The Mountain Province State Polytechnic College inked its 28th Charter Anniversary on January 17, 2020 and commemorated this significant event “the MPSPC way”. This year’s celebration was designed with various activities that espoused the theme “Accelerating Social Transformation through Academic Excellence and Collaborative Partnership the MPSPC Way.” As the theme implies, the College is persistent in its pursuit to effect meaningful change that bears an MPSPC trademark within its turf and across the larger communities that it serves. As such, the 28th Charter Anniversary celebration also centered on recognizing the vitality of the College’s partnerships with different agencies, institutions and groups who share that same vision of the College. Twenty years after its conversion from a community college to a state college, and soon to a state university, MPSPC embraces the need to sustain and accelerate its momentum towards academic excellence and quality service.
The Tadian campus hosted the Charter Day celebration this year. Commencing the day’s activities was the maiden broadcast of MPSPC Roadroller on the Air via Radio Ayyoweng 101.5 FM, wherein the President himself served as the anchor during the one-hour airtime. According to observations, Dr. Rexton Chakas exuded the confidence of an expert and a professional radio anchor, which of course did not come as a surprise, considering his innate public speaking skills and effective communication prowess. The College President was assisted by the Vice Presidents who provided information for the public on the college’s vision, mission, goals and major thrusts, the curricular offerings, research and extension undertakings, and of course the commemoration of the Charter Anniversary. Henceforth, the MPSPC Roadroller on the air program shall broadcast via Radio Ayyoweng every Friday with an 11 am to 12 noon time slot.
The ribbon cutting and dedication of the Home Technology Building followed thereafter. During the dedication of the building, Pastor Ulysses Ga-ab emphasized how new infrastructure projects uphold the College’s commitment to carry out educational excellence. After the short dedication, selected College officials led by the Dr. Chakas cut the ribbon which signaled the full operation of the building as a laboratory for home technology and hospitality management students and a hostel where College guests and visitors could stay. In the Thanksgiving service that followed at the IPED Building, the good pastor reminded the faculty, staff and students during his sharing, “If we do something good today, something good will turn out in the future.” He also shared how the institution is well on its way to fulfilling its vision and mission as it also continues to responds to the needs of time. Additionally, he connected his sharing to the theme of the Charter Day celebration and stressed, “As we celebrate this day, we should be challenged to always inspire our students. Let us choose to serve and let us choose to serve together our God.”
The Charter Anniversary main program was marked with essential highlights. The center stage was warmed with the excellent artistic and cultural performances of student organizations in both campuses. The MPSPC Minstrels delivered their usual, heartwarming blending of voices of “Heal the World” to put forth across the message that MPSPC can be a part of addressing the adversities that the community is facing. The Bontoc campus Student Cultural Arts Group and the Tadian Cultural Arts Group rendered their superb repertoire of cultural dances that highlighted the local and regional culture. Community leaders, the Hon. Constito Masweng, municipal mayor of Tadian, the community people of Paracelis headed by Ma’am Analiza Simangon partners from the municipality of Sadanga, and other stakeholders, alumni, and partners were in attendance to witness the commemoration. In his Charter Anniversary message, Dr. Rexton F. Chakas focused on highlighting how his Administration sustains the College’s transformation “the MPSPC way.” He further expounded the College’s manifestation of excellence by enumerating the endeavors and victories of the college which aimed at social transformation and academic excellence. After delivering his message, Dr. Chakas led the ceremonial turn-over of 180 book titles comprising 240 volumes to the College Library. It can be recalled that during his birthday last November 2019, Dr. Chakas launched his social action project “PRFC Book Donation Drive: 100 Titles Towards Universityhood” which aimed to raise 100 book titles to help the College library attain the 8,000 titles required by CHED for the university status. Dr. Chakas emphasized that this project surpassed its goal and he expressed his gratitude to all the book donors which included community individuals, high school students, alumni, friends and College officials. Before the program’s closing, Dr. Chakas also led the re-launching of the PRFC project version 2.0, aiming to collect another set of 100 book titles.
The main highlight of the program was the brief yet substantial talk of the guest speaker, Atty. Marco Cicero F. Domingo, OIC-Regional Director of CHED-CAR. Atty. Domingo challenged the MPSPC family about embracing the real essence of the College’s vision and mission. He provided some critical insights about how MPSPC could further advance its goals and objectives. He emphasized, "Do not confine yourself within the boundaries of your school only. You have talents; share and compete with other schools or organizations nationally or internationally,” Atty. Marco Cicero F. Domingo, the inspired the audience having graced the event as the learning resource speaker. The program culminated “the MPSPC way” with a community dancing among students, faculty and staff, and guests. A luncheon immediately followed.
In the afternoon, activities for the faculty and staff were lined up to provide them an opportunity to fortify their social relationships out of the confines of their offices and classrooms. They participated in the Zumba-for-a-cause, one component of the PRFC Social Action program wherein the proceeds will be given to Ms. Adela Bantasan whose daughter in undergoing some medical procedures in Baguio City. Sports enthusiasts also participated in volleyball, basketball, and softball (slow pitch) games. Meanwhile, the screening of the internationally acclaimed documentary Walang Rape sa Bontoc and the award-winning short film Tokwifi produced and directed by Bontoc-based artists Lester Valle and Carla Ocampo gave students the chance to view these productions at the IPED building. These films were also shown in three different screening schedules for faculty, staff and students in the Bontoc campus last January 20, 2020 at the College AVR. // Mark Preston S. Lopez, Ms. Sylexia Pangesfan, and MIS Unit
