Wherever I am, the world comes after me.
It offers me its busyness. It does not believe that I do not want it.
Now I understand 
why the old poets of China went so far
and high 
into the mountains, then crept into the pale mist.
"The Old Poets of China" by Mary Oliver

Edgardo E. Dagdag, former Professor at the Asian Center and Chief Security Officer of the University of the Philippines Diliman, passed away last Sunday, 22 September 2013. He was 67.

Professor Dagdag taught at the Asian Center for thirty-seven (37) years. He handled courses on Philippine foreign relations, security issues in the Asia Pacific, ASEAN security community, and Philippine national security and political history.  He also occupied various academic and administrative positions throughout his forty years of service to the university. These include Police Commissioner (1985-1986) and Consultant to the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Community Affairs (1986-1988).  

Professor Dagdag also took up various posts outside the academe. He was a member of the Regional Security and Foreign Relations Group, International Visitor Program (IVP) Philippines; Executive Vice President and Concurrent Newsletter Editor of the NDCP Foundation, Inc. (2004-2007); Consultant to the Office of the President (NDCP, 1991-1993); and Consultant to the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Strategic Assessment, Department of National Defense (1988-1991).

His awards and grants include the UP Professorial Chair; Visiting Defense Research Fellow at the National Institute for Defense Studies (NIDS) in Tokyo, Japan (1990); Academic Excellence Award from the National Defense College of the Philippines (1984); and the Rockefeller Foundation Scholarship Grant (1966-1968).

Professor Dagdag finished his BA in Political Science at the University of the Philippines Diliman, and his MA in National Security Administration (with honors) at the National Defense College of the Philippines.

His remains will be interred at the Parish of the Holy Sacrifice in UP Diliman until Friday, 27 September 2013. A necrological service will be held later that night at 8:00 after a 7 p.m. mass.