PRESIDENT Macapagal-Arroyo has reappointed Faculty of Arts and Letters professor Jose David Lapuz as United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (Unesco) commissioner to the Committee on Social and Human Sciences for another three-year term.
Guided by a search committee, President Macapagal-Arroyo last Sept. 13 picked Lapuz from a list presented by the overall chair. Lapuz was also nominated by then Senator Blas Ople, now foreign affairs secretary.
Lapuz was first appointed in 1999 by former President Joseph Estrada and has been one of the 45 Unesco commissioners under Ople.
Unesco is a specialized agency of the United Nations created in 1946 to encourage international collaboration in education, science, and culture. It seeks to help the 188 member-states in eliminating illiteracy, promote free education, and foster exchange in ideas and knowledge.
According to Lapuz, being reappointed as a Unesco commissioner is an honor and a sign of the government’s confidence in him.
“I am grateful to President Arroyo for appointing me for another term of office. Through this, they validated the things I have done in UNESCO, inspiring me to do even better. It also gives me another opportunity to render service to the country and the United Nations,” he said.
Lapuz plans to organize national and international conferences with the presidents of universities and colleges to discuss their roles in international affairs.
Lapuz started teaching in UST in 1970 and is now one of the senior professors of the University.
According to him, the reappointment also reflects the government’s respect for the Pontifical University.
Lapuz said that he is now inspiring some students to create a student-oriented UNESCO club in UST.
“La Salle and Ateneo have already started, so why not here? I think Unesco would be able to function better if added with the voices of fresh young minds,” he said.
Lapuz finished his bachelor’s degree at the University of the Philippines and his post-graduate studies in International Politics and Foreign Policy at the University of Glasgow-Scotland. Elka Krystle R. Requinta
