Sereno, Tagle to lead UP graduation rites

MANILA, Philippines - Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno and Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle will be the guest speakers during the commencement exercises of the University of the Philippines in Diliman and Manila.

“For people who know or have covered the cardinal, he is a dedicated scholar and a man of the people, passionate about the rights of the ‘voiceless’ workers, poor, abused children, victims of human trafficking. He also has a strong environmentalist streak and knows enough to avoid the isolation that comes with power,” UP Manila said in a statement.

Tagle will speak before 1,092 graduates of UP Manila tomorrow at the Philippine International Convention Center.

Meanwhile, the graduation rites in Diliman will be a homecoming of sorts for Sereno, who graduated valedictorian from the UP College of Law in 1984. She was a member of its faculty until her appointment as associate justice to the Supreme Court in 2010.

She became the first female chief justice in 2012 following the impeachment of then chief magistrate Renato Corona.

The commencement exercises will be held at the UP Diliman amphitheatre on Sunday afternoon. The total number of graduates has yet to be released as of yesterday.

Other government officials and distinguished guests will also speak in different recognition rites of various colleges of UP Diliman.

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales will be the guest speaker during the recognition rites of the UP National College of Public Administration and Governance tomorrow.

She will also speak at the recognition rites of the College of Science on Saturday.

Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo is set to speak at the recognition rites of the UP School of Economics and the College of Music tomorrow and Sunday, respectively.

Government peace panel lead negotiator to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and UP professor Miriam Coronel-Ferrer is the guest speaker at the recognition rites of the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy and College of Social Work and Community Development on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

Commission on Human Rights chief Loretta Ann Rosales and Science and Technology Secretary Mario Montejo will be the guest speakers at the recognition rites of the Asian Center and the College of Engineering on Sunday and Monday.

Luisa Maria Calingo, president of the Woodbury University in California, will speak at the recognition rites of the UP National Graduate School of Engineering today, and the School of Urban and Regional Planning on Sunday.