 Ang faculty center isang sibulo ng democratic space at pagpapantay-pantay ng mga tao regardless of whether may PhD kaman o wala, whether ikaw yung manggagawa. Isa sa napakasaya akong memory ay ang guest speaker namin dito nung ako yun na graduate sa MA ko sa comparative literature ay isi national artist, Napoleon Abueva. At meron ako isang larawa, nakasama ko si Rohelio Sikat ng ay namayapa na isang legendary short story writer na miembro na Agus sa Desierto ng 1960s group of experimental young Filipino writers tapos si national artist Napoleon Abueva na namayapa na rin, tapos may larawa na ako kasama sila na batapa akong instructor noon. Hindi ko malilimutan yung mga pagkakataon na olawasa din, may uportunidad ka para mamiti itong mga taong ina-admire mo lang from afar. Ang faculty center conference hall ay napakahalaga sa pagkat isa itong open space para sa lahat wether you're left, right or center pantay-pantay kayo yung nagpapalita ng mga kuru-kuru tungkol sa mga issue. Napakalaganda yun ng faculty center conference hall sa pagkat kung ikaw man ay mag-aaral o alumnus kaman o hindi ng university kahit nung panahon ng marshalo isa tung democratic space kung saan ang mga tao, nung mga panahon ay malaya nagsasalita kung anong gusin na sabihin kung sa mga bagay-bagay walang censorship at hindi sila hinuhuli. It was a place to bring people together and here I wanted to move beyond beyond the grand academic experience which was important and I'm sure the others will talk about. One of the things that really got me was in times of great trial and tribulation the FC somehow caught sunsets very well. So you could go to the ablation you get the full force of the sunset but it was hot. Here you could see the splendor UP Diliman became orange in color at a certain time of the day. You would catch that orange hue here and it was so different. And then of course there was the Claro Mrecto hall or room, the auditorium which became really crucial in under martial law because it represented everything we were fighting for in terms not just of academic freedom but of freedom for the country. There was an assurance that you would never be touched there even before UP was off limits to the military there was a tacit understanding that you could not raid, you could not cut short any of the things that were going on in Claro Mrecto. It was sacred space. So it is not just the soul of the faculty center but the soul of UP Diliman. Yung memories ko of the faculty center were all very positive. We could meet in the corridor, discuss sinabi nang isang faculty na kilala ko a very close friend of mine was that we could talk about anything in the corridor. Hindi kailangan sa faculty room pero sa corridor. We could ask questions at any time on any subject and magde-discussion doon. Sometimes there would be debates, sometimes there would be arguments but it was always usually based on intellectual ability. It was a center, it was a focal point siguro of academic discussion. Yung maganda sa Lumang faculty center when I was there in the beginning was hindi siya divided into the sciences or the arts or the social sciences. It was all under one roof. Natatandaan ko yung FC, ang pinakamangalaga sa aking yung corridors niya kapag nagsasalubong yung mga professors at siyaka mga estudiante. Hintu yan it, maguusap, magkukumustahan. Yung kumusta as a general question, hindi lang siya kumusta ng araw na yung kumusta ka kahapon? Kundi kumusta ano yung ginagawa mo? Ano yung pinag-aaralan mo? So yung sagut doon, ninsan nag-bubunga siya na mas marami pang mga idea. Of course, on the part of College of Arts and Letters, wala pa rin bahay ang mga faculty ng College of Arts and Letters. Ninanais na magkaroon ng ganun klasi pa rin mga opisina na magsusulong pa rin ng corridor talks, di ba? Punsaan, mayro kang expansion na maalam mo in that given week maikita mo ito mga tao na to and you could easily knock on their doors. As a simple question, but the answers are so profound that you would, di ba? It would feed papers, it would feed creative projects, it would feed extension services na mga projects out there. The faculty center was always more than a physical office or even a home for us away from home. It was the cradle of our spirit of academic freedom and academic inquiry. It was the bastion of our resistance to tyranny, not just the tyranny of bad politicians and leaders, but the tyranny of ignorance Importante para sa akin yung claro-embrek ito yung dito sinasala yung mga idea na bago pa ma-isa-libro naging tahanan ko ito ng maigit sampong taon dahil sampong taon na kong undergrad kahit nung panahon na hindi ako nag-aarali, tambay ako ng mga kwarto, ng mga profesor ko, isang magandang ala-ala yun na kahit hindi ka estudyante sa mga panahon na yun very welcoming pa rin ng faculty center. Ang faculty center isang miniature na larangan ng digma anong mga idea. Yung mga everyday life, everyday life, kasi sa faculty center ay bawat silid may kasaisayan, bawat na tatanging pulong, silid pulungan ay may kasaisayan, bawat sulok kung nasa na mga muning ay may kasaisayan din, pati ding ding dahil ginawang gallery nina, profesor Niavesi Pistola. Ang faculty center po, kahit po ang bawat kwarto maliliit, pero ang lama na faculty center, masasaya, masasaya ang tao sa loob, marami rin naiambagsamin yung mga faculty sa mga staff, marami kami na tutunan sa faculty. Pumasok po kami ng payat, lumabas po kami ng faculty ng matabak. Sobrang sayap po sa faculty center. Student ako ng Department of Speech Communication and Theater Arts, hinanob ko yung department namin, parentin na sa third floor siya, tapos medyo nakakatakot kasi madilim talaga yung hallways, na parang wala masyadong tao, pero nandun din yung homie feels niya, na parang at the same time, pagkatapak mo sa faculty center, komportabli ka sa paglakad mo, sa kung sinuman mo ka sa lubong mo, alam mo yung safe ka, at meron kang mapagpapahingahan at pupuntahan. Yung importan siya rin mismasiguro ng faculty center is the history that it has. The faculty center has been with UP for years na kapag kuna re-gromaduate ka, meron kasan ang mababalikan. Nandito ko sa FC ng mawala ito, mga alasdos ng umaga, nakawa kong message mula sa isang kaibigan, na susunog daw ang FC, kaya dito ko, nakatira din lang sa campus, tumakbo ako dito. At nakatayo ko sa labas ng aking oficina, binapanod ko ang dutupok, hindi lang ang oficina ko, kung di yung buong, yung buong gusali, ano, sa kabilanang napakaraming mga bumberong dumating dito. At alam ko, nung oras na yun, na wala ng magagawa para sa gaping pa ang, ang gusalian mismo ng FC, makara na ilang araw, kumingiyo ko ng permiso upang pasukin ang sunog na building at naisipang kong kumuha ng video ng aking mga, na dadaan ang mga pasilyo, at dinalo ko ang oficina ko, at nakita ko na tupok na ang lahat, ang aking mga aklat ng 30 taon ng ala-ala ang biglang naglako. When I saw it burning, I came here very early in the morning of that day, April 1, kita ko na susunog yung FC and di ko alam na may sunog na, but actually pagdating ko dito, ang daming mga fire trucks, ang daming traffic dito sa area sa likod ng FC, yun pala na susunog yung FC. And I thought, vainly na sana na spare yung history department, pero in the end, umikot ako, talagang wala. And when we first went inside the building, kita namin yung mga ruins, there was nothing we could recover. Nakikita lang namin yung mga abo, ng mga libro, ng mga papeles, I could still identify some of them in my room, pero talagang hindi na mga recover. So yung secretary ng department namin, nakarecover siya ng mga pictures, so she was very excited about that. Other faculty members were able to recover mga clay pottery and others na hindi naman na sunog, but it for us, it was really a total loss. My personal wish for the new FC is that within it, we establish a true university museum that will house the physical artifacts and turn our memories into a coherent narrative that will tell all UP students and faculty members and our visitors the story of this great university. And I think that's something that the new FC can have that the old one did not. But I'm sure despite the loss of so many incredibly valuable objects and maybe even of some memories, there will be time to create new ones. Sa muling pagtatayo, sa faculty center, sabayan tayong gumugunita at tumatanaw sa hiraharap. Gumugunita dahil bilang kumunidad, lahat tayo apictado sa biglaan itong pagkasunog. Ngunit ngayon, kailangan din nating tumanaw bilang kumunidad sa muling pagkabuhay nito. Ang itata yung faculty center ay magsisilbing lunan at moog ng akademikong discurso, talastasan at pagdadawupang palad sa ating kumunidad. Sama-sama nating buuin ang diwa at katauhan ng faculty center na siyang bahagina ng buhayupi at nang ating nagdaan at inaharap.