Speakers advocate for integrity, bravery

Jose “Pete” Lacaba deliver his talk on “Creativity as Protest: How Artists Confront Power.” Media Center

Far Eastern University (FEU)’s Institute of Arts and Sciences (IAS) featured Dr. Grace H. Aguiling-Dalisay, president and CEO of Center for Educational Measurement and Jose “Pete” Lacaba, recipient of Gawad CCP Para sa Sining for Literature 2024 as keynote speakers for the 7th Alejandro Roces Professorial Lecture Series last Feb. 12 at the University Conference Center. 

Aquiling-Dalisay’s talk during the morning session of the lecture series was “Creating a Culture of Academic Integrity: The Challenge and Promise,” where she shared how upholding academic integrity requires a multi-faceted approach as it is communal/institutional, cultural and contextual, reciprocal and relational, and personal. It is institutional as stakeholders, administrators, and regulations must be aligned in their resolve to establish a culture of academic integrity, she said.  

Academic integrity is cultural and contextual because ideas about academic integrity are tied with cultural values (sumbong, diskarte, tulong) and must therefore be clarified to establish understanding, said Aguiling-Dalisay. The reciprocal and relational characteristics of academic integrity highlight the need for communication (as each case has its own nuances and conditions), as well as respect and responsibility, she said. Finally, Aguiling-Dalisay said academic integrity is ultimately also a personal value, decision, and commitment. 

In closing her talk, she shared a quotation from Donald McCabe on the prevalence and normalization of cheating in society, and how it may discourage people from upholding integrity.  

“Since the premise is that we are in an educational institution because we want to learn, because we want to share our expertise to improve [our country’s] current situation, because there is room for improvement and transformation, we have to make that personal decision to be courageous and uphold academic integrity,” she said. 

Aquiling-Dalisay also exposed academic fraud such as ghost writing, predatory journals, and the like. Generative AI and its perceptions were also discussed, particularly its impact on students’ creative and critical thinking, and how according to educators, it allows students to cheat. Aquiling-Dalisay then outlined reasons why students may be inclined to cheat such as pressures to do well, heavy workload, and such, and how these must be addressed to prevent them from resorting to cheating. 

Center for Educational Measurement CEO Dr. Grace Aquiling-Dalisay answers questions from the audience. Media Center 

For his part, Jose “Pete” Lacaba’s talked about “Creativity as Protest: How Artists Confront Power.” As someone who stood up for truth and social justice in one of the most tumultuous and oppressive periods in Philippine history, Lacaba’s talk focused on his life experiences, particularly how he persisted in instances where his works and the progressive ideas they espoused were suppressed and censored.

Lacaba shared his experiences as a young writer before and during the Marcos regime, where his poem, “Prometheus Unbound” got published in a crony magazine under the pseudonym Ruben Cuevas while carrying a hidden message critical of the dictatorship. He then shared how the military hounded his known residences, and how when he was captured, he experienced different kinds of torture at the hands of the military. He also relayed how his films “Jaguar” and “Kapit sa Patalim” were delayed from being screened in the country due to attempts of the government to censor them—even “Ora Pro Nobis,” which was created during the Cory Administration. 

In current times, Lacaba said censorship has taken on different forms despite the dictatorship being over: from the attacks on alternate media, criminalization of libel used against journalists critical of the government, the shutting down of ABS-CBN, and jailing of journalists, artists, and activists, among others.  

“I implore you to ponder what the phrase, ‘speaking truth to power’ means. Bravery is necessary to speak against the powerful. Remember that the truth is a great threat to an abusive state,” said Lacaba in Filipino, to challenge FEU students and the youth. 

The Alejandro Roces Professorial Lecture Series is an annual event held by IAS where speakers who dedicated themselves to their life’s work are invited.  

“Until now, there are still things that we need to fight for. But that is part of the accountability that we have as students and as members of this country. It’s difficult, but as Sir Pete said, we just need to be brave—a principle we also have here in FEU: be brave,” said IAS Dean Diego Jose Abad.