Speech of Dr.

Francisco Benitez on his inauguration as 92nd PWU President

Meeting Room 4, PICC
Monday, February 21, 2011

Chief Justice Corona, Commissioner Ricafort, Dr. Ruiz, Atty. Pascua, Bishop Bacani,
Senator Rasul, Representatives of Educational Institutions, Distinguished Guests, PWU
Board of Trustees, Faculty, Alumnae, Students, Friends and Family, my fellow travelers,

I am deeply honored and humbled by your trust as I stand here as the 9th president of
PWU in its 92nd year. The immensity of the task before me is daunting, but I do not stand
alone. I do not stand alone, but on the shoulders of giants: Paz Marquez Benitez,
Francisca Tirona Benitez, Felicing Tirona, Jose Abad Santos, Conrado Benitez, Belen
Enrile Gutierrez, Leticia De Guzman, Rosa Santos Munda, Helena Z Benitez, Jose
Conrado Benitez, Amelou Benitez Reyes, Freddie Benitez Reyes, Maritza Benitez Canto
and Noel Benitez; Doreen Gamboa, Lucrecia Kasilag, Luz Belardo, Lucrecia Urtula,
Sylvia Montes, Maria Kalaw Katigbak, Estefania Aldaba-Lim (the list goes on)—and the
many other exemplary mentors, distinguished teachers and prominent alumnae who have
walked down PWU’s halls. These women, and quite a few men, formed the University’s
community of ideas and ideals, and have built the institutional foundations that shall see
us to our 100th year and beyond. As the Pamana scroll reminds us, it is in the spirit of
crusade that one enters into the PWU family. It is a calling, a vocation, to strengthen the
citizenship of our Republic in every possible way. I thank the Board of Trustees,
particularly our Tita Helen, for the singular invitation to join such an august company of
crusaders.

But do not let the language of crusade elicit images of war and discord. Let us think of a
pilgrimage and a journey. After a long sojourn overseas, throughout my schooling in the
UK and the US, I have finally come home, to return to Family, and now accept the
difficult and challenging task of building and sustaining the university.

I have not made this pilgrimage alone. I thank my maternal grandmother, Remedios
Bantug, who through all the years has never wavered in her support. I thank as well my
late paternal grandmother Lulu Benitez and my mother Betty Bantug—without them I
would not be who I am today. I thank my brother, Albee Benitez, and my father, Joly
Benitez, whose council and camaraderie mean more than they can imagine. I thank too
those who have made this long journey with me with fortitude and without complaint:
Charlotte, my wife of 16 years, and my children, Chiara, Nuria and Ariana. They have
willingly traversed the ocean many times, accompanying me as I negotiated first the
demands of a professional academic career, and now the claims of country and family. To
you my witnesses, family, friends and the many other fellow travelers I cannot all
mention here, my most profound gratitude.

Today we gather to install, invest and inaugurate. We gather to remember and renew our
fundamental beliefs in the necessity and integrity of our educational mission. An
academic ceremony like this one is an apt reminder that we never stand nor journey
alone. We wear our academic garbs not simply for protocol, but for proclaiming our clear
recognition of our debts and obligations to our mentors and to our teachers, to those who
have come before us and have certified our degrees, our knowledge and our skills. It is
upon their lives and efforts, their sacrifices and their devotion, their achievements and
their successes, that we owe our present and build our future. As a member of the last
generation of Benitez’s with any personal memories of the University’s founders, the
oath taken today confirms the university’s enduring spirit and reaffirms the university’s
adherence to the founders’ mission of superior education and active service in nation
formation.

We here are all fellow travelers and equal heirs to the founders’ noble enterprise. For
almost one hundred years, the university has deliberately and consciously dedicated itself
to Philippine nation-building. Let us recall that PWU was a “house of learning founded
by teachers who were at the same time citizens with a social consciousness and
missionary zeal.” Establishing a school under the aegis of empire, theirs was the
fundamental belief that education cultivated the capacities for the participative citizenship
required of a strong democratic and independent republic. They believed our democracy
is only as strong as our civic life, only as virtuous as our citizenry. Emboldened by the
Jones Law that finally promised Philippine Independence, the founding mothers sought to
prepare women for professional and civic life before women’s suffrage had even been
passed. With its particular focus on women and gender empowerment, PWU has always
sought to bridge the structural and cultural gaps between work and home, the professions
and the family, the academy and the community, in the interest of public life. As the
conditions of empire and nation changed, so too did the university’s response to the
persistent national need for participative citizenship.

Despite formal independence for colonies, today’s imperial globalization carries many of
the same challenges as yesterday’s colonial imperialism—large sectors of the world still
wallow in poverty—a condition of “unfreedom” that Nobel Laureate for economics
Amartya Sen has termed the global injustice of capacity deprivation. At the same time,
globalization has created distinct conditions for the thickening of older imperial
networks. These networks have further facilitated the flow of information, knowledge,
goods, labor and capital; and global competition has shifted economic centers from the
west to Asia.

Coupled with the economic transformations of globalization, contemporary revolutions in

information and communication technology have intensified these flows, and they have
transformed and are still transforming educational institutions and practices. Education
has always offered the capacity for individual social mobility and national social
development. But the educational landscape continues to change. As internet connection
speeds increase, more and more universities worldwide are offering online education and
byte-sized modularized certifications. The emergence of many state universities and
colleges here and the increase in transnational programs from foreign educational
institutions regionally and online has provided further choices for our population. Our
labor market is global, and our workplace multi-locational. Transnational families are
now commonplace for Filipinos. The horizon of our citizenry is simultaneously
cosmopolitan and local. As an educational institution devoted to cultivating and
empowering the holistic capacities of individuals, and to advancing civic engagement and
global justice, how should PWU respond to such conditions given its constraints? This,
my fellow travelers, is the challenge and opportunity the institution continues to face.

Former President Jose Conrado Benitez made two basic predictions in 1993: (1) that
technological advances shall make information accessible and instantaneously available,
requiring a transformation in the way we view, practice and disseminate education; and
(2) that the 21st Century shall be the Pacific Century. Under his leadership, PWU
established initiatives to address itself to these changing conditions. PWU spearheaded
the ladderization and modularization of its curriculum to adapt it to a university without
borders. PWU instigated the creation of continuing education centers that offered
certificates for vocational education. The PWU pioneering School of Distance Education
has been offering a master’s in education online and in mixed mode since 90s.

Immediate past president Amelou Reyes built on these insights. She initiated external
foreign student practicum programs as well as expanded DUAL training and TESDA
accredited courses. She established PWU’s present virtual environment system for online
education and increased mixed mode graduate courses in addition to the master’s in
education. Under her leadership, PWU was deputized by CHED for the innovative
Expanded Tertiary Equivalency and Accreditation Programs (ETEAP) to further respond
to the needs of working professionals. She brought the university to its current IQUAME
certification as a teaching university and CHED’s autonomous status.

These creative approaches to educational challenges initiated by the two most immediate
past presidents must be further developed and strengthened. We must build on these
initiatives that are parts of our legacy. They must go hand-in-hand with our orientation
towards further internationalization to acknowledge the globalized nature of our teaching,
and to conduct research that addresses the new global realities.

Technological development has increased the need for social networking skills and
collaborative work. Few individuals will be masters of a totality of knowledge and while
each discipline is unique, asks discrete questions and surveys particular fields, we must
find ways to increase their collaboration for few problems will be solved through a single
discipline. While we raise additional support for our institutional efforts, I propose to
you, the PWU community, that we build on our own comprehensive approach to social
development. The university, founded on the vision and mission of creating involved and
committed citizens, has always purposely matched its programs and thrusts to national
development needs. PWU programs such as GEMS (Gearing Education to Maximum
Service) in the 60s, and the ASCEND (Accelerating Service in Community Education for
National Development) program in the 80s renewed this focus of the university as
collaborator to the government’s development plans. The University Community
Outreach Program (UNICORP), continues to champion a comprehensive approach to
rural-urban community development. It organizes the university’s various fields and
disciplines into relevant components of a holistic approach to sustainable social
development and community mobilization.

However, I propose that our community engagement must have as its horizon not only
the government’s development programs but have a global and transnational scope. I
suggest the university becomes an active partner with government and non-government
agencies to realize the United Nations’ Millenium Development Goals, particularly as
they pertain to advocacies it has promoted from the beginning, such as gender equality
and the well-being of children and mothers in the interest of stronger families.

Guided by UNICORP’s multidisciplinary approach to social and community

development, let us increase opportunities for students and faculty to work in
interdisciplinary groups directed to solve specific social issues and research problems.
Further, our research must build on our core strength in community development and
mobilization. Let us re-imagine community involvement not as outreach but as
engagement and, re-conceive community engagement not just as technology transfer but
as collaborative research in addressing global injustices. Globalization and the
information revolution mean the world is already in our classrooms and in our
communities. Let us bring our communities into our classrooms and our classroom
experiences into the community. It must be a two-way exchange where our theoretical
frameworks are constantly re-evaluated and transformed in conjunction with the
communities we serve as part of our constituencies.

Furthermore, in an information-rich milieu, students are collaborators in the learning

process, often providing information or data that the teacher may lack. We cannot
assume, however, that students can process the information they gather. Information
overload creates a greater need for evaluative judgment and critical thinking. JASMS’
unique pedagogical philosophy: individualized, student-oriented and inquiry- and project-
based education needs to permeate the manner in which we teach tertiary education. We
should make these old advocacies and methodologies a core and central research agenda
for all programs. Doing so would clarify and promote the particular contributions to
international research that PWU’s thrusts have had all along. Even more importantly, it
shall provide a clear thrust for the cultivation of “public reason” as the enhancement of
information accessibility and of the possibilities for interactive discussions. The capacity
for public reason is a foundational component of democracy and civic life, and is
increasingly itself a global concern as the Millenium Development Goals manifest.

The conditions predicted in 1993 have now accelerated. Apple’s iTunes U now offers
lectures by leading academics from prestigious universities for free online! Wikipedia
and Google have provided an explosion of information. Such technologies have made
possible and made necessary ever more diverse and innovative educational delivery
systems. It has not changed, however, the core significance of a liberal arts education’s
emphasis on self-reflexivity, broad cosmopolitan orientation and critical thinking. The
challenges of globalization and internationalization require a strong sense of who we are
and our commitments to the development of self, family and community while having a
strong cross-cultural and international awareness of issues of global justice. These
transformations and the increase in the ubiquity of mediating technology have in fact
made the arts and humanities even more crucial than ever before.

I propose to the PWU family, faculty, alumnae and friends that we once again review our
foundation and general education course offerings in the School of Arts and Sciences to
ensure that it provides a cross-cultural and international perspective while keeping faith
with our own heritage and history. Let us strengthen our orientations towards arts and
culture, and facilitate the professionalization of cultural work. Let us explore the
establishment of programs in Asian Studies, Gender Studies, Media Studies, Political
Communication, Human Development and Family Studies, International Studies,
International Diplomacy, Environmental Security, Health Security and Food Security,
among others. These programs must work synergistically with each other. They must
build on our past traditions of social development and be made responsive to the
requirements of industry. At core, these offerings must adhere to specific competencies
and skills, to cultivate social and civic engagement and to build capacities for work and
life. Let us invigorate our centers and institutes such as the Institute of Family Life and
challenge them to provide the institutional home for a research agenda and trajectory for
every PWU program and school. They shall work with the newly combined office of
Research, Publication and Faculty Development who shall be tasked to coordinate
research support.

We must internationalize not only our curriculum, but also our student body. We will
increase and activate our international linkages, both for faculty and student exchange.
Our current efforts to provide transnational education will have to intensify. Our courses
must be recognized and accredited by international agencies, providing international
certification, from basic to tertiary education.

In the rush to provide alternative modalities to campus education, we must not forget to
reorganize and revitalize campus life, particularly for undergraduate students who are
under our care, to create a more unified and shared educational experience geared
towards internationalization. Let us once again methodically encourage exchange with
the diplomatic community and deliberately expand our recruitment of foreign and ESL
students. Let us build on our history of providing education to our Islamic brethren, and
enlarge our efforts to invite into our family our Asian neighbors.

Through Tita Helen’s abiding influence, environmentalism and human ecology have been
as much a hallmark of PWU as gender advocacy and social development. We envision
our campuses to be green and sustainable urban spaces, even as we continue to plan for
the expansion and improvement of our centers of learning outside Metro Manila.
Finally, let us squarely address our co-educational nature. Let what was once termed “the
woman question” be clearly understood as a human question, as a social question. Let
every student of PWU know, regardless of their sex, that gender equality and
empowerment is a common good and a matter of social justice. Only in this way shall we
finally bridge the barriers between work and family that arrogates the domestic to the
sphere of women and impedes gender equality. A co-educational PWU affirms this not
only as an enduring advocacy, but as an institutional foundation.

My fellow travelers, as you can see there is much work to be done, and I do not deny that
there are numerous constraints. Despite the current difficulties we face, let us remember
what is possible when imagination is combined with common purpose and, as the Legacy
scroll hails us to do, we live out our concept of bayanihan. Let us remember what is
possible when people work together cooperatively, united in their crusade for a better life
and a better world. As we in bayanihan fashion bear the burden of the institution on our
shoulders, let it not be said that we faltered. My fellow travelers, let it be said that in this
time of transformation, we refused to let our journey end. Let us stay true to our
founder’s legacy to “contribute our share toward the attainment of a democratic Republic
enjoying liberty and justice for its people. It is a legacy that this institution is proud to
inherit from its founders, to pass on to the unfailing youth, from generation to
generation.”

To the PWU alumnae, faculty and administrators who have shown unwavering faith, and
upon whose sacrifice, dedication and tenacity the university survives and prevails, I do
not deny many are the challenges still before us, but know this: these challenges will be
met and we shall rise. We shall rise and rise together, transformed and ready to build the
scaffolding for another hundred years. Together, we shall build on the strong foundations
of our educational mission as the university moves towards its centennial and beyond. In
this, I am most deeply grateful to know that I do not stand alone.