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University of the Philippines

When entering the University of the Philippines in Diliman via the 800-meter, flora-lined University Avenue, one is welcomed by the iconic Oblation statue, a sculpture of a young man in a gesture of self-offering, looming over the Oblation Plaza.

This grand approach to the premises of the nation's premier state university is harbinger to the different must-see landmarks that dot the scenic 493-hectare University of the Philippines Diliman campus.

The University has 246 undergraduate degree programs and 362 graduate degree programs, scattered across the different campuses. The Diliman Campus provides most of these academic programs.

The University of the Philippines has several campuses around the nation. These campuses are found in Diliman (Quezon City), Manila, Los Banos, Baguio, Ilo-ilo, Cebu, and Mindanao. The university's flagship campus is the Diliman Campus.

Among the UP faculty, both past and present, are National Artists, prize-winning writers, renowned scholars, national leaders, and scientists. Many of the faculty members pursue research in their particular fields of expertise,setting a benchmark to all other universities in the country, generating new knowledge, influencing society at the national level and promoting culture.

The National Institute of Physics (NIP) at the Diliman campus is the leading research institute among all the departments and faculties at the university. The NIP has produced its own machines for particle physics, optics, and laser research.

The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is based at the Los Banos Campus. IRRI is the oldest and largest international agricultural research institute in Asia. It is an autonomous, nonprofit rice research and training organization with staff based in 14 countries in Asia and Africa.

The Diliman Campus is also host to several national institutes, including the National Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, National Institute of Geological Sciences, National Institute of Chemistry, and the Marine Science Institute. The National Computer Center is also at the Diliman Campus.

The University of the Philippines campus in Diliman, aside from being home to numerous national centers for learning, is also a park in its own right, home to both natural and man-made attractions. For nature lovers, the University of the Philippines has the Lagoon, the Sunken Garden, and the acacia-lined Academic Oval to offer, all home to the numerous species of birds found in the campus.

Post-war edifices such as the majestic Quezon Hall and the Church of the Holy Sacrifice, which was declared a National Cultural Heritage Site in 2006 and is a handiwork of no less than four National Artists are there for those more inclined to artifacts. The University of the Philippines also caters to cultural tourists with daily screenings in Cine Adarna (The Film Institute) and frequent staging of productions in Abelardo Hall and the University Theater.

But before anyone can visit all of these, any visitor has to pass by a small building further up the road from the Oblation Plaza. Despite its elegantly simple facade, the Jorge B. Vargas Museum is usually overlooked, most probably because of the common notion of museums as houses for high-end art that few can appreciate. Yet the museum is far from being an elitist abode - with a measly 20 pesos entrance fee (that's less than 0.50 US dollars given the current exchange rate), one can see a wide collection of Filipino art spanning genres from the 1880s to the 1960s. There is free entrance on Wednesdays.

The museum's collection, aside from items from University of the Philippines alumni, also feature work from Philippine art greats such as Lorenzo Guerrero, Simon Flores, Juan Luna, and Felix Resurrecion Hidalgo. Modernist art, sculptures and the work of female artists also find their place in the halls of this University of the Philippines cultural center.

The museum, a gem in the University of the Philippines' cultural crown, has indeed earned the respect it now enjoys in the international community. The museum intends to keep its conservation efforts running by collaborating with the National Historical Institute and the National Museum, both of which already have their own restoration laboratories.

REFERENCES

• http://www.up.edu.ph
• http://www.vargasmuseum.org
• http://www.up.edu.ph/upnewsletter.php
• http://www.irri.org