Upon assumption of the new leadership in the University of the Philippines, notably Dr. Alfredo E. Pascual as president, Dr. Caesar A. Saloma as chancellor of UP-Diliman, and Dr. Leilani Gonzalo as dean of the College of Human Kinetics, I sent them an email, hoping to get a response regarding what I have perceived for the past seven years as a complete lack of action on the part of the UP Admin to correct the CHK as a “symbol of incompetence and irrelevance in the UP campus”. A portion of that email:
I just finished reading excerpts from UP President Emerlinda Roman’s end of term report and while I noted subjects on Arts, Culture, Dance, Music, etc., nothing was mentioned about one of the most significant components of culture: sports.
Name any university abroad or locally like Ateneo, Dela Salle, and UST, and you will note that one of the distinctive characteristics of a good academic institution is “love and passion for sports.” UP appears not to have this, and the question is why?
I have written President Roman three letters, two when she was still chancellor, and one when she was president. In these letters, I indicated that the College of Human Kinetics, the entity at UP responsible for physical education and sports, has become a symbol of incompetence and irrelevance in the UP campus. The reasons: 1. The CHK, the forerunner of which was the Institute of Sports, PE & Recreation of which I was founding dean more than 30 years ago, has failed miserably in serving as the guiding light for issues and concerns related to the discipline of PE and sports. The CHK faculty never articulated its position on such important issues as:
a) Abolition of the DepEd Bureau of Physical Education & School Sports during the terms of President Estrada and President Arroyo, a development which significantly reduced the importance of school PE and sports;
b) Transfer of the management of the Palarong Pambansa from DepEd to the Philippine Sports Commission, a mistake later rectified when the Palaro was brought back to the DepEd.
c) Our participation in international sports when the Philippine basketball team was disqualified from the Southeast Asian Games because of the conflict between the Basketball Association of the Philippines and the Samahan ng Basketbolista ng Pilipinas.
d) Plan of then Education Secretary Andrew Gonzales to make school PE optional, contrary to practices worldwide which recognize its importance for children;
e) Lumping of school PE with other subjects in the curriculum into what is called Makabayan during the term of Secretary Raul Roco, thus, reducing the time for PE to once a week.
f) The moral, ethical and medical aspects of boxing–especially children boxing which is labeled as a “form of child abuse” by the American Medical Association; and women’s boxing which Cuban boxing officials claim as “inappropriate for women who are made for beauty” and is contrary to the traditional image of the gentle Maria Clara. The DepEd includes children boxing in the Palarong Pambansa; and sports officials now believe that we could finally win our first-ever Olympic gold in women’s boxing
g) Failure of the CHK to produce a single PhD in Physical Education & Sports in all its over 30 years of existence.
I have also accused the faculty of the CHK for its lack of social conscience for failing to develop a wellness program even as the health data now indicates that more than one-third (34.45 percent) of Filipinos are obese, and children and youth getting fat thus, predisposing them to lifestyle diseases.
On the other hand, what are CHK’s accomplishments? a) Celebrating UP’s centennial year with a basketball team that lost all its 16 games in the UAAP and repeating this ignoble feat this year, and (b) acquiring the dubious distinction of being the national champion in cheerdance, an activity which is not mentioned, fortunately, in the President’s report, and which is not indigenous to Philippine culture. Of what significance is UP being national cheerdance champion with a basketball team that doesn’t win a single game in the only league it is participating?
When I was dean of SPEAR, UP was UAAP general champion for three years, two consecutively, and that feat was never repeated. O.D Corpuz was then president and the only financial assistance that the Admin provided was P30K a month, P3K monthly incentive pay for the 10 varsity coaches.
So what should the current President do?
1. Require the CHK faculty to revisit the College’s Vision and Mission.
2. Order the faculty to adopt some social responsibility, like conducting activities that promote health and wellness, and take the time to direct them. Graduates of CHK appear to want more to be trainers of the rich and famous, manage their own gyms and spa, instead of doing some community work, especially in the area of children and youth sports.
3. Take the issue of Wellness seriously, and develop templates that institutions of higher education nationwide could learn from and emulate. In a recent UP Forum to identify issues that could improve the GE program, Health and Wellness were highly recommended, together with Communication Skills and Alleviation of Poverty.
4. Develop a good graduate study program. An assessment of CHK faculty itself is a cause of embarrassment. None of its faculty have acquired a doctorate degree from reputable institutions abroad. A college that cannot and does not produce reputable professionals will die a natural death.
I purposely set 100 days for anyone in UP to respond to my email. Sixty-one days have elapsed, 39 days to the countdown. There appears to be no kinetics in the UP College of Human Kinetics.
