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UP Diliman summa cum laude to deliver virtual graduation speech

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Jervis Manahan, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2020/life/07/22/stefi-eunice-ramos.jpg"/><figcaption>UP Diliman summa cum laude Stefi Eunice Ramos will be virtually &#x27;marching&#x27; with top honors on Sunday, July 26, 2020 alongside 27 other summa cum laudes coming from different fields of study. She will also be delivering the graduation speech for her batch.</figcaption></figure></div>MANILA - For the first time in its century-long history, graduation at the University of the Philippines-Diliman will be done virtually this year, because of the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This is quite painful for the Class of 2020, especially because the country&#x27;s premier university boasts of graduation rites rich with color and experience -- donning the &quot;sablay,&quot; taking photos with the blooming sunflowers, and singing the iconic &quot;UP Naming Mahal&quot; for the last time as a student. But for Steffi Eunice Ramos, a summa cum laude graduate, missing the physical ceremonies would probably be the last of their priorities, because &quot;they were all just trying to find a way to survive&quot; in this pandemic. Ramos will be virtually &quot;marching&quot; with top honors on Sunday, alongside 27 other summa cum laudes coming from different fields of study. But it was Ramos who was selected to deliver the speech in behalf of the graduating batch. The young lady said while she feels proud finishing college with Latin honors, there&#x27;s also a feeling of &quot;weariness&quot; as they take a bow from UP. &quot;There’s that constant tug-of-war, I’m happy for a personal achievement, but there’s also a lingering weariness given all that’s happening. We&#x27;re in the middle of a pandemic whose extent we do not even have a complete grasp of yet,&quot; Ramos told ABS-CBN News. &quot;And then there’s everything happening in the country: the heightened inequities, the foreclosure of ABS-CBN, and the politicization of the legislative process, the silencing of dissent and the passage of law that can easily be weaponized to silence ordinary citizens.&quot; There&#x27;s no question that this year&#x27;s batch of graduates will be facing bigger and bitter realities as they graduate amidst one of the toughest years in recent history. &quot;There&#x27;s the constant question of ‘para saan ba talaga Ito?’ and with it also comes the burning desire to make it mean something to others, hopefully, someday, somehow,&quot; she added. GRADUATION IN THE TIME OF PANDEMIC Ramos said that the sense of uncertainty brought about by the pandemic haunts her and her batch. &quot;We’re in the middle of a global pandemic that is reshaping the entire world. I think graduation under normal circumstances already unleashes graduates into a portal of uncertainties; graduating in the middle of this COVID pandemic adds another layer to that. The job market is declining, so is the global economy. There’s a virus that can affect us anytime. The level of uncertainty is unsettling,&quot; she said. But she also admitted that the challenges they have to face as UP graduates go beyond COVID19. &quot;I think the biggest challenge for us new batch of UP graduates, much like the challenge to batches before us and to the batches after us, is to maintain our integrity amidst all the temptations — that we do not allow ourselves to follow the steps of our upperclassmen who became enablers of tyranny and corruption,&quot; Ramos said. At this point, Ramos sounds a reality check: that while UP remains the best academic institution in the country, it has also bred tyrants and corrupt politicians. &quot;We romanticize UP, but we should acknowledge that a dictator was an alumnus, many of the enablers of this regime are alumni. At the end of the day, I hope we maintain that honor comes first before excellence,&quot; she said. Graduating with a degree in Broadcast Communication, Ramos also lamented the worsening state of press freedom in the country. &quot;With the series of attacks against the media, what saddens me the most is that there’s already a precedent set in our history on this and yet I still see people celebrating instead of mourning the looming death of our fundamental rights, whose significance should have never been forgotten or taken for granted in the first place,&quot; she said. Ramos said she started her college years dreaming to be part of the media, but after seeing the realities on the ground, she instead decided to pursue law school. &quot;I think now more than ever, when people in power weaponize the law to silence both established media entities and ordinary citizens, there’s a need for people who have appreciation of how media entities work, alongside an appreciation of the law,&quot; she said. <div>MORAL CRISIS </div>Years of hard work paid off for the batch of graduates, but Ramos said the real challenge of nation-building does not end, but rather, starts during graduation. &quot;We’re in an unprecedented time. We are in a public health crisis but we are also in a political, even moral, crisis. We all have differing opinions, that’s inevitable.&quot; She called on fellow graduates to not lose sight of the noble goal of serving the country after their lives in the university. &quot;May we all dream of and fight for one goal: a more equitable Philippines with a just and effective government that truly serves its mandate to the people who elected them,&quot; she said.

For the first time in its century-long history, graduation in UP Diliman will be done virtually this year, because of the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

For the first time in its century-long history, graduation in UP Diliman will be done virtually this year, because of the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

UP Diliman summa cum laude to deliver virtual graduation speech

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UP Diliman summa cum laude to deliver virtual graduation speech

Jervis Manahan,

ABS-CBN News

Published Jul 22, 2020 11:20 AM PHT

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Updated Jul 22, 2020 01:13 PM PHT

Read More:

UP Summa Cum Laude

Stefi Eunice Ramos

UP Diliman graduation rites

UP student

graduation speech

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