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15.
THE ACADEME AS ANTI-POOR.
UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES
A HUNDRED YEARS HENCE
And so Asiaweek ranked the University of the Philippines
Diliman #48 among Asia’s Best Universities in 2000
(asiaweek.com). A very hard slap on a proud face in a
very public place. By reputation, UP Diliman is the best
of the University of the Philippines; the Asiaweek rank
rankled the UP System, but it was true – the whole of UP had sunk
below her very own standards. The exercise of academic freedom
had turned out to be mostly academic and not instructive, mostly theoretical and not
practical. I’m UP ’65, and I’ve been around so long I know: Been there, done that!
This essay is about how two institutions thousands of miles apart, one in the Philippines and one in India, address
the poor. One can learn from the other. UP being educational should have known more, ICRISAT being developmental
would know better.
(1) The University of the Philippines
The University activists had insisted on being the voice of the poor, but the poor needed more than a voice. In the
first place, the University needed to be the voice of itself first, as Asiaweek showed it to her face that UP had failed
all 5 subjects! In the following list, the lower the number, the higher the rank (UP should be in the Top 10): Academic
Reputation rank #18 (Failed), Student Selectivity #44 (Failed), Faculty Resources #61 (Failed), Research #60
(Failed), Financial Resources #67 (Failed). UP’s reputation was undeserved; she selected her students unintelligently;
her faculty resources were deficient; her research efforts were insignificant; her financial resources were scarce.