The UP Asian Center and the TriCollege Ph.D. Philippine Studies Program will be holding their joint Recognition Ceremonies on 5 July 2026, 2:00 PM, Philippine Standard Time (GMT+8), at the GT-Toyota Asian Cultural Center Auditorium. The on-site event is exclusive to graduates and their guests.
MANA: Dunong at Diwang Mapagpalaya
The theme of the 2026 Asian Center and TriCollege Ph.D. Philippine Studies Program Recognition Ceremonies draws from the rich meanings of mana across Asian and Pacific cultures. In the Philippine and Malay languages, mana signifies heritage or inheritance. Across Polynesia and the Pacific Islands, mana is generally understood as a spiritual energy or force that cultivates prestige, honor, authority, and the power to influence. In both cultures, mana is inherent, but it can also be earned and inherited.
Merging these meanings, this year’s theme highlights the qualities that our graduating iskolar ng bayan inherently possess and have cultivated over the years of their academic pursuit—knowledge, skill, experience, and spirit. It is a reminder that while these qualities grant our graduates great honor and dignity, so is their attached responsibility. Mana is an invitation for our iskolars to harness their innate power and cultivated knowledge to break away from the shackles of injustice, impunity, and oppression and leave behind a legacy of honor, excellence, and service. Thus, this recognition ceremony is a pivotal moment for our graduates as this marks, not the end of their journeys, but the commencement of a new one, the embodiment of their mana—their power and spirit to affect change, promote justice and equality, and bridge people and communities, in service of the Filipino people.
ABOUT THE KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Justice MARVIC M.V.F. LEONEN
Senior Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines
Marvic M.V.F. Leonen is currently the Senior Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines. He is the Former Dean and Professor of Law at the University of the Philippines College of Law since 1989. He graduated with an AB Economics degree, magna cum laude, from the School of Economics in 1983. He obtained his Bachelor of Laws degree from the College of Law in 1987 ranking fourth. Later that year, he cofounded the Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center, Inc, a legal and policy research and advocacy insitution which focused on providing legal services for upland rural poor and indigenous people’s communities. He served as the Center’s executive director for fifteen years. He also earned a Master of Laws degree from the Columbia Law School of the Columbia University in New York.
He first joined the faculty in 1989 as a professional lecturer in Philippine Indigenous Law. He became assistant professor during Dean Pacifico Agabin’s term and academic administrator under Dean Merlin M. Magalona’s term. In 2000, he was invited to act as the UP System’s University General Counsel. In 2005, he became the first Vice President for Legal Affairs of the UP System, and 2008, he became the Dean of the College of Law at the University of the Philippines.
In July 2010, He was named by Philippine President Benigno Aquino III as the Philippine government’s chief negotiator with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. He successfully led the parties into a framework agreement on the Bangsamoro which was signed on October 15, 2012. He was appointed to the Court on November 21, 2012.
EDUCATION:
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- Doctor of Laws, Honoris Causa (Conferred by the University of Cebu on 27 June 2022)
- LL.B., University of the Philippines (1987)
- LL.M., Columbia University, New York (2004)
- A.B. Economics, magna cum laude, University of the Philippines (1983)
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Taken from the Supreme Court of the Philippines Website, "Justice Marvic M.V.F. Leonen," https://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/justice-marvic-m-v-f-leonen/.
THE GRADUATES
Twenty-six graduates from the UP Asian Center and the TriCollege Ph.D. Philippine Studies Program will march for this year’s commencement exercises. Rochelle Leonor and John Adrianfer Atienza of the UP Asian Center and Johanna Marie Astrid A. Sister of the TriCollege Program were selected to deliver the responses on behalf of the graduates.
ABOUT THE PERFORMER
UP FILIPINIANA DANCE GROUP
University of the Philippines Diliman
The U.P. Filipiniana Dance Group, composed of students from UP Diliman, stands as the official varsity folk dance group of the University of the Philippines. With a repertoire spanning Batanes to Tawi-Tawi and works by contemporary choreographers, the group has performed locally and internationally. In 2024, the group represented the Philippines in 8 festivals at the 2024 Council of International Folklore Festivals (CIOFF) in Italy. Most recently, the group brought Philippine folk traditions to the 11th International Folk Dance Festival (TARI’25 ASWARA) in Malaysia, performing alongside ensembles from various countries.