Yesterday marked the beginning of the UP Centennial celebrations, and it was a blast.
No, it was crazy! If you don’t have enough heart—and I mean both the love of UP and the will to wade through the crowd—you wouldn’t enjoy it as much. It’s easy for students and alumni who have been harassed by the pressures of college life to undervalue UP, but as someone who has lived and breathed the UP culture and excellence even before I officially studied there, UP will always be one of the most important things in my life.
No other university deserves the grandest and most meaningful of celebrations except the University of the Philippines. Happy Centennial UP! Let’s celebrate with some pictures!
Spotted some UP Golden Jubilarians while waiting for the parade to start. Wish I had a close-up with the 100-year-old torchbearer!
The first float in the motorcade, which made its way from UP Manila and was joined by contingents from all other UP campuses throughout the Philippines.
Here’s UP Pampanga. The cardboard sign says “Diliman Bound Do Not Delay”!
Helicopter showering us with balloons and confetti.
Just one group of the many UP Diliman College of Fine Arts lanterns from the 2007 Lantern Parade.
Skydivers bearing celebratory banners. I am so making this my wallpaper.
The dancing Oble “sculpture”, part of another FA lantern.
View of the Oblation Plaza from the second floor of Quezon Hall.
Lighting of the cauldron by the 100th torchbearer, President Emerlinda Roman. That’s one of 4 LCD projected screens in the University Avenue. UP @ 100 lights on top of Quezon Hall are also lit up and the Centennial Celebration is declared open.
Northeast quadrant of the amphitheater crowd during the concert. The banner reads “Serve The People”. Kudos to the people who held that up the whole night.
Choirs and orchestras performing from all regions of Quezon Hall. How many conductors were there?
The UP Pep Squad performing for the nth time today!
Ryan Cayabyab performing Salamat sa ‘Yo UP, the first stanza of which is 99% literally true in my case!
Sa ‘yo UP maraming salamat
Ikaw na aking tahanan
Mula sa aking pagkamulat
Hanggang sa aking huling hininga
Fists raised and pumping in the air while singing UP Naming Mahal. Also for the nth time, but the solemnity of our school hymn never left the air.
Fireworks!!! (I can’t believe I took photos that actually look like fireworks!) Thirty minutes was over before we knew it!
I really love the color of these fireworks. Can’t you tell they’re my favorite? The heart-shaped and planet-shaped ones are runners-up. Those impressed me too as I haven’t seen them before.
UP @ 100 and the cauldron.
That’s hot.
UP Ang Galing Mo! Download the song now!
Shoutouts to Minik (have a safe trip to and an interesting life in Singapore!), Jonas (I was yelling at you but you didn’t see me!), Ish, Sir Paolo, Miss Bebang, Arbie, and Kuya Harv!
Still can’t get enough? More UP Centennial Kick-Off pics here!
Happy new year to everyone!