**By José Antonio Sierra( Coordinador of Culture Section ).-
During the last week a delegation of more than 90 members from the University of the Philippines, headed by its President, has visited Spain. The University of the Philippines, which is the public university par excellence of the Philippines, with campuses in the main cities of the country, has chosen Spain, and specifically the University of Malaga, to carry out an academic meeting of great importance. The visit took place from October 25 to 30, and during the visit the delegation attended a seminar on the Modernization of academic teaching and the implementation of the Bologna Process. They have also carried out various extracurricular activities both in Malaga and in other Andalusian cities. This visit is an extraordinary act that is part of the celebrations of the 500th anniversary of the encounter of Spain with the Philippines, with the arrival of Magellan to the archipelago and the first circumnavigation of the earth completed by Juan Sebastian Elcano.
The Philippine delegation is headed by the President of the University of the Philippines (UP) Danilo Concepcion, who informed us that the reason for choosing Spain and the University of Malaga, is the strong legal link that exists between Philippine and Spanish law, as well as the Spanish heritage that they maintain to which they want to pay tribute to this ceremony. There is also an important relationship between the University of Malaga and the University of the Philippines, with an Erasmus mobility project thanks to which more than 30 students have already completed study stays for credits. In addition, three Filipino professors are preparing their doctoral thesis at the University of Malaga, and also, the most ambitious project of the Erasmus program, the Capacity Building CALESA led by the University of Malaga and in which the University of the Philippines is a partner.
The Philippine delegation was received by the Rector of the University of Malaga José Ángel Narváez Bueno, and the conferences were given by professors from the University of Malaga, Deusto and the Universidade Nova de Lisboa.
Likewise, on Thursday 27, the Philippine delegation visited the Spanish Society of Friends of Spain of Malaga, located in the Plaza de la Constitution, where the recently created Spanish-Philippine Cultural Association of Malaga holds its meetings. During their visit to the insitution, they were shown part of the bibliographic collection on the Philippines, as well as different maps by its librarian. Equally, Mr. José Antonio Sierra Lumbreras addressed them some words of welcome and explained the recent activities of the institution in the Ibero-American field and in the Philippines.
Afterwards, the delegation of the University of the Philippines went to the place where Ruy López de Villalobos was born, in Compañía Street, who baptized the archipelago with the name of the Philippines in honor of the then future Felipe II. Then they moved to the entrance of the port of Malaga to make a wreath before the statue of Jose Rizal, the great hero of the Philippines, before which the poet Antonio J. Quesada recited the poem “Mi ultimo adiós” written by Rizal.
This visit, together with the visit recently made by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines to the University of Malaga, is an example of the interest being aroused in the Philippines by the proposal to modernize its university system and to update Philippine law, which is being developed through the project led by the UMA in partner universities and institutions in the Philippines. After more than fifty years of separation, the strong link previously existing between the Philippine and Spanish university community is being recovered, especially in the field of Law, which fills us with satisfaction and motivat
