RECTOR Fr. Tamerlane Lana, O.P. urged University professors to transform students into better citizens and mold righteous leaders through education during the Mass of the Holy Spirit last June 14 at the UST Chapel.
“There seems to be a simplistic solution in the complicated problems of our country and it is in education,” he said.
Lana stressed the role of education, tempered with the fire of the Holy Spirit, as the last hope to drive the country away from “an irreversible path of economic decline and moral decadence” due to political bickering, alleged electoral fraud, and obscene corruption that got the Arroyo administration off its track.
The Rector thus called on educators to motivate students to take learning as an exciting adventure and experience in the faithful practice of their profession in becoming the persons who they want to be.
“As educators, you are expected to be in charge always with drive and vigor, be creative to mold our young people to be professionals who are competent, compassionate and committed and Filipinos who can make a difference in their lives and effect transformation in our country, “ Lana said.
Meanwhile, College of Commerce Dean Jeanette Loanzon in her Discusro de Apertura discussed how the country can achieve economic revolution by combining the entrepreneurial expertise of Manhattan in America and the man power and ethnicity of Dapitan Street in Manila.
Loanzon compared the economic and demographic situation of Dapitan with that of Manhattan.
According to Loanzon Dapitan is a microcosm of the Philippines’ situation. It represents the Filipino’s of home, roots, values, and identity. Manhattan, on the other hand, represents material betterment through widespread capitalism.
“Philippines should try to exhibit this dualism together with the nurturing of our youth,” Loanzon stressed. Marlene H. Elmenzo and Edsel Van Dura
