At its 1363rd Meeting held on 26 August 2021, the UP Board of Regents (BOR) APPROVED the Memorandum of Agreement between the University of the Philippines and the City Government of Davao City for the Establishment of the Davao City Public Hospital in UP Mindanao Campus. The BOR is composed of CHED Chairperson J. Prospero de Vera III as chairperson, UP President Danilo Concepcion as co-chair, Senator Joel Villanueva, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Higher and Technical, and Vocational Education, Cong. Mark Go, the chairperson of the counterpart House committee, Alumni Regent Reynaldo Laserna, Faculty Regent Aimee Lynn Barrion-Dupo, Student Regent Renee Louise Co, Staff Regent Mylah Pedrano, Regent Francis Laurel, Regent Maria Arlissa Aguiluz, and Regent Raul Pagdanganan.    

The approval was granted following the favorable review of the Office of the Vice President for Legal Affairs. The Memorandum of Agreement is summarized, as follows:

UP and the Davao City local government unit ("LGU") intend to work together for the creation of the Davao City Public Hospital. The details of this working relationship are set forth in a memorandum of agreement ("MOA") already signed by the incumbent city mayor, the Hon. Sara Z. Duterte-Carpio.

The Sangguniang Panlungsod of Davao City has authorized Mayor Duterte to sign the said MOA. The Davao City budget officer, Ermelinda F. Gallego, had issued a certification that funds have been set aside for the said MOA, because the Davao City LGU has committed to fund the entire MOA, and the city legal officer has favorably endorsed the said MOA. 

According to the said MOA, the Davao City LGU's obligations include:

1. providing funds to develop, build, construct, implement, and maintain the said public hospital;

2. preparing the design and engineering plans which are subject to UP's approval;

3. developing the site; and

4. providing funds for hospital operations, among others.

UP's obligations include providing the land on which the hospital will be built. UP owns the land upon which the hospital will be erected. The hospital building will initially be owned by the Davao City LGU but after twenty-five years the ownership of the said building will automatically be transferred to UP.  UP will render technical assistance, and—together with the Davao City LGU — will provide policy and operational direction for the hospital.

 The MOA is not a lease but a public service of the Davao City LGU with the assistance of UP. On the part of UP, this MOA is not an income-generating plan. Based on the MOA, the establishment of the subject hospital shall be at no cost to UP.

The Department of Social Sciences invites you to attend "We Call Her Ina Bai: A Virtual Book Launch" on the 11th of September, 2021 at 10 AM – 12 NN. "We Call Her Ina Bai: How Strong Women Are Made" is a self-published book by Sabokahan Unity of Lumad Women, an indigenous grassroots organization led by and composed of Lumad women advancing their rights, dignity, and empowerment. 

The book narrates the struggle of the Manobo people against the onslaught of logging, mining, and militarization. It shares the conversations of Bai Bibyaon Ligkayan Bigkay, Sabokahan founder and chairperson emeritus, and one of her grandnieces, Sharmaine, an 18-year old Lumad youth in the evacuation center.

The Virtual Book Launch is organized by the Department of Social Sciences, Liyang Network, and Sabokahan. It will be held via Zoom and Facebook Live. To attend, please register at: bit.ly/bailaunchform. For more information on the event, please see FB page: We Call Her Ina Bai Book Launch.

UP Mindanao faculty members Asst. Prof. Glory Dee Romo and Asst. Prof. Jon Marx Sarmiento, both of the School of Management, extended their expertise to VSO Philippines in generating a localized Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) Index for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). The WPS Index for BARMM was presented in the Women, Peace, and Security Feedbacking Session and Planning held in Initao, Misamis Oriental on August 24-26, 2021. The BARMM WPS Index is a first for the region. The index shows the gap between the local and national WPS standings and serves to emphasize the urgency for programmes and services for Bangsamoro women. Generating the BARMM WPS Index addresses a number of the Sustainable Development Goals for the region.

UP Mindanao's Center of Applied Modeling, Data Analytics, and Bioinformatics for Decision Support Systems in Health (AMDABIDSS-Health) will conduct a BioStatistics Workshop for students of state colleges and universities on August 25-27, 2021, online via Zoom. The workshop is a response to the number of applications received for the newly-opened internship slots in AMDABIDSS-Health. Assoc. Prof. May Anne E. Mata, AMDABIDSS program leader, said the applicants were students from varied academic degree courses under different universities. "One reason for this increased number of applications is the upcoming practicums and midterms in state universities," she said. "Our internships will offer valuable experience to these students and to prepare them we will be giving lectures from our well-trained instructors in the Department of Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science (DMPCS) and researchers from the AMDABiDSS-Health," she said. The lecturers are Ms. Sherelyn Evangelio and Ms. Kim Dianne Ligue of the DMPCS, and Ms. Johanna Marie Peralta and Mr. Zython Paul Lachica of AMDABIDSS-Health. UP Mindanao Chancellor Larry Digal will contribute words of inspiration to the workshop participants at the close of the workshop on August 27, 2021. The BioStatistics Workshop addresses the sustainable development goals on health, education, life on land, and partnerships for the goals.