MENSAHE SA PAGTATALAGA NI
DR. JUSTIN FRANCIS LEON V. NICOLAS
BILANG IKA-14 DEKANO NG CSWCD
Pebrero 20, 2026 | Bulwagang Tandang Sora, UP CSWCD
Isang mainit na pagbati kay Chancellor Edgardo Carlo L. Vistan II, kay University Registrar Rowena Quinto-Bailon, sa ating mga deans: Prop. Ma. Patricia B. Silvestre (College of Music), Dean Dina C. Magnaye (SURP), Asst. Prof. Melissa P. Calica (UPDEPP), Dr. Lucia Palpal-Latoc Tangi (CMC), Dean Kristoffer Berse (NCPAG), Dean Noel Moratilla (Asian Center), Dean Leee Anthony Neri (Archeology), CIS Director Ramon “Bomen” Guillermo.
Sa ating mga dating Dean: Dean Ka Lito Manalili, Dean Amar Torres, Dean Inday Ofreneo, Dean Joyce Caragay, Dean Guy Claudio, at Dean Tata Dela Cruz.
Sa ating mga kasalukuyan at dating miyembro ng PRC Board: Hon. Lyra del Castillo, Hon. Fe Sinsona, at Hon. Rosette Palma; CHED Technical Panel for Social Work Head, Prof. Mary Lou Alcid.
Sa ating mga panauhin, Former DSWD Secretary Dr. Judy Taguiwalo, Ka Pando Fernando Hicap ng PAMALAKAYA Pilipinas, sa Concerned Artist of the Philippines, at sa mga artist na magtatanghal ngayong hapon at kasalukuyang nagpipinta ng ating mural sa baba.
Sa ating mga kaibigan na wala rito at nagpaabot ng suporta, kay Propesor Thelma Lee Mendoza, na kasalukuyang inooperahan, si Dr. Mel Luna na ngayon ay first gentleman duties sa Foundation Day ng Trinity University of Asia, sa aking highschool classmate, Dr. Isauro Guiang na nagpadala ng kanyang likha na painting upang isabit sa Dean’s office.
Sa mga tagapangulo ng ating mga departamento; sa miyembro ng CEB at mga opisyales ng kolehiyo; opisyales ng CSCWD Alumni Association sa pangunguna ni Suzanne Nazal; Board members ng UPSARDF sa pangunguna ni Prop. Joyce Caragay; sa mga kapita-pitagang guro, kawani, mag-aaral, alumni; mga kasama sa komunidad at mga kaibigan ng Kolehiyo; sa aking mga mahal sa buhay at aking pamilya, magandang araw sa ating lahat, at maraming salamat sa inyong pagdalo.
Sa mga oras pong ito, dahil ako ay nakapanumpa na, kasabay din po nating sinabit ang larawan ni Dean Tata sa ating Hall of Deans sa CSWCD Lobby, bilang 13th Dean ng ating Kolehiyo.
Allow me to begin with a reading from collection of poems of Dean Inday Ofreneo, hango sa kanyang aklat na pinamagatang …Dahil ang Bukas ay para sa Mapagkalinga. Ito ang tulang pinamagatang Gayunpaman (2005):
Dati akala ko ay isa lang akong tuldok
ng alikabok
Hindi napapansing bumabagsak
sa ilalim ng isang kristal na orasan
Naghihintay lamang na mauwi
sa kawalang-kahulugan
Nabubuntunan ng buhangin
sa pag-inog ng panahon
Namangha sa kalawakan ng karagatan
Nag-isip na ako ay isang patak lamang
Hinihigop ng mga alon
Walang humpay na humahampas
sa dalampasigan
Tinanaw ang napakalayong mga bituin
sa gabi ay kumikinang sa kalangitan
At nagtanong kung paanong ang mga galaxy
ay mag-aaksaya ng panahon
sa isang napakaliit na nilalang
Gayumpaman …
Bakit ako palaging namamasyal sa aking halamanan
Sinosorpresa ng galak sa isa pang bulaklak
na tumubo nang walang pasabi sa damuhan?
Kailangan kong mamukadkad sa abot-kaya ko
bago tuluyang maluoy
Kaya panay ang dasal ko sa Diyos, sa Diyosa
at sa nakahigang Buddha:
Turuan n’yo ako na palaging maging bukas-palad
Maging kasinggaan ng hininga
Maging tubig sa tagtuyot
Magpainit tulad ng apoy sa lamig
Magkaugat sa lupa
Pero manatiling malaya tulad ng hangin
sa may hangganang yakap ng buhay.
Just like what Dean Guy said during her affirmation speech, “Who deserves this?” To be honest, during the nomination for Dean, I was hesitant, filled with fear. However, we find refuge from those who led before us. As we stand on the shoulders of our former Deans, who are amongst us today, they are our guide, we follow their footsteps, but with the hope and aspiration to do better. We also find confidence on a vibrant and talented faculty and staff.
Today, I stand before you not only with gratitude but with a deep sense of responsibility. This affirmation is not about a position. It is about a collective covenant. A covenant to nurture what has been planted, to strengthen what has been built, and to imagine boldly what we have yet to become.
We affirm today a shared direction—Sibol, Sikhay, Sulong, at Sigla.
These are not slogans. They are institutional commitments. They are ethical orientations. I chose these common words that we have used in the past because they are our ways of being together as a College.
SIBOL: The Courage to Grow
Sibol is emergence. It is the quiet but powerful act of growth.
In the past years, our College rebuilt, reorganized, and recovered. We navigated post-pandemic realities, shifting academic landscapes, and evolving social crises. But now, recovery must give way to regeneration.
Sibol means strengthening safe and inclusive spaces. It means grounding our curriculum in Philippine realities and indigenous knowledge systems. It means embedding care—psychosocial support, wellness systems, mentoring structures—into the very fabric of our institution.
Growth is not merely expansion. It is deepening roots.
As Dean, I affirm that we will consolidate what has been initiated—data systems, governance reforms, alumni engagement, research collaborations—so that our growth is principled and sustainable. We will not grow upward without growing inward.
SIKHAY: The Discipline of Collective Striving
Hope alone is not enough. It must be accompanied by Sikhay—rigorous, disciplined, collective effort.
Sikhay calls us to strengthen interdisciplinary research across Social Work, Community Development, Women and Development Studies, and Social Development. It calls us to build theory from practice—to honor field instruction, community immersion, and participatory knowledge-making as sites of epistemological innovation.
We will expand participatory and arts-based research. We will institutionalize interdepartmental research clusters. We will convene conferences where faculty and students share not only findings, but struggles and insights.
And yes, we will open new academic pathways—including the Ph.D. in Social Work, and who knows, maybe a Diploma in Social Service—ensuring that our graduate programs reflect both global standards and local commitments.
Sikhay is the dignity of labor in the college. It is the refusal to separate scholarship from service.
SULONG: Transforming, Not Just Advancing
Sulong is not progress for its own sake. It is advancement oriented toward justice and sustainability.
We envision a Creative Futures Hub—where innovation meets advocacy, where leadership training intersects with artistic practice and social imagination. We will strengthen Community Hubs for Learning and Action, recognizing extension as co-equal with teaching and research.
We will embed ecological responsibility into governance, infrastructure, and curriculum. Climate justice, gender equity, social solidarity economy, collective healing—these are not peripheral concerns. They are central to who we are.
Sulong asks us: Are we merely reacting to crises, or are we shaping the future? As Dean, I affirm that we will choose transformation over complacency.
SIGLA: The Spirit that Animates Us
But even if we grow, strive, and advance—without Sigla, we risk becoming mechanical.
Sigla is vitality. It is the energy of participation. It is the joy of collective work. Sigla means revitalizing faculty and staff wellness activities. It means supporting student leadership not only administratively, but relationally. It means restoring gatherings, recognition rituals, shared meals, and shared play.
An institution can be excellent and exhausted. We refuse that model. We choose excellence with humanity. We choose rigor with relational depth. We choose accountability with compassion.
Sigla reminds us that care is not weakness—it is institutional strength. Sabi nga ni Dean Inday, “Dahil ang Bukas ay para sa Mapagkalinga”.
Radical Love, Creativity, and Community Care
Our vision rests on deeper pillars: community care, radical love, and creativity.
Radical love is not sentimentality. It is the ethical decision to center the marginalized, to listen before speaking, to protect democratic space even when it is inconvenient.
Creativity is not decoration. It is method. It is epistemology. It is strategy. It is how we imagine beyond crisis.
Community care is not an optional add-on. It is governance. It is policy. It is the way we mentor, teach, supervise, and collaborate.
If we are to be a College of social transformation, then transformation must be visible in how we treat one another. Panahon na ng pagpapatawad. Panahon na ng pagkakaisa. As a former idol singer of mine, who may have lost his way, “Ang kaaway ay naririyan pa” so we cannot afford to be against each other.
We need to join forces and shout, Sumulong ka Bayan, Gapiin ang kaaway!
Together, let us say:
Sibol, Sikhay, Sulong, Sigla—Padayon, CSWCD!
This affirmation is not the culmination of a personal journey. It is the continuation of a collective one.
We are heirs to a history of progressive thought and community engagement. We are stewards of an institution that has shaped social workers, development practitioners, feminist scholars, and community leaders across generations.
But history alone will not sustain us.
Only shared courage will.
Let us choose to grow with integrity.
Let us choose to strive with discipline.
Let us choose to advance with justice.
Let us choose to live and work with vitality.
Harinawa—
may we forge together a College that is human, just, and creative.
May we not only respond to change, but help shape it.
May we remain rooted in the people, accountable to communities, and alive with imagination.
Makatao. Mapagkalinga. Malikhaing nakikibaka.
Padayon, CSWCD.