'Eh ano kung taga-UP ka?': Reflections on self and others

Recent social media posts by two popular broadcasters influenced me to write today about how my college education at the University of the Philippines in Diliman has greatly influenced the course of my adulthood.

- SONNY COLOMA

First, there was Atom Araullo's photo on Instagram with his parents, Mike and Carol, who were my fellow members of the UP Student Catholic Action (UPSCA). Carol was my colleague for two years in the UP Student Council in the aftermath of the First Quarter Storm of 1970. Atom's post was prompted by his being commencement speaker in UP Cebu. He said he invited his parents to join him to make up for the fact that he did not attend his graduation in UP Diliman.

Second, our Manila Bulletin Facebook featured a photo of Jessica Soho, as UP Diliman commencement speaker last Saturday, July 5. Jessica began her speech with the question, "Eh ano kung taga-UP ka? (So what does it mean that you're from UP?)"

Aside from reflecting on what a UP education meant to her, she cited the relevance of the work of Dr. Virgilio Enriquez of the UP Department of Psychology in propagating the concept of "kapwa" in terms of defining the Filipinos' sense of selfhood. Since I wrote my doctoral dissertation in 2008, I have espoused "diwa-kapwa" as a philosophy of managing people and organizations that is authentically Filipino and deeply humane.

Jessica pointed out:

"Ang loob ay kasama ng kapwa, hindi hiwalay. Katulad ng kagandahan ng loob. Kapag sinabi na maganda o mabuti ang iyong loob, ibig sabihin, ganun ka rin sa iyong kapwa. Di mo pwedeng sabihing maganda o mabuti ang iyong loob kung hindi mo naman pinagmamalasakitan ang iyong kapwa. Konektado o magkaugnay ang loob at kapwa; parang UP, kadugtong ng komunidad o lipunan, ramdam ang bawat kibitz o sigalot nito."

I have taken the liberty to translate the foregoing, as follows: