New batch of UPD-NSTP graduates inducted into NSRC

More than sixty students of the University of the Philippines Diliman (UPD) who completed the course requirements under the National Service Training Program (NSTP) – UP College of Fine Arts (CFA) for academic year 2017-18 received their certificates of recognition on May 30, 2018, at the new building of the UP CFA in Diliman, Quezon City. The UPD-NSTP graduates were also inducted as new members of the National Service Reserve Corps (NSRC) of the Philippines.
This batch was comprised of three classes by Professors Jose Melchor Silvestre, Johnny Reynoso, and Theresa Mabyn Rosales, respectively. The graduating classes each showed a short video highlighting the activities they conducted under the program. Certificates of thanksgiving and recognition were also presented to representatives of UPD-NSTP’s partner organizations: The Guiding Road Charitable Organization, Inc.; the Reception and Study Center for Children; and, the UP CFA.
UP Executive Vice President Teodoro J. Herbosa, CFA Dean Leonardo C. Rosete, and NSTP Director Arlyn P. Macapinlac delivered inspirational messages at the event.
Rosete said the CFA’s extension programs and services link UP students and faculty with underserved communities, and complement the NSTP’s mandate. In line with event’s theme, “Serbisyong Sining Para sa Bayan”, he encouraged the NSTP graduates to help strengthen the competencies of more people, in terms of art production, through their creative outputs and activities such as workshops, and to contribute to the enrichment of Philippine culture.
In his message to the students, Herbosa, a specialist in Trauma Surgery and Emergency Medicine, and a former undersecretary of the Department of Health, related his professional and personal advocacies for universal health care, and raising public awareness and capabilities for emergency response. He urged the audience to continue learning and honing their skills even after college, to value what they gained from UP and NSTP, and to use the sciences and the arts to be able to effectively address the people’s needs, especially during times of crisis, disaster or emergency. He added that as members of the NSRC, they can also get involved with various interdisciplinary initiatives under UP, such as those of the UP Resilience Institute.
Macapinlac congratulated the students for their accomplishments under the mandated 6-unit program. She said they established linkages with institutions, communities and individuals; and through those partnerships, they were able to conduct activities, gather donations, and render voluntary services to sectors who were in most need, such as neglected and indigent children, and the evacuees from Mayon Volcano’s eruption and from the battle of Marawi in Mindanao. She said there were many ways to be a volunteer, to offer their talents and capabilities for the benefit of needy sectors and for the development of our communities and society. She also called on the new members of the NSRC to continue to support and actively participate in the many initiatives of UP, NSTP and NSRC.
Days earlier, commencement ceremonies were also held at the College of Education and the College of Engineering for the graduates of other NSTP classes.
Under the National Service Training Program Act of 2001 (Republic Act 9163) the NSTP aims to enhance civic consciousness and defense preparedness in the youth by developing the ethics of service and patriotism while undergoing training in any of its three program components: Military Training Services (MTS); Civic Welfare Training Services (CWTS); and, Literacy Training Services (LTS). Members of the NSRC may be mobilized by the government for literacy, disaster preparedness, and civic welfare activities.