Vol.4, No. 1
Special 25th Anniversary Issue 2015
PUP OU Turns 25
From a simple desire to make
quality education accessible to all
Filipinos
to
becoming
an
overwhelmingly successful reality,
the PUP Open University, the first of
its kind in the country, celebrates its
Silver Anniversary.
25 years ago, the PUP Open
University was institutionalized to
become the leader in Open and Distance Education in
the Philippines delivering higher educational services
that differs from the traditional classroom based
approach.
From its beginnings in the provinces with a
very few students, it now offers five graduate
programs, one post baccalaureate, and two
undergraduate courses. It has come a long way to
achieve its avowed mission of bringing quality
education to the masses.
Today, countless individuals have achieved
their goal of completing a college degree and earning a
masters diploma. The Open University has given them
a chance to live their dreams of a diploma and making
such a reality.
The present administration of the PUP OU has
committed itself to continue the quality service its
forebears have started. It will continue to innovate and
modernize the OU’s amenities so that it can reach more
people who need an education.
In celebration of this momentous milestone in
the OU’s existence, various activities have been
organized. Seminars, physical fitness events, a Forum,
an awards and recognition day and a variety show.
Message of PUP President
Dr. Emanuel C. De Guzman
I would like to extend my
warmest felicitations to the
officials,
faculty
members,
administrative employees, students
and alumni of the PUP Open
University as they celebrate its
twenty-fifth
foundation
anniversary.
The past quarter of a
century stood witness to the
unparalleled growth of the PUP Open University, the
country’s first university within a university. Formally
established in 1990 by the revered Dr. Nemesio E.
Prudente as the PUP Pamantasang Bayan, this pioneering
provider of open and distance education has attained
national and international recognition for its quality,
relevant, responsive and affordable brand of education.
The PUP Open University has a storied existence.
It has helped the University fulfil its fundamental role as a
dispenser of excellent egalitarian education for accelerated
societal development and transformation. Consequently, it
has succeeded in carving its distinct niche as a vibrant
academic entity, an indispensable pillar of people-inspired
higher education in this part of the world.
May this silver jubilee celebration be a time to pay
tribute to those who have contributed to the growth of the
PUP Open University and a time to reaffirm our
commitment to its great ideals and noble endeavors.
Congratulations!
OU Sphere
page 2
Message of the VP for Branches
Message of the VP for Administration
Dr. Joseph Mercado
Prof. Alberto C. Guillo
My warmest felicitations
to everyone in the PUP Open
University on your 25th Founding
Anniversary celebration. This is a
fitting opportunity for me to
commend the tireless forward
thinkers who have continuously
served the unit, for turning PUP
OU into one of the finest distance
learning institutions we have
today. The many lives you have helped improve are proofs
that you have rendered an excellent job in helping the
University respond to society’s call for nation building. It is
indeed a pleasurable vision that the PUP Open University
shall forge more years of outstanding service to the
community.
With technology playing a big role in the success of
distance education, I am encouraging everyone in the OU to
continuously seek opportunities where education and
technology thrive, in order to further sustain your status in
the field of distance learning. We, in the Branches and
Campuses, as beneficiaries of your goal to spread open
learning are fully supportive of your endeavors. All the best
to the future of PUP Open University!
First of all, I would like to
congratulate the PUP Open
University System through its
Director, Dr. Carmencita L.
Castolo,
together
with
the
Executive Vice President Dr.
Manuel M. Muhi and the
University President Dr. Emanuel
C. De Guzman, who are visionaries
and champions of educational
excellence, and all its teaching and non-teaching staff for
breaking into another milestone as the Open University
reaches its 25th year.
Indeed, the PUP Open University System is a living
testament of how quality education is adaptive and
responsive to the challenges and limitations brought about
by the ever-changing and complex global community. Gone
are the days when education is restricted within the fourcornered classroom. Gone are the days when instruction is
hampered by equally pressing employment priorities. Gone
are the days when learning is sealed in a passive teacherstudent role. Gone are the days when acquiring a wellearned degree is made impossible by sheer geography and
time. A sweeping generalization it may seem, but one
cannot doubt that distance and open learning is the future of
education.
And how fitting and notable it is to celebrate 25
triumphant years with an equally challenging theme:
―Excellence of Open and Distance Learning Towards Global
Competitiveness for 2015 ASEAN Integration‖ to keep
abreast with the dynamics of social, political, cultural and
economic transformations inside and out of the country.
True, the 2015 ASEAN Integration raises a plethora
of questions. But one can always turn the table around, and
see a multitude of opportunities from it. This is why distance
and open learning becomes a force to reckon with and why
the Open University becomes an increasingly relevant
feature of global education. IT prepares individuals toward
the new frontier of the future—a borderless global
community where they can have equal footing with the rest
of the world.
This is where 25 years of the PUP Open University
is taking us: on to the future.
Again, my heartfelt felicitations to every bit and
piece that make up the PUP Open University a success! May
your hard work and dedication yield years and more years of
abundant returns to our students, to our University, and to
our country. God bless you!
Message of the VP for Finance
Prof. Marissa J. Legaspi
I wish to convey my
warmest
greetings
to
the
administrators, course specialists,
administrative staff and students of
the PUP Open University (PUP OU)
as they celebrate its twenty-fifth year
of existence.
PUP OU has survived the
challenges of the past years because
of its unwavering commitment to
relevant and quality education, a distinctive brand of
distance education that has inspired many to enhance and
bolster their academic and professional qualifications
through the famed innovative system of teaching and
learning consistently applied by the institution.
Truly, PUP OU deserves commendation for twentyfive years of excellent service as a leading provider of open
learning and distance education in this part of the world.
Congratulations!
OU Sphere
page 3
Message of the VP for Student Services
Dr. Herminia E. Manimtim
Heartfelt greetings to the
Polytechnic University of the
Philippines Open University for its
25 successful years of committed
and quality service.
Recognition is given to PUP
leaders and founding officers for the
Open University whose visionary
leadership, pioneering spirit and hard
work made possible OU’s birth; and
to all their successors, faculty and the OU community for
having imbibed the vision and fortitude that permeate the
Open University endeavor. What OU has become after25
years is living proof of the collective commitment to
continually expand access to quality and relevant education
of deserving students.
2015 is PUP OU’s big year as it celebrates its silver
anniversary and takes on the challenging realities of the
ASEAN Integration. May OU’s robust growth and
capabilities be further fostered by such challenges and tasks
of making our human resource and the labor force healthy,
competitive, nation loving and responsible citizens of the
world.
Message of the VP For Academic Affairs
Dr. Samuel M. Salvador
Twenty-five years is enough
to produce efficient administrators,
effective course specialists, skilled
administrative staff, and competitive
students.
My
gratitude
to
the
Administrators of the PUP Open
University for continuing the vision
of Dr. Nemesio E. Prudente for
wider access to quality education.
My admiration goes to the Course Specialists who uphold
the principles of Open Learning and Distance Education. I
take my hat off to the Administrative Staff who continue to
learn and apply the requisites of an Open University. May
you not cease to acquire more knowledge in this field of
education.
To the students, who are the center of this
institution, you are truly blessed. You have varied reasons
for not obtaining that diploma when you were younger. Now
that you are given access, I hope that you will not waste this
precious opportunity.
Congratulations to the PUP Open University for
twenty-five years of providing access to quality education,
thereby equalizing the playing fields. Cheers!
The PUP Open University System
Officials and Staff
Open University Sphere
Message of EVP
Dr. Manuel M. Muhi
Message of OU Director
Dr. Carmencita L. Castolo
Let me impart my most
fervid greetings to the PUP Open
University for reaching another
milestone as it celebrates its 25th
Founding Anniversary.
The
whole
PUP
community recognizes the many
successes of PUP OU as an
alternative system of education
which offers not only flexibility
and accessibility but also quality, sustainability, and
opportunity to anyone who wishes to better themselves and
their lives.
For 25 years, PUP OU strongly stood by its
advocacy to provide underprivileged students with
unquestionable dedication and unbridled dreams a chance to
earn their most coveted degrees through its in-demand
programs, planned course offerings, continuously improved
facilities, and topnotch instruction. Offering a nontraditional approach to education, PUP OU indeed
journeyed through a less travelled road to learning and
instruction but nonetheless proved its unshakeable
significance leading to its glorious Silver Year. Having
laudable contributions, cutting-edge innovations and plain
nobility as a unique institution, PUP OU definitely has
cemented its niche in Philippine Education leaving a
perpetual legacy of reputable, bright, and first-rate alumni
who are set to serve the country. Moreover, with its
responsive reforms and transformations aiming to gain
access to the global scene, it is needless to say that PUP OU
is today’s epitome of borderless education.
With this, I wish to extend my highest
commendations to the most skilled, hard-working, and
brilliant hands that molded PUP OU in its best form to date;
may you never waiver in keeping its torch blazing with
excellence! I am convinced that through your
inextinguishable passion, PUP OU’s Silver years will turn
Gold.
Kudos to your success PUP Open University!
Mabuhay!
I take pride and pleasure
in
celebrating
our
25th
Foundation Anniversary. It is a
time to commend ourselves for
the undoubting spirit, courage of
conviction, commitment to the
ideals of our Pamantasang Bayan
enrooted in our Sintang Paaralan
which has always been a
fountain of inspiration for all of
us.
And on this auspicious moment, I would like to
enjoin everyone to rededicate our commitment to strive
for oneness – one vision, one direction, one PUP OU.
Each year lays the foundation for ideas in the
years to come. The coming years pose great challenges
and we are prepared to take on the trials of the world. Our
endeavor will be to continue to improve the quality of the
PUP Open University, increase our standards in all
aspects, identify core strengths and prioritize goals and
work on them.
It is time we make certain modifications in the
way we see things. We now live in a world of new
realities and emerging trends. We need to accept certain
shifts – from an emphasis on providing content to
providing skills, from looking at the classroom as the only
point of learning to accepting that learning happens across
life spaces.
After 25 years of existence, we cannot be satisfied
and complacent with mediocre outcomes. We need to
aspire to raise the bar in every field, be it academics,
research, training, discipline and attitude. Let us not just
be average and be okay with okay.
If we want to be remembered, let us create
positive memories. To do this, we have to work together
in oneness with determination and confidence. Once these
are done, the wonderful remembrances will create
themselves automatically!
PEN
Vol. 4, No. 1
Happy 25th foundation
anniversary!
NIVERSITY
The official newsletter of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines Open University
EDITORIAL BOARD
Dr. Manuel M. Muhi
Editorial Consultant
Dr. Caroline T. Sumande
Managing Editor
Dr. Carmencita L. Castolo
Editorial Adviser
Jerome P. Dumlao
Editor-in-Chief
Ronrico L. Herbolario
Editorial Staff
Special 25th Anniversary Issue 2015