University of the Philippines Los Baños


The University of the Philippines Los Baños, also referred to as UPLB, UP Los Baños, or colloquially, Elbi, is a public research university located in the towns of Los Baños and Bay in the province of Laguna, some 64 kilometers southeast of Manila. It traces its roots to the UP College of Agriculture, which was founded in 1909 by the American colonial government to promote agricultural education and research in the Philippines. American botanist Edwin Copeland served as its first dean. UPLB was formally established in 1972 following the union of UPCA with four other Los Baños and Diliman-based University of the Philippines units.
The university has played an influential role in Asian agriculture and biotechnology due to its pioneering efforts in plant breeding and bioengineering, particularly in the development of high-yielding and pest-resistant crops. In recognition of its work, it was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award for International Understanding in 1977. Nine research centers are recognized as Centers of Excellence by presidential decree. UPLB hosts a number of local and international research centers, including the International Rice Research Institute, ASEAN Center for Biodiversity, World Agroforestry Centre, and the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture.
UPLB offers more than 100-degree programs in various disciplines through its nine colleges and two schools. As of Academic Year 2012–2013 the Commission on Higher Education has accredited nine academic units as Centers of Excellence and two as Centers of Development, giving UPLB the largest number of Centers of Excellence among all universities in the country.
UPLB alumni have been recognized in a wide range of fields. They include 13 scientists awarded the title National Scientist of the Philippines, members of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Palanca Award winners, as well as political and business leaders.

History

UPLB was originally established as the University of the Philippines College of Agriculture on 6 March 1909, by the UP board of regents. Edwin Copeland, an American botanist and Thomasite from the Philippine Normal College in Manila, served as its first dean. Classes began in June 1909 with five professors, and 12 students initially enrolled in the program. The Forestry School was established a year later.
During the Japanese occupation of the Philippines, UPCA was closed and the campus converted into an internment camp for allied nationals and a headquarters of the Japanese army. For three years, the college was home to more than 2,000 civilians, mostly Americans, that were captured by the Japanese. In 1945, as part of the liberation of the Philippines, the US Army sent 130 11th Airborne Division paratroopers to Los Baños to rescue the internees. Only four paratroopers and two Filipino guerrillas were killed in the raid. However, Japanese reinforcements arrived two days later, destroying UPCA facilities and killing some 1,500 Filipino civilians in Los Baños soon afterwards.
UPCA became the first unit of the University of the Philippines to open after the war, with Leopoldo Uichanco as dean. However, only 125 of the original students enrolled. It was even worse for the School of Forestry, which only had nine students. Likewise, only 38 professors returned to teach. UPCA used its ₱470,546 share in the Philippine-US War Damage Funds for reconstruction.
Further financial endowments from the United States Agency for International Development and the Mutual Security Agency allowed the construction of new facilities, while scholarship grants, mainly from the Rockefeller Foundation and the International Cooperation Administration, helped fund training of UPCA faculty. From 1947 to 1958, a total of 146 faculty members had been granted MS and PhD scholarships in US universities.
Dioscoro Umali became UPCA dean in 1959. Umali's administration oversaw the creation of IRRI, SEARCA, and the Department of Food Science and Technology. New facilities were also constructed under his Five-Year Development Program.
In 1972, UPCA requested Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos to allow the college to secede from the University of the Philippines due to the alleged withholding of its budget and the disapproval of curricular proposals. However, UP President Salvador P. Lopez strongly opposed the idea. A survey found that there was very little support for complete independence at UPCA. As a compromise, Lopez proposed the transformation of UP into a system of autonomous constituent universities. Finally, on 20 November 1972, Presidential Decree No. 58 was signed, establishing UPLB as UP's first autonomous campus, with UPCA, College of Forestry, Agricultural Credit and Cooperatives Institute, Dairy Training and Research Institute, and the Diliman-based Agrarian Reform Institute as its first academic units. New colleges and research centers were created over the next few years, while the College of Veterinary Medicine was likewise transferred to UPLB from UP Diliman.
In 2010, Chancellor Luis Rey Velasco's administration oversaw the implementation of a policy allowing for larger lecture classes to improve the "absorptive capacity" of the university by more than 500 students and to give them better access to some of the more seasoned professors. It increased the class format and size of the usual twice-weekly, an-hour-and-a-half class of 25-40 student cohort to a much larger system of lecture and recitation/laboratory session setup for general education and foundation courses. The policy has been criticized by various groups in UPLB.
From 1993 to 2013, the university and the town of Los Baños has become the focus of media attention due to the criminal incidents involving students that lead into their deaths in the recent years: Eileen Sarmenta and Allan Gomez, Marlon Villanueva, Given Grace Cebanico, Rochel "Cesil" Geronda, Ray Bernard Peñaranda and Maria Victoria Reyes and Mary Grace Esguerra.

Campus

The UPLB campus consists of spread across the provinces of Laguna, Negros Occidental, and Quezon. UPLB's equipment and facilities are worth some ₱11.3 billion according to official estimates.

Los Baños campus

The Los Baños campus houses UPLB's academic facilities, as well as experimental farms for agriculture and biotechnology research. The more prominent buildings in the Los Baños campus, such as the Dioscoro L. Umali Hall, Main Library, and Student Union were designed by National Artist for Architecture Leandro Locsin. Other notable landmarks include the iconic Oblation, Alumni Plaza, Freedom Park, and Baker Memorial Hall.
UPLB is designated as caretaker of the Makiling Forest Reserve. It houses facilities of the College of Forestry and Natural Resources, College of Public Affairs, UPLB Museum of Natural History and the University Health Service, among others. The reserve is home to diverse flora and fauna, and has more tree species than the continental United States. It serves as an outdoor laboratory for students, mainly from the College of Forestry and Natural Resources.

Land grants

UPLB has three major land grants: the Laguna-Quezon Land Grant, La Carlota Land Grant, and Laguna Land Grant.
The Laguna-Quezon Land Grant is located in the towns of Real, Quezon, and Siniloan, Laguna, and was acquired in February 1930. It covers some portions of the Sierra Madre mountain range, and currently hosts the university's Citronella and lemongrass plantations. The La Carlota Land Grant is situated in Negros Occidental, a province in the Western Visayas region. Acquired in May 1964, it houses the PCARRD-DOST La Granja Agricultural Research Center, which serves as a research center for various upland crops. Meanwhile, the Laguna Land Grant located in Paete, Laguna, also acquired in 1964, is mostly undeveloped. Numerous parties have expressed interest in developing the land grants; however, UPLB has not entertained the potential investors due to the "lack of a solid development plan."

Organization and administration

As part of the University of the Philippines System, UPLB is governed by the 11-person UP Board of Regents, which is jointly chaired by the head of the Commission on Higher Education and the UP president.
The Board of Regents has the authority to approve the institution, merger, and abolition of degree programs as recommended by the UP president. It also has the power to confer degrees. The UP president, who is appointed by the Board of Regents, is the university's chief executive officer and the head of the faculty.
UPLB is administered by a chancellor who is elected by the UP Board of Regents to a three-year term. The chancellor may only serve for up to two terms. Under him are five vice-chancellors specializing in administration, community affairs, instruction, planning and development, and research and extension.
The current chancellor is Fernando C. Sanchez, Jr., the ninth to hold the office. He assumed the post on 28 October 2014.
UPLB, through the UP System, is a member of the Association of Pacific Rim Universities, a consortium of leading research universities in the Asia-Pacific region.

Funding

UPLB's endowment totaled some ₱4 billion in 2010, broken down into cash reserves, investments and national government subsidy.
This amount includes research funding from other sources, which was valued at ₱233 million in 2010. The biggest source was Philippine government agencies, at ₱136 million, with the PCASTRD-DOST as the largest contributor. This represents a 32 percent decrease from the previous year. Meanwhile, contributions from international and local private agencies increased 101 percent and 71 percent respectively. In all, outside sources contributed some ₱98 million.
To prepare for its centennial year, UPLB launched several Centennial Fund campaigns, the largest being the Centennial Building Fund, which aims to raise ₱2 billion for the "construction, repair and maintenance of academic buildings and dormitories". Other Centennial Funds include the Centennial Celebration Fund and the Centennial Artists Endowment fund.

Student government

The University Student Council is the "highest governing body of all UPLB students." Together with college student councils, it assembles as the Student Legislative Chamber and acts as the highest policy-making body of the USC. The USC is composed of a chairperson, vice-chairperson, 10 councilors, a representative for each college/school with less than 500 students, and an additional college representative for every 500 students in excess of the first 500. Members are given one-year terms. CSCs have a similar structure, but with a different number of councilors based on the student population.
The Student Disciplinary Tribunal is responsible for sanctioning erring students. Common offenses include student misconduct and fraternity rumbles. The SDT is composed of a chairperson, two appointees of the chancellor, a student juror, and a parent juror.

Academics

UPLB offers 27 undergraduate and 82 graduate degree programs through its nine colleges and two schools. Majority of the programs award science degrees. It also awards high school diplomas through the University of the Philippines Rural High School, a subunit of the College of Arts and Sciences, which acts as a laboratory for its BS Math and Science Teaching students.
The College of Arts and Sciences has the largest student population and the largest number of undergraduate degree programs, while the College of Development Communication and College of Veterinary Medicine have the least number of programs.
BS Agricultural biotechnology, introduced in 2010, is UPLB's newest undergraduate degree program. Several degree programs that have been proposed include Chancellor Aspiras's BA History, BA Political science and BS Landscape Horticulture, and National Scientist Teodulo M. Topacio Jr.'s comparative medicine program.

Admission and graduation

UPLB admits more than 2,500 students and produces about 1,800 graduates every year. Undergraduate admission is determined by the University of the Philippines College Admission Test. Examinees that select UPLB as their preferred campus and garner a University Predicted Grade within the standard cut-off are automatically eligible for admission. Those who do not automatically qualify may file an appeal for reconsideration if their UPG is within the actual cut-off, though the appeal process does not guarantee admission. The cut-off scores may be adjusted according to a variety of factors. In 2010, UPLB had a standard UPG cut-off of 2.42 while the actual cut-off was 2.8. But in 2014–2015 UPCAT, according to the Office of the University Registrar, UPLB had a standard cut off score of 2.3. Seventy percent of slots are given to incoming freshmen with the highest scores, while the remaining thirty percent are given to public high school students and members of minority groups. Before the UPCAT was used for admission, UPCA only admitted the top 5 percent of Philippine high school graduates.
High school freshman admission, on the other hand, is determined by the eight-hour-long UPRHS Entrance Examination. Only the top 125 examinees are admitted. Sophomore transferees take the two-day UPRHS Validation Examination, and are admitted depending on the available slots.
UPLB has a substantial no-show rate, with 42 percent of qualifiers opting not to enroll. The figures are worse for BS Forestry and Doctor of Veterinary Medicine programs, with no-show rates of 65 percent and 62 percent, respectively. Other programs with poor enrollment numbers include BS Agriculture, BS Agricultural engineering, and BS Agricultural chemistry.
Normally, a student who completes the program may graduate with honors if his general weighted average is 1.75 or above. The title summa cum laude is awarded to graduates who obtain a GWA of 1.20 or above, magna cum laude to graduates with a GWA of 1.45 to 1.20, and cum laude to graduates with a GWA of between 1.75 and 1.45. As of 2011 there have been 30 summa cum laudes who have graduated from UPLB.

Tuition and financial aid

The base tuition fee per unit in UPLB is ₱1,000. As with all UP constituents, UPLB implements the Socialized Tuition and Financial Assistance Program. Under the program, students with annual family incomes between ₱1,000,000 and ₱500,000 are charged the base tuition fee, while those with annual family incomes above ₱1,000,000 are charged ₱1,500 per unit. Students with annual family incomes between ₱500,000 and ₱135,000 are charged ₱600 per unit; those who have between ₱135,000 and ₱80,000 are charged ₱300 ; while those who have below ₱80,000 are not charged any fees. Additional financial assistance may be accessed through the Student Loan Board, which pays up to 80 percent of the tuition. Scholarship and loan programs are also offered by some UPLB units, such as the College of Veterinary Medicine.
The current rates were introduced in 2007. Previously, base tuition was only ₱300 per unit. Library and miscellaneous fees were also increased in 2007, from ₱400 per student to ₱1,100 and ₱2,000, respectively. New fees, such as internet and energy fees, were introduced. The USC sees the over 300 percent increase in tuition as the reason for the low enrollment rate and high student loan levels, which totaled some ₱14 million in 2007. Additionally, it criticizes the STFAP for allegedly being ineffective. Upon its introduction in 1989, only 16 percent of students received discounts. The number fell to 12 percent in 2007.
The Free Tuition Law mandates free tuition and fees for all state university students who are pursuing their degree for the first time. Students who avail of the subsidy will be required to provide return service, although it is possible to opt out and pay the full tuition instead.

Accreditation

UPLB is identified by the Commission on Higher Education as a Center of Excellence in agricultural engineering, agriculture, biology, chemistry, development communication, forestry, information technology, mathematics, and veterinary medicine. It is a Center of Development in physics, environmental science and statistics. In addition, the Institute of Biological Sciences, Institute of Chemistry, and Institute of Mathematical Sciences and Physics have been recognized since 1983 as National Centers of Excellence in the Basic Sciences via presidential decree. Other Centers of Excellence by virtue of presidential decree are the Farming Systems and Soil Resources Institute, the Institute of Animal Science, the Institute of Food Science and Technology, the Institute of Plant Breeding, the National Crop Protection Center, and the National Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology. In 5 November 2014, the BS Biology program offered by the Institute of Biological Sciences was certified as a standard accredited program by the ASEAN University Network as part of its ASEAN University Network-Quality Assurance System.

Libraries and collections

As of 2007, UPLB's 12 libraries, collectively referred to as the University Library, hold a total of 346,061 volumes. It periodically receives publications from United Nations agencies and the World Bank. It is a contributor to the International Information System for Agricultural Services and Technology, contributing nearly 30,000 titles between 1975 and 2010.
195,282 of these volumes are housed at the Main Library, while the rest are in unit libraries. The Main Library also houses theses, digital sources, and 1,215 serial titles, among other materials. It has a total floor area of and a seating capacity of 510, making it the largest library in UPLB.
One of UPLB's unit libraries is the College of Veterinary Medicine-Animal and Dairy Sciences Cluster Library. It has 17,798 volumes and 198 serial titles, and a total floor area of. It claims to hold the largest collection on veterinary and animal sciences in the country.
UPLB manages the UPLB Museum of Natural History, which was established in 1976 at the foothills of Mt. Makiling. It holds over 600,000 biological specimens, including half of the specimens from the Philippine Water Bug Inventory Project, and a third of the Dioscoro S. Rabor Wildlife Collection. More than half of the specimens belong to the entomological collection. While most of its collections are in its main building, some are housed in other UPLB units.

Research

UPLB hosts a number of international research institutes, including the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture, the ASEAN Center for Biodiversity, the International Rice Research Institute, the World Fish Center, the World Agroforestry Center, and the Asia Rice Foundation. The APEC Center for Technology Exchange and Training for Small and Medium Enterprises, established in 1996 through the initiative of then President Fidel V. Ramos during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders' Meeting in Seattle, USA, is also located at the university's Science & Technology Park. Local research institutions such as the Department of Environment and Natural Resources' Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau, Department of Science and Technology's Forest Products Research and Development Institute, and Department of Agriculture's Philippine Carabao Center are headquartered or have offices at the university. The main office of IRRI's Philippine counterpart, the Philippine Rice Research Institute, used to be located at UPLB but was transferred to the Muñoz, Nueva Ecija in 1990. It continues to maintain a research office at the university.
Two UPLB-published journals, the Philippine Agricultural Scientist and the Philippine Journal of Veterinary Medicine, are listed in the SCImago Journal Rankings. SCImago gave these an h-index of 5 and 1, respectively, for 2009. These journals are also listed in the ISI Web of Knowledge, along with three other UPLB-published journals: the Philippine Entomologist, Philippine Journal of Crop Science, and Asia Life Sciences.

Research Centers

The following are centers of excellence in research as proclaimed by Presidential Decrees:
Other research centers, extension centers and laboratories, and learning museums include:
Interdisciplinary Studies Centers:

Biotechnology research

UPLB operates a science and technology park. As of February 2010, the park has hosted four companies engaged in biotechnology. The park serves as a location for the commercialization and application of UP technologies.
One of the earliest innovations of UPLB was the production of CAC 87 sugar cane in 1919. This high-yielding variety is resistant to fiji and mosaic viruses, and produces more sucrose than other varieties. Its derivatives significantly increased sugar cane production in the Philippines. Between 1921 and 1939, cattle, poultry, and swine breeding programs produced new breeds, namely the Philamin, Berkjala and the Los Baños Cantonese chicken, which produces more eggs.
Research in the 1960s allowed for the efficient mass production of macapuno, while studies started in 1998 that produced delayed-ripening papaya continue to this day. The research is credited for the increase in Philippine papaya production, with the production of 2000 rising to in 2007. In 1974, UPLB researchers discovered mango flower induction by potassium nitrate, making it possible for the fruit to be available all year round. It is credited for tripling yield and for "revolutionizing" the country's mango industry.
In 2009, UPLB researchers funded by the Department of Agriculture developed an abacá variety that is resistant to the abaca bunchy top virus. The virus, first detected in 1915 at Silang, Cavite, has since spread to various provinces in the country, and damaged more than of abacá plantations in 2002 alone. The university is working further to make it resistant to mosaic and abacá bract mosaic viruses.
In July 2010, UPLB announced that the Leucinodes orbonalis-resistant Bacillus thuringiensis eggplant variety that it had been developing with Cornell University and Mahyco was ready for commercialization. On 17 February 2011, Filipino and Indian Greenpeace activists trespassed UPLB's Bay research farm and uprooted two Bt eggplants and more than 100 non-genetically modified eggplants. The National Academy of Science and Technology and ranking UPLB officials condemned the incident, and have taken legal action.

Biofuel research

Pioneering efforts in biofuel research have been conducted at the university. Studies conducted in the 1930s found that gasoline with 15–20 percent ethanol, dubbed "gasanol", was more efficient than pure gasoline. Biofuel research in 2007 under the National Biofuel Program has considered new sources of biofuel, such as coconuts, Moringa oleifera, and sunflower seeds. Efforts have been concentrated on the Jatropha curcas due to its low maintenance and fast yield. Other fuel, such as coconut biofuel, were found to be too costly. Biofuel from Sorghum bicolor, Manihot esculenta crantz and Chlorella vulgaris are also being studied.

Student life

In 2008, 2,170 students were housed in the eight dormitories managed by UPLB. In the academic year 2011–2012, fees for all UPLB dormitories increased by at least 25 percent from the previous rate of ₱350 a month. As with the previous dormitory fee increase of 221 percent in 1997, making the dormitories "financially self-supporting" was one of the reasons cited by the University Housing Office for the revision. The move was widely criticized by various groups. The University Housing Office projects ₱13,818,000 in revenue for 2010 with a deficit of ₱586,465.59. according to official estimates. UPLB is currently building two new dormitories with of floor area. The new dormitories are expected to accommodate 192 persons annually.

Student Organizations

As of May 2020, there are 159 recognized student organizations in UPLB. Of these, 68 are academic, 15 are cultural, 1 is international, 8 are religious, 30 are socio-civic, 6 are sports and recreational, 11 are varsitarian, 13 are fraternities, and 7 are sororities, respectively. However, other organizations were also present in the university but were not recognized as shown in past records. Regional organizations were not recognized by UPLB prior to September 2008, when the University of the Philippines board of regents repealed Chapter 72 Article 444 of the 1984 University of the Philippines Code, which states that "organizations which are provincial, sectional or regional in nature shall not be allowed in the University System." Likewise, Section 3 of the code states that "the University of the Philippines System is a public, secular, non-profit institution of higher learning." Due to this, religious organizations have had some difficulty in getting recognized. Only recognized organizations are allowed to use UPLB facilities. The system of student organizations in UPLB is different from that of other UP constituents in that freshmen are not allowed to join any organization until they have earned at least 30 units.

Loyalty Day

Every 10 October, UPLB celebrates Loyalty Day, which has also become UPLB's alumni homecoming. The celebration commemorates events in 1918, when more than half of students and faculty, including two women, enlisted in the Philippine National Guard for service in France during World War I. The volunteers never saw action, as the Allied Forces signed an armistice with Germany during the same year, essentially ending the war.

Feb Fair

The university holds a major campus fair, known as "Feb Fair", during Valentine's week. The fair was initially held to express opposition to martial law under Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, who abolished student organizations and student councils.

Media

The militant UPLB Perspective is the official student publication of UPLB. The university administration has been repeatedly criticized for allegedly interfering in the selection process of its editor-in-chief. Other campus publications include UPLB Horizon and UPLB Link. Meanwhile, the College of Development Communication publishes the experimental community newspaper Los Baños Times.
CDC runs the radio station DZLB 1116, the oldest educational radio station in the Philippines. Founded in August 1964 with a broadcast power of 250 watts at 1210 kHz, the station serves as a distance education tool and training facility. It currently operates through a five-kilowatt transmitter located near the main gate of the campus. The station was the 1994 recipient of the KBP Golden Dove Award for Best AM Radio Station as well as a Catholic Mass Media Award for Best Educational Radio Program in 2010.

People

People associated with the university include alumni, faculty, and honorary degree recipients. Thirteen of them are National Scientists of the Philippines, namely Clare R. Baltazar, Julian Banzon, Gelia T. Castillo, Pedro Escuro, Francisco Fronda, Bienvenido Juliano, Ricardo Lantican, Eduardo Quisumbing, Dolores Ramirez, Francisco O. Santos, Teodulo Topacio, Dioscoro L. Umali, and Jose R. Velasco. All of them held academic posts in the university, while three of them were College of Agriculture deans.
Cabinet secretaries affiliated with UPLB include Ricardo Gloria, William Padolina, Arsenio Balisacan, Cielito Habito, Patricia Santo Tomas, Domingo Panganiban, and Ramon Paje.
Members of Congress who attended UPLB include Teodoro Casiño, Maria Valentina Plaza, Isidro Ungab, Sergio Osmena III and Juan Miguel Zubiri. Nicanor Perlas, an agriculture graduate from UPLB, ran for the Philippine presidential election, 2010. Both of its honorary degree recipients held influential roles in their respective countries' politics. They are Salim Ahmed Salim, former Prime Minister of Tanzania, and Sirindhorn, Princess of Thailand.
Emil Q. Javier, president of the University of the Philippines from 1993 to 1999, and Emerlinda Roman, the first female UP President, graduated from UPLB. Alumni who held ranking administrative posts at other universities include Rommel Banlaoi, and Cristina Padolina.
San Miguel Corporation Chairman Eduardo Cojuangco, Jr. and Enchanted Kingdom owners Cesar and Cynthia Mamon also attended UPLB.
Alumni who are active in the performing arts include composer Nilo Alcala, theater actor Terence Guillermo and writer , and bossa nova singer Sabrina.