Proceedings of the first Independence congress : held in the city of Manila, Philippine islands, February 22-26, 1930 / Published under the direction of Dean maximo M. Kalaw, executive secretary, University of the Philippines.

EDUCATIONAL SECTION

185

In the period of reconstruction which followed the pacification of the Islands in 1908 the Philippine Assembly on its
preliminary session decided to keep the tradition of government
higher education and with this end in view ordered the founding of the University of the Philippines.
What the University of the Philippines has done during
these last twenty years cannot be measured in terms of pesos
and centavos. Its first task was to modernize the system of
higher education and the methods of teaching with the purpose
of giving the country a mentality adapted to the necessities
of our time and to the requirements of democracy. It was
necessary to make many innovations, expand the scope of
courses, recruit American and foreign professors to be later on
replaced by Filipinos.
The University during the period of its existence has rendered great and positive benefits to the country. Not by the
number but by the quality of its graduates,' can this University
look back and feel just gratification for its work. Notwithstanding the difficulties it has encountered in its beginning, it
has given to the community distinguished men and citizens who
are exemplary in their public and private life, efficient in their
profession and worthy of the esteem and regard of the public.
WX'ithout the Colleges of Agriculture, Veterinary Science, Engineering and Forestry it 'vould have been hard to find technical people to fill the positions in the Bureau of Agriculture,
Public Works, and others, and we would have been forced to
recruit them from foreign land as we did at the beginning.
Our College of Medicine has contributed a great deal through
its graduate doctors, pharmacists and nurses to the establishment of the health service even in the remotest nook of the
Archipelago. The Red Cross and the private profession are
beneficiaries of the services of many of our graduates of the
Schools of Dentistry and Pharmacy.
Our Colleges of Liberal Arts and Education have constantly
provided the public school system with teachers of both sexes
who are highly specialized, and in this way we were able to
reduce the costly practice of importing teachers from the outside.