Written by Sarah Chong
Photographs by Sarah Chong
UPV
During our trip in the city of Iloilo, we were hosted by the wonderful students and lecturers of the University of the Philippines Visayas (UPV). The University of the Philippines Visayas is a public research university in the Philippines which comprises three campuses located in Miagao, Iloilo City and Tacloban. I was fortunate enough to be able to visit the main campus in Miagao.
The jeepney ride to Miagao from Iloilo City takes more or less 45 minutes. The winds were so strong that day that I could hardly open my eyes when I was looking out the jeepney. With the help of a student guide, Noraisa, we headed to the UPV cafeteria for lunch where I was fascinated by a double-headed fan – which I had never seen before.
At the UPV Cafeteria with the double-headed fan on the right.
After lunch, we were given a tour around the campus by a student of UP Visayas under the College of Fisheries, Daniel. The UPV Miagao campus is most known for its Fisheries College. There is a Museum of Natural Sciences where creatures of the seas are searched for by students, collected, observed and preserved in formaldehyde. There is quite a wide collection of sea creatures, from different types of fishes and shellfish to turtles and pygmy whales.
A preserved green sea turtle in the Museum of Natural Sciences.
While we walked and took a tricycle to the other side of the campus, where the Fisheries laboratories are located, we came across the UP Oblation statue – which is a must in all UP Campuses.
The UP Oblation in front of the central administration offices.
Another prominent statue of the UPV Miagao Campus is the Diwata, also known as the goddess of the sea. Some trivia about this statue is that no lecturer or student knows what type of fish is with the goddess. Some lecturers say it does not exist, while others say it’s a piranha. However, no conclusion has been made and so the question still hangs – “what type of fish is that?”
The Diwata together with the ‘unidentified’ fish.
Students in the college of Fisheries can major in Aquatic Fisheries, Marine Fisheries or choose to study fish biology. These students often go for dives in the ocean. Another elective includes aqua-fishing. The earliest class, which is Physical Education, starts at 6am, and some lab classes may end at 7pm, so students spend a lot of time in the university. There are approximately 56 students per cohort, around 30 for lectures and 16 students for lab work. The students travel around the university either by tricycle for PHP 6 per ride or by walking.
The College of Fisheries also collaborates with the College of Science and Technology to do research and experiments. The government funds the university for research and development. In the College of Fisheries, we were able to view these hatcheries, where algae, diatom and tetraselmis are cultured and given treatment for further research and experiments. All of these are cultured only for the university and not for commercial purposes.
Algae being cultured for research and experiments.
We ended our tour around the university with a short climb up a staircase named the ‘100 steps’ and a walkway called the ‘CUB path walk’, upon which different societies have drawn and painted.
Walking back to where we started.
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Sarah is an Arts student majoring in Communications. At 20, she knows that it really is all about giving- rather than receiving.
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