(Keynote Address by Dr. Saloador P. Lopez, President of the University of the Philippines, at the First Conference on Family Planning for University Officials, 22 November 1972)
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As a state Institution of higher learning with a vital interest in the nation's economic and social development as well as in promoting the collective and individual well-being of its consti- tuencies,the University of the Philippines has time and again addressed itself to important problems of public policy and issues of national concern. Thus, we had a useful discussion a few months ago of the problem of drug addiction on the campus when it became apparent that this was becoming, as it has become, a major problem in our academic community. Today we are directing our attention to yet another important problem, that of coping with the consequences of unbridled population growth. The presentation of this lecture-Forum on the Role of the University in Family Planning by the U.P. Health Service, in collaboration with the Family Planning Organization of the Philippines, is most propitious, for it highlights ?ur participation in the observance of Family Planning \\'leek.
The University of the Philippines shares with other organize- tions a profound concern for the implications of population growth and the imperative need for action to moderate such growth not only in the interest of economic and social advance-
merit bur also for reasons of humanity. Everyone should be
concerned with the population problem, first, because we will sooner or later suffer its consequences, and secondly, because we can immediately do something to mitigate the problem before it reaches unmanageable proIX>rtions. I will not belabor the importance of a sound family planning program: You are ~ll aware that a too rapid population growth consnrurcs a major obstacle tothe improvement in the quality of life for b~thparents and children in terms of better health, better educat~o~, bener nutrition, better opportunities for earning a dece~t living, and in many o-ber ways. Nor will I discuss the rechnical aspects of family planning and population policy. Wewi~l ~eave.these matters to the demographers and family-planning specialists like Dr. Zelda Zablan and Dr. Ruben Apelo.
In assuming the important responsibility of strengthening t~e eo le's understanding of and participation .in
~rograms o~
familyp la:ning and population policy, the
Unlvers~ty
recognizes the p larion problem as an essential elemen.t In long-range na- tional planning to achieve the socia-economIc goals of the Gov-ernmenrand fulfill the aspirations of our people. Italsosubscribes to the declaration that "the objective of family planning is the enrichment of human life, not its restriction; that family plan- ning, by assuring greater opportunity to each person, frees man to attain his individual dignity and reach his full potential," and believes that "the opportunity to decide the number and spacing of children is a basic human right," with cultural, religious, social and political implications.
The role of the University in informing, educating and motivat- ing those concerned with family planning is a difficult one for various reasons, but primarily because it calls for a clear per- ception of the ways of life and social values of the groups we seek to influence. Family planning, as the words indicate, is basically a family affair. As heads of your respective units and offices, you may have influence on youremployees, but you. do not always have dose contact with their families. And smce group traditions as well as individual attitudes have to be modi- fied in the educating process, the attitudes of the group concerned should first be carefully studied. Our staff and employees are not likely to support any program such as family planning unless we show the way or set the example;yet, of course, it is really too late to be talking of family planning ifthe mistakes have al- ready been made or if it is already tOO late even to make mis- takes.
However, we can make a beginning by accepting the need to change our ways, recognizing that our goal is no longer to ex- pand but to limit out population. \'(That we want for our people is an enhanced quality of life, and considering our present level of technology and limited resources, this can only be possible with a controlled rate of population increase.
The achievement of this goal is fraught with problems. ~f many kinds and dimensions, the cultural ones being n.o ~ess.diffi- cult than the economic and technical ones. For the.~lmltatlOn of offspring might be in direct conflict with the tr~~ltlonal val.ues,
such as the values out society places on large famlh~s, on nO~lons of potency, and the sacredness and intimacy of mar.nage re1a~lOns:
It impinges on religious sensibilities as well ast~e tight ofprivacy.
I f f the many problems involved, but they These are on y a ew a
144 u.P. GAZETTE VOL. III, No. 10
are fundamental to a program that seekstochange the foundations of the Filipino family.
We should stress that the achievement of the goal of smaller families is a part of national discipline. We should inculcate in our people the conviction that the well-being of furore genera- tions depends on the sense of responsibility of the present genera- tion. If Filipino parents are prepared to make great sacrifices in order to provide a good education for their children, there is no reason why they should not accept the sacrifice of having smaller families to ensure, among other things, better education and health and a brighter future for the children.
We have reached a point in our history when our people are mature enough to see the direcr relation between personal and na- tional goals. The needtodapmore than ever is to instill personal discipline and personal sacrifice for the good of the nation.
You who are engaged in carrying out the program face a difficult task ahead. But it is a task that must be shared by all of us. I hope that you can come up with a program of action that is especially suited to the conditions obtaining in the Uni- versity, that is to say. to the interests, values and intellectual level of our academic community.
A SCIENCE POllCY FOR THE UNIVERSITY
(Remarks by Dr. Salvador P. Lopez, President of the Univef'Jity of the Philippines, fit the Dedication Ceremony of the Natural Science Research Center,
13
November 1972)About ten days ago, when Director Bienvenido T. Miranda cametoinvite me tothe ceremonies marking the formal inaugura- tion of the UP. Natural Science Research Center, I was elated to accept. This building is, after all, the most important academic structure begun and completed during my administration. Since the day in February 1969. when President Marcos approved the release of funds for this building during a visit to the Univer- sity, I have literally seen this Center rise day after day, from the ground up. The fact is that between 1969 and 1971, I used to jog every morning at half past five around the old golf course behind this building. In addition, this building also happens to be visible from my bedroom window at the Executive House.
Then, there were worrisome moments before and after the construction started when Prof. Miranda, the members of the Executive Advisory Committee, and I had to resolve a dispute about the authorship of the architecrural plans for the building, or to wait impatiently for the end of a strike which had inter- rupted the work of construction. There was the lobbying in Congress, in the Budget Commission, and with President Marcos himself in order to ensure the inclusion of an item in the budget and its subsequent release by the Budget Commission, as well as the inclusion of an allocation for scientific equipment in the schedule of Japanese reparations.
Through all this, the ever loyal and indefatigable moving spirit and lobbyist extraordinary for the Center was Prof. Miranda.
Prof. Miranda's enthusiasm was of such potency that it communi- cated itself to me, and I am still "suffering" from the infection.
I have been a willing, even a cooperative victim, for Prof.
Miranda is the rype of faculty "activist" I like to have on our campus-unassuming, motivated not by personal interest bur by something bigger and more important than himself, namely, the desire to strengthen the University as a center of scientific re- search and an arm of national development.
From what I have just said, you may now concede that I do have a reason, perhaps even a right, to be here this morning.
And yet as I stand here I realize that I am not really in my element; I feel more like a fish out of water. Aside from the fact that I happen to be the President of the University, what entitles anyone to be making a speech here today who is by avocation a writer, by voc.ation a diplomat, by accident a univer- sity president, and by coincidence an educator?
.My disciplines were literature and philosophy; I took my Ph.B. in English (there was such a degree in my time), and my .M.A. in philosophy. As I could not hurdle the U.P. entrance test in mathematics, I give up the premedical course I had in- tended to pursue-at no great loss, I feel certain, to medical
science and the medical profession. I did take the required courses in botany and zoology. (Now, ever since becoming an amateur crchidist under the tutelage of Dr. Jose Vera Santos and Dr. Helen 1. Valmayor of los Bafios, I wish I had taken more botany.) But I avoided physics and chemistry like the plague, and when confronted by a choice between physiography and anthropology, I opted for anthropology, finding the study of man more fascinating than the study of the earth he inhabits.
Today, forty years out of college and nearing the end of a varied career as a writer, journalist, diplomat and university ad- ministraror, I have had occasion ro regret the inadequacy of my training in the natural sciences.Itis true that once out of college, as a writer and journalist. I had to acquire such basic scientific knowledge as I could, on the run, avidly reading popular science books and periodicals, and the excellent articles on science in the Encyclopedia Britannica.
This I did, not simply because a good writer and journalist does need to have a smattering of the sciences, but because my studies in philosophy had in fact predisposed me to the scientific attitude and the scientific method. Philosophy is, after all, the oldest of the intellectual disciplines, and two of its branches, logic and metaphysics, lead straight ro the threshold of the natural sciences. The respect for reason, which goes back to Socrates, gave birth in more modern times to the inductive logic of Francis Bacon, and thence to the brilliant development of the scientific method which has made modern science possible.
And yet we must accept as dangerously real whar G.P. Snow calls the dichotomy of the twd cultures-the "traditional culture"
based on the natural sciences. In his famous lecture entitled "The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution," Snow says that
"there seems to be no place where the cultures meet," and that those belonging ro the two cultures, namely, the illiterate scientist who thinks the "Divine Comedy" is a humorous play about the Gods and goddesses of Mount Olympus, and the 'ignorant non- scientist who cannot describe the Second Law of Thermodynamics to save his life, "can't talk to each other"-a situation, accord.
ing to Snow, that is fraught with grave danger for humanity.
Thus, the scientists who developed the atomic bomb had neither the inclination nor the wisdomto ponder the normal and polit- ical consequences of their discovery, while the politicians who ordered the bomb's manufacture and use in warfare did not fully comprehend its awesome destructiveness. They were not on speak- ing terms with each other because, first of all, they were not on the same intellectual wave-length.
This graphically illustrates the polarization of the rwo cultures and the risks of narrow specialization which the general educa-
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NOVEMBER
30, 1972 D.P.
GAZETIE145
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tion program in the universities is supposed to correct. But, with the enormous expansion of the field of knowledge and the endless proliferation of artistic creation and scientific research, there is growing doubt regarding the efficacy of the general education program in preventing the production of "illiterate scientists" and
"ignorant non-scientists".
Furthermore, there is among scientists themselves a division that is also fraught with serious consequences. I refer to the polarization between the pure scientists and the applied scientists.
They arc normally disdainful of each other, the former considering the latter as mere technicians or at best engineers, and the latter returning the complimentbyreferring to the former as impracti- cal theorists or idle dreamers.
In most countries, but especially those in the underdeveloped world, the accent is understandably on applied science, on in- vention, technology, and engineering. And so, too, it is going
[0 be in this country, the emphasis will be on practical re- sults, the discovery of improved techniques, the invention of better machines, the creation of new jobs. the production of more wealth, in short, the instant conversion of science into echnology. And whether we like it or not, the University of the Philippines will somehow reflect this bias.
This is what makes this Natural Science Research Center so important in the life of the University and of the nation. It is our guarantee that we shall not completely succumb to the lure of applied science, but that we shall continue the search for knowledge wherever it may lead, whether or not at the moment it can serve any practical purpose. After ail. even the discovery of penicillin was the "accidental" result of pure research, and the release of atomic energy would not have been possible without Einstein's famous equation, Eeemcz.
Let me now refer to more mundane matters and give you a brief projection of our science policy in the Universiy. As a non- scientist President, who however believes in science as the great benefactor and liberator of mankind, ] intend to devote in- creasingly substantial resources to the development of our science departments and the improvement of our scientific facilities.
Our faculry development program will give priority to advanced training in the scientific disciplines. Our natural science re- searchers will receive a fair share of available funds for research, whether coming from the University budget, from the National Science Development Board, or from other domestic, foreign or international sources.
A new science pavillion is being constructed across the street with funds donated by Dr. Rosendo Llamas. Should our re- searchers begin to feel cramped in these quarters, we shall con- sider building an annex in the area adjacent to it. Since the master plan for Diliman calls for the grouping of all student residence halls on the northern side of the campus, we intend eventually to convert the Sampaguita and Kamia dormitory build- ings into additional office space, laboratories and lecture halls of the U.P. natural science complex.
It is not that we intend to discriminate against other disciplines and spoil our scientists. It is simply that we believe the V.P.
can most conclusively prove its mettle as a university and its title to excellence by maintaining its zeal and capability for the pursuit of truth and knowledge for their own sake. This belief is founded on the certainty that basic research is truly basic in the sense that without it applied science is soon impoverished and must wither and die.
Finally, may I ask you to indulge me in the expression of a wistful though not, I trust, a presumptuous hope. Assuming that the practice of naming certain academic buildings after deceased former Presidents of the University will continue, may I put in a bid for theU.P. NSRC building as the one which I would prefer to benamed in memory of me when I am gone.
Let me close by thanking Prof. Miranda, the Chairman and Members of the Executive Advisory Committee for asking me to come to this inaugural ceremony. Prof. Miranda was candid enough to say that he wanted to hold the ceremony as soon as possible this month, while I am still around as President. Like so many people in and out of the University, he is fearful I would not be here for long.
My "courtesy resignation" is, of course, on file, and it may be accepted anytime. This, then, may bean appropriate occasion to say that the only thing that keeps me in the University is a sense of obligation and responsibility. This University is one of the most valuable institutions of the Republic and it has been placed in my care. Fate has decreed that I should beat its helm during the most turbulent and perilous period of its histcry-e-confrcnted in the last four years by student power, and now confronted, for nobody knows how long, with State power. I see my duty dearly:
for as long as I am able, I shall endeavor to preserve the Uni- versity, to keep it going, to keep it intact through these years of crisis to better times.
AUTONOMY FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF THE PHIUPPINES AT LOS BMlOS AND ESTABliSHMENT OF A UNIVERSITY OF THE PHIUPPINES SYSTEM
MALACAI'<ANG MANILA
PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 58
CONSTITUTING THE UNIVERSIlY OF THE PHlLIPPINES AT LOS BANOS, GRANTING IT FULL AND COMPLETE AUTONOMY, AND AMENDING THE CHARTER OF THE UNIVERSIlY OF THE PHILIPPINES.
WHEREAS, the Government is strongly committed to the proposition that agricultural and rural development should be achieved as a foundation for industrialization and social and economic progress;
WHEREAS, the entire country has been proclaimed a land reform area in order to emancipate tenant farmers from the bondage of landlordism as a prerequisite to the development of
a strong and viable economy.
WHEREAS, in order to effectively implement the land reform proclamation, there is an urgent need for a highly competent center of training to turn out the needed manpower, and to un- dertake relevant research and extension services in agriculture, agrarian reform, agricultural engineering, agribusiness, agricul- tural credit and cooperatives, forestry and related sciences and technologies;
WHEREAS, the Agrarian Reform Institute now located at the V.P. Dillman can achieve greater strength and effectiveness in technical manpower training and research if it is strongly linked wirh other agricultural units now existing in Los Banos; and
WHEREAS, it is necessary to establish an agricultural center that will effectively mobilize and totally, realistically and direct- ly apply its academic and technical expertise and physical re- sources to achieve the purposes of the New Society.