Our Relevance, In Essence
Celia Bonilla

It seems that being—especially working—in UP is in itself already an offering of oneself as a volunteer. For what else does Oblation mean than “offering” in Hiligaynon? The Oblation statue sculpted in 1925 by National Artist Guillermo Tolentino (posthumously awarded in 1973) meant to symbolize the self-offering of the Filipino youth, especially in UP constituents. But the Filipino people themselves are symbolized in the sculpture as the pile of stones on which the figure stands, expressing the naked truth that the UP is supported by the Filipino taxpayers, rich and poor.

To reciprocate this support, UP graduates and students have to make themselved useful especially in alleviating the plight of the underprivileged, to the last of the Filipinos. As Saint Josemaria put it, “If you want to be useful, serve. (Para servir, serve.)” Perhaps, in one way or another, many of us in the State University have been doing volunteer work here and there, carving out time to help in medical missions, tutorials for the underprivileged, and raising funds for the underprivileged.

Ugnayan ng Pahinungód (or UP) institutionalizes our individual volunteerism and organizes us into a set of programs that systematize and “officialize,” for want of a better term, our activities of reaching out to the marginalized sectors of our society. It also, more or else, gives us a juridical personality when we deal with other institutions, public and private, as well as in attracting more individual volunteers into our cause and propel the ideals of service and self-offering. But nothing could be more human, and for that matter, nothing could be more Christian, nothing could be more Muslim, nothing could be more Buddhist, nothing could be more divine,… and certainly nothing could be more needed than this program of voluntary helpfulness in a small army of volunteers that draw other people into this mode of action.

Indeed, Pahinungód activities bring further sight into insight, projecting the image of the Oblation and the relevance of the UP into the consciousness of the people in the areas the volunteers go to.

My first crack at being a pahinungód was as a volunteer teacher and faculty coordinator in the Affirmative Action Program in Palawan back in 1996 and 1997. The better third-year students from the different public high schools in Palawan were gathered for the summer bridge program in a high school in Puerto Princesa. I saw how the simple Palaweño parents and teachers got drawn into our enthusiastic pursuit, at time offering what shelter and food they had to help us help their children. A sense of pride welled up inside them to know some of the young participants in our program. For many of them, it was a foretaste of seeing these youngsters in UP.

My groups and I, however, realized what difficulties we had to surmount to bring the students in these rural high schools up to speed with what they should know by their fourth year. For how could a handful of teacher volunteers from faraway UP Manila bridge the aching gap in knowledge and skills between our standards and what the marginalized areas can offer their young? We really learned humility, for we could only do so much. As faculty coordinator, I also had to oversee logistical issues, like awaiting the counterpart funding from the local government officials, which gave a fever of 40°C. That was part of my adventure. Our hosts made sure we had a taste of the Palawan adventure, so we went boating through the Underground River and hiked our way back through the Monkey Trail.

In 1996, the group consisted of teachers from UP Manila and UP Diliman, who have teaching experience. We just had to adjust our methods to the younger third-year high school students. The following year, I was with a younger group, all young female students and fresh graduates, whose enthusiasm and resourcefulness were so contagious and honestly naïve. I guess the proximity in age was what made them identify so much with the high school students. One of the volunteers, Libay Nolasco, even aired the kids’ fear. “Natatakot kaming magutom, (we fear hunger)” she quoted them saying.

Initially, I found it a bit odd. But then I realized that everything really comes down to the basics—the basic primal need of being well-fed before the other needs can be satisfied. As Woodrow Wilson said, “No one can worship God or love his neighbor on an empty stomach.”

It is precisely these basic necessities (basic health needs, education, shelter, etc.) that pahinungód volunteers are faced with in addressing the problems of fellow Filipinos in the marginalized sectors. And it is Pahinungód that makes UP relevant as an institution.

Now that I am back to being an active pahinungód, I want to share to others the chance to make a difference. As Chair of the Advocacy Program, I am tasked to promote greater awareness of the need to volunteer in helping the less privileged and positively contribute to the society. At present, the Advocacy Program is using para-media campaigns to drum up proactive concern among people. The call to live up to the challenge of serving the nation started long ago. The Advocacy Program is only amplifying it now, hoping to reach more ears, more eyes, more senses, more hearts, more hands…

Celia M. Bonilla is the Advocacy Program Chair of OPCE. She first joined the Affirmative Action Program (AAP) as faculty coordinator in the Puerto Princessa, Palawan assignments in the summers of 1996 and 1997. She also acted as trainer of AAP volunteers from February to March 1997. As a faculty member of the Department of Arts and Communication, she teaches humanities and technical courses at the College of Arts and Sciences. She likes high adventures.