Pagpupugay Sa Perlas ng Silanganan: UST UNESCO Club's General Assembly

General Assemblies are one of the most awaited events in an organization. You get to meet new people, get to know the organization you signed up for, and you get to have fun! In this year's UST UNESCO Club's general assembly, which is entititled Pagpupugay Sa Perlas ng Silanganan, the advocates celebrated the 12th year of the organization's existence in the University of Santo Tomas. It was held in the Tan Yan Kee building on October 14.

What is UNESCO?

UNESCO – the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations. The organization was created by the time in 1945 after two world wars broke and seen that PEACE must be established not with political and economic agreements alone – as it is not enough, but must be constituted on the premise of humanity's moral and intellectual solidarity. Building networks among nation with such solidarity is what the organization is pursuing while "mobilizing for education", "building intercultural understanding", "pursuing scientific cooperation", and "protecting freedom of expression" ^[1].

Its cause has never been more significant.

As "war begins in the minds of men" ^[2], being the intelligence agency of the United Nations, the organization exists to instill this creative intelligence to the minds of people in order to establish notions of sustainable development and defences of peace.

In its purpose to contribute to peace and security, the organization promotes collaboration among nations through education, science, and culture, and further to uphold universal respect for justice, for the rule of law, and for the human rights and fundamental freedoms of the citizens of the world, without discrimination, concerning race, sex, language, or religion.

Correspondingly, knowledge is essential in all means of cooperation among diverse nations of the world. And in this regard, the maintenance, increase, and dissemination of knowledge is one of the manners in which the organization may realize its purpose, by emphasizing on the cultural, educational, and scientific aspects of each nations.

Way back in 2004, the UNESCO Club UST was established to help in building advocacies in the minds of men and women, through education, science, and culture, and to create a meaningful impact in the community.

It has since been committed to the objectives of UNESCO of 1) attaining quality education for all, 2) continuous learning policy for sustainable development, 3) addressing emerging social and ethical challenges, 4) fostering cultural diversity, intercultural dialogue, a culture of peace, and 5) building inclusive knowledge societies through information and communication.

In addition, UNESCO Club UST aims to "improve the sense of nationalism" of the Thomasian community and to "develop a sense of empathy" ^[3] to our fellow Filipinos, through projects and community development that is based on the pillars of UNESCO while strengthening the Filipino culture.

Now in its 12^th year of advocating for peace and knowledge, UNESCO Club UST would further influence the Thomasian community with its continuing call in promoting the Filipino culture, its richness and importance as a part of our heritage, all the while emphasizing on the contribution of proper education.

Would you like to be a part of the cause?

#UNESCOSYNERG12E

Written by Adam Ang

References:

¹ Introducing UNESCO. http://en.unesco.org/about-us/introducing-unesco

² UNESCO Constitution. http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php URL_ID=15244&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

³ http://unescoclubust.blogspot.com/p/about.html

ONE: Is unity a possibility?

"Pagkawasak ng mga tiyak na hangganan sa nasasakupan, makabagong kaugalian, nabagong relihiyon, mga sistemang binahagi ng paaralan (tulad ng edukasyon) at ang paghina ng kulturang-etniko ay ang simula ng pagkabuo ng isang bansa", said Tyrone Nepomuceno of the UST Senior High School.

However, the isolation and displacement of the Lumads, a group of indigenous peoples (IP's) from Southern Mindanao was also emphasized in a lecture held at the Engineering Conference Hall, last August 26.

The massive amount of gold reserves in the island which took the interest of the government and foreign mining industries, and also the counterinsurgency program of the previous Aquino administration, Oplan Bayanihan, affected the Lumads' livelihood and causing their relocation.

The on-going militarization in Lumad community schools creates a hindrance to the rights of education of the Lumads, said Nepomuceno.

Calling on to the Thomasian community, the history lecturer encouraged everyone to be one with the Lumads' fight in reclaiming their ancestral lands.

"It is our social responsibility to seek justice for the Lumads", he added.

Former Chairperson of Kabataan para sa Tribung Pilipino (KATRIBU) – UP Diliman Chapter, Berndatte Almanzor also talked about pressing issues faced by IP's, their traditional practices, rituals, and culture.

Zherluck Rodriguez, Chief Marketing Officer for HiGi Energy Pte Ltd  made the students participate in a group discussion where they imparted insights on how the youth can be involved and promote without commercializing the IP's.

Two films were shown tackling Philippine art and life of a volunteer in a Lumad community.

A film provided by Tudla Productions, "Pakot" (Wild Boar) is about a young volunteer teacher living in a Lumad community in the province of Compostela Valley.

"Traditional Art Nga Ba?" one of the twelve documentaries in "Ano ba Talaga ang Art?" produced by Nerisa Del Carmen Guevara, presents "uggayam" as a piece of culture that is of indigenous identity but restricts itself for traditional use.

One: Juan Country, Juan Community, Juan Culture is a seminar event initiated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Club UST, advocating the importance of being united despite cultural differences. 

Article by Adam J. Ang

Photos by Justine Nicole Valientes