ng batas.
Ani Guillermo: “Kailangang igiit na iba ang katangian ng pag-aaral sa
basic education at sa pag-aaral sa unibersidad. May mga espesipikong
kasanayan sa pagpapaunlad sa Filipino bilang wikang intelektwal at
wikang ginagamit sa siyentipikong larangan. Dahil sa mas atrasadong katangian ng wikang Filipino, palagay ko, lalong kailangan ng core course
na wikang Pilipino sa ating core course sa kolehiyo.”
Sa parehong porum, ibinahagi ni Alliance of Concerned Teachers
(ACT) Partylist Rep. Antonio Tinio ang “Recto Avenue” ng Indonesia,
kung saan nagbebenta ng mga librong secondhand—ang pagkakaiba
lang, nasa Bahasa ang mga ito, kabilang ang mga aklat sa agham,
matematika, pilosopiya, maging mga best seller. Tatlo ang susing punto
ni Tinio: (1) pagpapatunay sa antas ng akademikong diskurso sa mga
unibersidad ng Indonesiang maunlad kumpara sa Pilipinas, sa kabila ng
limitasyon dahil wala pang mga aklat sa hard science, law at engineering; (2) indikasyon ng kasiglahan ng gawaing pagsasalin sa akademya
at sa kultura ng Indonesia, hindi tulad sa Pilipinas na pinakamaraming
isinasalin sa show business at sa mass media; at (3) senyales ng masiglang produksyon ng libro, hindi tulad sa Pilipinas na import-dependent na
nga sa maraming produkto, ganoon pa rin sa mga aklat.
Nagbalik-kasaysayan si Tinio: “ Noong 1987 ay nanguna ang UP at
nagdeklara si [former UP President]
Jose Abueva: lahat ng kurso sa unibersidad ay ituro na sa Filipino—hindi
lang panitikan at araling Pilipino,
kundi matematika, siyensa, engineering, medicine, microbiology, lahat ng
kurso, ganoon ang plano. Itinatag ang
Sentro ng Wikang Filipino (SWF)
para maisakatuparan ito; may fiveyear plan. Katulad ng binanggit ni
[Guillermo], yun ang tinarget [natin
tulad] ng Malaysia noong 1980s, kaya
lang ano’ng nangyari sa patakaran?
(…) Dumating ang globalisayson,
noong panahon ni dating Pangulong
Fidel Ramos. Philippines 2000: deregulation, liberalization, privatization
at yung pagtutulak sa wikang Ingles bilang susi sa global competitiveness. Kaya binitiwan ng UP ang language policy. Noong panahon ni
[former UP President] Francisco Nemenzo, nagkaroon ng devolution:
ibinasura ang patakaran at mula noon ay paatras na at nasa depensiba na
ang mga nagtataguyod ng wikang Pilipino.”
Dagdag pa niya, “Sa education system, revised basic education curriculum ang naging patakaran noong 2002. Binawasan yung mga minutes
para sa wikang Filipino at para sa mga subject na itinuturo gamit ito
under Makabayan. Noong panahon ni Gloria [Arroyo], EO 210 naman:
kailangang gamitin ang Ingles bilang primary medium of instuction sa
college. Naging English speaking, tapos magmumulta ka ‘pag gumamit
ng Filipino. Itong pinakahuli[ng bigwas], ‘yung CHED memong magtatanggal sa Filipino sa GEC. Sa UP GEP may equivalent yan. System
8 o System 10? Essentially ganoon din, tatanggalin na ito as a required
course. Last stand na ba ito ng Filipino?”
Ang Proyekto
May tatlong implikasyon kung walang asignaturang Filipino sa GEP ng
UP ayon kay Rodriguez: (1) binabalewala nito ang Patakarang Pangwika ng UP na inaprubahan ng Board of Regents noong Mayo 29, 1989
kung saan nakapaloob na “mangunguna ang Unibersidad sa pagtulong
na bumuo ng pambansang wikang ang tawag ay Filipino, ang wika ng
ating sibilisasyon;” (2) binubura ng bagong panukala ang nakamit na
tagumpay ng wikang Filipino bilang wika ng pananaliksik at ang intelektuwalisasyon nito; at (3) isinasantabi ang halaga ng pag-aaral ng Filipino
bilang lunsaran ng identidad at kaalamang-bayan. “Paurong ang nagiging
perspektiba ng Unibersidad sa halip na maging pasulong.”
Inugnay ni Flores ang patakaran sa edukasyong kumikiling sa internasyonalisasyon sa balangkas ng globalisasyong binibigyang-katwiran ng
ideolohiyang neoliberalismo, kung saan sinasalansan ang lahat ng aparato
upang umastang parang negosyo. Mapapansing ganito ang nangyayari
sa UP, simula nang magtaas ng matrikula dahil sa pag-abandona ng
estado sa responsibilidad nito: humahanap na ng pagkakakitaan ang UP,
kabilang ang pag-angkop sa posibleng mga kustomer na mapaglalakuan
ng edukasyong UP, pakikipagsosyo sa pribadong mga korporasyon at
pagpaparenta ng mga lupain, halimbawa, sa mga Ayala. Sabi ni Flores,
winiwala tayo gamit ang wika at inaangkin ang maling kahulugan.
“Ang intelektwalisadong wika at propesyon sa wika o larangan ay
nasa balangkas talaga ng edukasyong kolonyal. Magsisimula talaga dito
bilang panimulang tungtungan sa demokratisasyon. Ibig sabihin, pagbibigay-puwang ng paglikha ng kaalaman at pagpapalawig ng kakayanan
ng taong magpahayag sa wika kung saan sila komportable. Hindi lang
ito sentimental, pero sentral sa demokrasya o panlipunang hustisya,” ani
Flores.
Bagamat mahalaga ang pambansang identidad, tulad ng sinasabi ni Nicolas, mahirap itong makamit kung walang asignaturang Filipino sa GEP.
Sa karanasan ng Indonesia at Malaysia, matatayang mas matibay ang
kabuluhan ng nasyonalismo sa unang dalawang karatig-rehiyon. Sa Thailand kung saan sa Ingles itinuturo ang “Thai-ness,” na siyang tutularan
ng UP upang makapagsilbi sa dayong mga iskolar at mapabatid sa kanila
ang “Filipino-ness,” tila nagiging turismo ang kahihinatnan ng dapat sana
ay akademikong mobilidad.
“Kailangan talaga magkaroon ng perspektiba ang mga estudyante na
Pilipino sila. Hindi lang sila Ilokano o Kapampamngan, kundi Pilipino
rin sila. Mahirap ka na nga, sasagasa ka sa globalisasyon at kalat-kalat ka
pa,” ani Flores. Para sa kanya, problematiko ang multi-polarity, multiperspective o lubusang diversity at mas mainam nang nagkakaisa, malakas at may pagkakaisa. Tila sinagot ni Flores ang hamon ni Tinio: kung
“last stand na ba ito ng Filipino?” Sabi ni Flores, “Huwag na tayong
umatras, umunlad na ang akademikong larangan ng Filipino. Ang erya ng
linguistics, applied linguistics, sociolinguistics, lexicography, pagsasalin,
pagpalanong pangwika, pagsasalin, malikhaing pagsulat, araling Pilipino.
Ito ang ‘gusi’ ng kaalaman, ito na yung balon o knowledge production.
itutuloy sa pahina 13
UP FORUM Volume 15 No. 4 July-August 2014 13
ISIP, SALITA AT GAWA PARA KANINO...
mula sa pahina 12
Ito na yung inabot ng pagtatapat ng kaalaman ng consciousness ng area of knowledge dun sa isang globalisading kaalaman.”
Sa parehong porum, nagbalik-kasaysayan si Pambansang Alagad ng Sining Bienvenido Lumbera at nilagom
na ang pinakaugat ng problema sa edukasyon ay ang
edukasyong kolonyal na ipinamana sa atin ng imperyalismong Amerikano. Tulad ng maraming makabayang
akademiko, pabor si Lumbera na unahin muna ang
kapakanan ng mga Pilipino, bago ang dayuhan:
“Ang mga Filipino ay nakalimutang isaalang-alang
ng mga edukador na nagplano ng pagtatayo ng K to 12
at patuloy na pagpapalaganap ng kolonyal na edukasyon sa Pilipinas. Bakit [nga ba] kailangang ang edukasyon ay maituon sa sambayanang Pilipino, sa halip
na sa mga mmamayan sa daigdig? Ang mga Pilipino
ang unang dapat paglingkuran ng ating education system, pero lumalabas na [pinapahaba lang ang pag-aaral
dulot ng K to 12] upang maging kwalipikado silang
maglingkod sa mga kompanya sa labas ng Pilipinas.
Anong requirement para ang isang Pilipino ay makapa
g panukalang GEP. Hindi maitatanggi ang pagkakahawig nito sa GEP ng Harvard. Bagaman may ilang
pag-amin na naimpluwensyahan ng modelong ito ang
panukalang programa na nais gawin sa UP, mahalagang
isaalang-alang na marapat itong nakaangkla sa perspektiba at pilosopiyang Filipino, at dumaan sa masusing pag-aaral upang makalikha ng bagong programa.
Sa proposal, walang pagbanggit man lamang sa mga
tagumpay ng mga naunang GEP.”
“Sa pagbuo ng bagong programa, pangangailangang
humalaw ng mga aral mula sa pinagmulan nito; ilunan sa
historikal na konteksto at hindi lamang basta-basta ibatay
sa programa ng mga kanluraning institusyon,” mungkahi
ni Rodriguez. “Gawing sistematiko ang pagbuo at pagtuturo nito bilang panimulang batayan ng paglikha ng kaalaman ng mga mag-aaral na papasok sa ating unibersidad.
Ibig sabihin, tingnan ang GEP ng UP bilang tungtungan
ng kaalaman ng mga mag-aaral sa kanilang pagsabak sa
ninanais na propesyon at disiplina sa halip na ituring ang
mga ito bilang pampalubag-loob lamang.”
Higit pa sa pagiging pundasyon ng pagsasa-ayos
ng GEP bilang rekisito upang mapaunlad ang akademikong mga programa ng UP para sa internasyonalisasyon, molde rin itong huhubog sa mga estudyanteng inaasahang mag-ambag, hindi lang sa pagbubuo
ng bayan, kundi sa paglilingkod sa sambayanan. Sa
tinatahak na landas ng UP sa tangka nitong integrasyon o pakikisabay sa mga karatig-rehiyon, kailangang
bantayan kung naisasakripisyo ang kapakanan ng
kalakhan ng mamamayan para sa kapakanan ng iilang
may kakayanang magbayad sa edukasyong tila nagiging kalakal, sa halip na karapatan.
Sapat na nga ba ang pagka-Pilipino “sa isip, sa salita,
sa gawa” sa panatang pinabibigkas sa atin mula elementarya, kahit noong wala pang K to 12? Mapaninindigan na ba natin ang pagiging makabayan—ang ating
pagiging iisang bayan—sa pakikipagsapalaran sa sandaigdigan? Iiwan ko na rin ang ilang ulit na itinanong
ni Lumbera, ang ating isip (teorya), salita (wika), gawa
(praktika), anong kahihinatnan? Para kanino?
-------------------Padalhan ng email ang awtor sa arbeen.acuna@gmail.com.
Participants from UP Diliman and Austria's Universitat Innsbruck discuss the offering of an
Asian Studies Program on February 2013. The second session (bottom two photos) was held
in January 2014.
14 UP FORUM Volume 15 No. 4 July-August 2014
The ASEAN Leadership Forum of 2013 looks into Social Solidarity Economy as an
alternative model of inclusive, resilient, and sustainable development. The forum,
held at the GT-Toyota Auditorium of the UP Asian Center, was organized by the Asian
Strategy and Leadership Institute (ASLI) and the Asian Solidarity Economy Council
(ASEC).
DANGAL AT HUSAY MULA SA KAWANI...
mula sa pahina 7
Sa usapin ng sahod, ipinapakita ng datos na 65 porsyento ng mga regular na
empleyado ay may salary grade 17 pababa na kumikita ng Php 29,028 pababa.
Karamihan sa kanila ay may salary grade 15 (Php 24,887) na binubuo ng 1,754 na
empleyado, pangalawa ang mga may salary grade 6 (Php 12,921) na binubuo ng
1,007 kawani, at pangatlo ay 815 na kawani na may salary grade 4.
Kahusayan at Internasyonalisasyon
Hindi mararating ng UP ang tagumpay nito sa mahabang panahon kung wala
ang mga kawani upang tiyakin ang regular na operasyon at pananatili ng kaayusan ng Unibersidad. Ang pagkilala sa kanilang mahalagang papel ay nakasaad sa
kasalukuyang istratehikong plano ng UP. Paliwanag nito: “Academic excellence
needs the support of an enabling environment anchored on operational excellence.
Operational excellence, in turn, is achievable only through administrative efficiency and financial sustainability.”1
Ang panahong ito ay isang mahalagang yugto sa buhay ng UP kung kailan ang
talaban ng academic at operational excellence ay higit na kailangan upang maigpawan ang mga hamon at makamit ang bisyon bilang “isang dakilang Unibersidad
sa ika-21 siglo.”2 Katulad ito ng pagharap sa malaking hamon ng internasyonalisasyon.
Naipamalas ng UP ang kakayahan nitong gawin sa maikling panahon ang mekanismo upang umiral ang internasyonalisasyon sa sistema ng mataas na edukasyon
sa bansa. Ang bagong akademikong kalendaryo ay isa sa mga ibinungang tagumpay ng masigasig na paghahanda para sa internasyonalisasyon. Sa katunayan, epektibo noong nakaraang Agosto, nagbukas ang kauna-unahang akademikong taon ng
internasyonalisasyon sa pangunguna ng UP.
Bagama’t ang iba pang matingkad na hakbang sa paghahanda ay nakatuon sa
pang-akademikong aspekto, ang internasyonalisasyon ay hindi lamang paghahanda
ng akademikong sektor ng pamantasan, kundi ng buong pamantasan.
Kahandaan at internasyonalisasyon
Sa kabila ng mga hakbang na ginawa ng mga kawani upang maihanda ang
pamantasan sa pagbabagong ito, halimbawa ang pagsasa-ayon ng operasyon
sa bagong akademikong kalendaryo, interesanteng malaman ang antas ng kahandaang isinasagawa para sa mga kawani ng UP system.
Ayon sa inilabas na “Academic Calendar Shift and Internationalization: Implementing Guidelines and Monitoring and Evaluation Plan” ng Office of the Vice
President for Academic Affairs noong ika-20 ng Pebrero 2014, matatagpuan sa ika12 seksyon ang paghahanda sa mga kawani batay sa mga sumusunod na hakbang:
12.1. Train staff to address issues and concerns during the pilot phase of the
implementation of the academic calendar shift.
12.2. Train staff to maintain and operate new facilities.
12.3. Hire staff with international communication skills to move forward UP’s internationalization plan.
12.4. Hire staff with special skills to deal with foreign students and
faculty and address the needs of UP students/faculty/REPS abroad.
Binabanggit din ang mga kawani sa ika-16 na seksyon na may pamagat
na “Alignment with National Government Agenda: Internationalization
and ASEAN Economic Cooperation in Response to Globalization.” Nakasaad sa ikalawang punto nito: “Seek better compensation and incentives for UP
faculty and staff to be at par with faculty (and staff) in ASEAN universities.”3
Samantala, ayon naman sa presentasyon na pinamagatang “UP HR (Human
Resource) Strategic Plan” na tinalakay ni Prop. Maragtas Amante, bise-presidente
para sa Administrasyon noong nakaraang Mayo, pangunahin sa plano nito ang
“structure and staffing” na may kinalaman sa pagsasa-ayos ng mga plantilla o ang
“UP HR rationalization.” Kasama rin sa plano ang “staff development” na nakatuon sa pagpapaunlad ng mga kasanayan ng mga kawani; “effective succession
planning;” “performance evaluation and reward system” na sentral ang usapin
ng promosyon at insentibo; at “employee relations.” Ilan sa nakapaloob dito ang
pagpapabuti ng diyalogo at negosasyon sa pagitan ng mga unyon—ang All UP
Academic Employees Union (AUPAEU) at All UP Workers Union (AUPWU),
maging ang pagpapaunlad sa proseso ng grievance.4
Kasalukuyang isinasagawa ang mga hakbang upang makamit ang bawat aspektong nabanggit sa plano. Matingkad dito ang hakbang upang mailagay sa ayos
ang plantilla ng empleyado sa pamamagitan ng HR rationalization na ayon kay
Bise-Presidente Amante ay may tatlong pangunahing punto: (1) “regularization of
contractual/non-plantilla positions from the non-core workforce of UP; (2) rationalization of overload pay, with provisions for clear reductions of new faculty positions, backed up by student-faculty ratios. Colleges/units with underloaded faculty
will have regular teaching load; (3) faculty with overloaded teaching units, as well
as researchers will have more time to do more research, with more publications,
creative work, and patented innovations.”
Nagawa na ng administrasyon, ayon kay Amante, ang eUP Human Resource
Information System (staff development), Strategic Performance Management
System o SPMS at ang performance-based pay system (reward system), at ang mas
maayos na negosasyon sa pagitan ng mga unyon ng Unibersidad.
Pagpapaunlad sa kalagayan
Ang mga paghahanda ng administrasyon ay magkakaugnay sa tunguhing paunlarin ang kahusayan at kalagayan ng mga kawani. Mahalaga ito lalo na ngayong
maigting din ang sukatan ng kakayahan at kagalingan ng mga kawani sa iba’t
ibang pamantasan sa Asya, na sa kalauna’y magiging batayan ng mas maalwan,
kung hindi man ng seguridad sa trabaho.
Sa isang panayam ng UP Forum, sinabi ng AUPWU na “ang partisipasyon ng
UP dito upang hindi mapag-iwanan sa pandaigdigang pamantayan ay nakasalalay
sa suportang nakukuha nito sa gobyerno. Ang pagpapaunlad sa pasilidad, pagpapataas ng benepisyo at sahod ng guro at kawani, at pagtiyak na maraming estudyante
itutuloy sa pahina 15
UP FORUM Volume 15 No. 4 July-August 2014 15
DANGAL AT HUSAY MULA SA KAWANI...
mula sa pahina 14
ang nakakapasok ay dapat makita sa pambansang badyet na inilalaan ng gobyerno. Ngunit sa kasalukuyang badyet at sa
badyet ng mga nakaraang taon makikita kung gaano kaatrasado ang pamantasan, nagpapakita lamang na hindi ito handa.
Hindi dapat iwanan ng UP ang mga kawani sa pagharap nila sa internasyonalisasyon."
Ayon sa AUPWU, ang tagumpay sa ano mang larangan ay nagsisimula sa pundasyon ng edukasyon. Mungkahi nito na sa
halip na managinip ang UP na siya ay isang higante at kayang humarap sa tunay na higante, ay ibaling niya ang atensyon sa
kaniyang mahalagang papel na mabigyan ng tamang direksyon ang mga isko at iska kung paano at para kanino ang kaniyang
galing. Para sa AUPWU, ito ang susi sa tunay na paglakas ng bayan.
Upang patuloy na makilala ang UP sa buong mundo, bukod sa pang-akademiko, mainam rin, ayon sa AUPWU, na maging
huwaran ito sa pagsusulong sa kagalingan ng kawani upang maging handa sila sa pagharap ng UP sa internasyonalisasyon.
Maliban sa pagpapatupad ng e-UP, upang umakma sa bilis ng pamamaraan ng pagkalap ng mga datos na kailangan sa
araw-araw na gawain ng mga opisina, kailangan ding ma-“retool” ang mga kawani. Malaki ang kailangang paghahanda
upang makinabang sila sa bagong teknolohiya. Inaasahang magiging susi ang e-UP sa pagpapaunlad ng operational excellence at kakayahan ng kawani.
“Ang internasyonalisasyon ay may layuning makipag-ugnayan na may mithiing makipagtulungan at matuto sa bawat isa
upang umunlad nang parehas. Kaya’t marapat lamang na ihanda ang mga estudyante, guro at kawani sa internasyonalisasyon
sa pamamagitan ng pagpapaunlad ng kakayahan nila, higit sa pagpapaunlad ng kanilang kalagayan. Kung kaya marapat
na tutulan ang kontraktwalisasyon sa hanay ng mga kawani, isulong ang kanilang regularisasyon, promosyon at dagdag na
sahod,” suma nito.
Ang kolektibong pagtupad ng mga kawani, guro, estudyante at ng buong komunidad ng UP, higit ang pagtaya ng pamunuan sa pagpapaunlad ng kanilang kalagayan, ay bahagi ng administratibong kahusayan. Sa kalauna’y lilikha ito ng isang
mapagkalingang kapaligiran upang umiral ang mga kondisyong magpapatingkad sa akademikong kahusayan sa lahat ng
panahon at maging sa pagdating ng internasyonalisasyon.
-------------------Padalhan ng email ang awtor sa forum@upd.edu.ph.
DEVELOPING SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES...
continued from page 16
the areas of trade in services, goods
and investments. In addition, under
the ASEAN Framework Agreement
on Services, eight packages of commitments have been concluded with
the ninth package being finalized.
Under each package, the ASEAN
Member States are opening up their
services sectors for other Member
States. Mutual Recognition Arrangements (MRAs) have been concluded
to facilitate recognition of professionals, including accountants, architects, surveyors, engineers, dental
practitioners, medical practitioners,
nurses and tourism professionals.
These developments provide vast
opportunities for the Philippine
human resources sector which is
universally acknowledged as most
sought in the region for its competence, industry and adaptability.
However, the ASEAN framework
also provides qualification standards
which ASEAN professionals must
meet. Paper requirements are essential for entry level employment
because without being hired, how
will employers in the region appreciate the competitive advantages of
Philippine professionals?
The government HR triumvirate—
the Commission on Higher Education, the Department of Education
and the Technical Skills Development Authority—upon the prodding
of and in partnership with the private
sector has initiated and implemented
various measures to enhance readiness for AEC. The institution of K
to 12 is a basic foundation to meet
these requirements and must be
achieved no matter how challenging are the complementary measures
required.
For Philippine professionals with
the experience but lacking the paper
requirements, educational institutions should provide enhancement
programs to meet the demands of the
NOTES:
1 Hango mula sa UP Strategic Plan 2011-2017: The Path to Greatness.
2 Hango mula sa bisyon ng kasalukuyang administrasyon na nakasaad sa UP Strategic Plan 2011-2017.
3 Bahagi sa nakasaad na Academic Calendar Shift and Internationalization: Implementing Guidelines and Monitoring and Evaluation Plan mula sa
Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs.
4 Bahagi ng powerpoint presentation ni Dr. Maragtas Amante, ang bise-presidente para sa Administrasyon na may pamagat na “Supporting
Academic Excellence and operational excellence in a multicampus environment” na tinalakay noong ika-27 ng Mayo 2014.
AEC. The opportunities in AEC are
so varied and cover many levels that
an integrated and consistent program
addressing all of them should be
established and calibrated.
It should also be emphasized that
the Philippines should not prepare
its professionals and workforce only
for deployment in ASEAN. Philippine business should ensure that all
its human resources have the competence and skills to make Philippine business highly competitive in
2015. It is expected that enterprising
ASEAN businesses will attempt to
enter the Philippine market either by
flooding it with goods and services
or by establishing a production and
marketing base in the country. Such
competition must be met by equally
good or better Philippine enterprises.
The insights offered by Robert
Rosen and his team in their book,
Global Literacies, are extremely
useful. They opine that globally
competitive enterprises need to focus
on three major assets people, relationships and culture.
People are the new corporate
resource. Business fights to attract,
retain, develop and motivate the best
and the brightest, seeking new ways
to measure and enhance the value
of their human capital. Companies
need to establish and nurture strong,
healthy internal and external relationships to enhance value through
teams, networks, suppliers, and even
alliances and joint ventures with
competitors. They stress that cultural
wisdom a deep understanding of
their own cultures and those of others will enable companies to mobilize diverse peoples, serve diverse
customers, and operate around the
world.
Broadly, a Philippine company’s
management and staff should seek to
understand the workings of ASEAN,
particularly its various economic
instruments. The regional legal
frameworks set the scope and terms
by which ASEAN Member States
are cooperating and working with
each other. They also will serve as a
guide to the regulatory reforms that
will be undertaken at the national
level, which in turn will impact on
a company’s way of doing business.
Studying the ASEAN economic
agreements will allow one to see the
opportunities offered by economic
integration from trade facilitation,
labor mobility, to infrastructure
connectivity, among many others. It
will also allow one to understand the
changes brought about by AEC and
their accompanying impacts. In turn,
this will enable companies to formulate strategies and prepare for 2015.
Developing competencies and
skills for AEC necessitates a new,
flexible and inquisitive mindset
which only Philippine educational
institutions can develop and nurture.
-------------------Professor Melito Salazar, Jr. served
as president of the Management Association of the Philippines in 2013.
At present, he is dean of the School
of Accountancy & Management of
the Centro Escolar University. He
earned his BSBA and MBA from UP.
Email him at melito.jr@gmail.com.
E R R AT U M
In the article "In Search of Common Ground: Indigenous Education and Western Academics for Biodiversity
Conservation" by KIM Quilinguing, which appeared on page 12 of the March-April 2014 issue of the UP FORUM, the line "Manobos in Mt. Kitanglad, Bukidnon" should have read "Manobos in Mt. Kalatungan, Bukidnon"
as the Manobo ancestral domain claims are in Mt. Kalatungan and not Mt. Kitanglad. Both mountains are however found in Bukidnon. We apologize for any misconceptions and confusion the mistake may have caused.
The UP FORUM
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THE UP FORUM
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16 UP FORUM Volume 15 No. 4 July-August 2014
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Developing Skills
and Competencies
for ASEAN Integration
Melito Salazar, Jr.
P
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hilippine business has been mainly focused on the domestic market, and,
on a limited scale, on the markets of the United States and Europe, and,
in recent years, China. This orientation has influenced management thinking
strategies and programs toward Western concepts.
Even with the Philippines being part of the ASEAN, minimal attention from
Philippine business has been focused on the markets of ASEAN. By 2015,
such a situation will not serve the interest of Philippine business and society
since in that year, the full integration of ASEAN into one market, with free
exchange of products, services, human resources and capital, will occur.
The mindset of Philippine businessmen and managers must change, by
looking at ASEAN as their domestic market while keeping the United States,
Europe and China as export markets. Strategies should correspondingly
change for the Philippines to meet the challenges of businesses from other
ASEAN countries locating in the Philippines and to seize the opportunities
provided by the huge market in other ASEAN countries.
The change will only come about if Philippine business, government and
the academe work together not only to bring about this change of mindset but
also to enhance the skills and competencies of Philippine human resources so
we can better compete in the era of ASEAN integration.
The significance of ASEAN integration is evident in the fact that in 2013
the ASEAN economy grew between 5.3 and 6.0 percent compared with 5.7
percent in 2012. Strong domestic demand continued to underpin ASEAN’
economic growth in 2013. The growth in ASEAN-5 stayed steady at the end
of 2013 while Brunei Darussalam and the CLMV economies (Cambodia,
Lao PDR, Myanmar and Viet Nam) grew at relatively higher levels. It is
this growth pattern which will be the foundation of substantial spurts in the
ASEAN economy come 2015.
That economic growth will depend
much on the intra-ASEAN trade
which in 2012 remained stable at
US$ 601 billion, and accounted for
the highest share in both ASEAN’s
total exports at 26 percent and total
imports at 23 percent. Bucking
the trend of declining global FDI
inflows, particularly in developing
economies, intra-ASEAN FDI net
inflows also soared significantly,
reaching US$20 billion or an 18.5
percent share in 2012 with total FDI
level at US$ 108.2 billion.
By 2015 the ASEAN Economic
Community (AEC) will draw more
FDIs attracted by the synergistic
opportunities offered by the region a
single market and production base, a
highly competitive economic region,
a region of equitable economic development, and a region fully integrated into the global economy.
The greatest attraction of the region is the highly skilled and competitive human resources enhanced by the
facilitative environment of AEC. In November 2012, the ASEAN Agreement on Movement of Natural Persons
was signed to facilitate the temporary movement of natural persons including skilled labor across the region in
continued on page 15
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