To onboard the Presidents of state universities and colleges (SUCs) in Eastern Visayas on Futures-Thinking and scope the future projects of the Pangandoy sa Hiraya: The Futures-Thinking Consortium of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) Eastern Visayas, the Philippine Futures-Thinking Society (PhilFutures) conducted an orientation via video conferencing last 21 January via video conferencing.

The said orientation primarily discussed the General Appropriations Act (GAA) for the fiscal year (FY) 2022 allotted Two Million Pesos (P2,000,000.00) per state university and college (SUC) in the country for the Capacity Development on Futures-Thinking and Strategic Foresight. 

Speakers from the PhilFutures facilitated a discussion on the Consortium’s ‘Futures’ Agenda & FT Capacity Building Priorities and Journey Map and Menu/Options of Activities for the Capacity Building Plan for the association. CHED Commissioner Dr. Adrin A. Darilag, PhilFutures Senior Fellow, also shared insights on the role of FT in tertiary education in his speech on “Why Futures Thinking for SUCs and Higher Education: Recommendations for the Regional Futures Agenda.”

Highlights of the orientation include a Futures Space workshop that prompted the participants to think about the futures and directions of the higher education sector in the region. Inputs from the workshop will be used to draft the regional ‘futures’ agenda of Eastern Visayas.

All SUCs in region 8 were present during the activity, namely SLSU, UEP, PIT, BiPSU, VSU, EVSU, LNU, NWSSU, SSU, as represented by their SUC Presidents or their Futures-Thinking focal person.

PhilFutures was represented by its President, Dr. Lizan Perante-Calina, Chief Futurist & Association of Professional Futurists (APF) Chair, Prof. Shermon Ortega Cruz, Director for Partnership and Networking and Resident Futurist of the Office of Senator Pia Cayetano, Mr. Noel de Guia, Board Member Prof. Michville Rivera while the consortium.

The orientation was an offshoot of the exploratory meeting between the PhilFutures & the Pangandoy sa Hiraya Consortium Chairperson, Dr. Victor C. Canezo, Jr., to discuss the Futures-Thinking projects and activities that the Eastern Visayas Higher Education Institutions may explore and conduct for 2022 last 14 January.

Written by Joedel Penaranda, Head of the Consortium’s Secretariat and Director of BiPSU’s Institutional Planning Office (IPO)