Los Baños, Laguna--- Two new doctoral students from the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) who will pursue their respective programs at Nagoya University (NU), Japan this Fall Semester were officially welcomed at the NU Virtual Entrance Ceremony held on 4 October 2021.  The ceremony was hosted by the NU Asian Satellite Campus-Philippines based at UPLB Graduate School and co-hosted by the Office of the UPLB Chancellor. 

The two new students are Mr. Hadji C. Jalotjot, University Researcher III of the UPLB College of Public Affairs and Development; and Mr. Angelo Tapia, Assistant Professor of the UPLB Institute of Animal Science.  Both are scholars under the NU-University of the Philippines Joint Scholarship Project and will be pursuing the hybrid research-based Doctor of Agricultural Science at the NU Graduate School of Bioagricultural Sciences as one of the offerings of  the NU Transnational Doctoral Programs for Leading Professionals in Asian Countries.

In his welcome remarks, Prof. Kazuhito Kawakita, NU Vice President for International Affairs, Planning, Evaluation and Institutional Research, thanked UP President Danilo Concepcion, and UPLB Chancellor Jose V. Camacho, Jr., for hosting the NU satellite campus and for providing support through the NU-UP Joint Scholarship Project. He also thanked the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), for providing scholarships and research grants to the scholars. He announced that since the establishment of the transnational doctoral program in 2014 in six countries, 91 students have so far enrolled in the program, of which 16 of those who enrolled in 2016 at the NU Graduate School of Bioagricultural Sciences (GSBS) and the Graduate School of International Development (GSID) are from the Philippines. He said that with the provision of equipment and upgrading of facilities at the central station located at UPLB and sub-stations in Visayas State University (VSU), Central Philippines and Royal University of Agriculture (RUA) in Cambodia, he hopes that more joint projects will soon be implemented. He congratulated the two new students and wished them the best in their graduate studies.

Meanwhile, Dr. Jose V. Camacho, Jr. Chancellor of UPLB, warmly welcomed all officials of international and national agencies, guests, students, faculty and alumni and expressed that UPLB is very much delighted with its partnership with Nagoya University.  He thanked UP Systems President Danilo L. Concepcion for the strong support to continue the efforts towards internationalization and the opportunity to be part of the Nagoya University Asian Satellite campus. He stressed that the continuous upgrading of the UPLB laboratories of crop sciences, animal and dairy sciences, as well as forestry sciences is a very much appreciated development resulting from the collaboration between the two universities and that it is “proof that in today’s increasingly interconnected world, collaboration and cooperation remain as the best way of promoting institutional growth and development”

Chancellor Camacho congratulated the two new students, as well as the new graduate and looked forward to even stronger future-proof partnership between UP and Nagoya University as well as all the institutions and agencies represented in the ceremony.

Ms. Junko Sato, Director of Japan Information and Culture Center (JICC) at the Embassy of Japan in Manila, congratulated the two new students and expressed her gladness and excitement on the new journey they have started to take.   She congratulated Nagoya University and UPLB for the continued success of the collaboration despite challenging times and noted that such “partnership has proven itself as a true testament to the power of the human spirit and innovation---features that will help us navigate towards a future-proof society” She said that Covid-19 may have slowed everyone down but it did not stop everyone from doing what has to be done.  She said that the entrance ceremony was a “fitting commemoration of the Japan-Philippine friendship” which celebrates its 65^th anniversary this year.

Ms. Sato said that academic scholars and alumni “have to rise as modern-day agents of diplomacy” and that academic exchanges between the two countries will surely boost friendship and “fortify each nation’s work towards a more meaningful world.”  She said she is eager to see the accomplishments of the students as they move towards becoming leaders in their own fields.

Dr. Akira Yamauchi, Director of the NU Asian Satellite Campuses Institute, greeted the officials, guests, students and alumni attending the ceremony and informed that he took over the position of Institute Director upon the retirement of Professor Fumio Isoda last March. He expressed special thanks to officials of the JICC-Japan Embassy in Manila, UP System, UPLB, SEARCA, IRRI, JICA, VSU, NUAL-PH and all those who attended the ceremony.  He gladly announced that the transnational doctoral program is also being supported by several private companies and banks in Japan.  He mentioned that NU will soon be signing an agreement with the Philippine Department of Science and Technology-Science Education Institute (DOST-SEI) for a number of joint scholarships for PhD and will also soon submit a proposal for scholarship co-funding to the Philippine Commission on Higher Education (CHED).

Dr. Yamauchi also announced that while NU continues to look for funds to allocate budget for the central and substations of the International Station for Tropical Agricultural Sciences (ISTAS), NU also continues to connect with the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) for government-sponsored scholarships for full-time study in Japan.  The ISTAS is intended to be a platform for collaborative research projects to be participated by partners, students, alumni and professors. He looked forward to the continued support of the partners for activities at the satellite campus in the Philippines.

Inspirations from highly accomplished leaders provided encouragement to new and ongoing NU doctoral students at the ceremony.  UP Systems President Danilo L. Concepcion urged the new students to create ripples towards achieving sustainable food security in the region.  He encouraged them to take advantage of this unique brand of higher education offered at the NU satellite campus, which eventually defines the future of higher education.  Dr. Glenn B. Gregorio, Director of SEARCA, stressed the importance of patience, perseverance, persistence and passion as among the important virtues and values that a graduate student must possess in order to succeed.  Dr. Ajay Kholi, Director for Research of IRRI, advised the students to embrace the diversity of disciplines as a strategy towards a holistic approach to solve a multidimensional problem in order to succeed in a research project. Dr. Andres Winston C. Oreta, Vice President of the NU Alumni-Philippines Branch, and Professor of Civil Engineering at De La Salle University, Manila, emphasized that lifelong learning is an endless journey, and that once the students have completed their programs at NU, they should continue to make NU proud and that what they could do best as NU alumni is “to pay it forward, to give back to society by continuously contributing their minds and efforts to science and education.”(Full articles on the inspirational messages by the four speakers can be accessed at http://asci.nagoya-u.ac.jp/philippines.)

The testimonial of Dr. Thelma Almendral Saludes, a new graduate of GSBS, provided more encouragement to the new and ongoing students.  Dr. Saludes, Senior Science Research Specialist and Officer-in-Charge of the Philippine Carabao Center ( PCC ) presented a few slides about her research project titled, “Developing Smallholder Dairy Buffalo Farm Productivity through Improvement of Nutrition, Body Condition, and Milk Production in South Luzon, Philippines,”which was composed of four studies.    Her main academic adviser at NU is Prof. Hironobu Takeshita, and her local supervisors are Dr. Jose Arceo N. Bautista of UPLB and Dr. Arnel del Barrio of PCC .  After presenting the summary of her research, she shared the challenges while doing her research despite the lockdowns due to the CoVID-19 pandemic, and how she coped.  Events that changed the course of her timeline included the resignation of her research assistant without finishing the encoding of her data, the eruption of Taal volcano that damaged her experimental field, the challenge of looking for another forage field, the lockdowns that made it difficult for her to go through checkpoints and access her laboratory to do milk analysis…all these apart from other duties of being a mother, a wife, a sister, a colleague, a friend-- filled her life with worries, apprehensions, excitement and sense of fulfillment. “No Pain, No Glory,”so they say. 

Dr. Saludes drew her inspiration from her family, from her colleagues, and most of all from her mentors, Prof. Takeshita, Professors Bautista and del Barrio, Prof. Isoda, Prof. Yamauchi, and from the satellite campus staff. The NU gave her the milk analyzer which she badly needed, and all other equipment for the conduct of her research. The funding was always available, so what more could she ask for? The sweet success was felt when she was able to publish the first two studies while two more are now being refined for submission to journals. She passed her defense, and finally graduated.  She was thankful for the extraordinary doctoral program that allowed her to study while working. She urged the other students to just go on, “believe in yourself, be patient, and be proud you are an NU student.”

Dr. Editha C.  Cedicol, Designated Professor and Director of the NU Satellite Campus-Philippines, gave an update on the study programs of NU students. She reported that as of 4 October 2021, 16 graduate students have been accepted at NU’s GSBS and GSID. Of the 16, 3 have graduated, 2 are new students, 9 are ongoing students, 1 is on leave from the program, and 1 withdrew from the program.  Of the 16, 7 are NU-UP scholars, 6 are NU-SEARCA scholars, 1 is an NU-IRRI scholar, 1 is an NU-ADB scholar, and 1 is a scholar of NU and the Forest Products Research and Development Institute (FPRDI) of DOST. She announced that vacant slots for NU-DOST-SEI joint scholarships will soon be disseminated.

For the NU-UP central laboratory, Dr. Cedicol reported that NU has, so far, provided a total of 25.5 million pesos worth of state-of-the-art laboratory equipment, materials, supplies, and facilities improvement  for the UPLB Crop Science, Animal and Dairy Sciences, and Forestry Science laboratories. She said that NU has also started the procurement process of laboratory equipment for the ISTAS substation at VSU, and has already installed additional equipment to the substation in RUA.

Prof. Satoru Tsuchikawa, Dean of GSBS, introduced the two new students, Mr. Hadji C. Jalotjot, who will work in the laboratory of Prof. Hiromi Tokuda at the Department of Plant Production Sciences; and Mr. Angelo Tapia, who will work with Prof. Yasuyuki Kitaura at the nuclear biochemistry laboratory, Department of Applied Bio Sciences.  He said that NU GSBS is continuously moving towards scientific contribution for the advancement of the agricultural and sciences including that field of crop science, animal science, biochemistry, microbiology, molecular biology, biotechnology, food science as agricultural fields.  He noted that NU’s relationship with UP made very fruitful outcomes in various fields of education and research addition.  He added that local supervisors of the two students from UPLB will be appointed soon.

In response, Mr. Jalotjot expressed his thanks to President Concepcion and Chancellor Camacho for allowing him to avail of the NU-UP scholarship and to Prof. Tokuda for accepting him as advisee.  He shared that the application process was a long journey starting from looking for a professor who would be interested in his proposed research to complying with all the requirements for admission. He also thanked NU for offering this unique program that will allow him to study in Japan without leaving his family and his work for long periods. He promised to stay focused, remain committed to work hard towards finishing the degree.

On the other hand, Mr. Tapia commented that the transnational program is an excellent venue for him to expand his knowledge in the field of animal and food science and hone his skills in critical thinking and research.  He expressed his aspiration to obtain a doctorate degree and to be able to strengthen his function as an educator.  He expressed gratitude to NU and to his superiors for the opportunity to join the program, and promised to do his best to finish the degree.

In closing, Dr. Aya Okada, Dean of NU GSID, expressed her gratefulness to UP for extending the program not only to government officials but also to university faculty members and researchers. She congratulated those who graduated from the transnational program and noted the difficulty experienced in studying while attending to the demands of their jobs.  She asked the ongoing and new students to be motivated by the alumni who made it through and are now doing exceedingly well in their chosen professions. She shared that NU has many graduates from the Philippines, especially from GSID.  She said that the global pandemic has posed enormous challenges to many around the world which should make us rethink of what really matters in life, and what has been taken for granted.  The human resources developed and produced by universities, such as NU, should continue to contribute in reexamining our ways of life and what solutions and social systems need to be put up in order to cope and make the society more resilient and sustainable. She enjoined the students and alumni to move forward as plenty of work has to be done. She expressed certainty that the students and alumni today will become leaders in their own fields in the future.
(Written by Editha C. Cedicol)


　　　　　　　　ASCI、Nagoya University