UP-Aurora still without Oblation statue

COMMUNITY BILLBOARD

Manny Galvez

BALER, Aurora – The University of the Philippines (UP) in this capital town still lacks the iconic Oblation, the state university’s symbol, six years since it opened.

Visitors to the UP School of Health and Sciences (UPSHS) in Barangay Reserva expressed dismay to find no statue to welcome them.

Julia Elisa Puertollano, former director of the UP Baler campus, said visitors seemed to feel incomplete without the Oblation.

The original Oblation is a masterpiece of National Artist Guillermo Tolentino and was commissioned in 1935 by Rafael Palma, the university’s first Filipino president.

It stands in front of Quezon Hall, welcoming students and visitors to the UP Diliman campus in Quezon City.

Here, no such icon welcomes students and visitors.

“The Oblation is very important. It’s UP’s symbol. Without it, the university seemed not to exist,” she said.

The UPSHS was put up in 2008 at P154 million, financed jointly by the Department of Health and the provincial government.

It offers medical courses to address the lack of health professionals in the rural areas.

Puertollano said the Oblation is included under the Phase 2 of the construction at P25 million. She said this phase suffered numerous failed biddings because the contractors find the amount alloted for the project too small.