A Facebook post of a student council from the University of the Philippines Diliman amused social media users for how it welcomed new students with a not-so-usual design of publication material.
The College of Arts and Letters FST Council (Freshies, Shiftees, and Transferees) on Tuesday greeted the incoming “iskos” and “iskas” on its page with a post that reads:
“Taos-pusong pinagpupugayan ang mga bagong Artista ng Bayan!”
“Nawa’y sa pagpasok niyo sa Unibersidad ay mahubog ang inyong kahusayan at kakayahan sa pagsilbi para sa ating bayan! Tunay ngang ang husay at dangal ay hindi lamang nalilimita sa apat na sulok ng ating paaralan o virtual classroom dahil ito ay may kaakibat na paglubog sa panawagan ng masang Pilipino.”
It also told them to register in the Batch 2022 database and keep in mind certain contacts and entities crucial in their college stay like the UP Diliman CAL (College of Arts and Letters) Student Council.
CAL offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in literary studies, languages, performance art and creative writing.
The college is home to its Department of Art Studies, Department of English and Comparative Literature, Department of European Languages, Departmento ng Filipino at Panitikan ng Pilipinas, Department of Speech Communication and Theatre Arts, Institute of Creative Writing (ICW) and Vargas Museum.
Meanwhile, the CAL FST Council accompanied their post with a pubmat featuring a collage of different pictures from the university with a text that social media users think was created with WordArt.
WordArt is a Microsoft Word tool used to make a text stand out with special effects quickly.
The text reads: “PAGBATI! mga bagong Artista ng Bayan! #LigtasNaBalikEskwela #UPCA2022”
Another one can be seen on the bottom, which reads: “Sunflower seamless pattern”
The post has gained 14,000 pure laughing reactions and 2,700 shares on the social networking platform.
It also earned various comments from social media users.
“#respectourpub,” a Facebook user quipped with emojis of a smirking face, a peace sign, red and green hearts and an oncoming fist.
“#SunflowerSeamlessPattern,” the Facebook page responded with emojis of a sunflower and red and green hearts.
“Just one more WordArt and it’s a rally poster for… basta,” wrote another online user, referencing a campaign rally poster for unidentified aspirants during the 2022 elections.
“Graphic design is my passion,” a different Filipino commented with a heart hands emoji.
The phrase is a meme often used by visual artists or graphic design firms in self-advertisement to imply that they need talented artists who can do better than their intentionally unappealing presented material.
It is also parodied as a sarcastic slogan for images featuring clip art cartoon characters superimposed over backgrounds.
“Halatang may shortage ng artista ng bayan,” another Facebook user commented on the student council’s post.
“Ito ang rason kung bakit kailangan natin ng mga Artista ng Bayan,” wrote a different Filipino in reference to the pubmat.
The University of the Philippines on Tuesday released the results of the UP College Applications (UPCA) 2022 for the academic year 2022–2023.
The state university has suspended administering the UP College Admissions Test (UPCAT) for two years due to the “immense logistical challenge” of administering the exam in a COVID-19 pandemic.
Aspiring students are instead assessed based on their high school performance.
UP is known for its prestigious academic reputation and intellectual rigor. It has been consistently listed as the country’s top higher educational institution on several international rankings.
Reports on Thursday said that the Times Higher Education released its Asia University Rankings 2022, which lists UP at the 129th spot, lower than its 84th ranking in 2021.
The state university, particularly its main campus in Diliman, is among those universities in the Philippines with the most varied course offerings at lower tuition fees than other academic institutions.
