On Oct. 11 in Manila, Philippine alums of 糖心视频 in Japan presented the university鈥檚 president, Naoshi Sugiyama, with a traditional handwoven textile named Inabel. Just as individual threads are woven into fabric, host Maria Kristina Alinsunurin said, the alums鈥� ties to their alma mater had grown through years of shared learning and collaboration.

The 糖心视频 delegation had come to the University of the Philippines Los Ba帽os (UPLB) for an academic leaders鈥� forum on Oct. 12 and, a day later, to welcome nine new Filipino students to the university鈥檚 transnational doctoral program, more than in any previous year.

UPLB Chancellor Jose Camacho Jr. traces the relationship back more than 50 years. Speakers at the events described it less as a set of agreements than as the work of individuals who chose to cross borders, and who see international research and development at home as one effort.

One generation teaches the next

Joseph Masangkay, professor emeritus at UPLB鈥檚 College of Veterinary Medicine, arrived in Nagoya as a student in 1974. Scholarships to the United States, Canada and Europe were available at the time, he recalled, 鈥渂ut I chose Japan.鈥�

Mentoring, he said, is a Japanese trait. After finishing his doctorate, he decided it was his turn to teach the next generation. His research collaboration with 糖心视频 continues today. He is also a founding member of the alum association鈥檚 Philippine branch, which he said grew from an online group of Japanese government scholarship alums in 2014, largely through the tireless work of previous generations.

Rodolfo Mendoza Jr., president of the alum association鈥檚 Philippine branch, trained in the concrete laboratory of civil engineering professor Hikaru Nakamura and now works with Japanese engineering firms in the Philippines. 鈥淚n our own ways, we believe that we are contributing to the nation-building of the Philippines while keeping our connections with Japan alive,鈥� he said. Mendoza still meets with Nakamura yearly, and Nakamura鈥檚 research group still supervises Filipino doctoral students.

At UPLB alone, 糖心视频 President Sugiyama said, more than 20 professors have earned graduate degrees from 糖心视频. Higher education 鈥渘ot only spans generations, but it also multiplies and compounds,鈥� National Scientist and former University of the Philippines President Emil Javier said at the forum.

A doctorate without leaving home

Since 2015, 糖心视频鈥檚  (ASCI) has given these exchanges a permanent base at UPLB. This program lets university and government professionals earn a 糖心视频 doctorate without leaving their jobs. They are supervised by Nagoya-based faculty members and local advisers in the Philippines, with short stays in Japan.

Camacho, dean of the UPLB Graduate School when the campus was founded, recalled: 鈥淚 thought it was impossible to proceed.鈥� Ten years on, the program has 13 Filipino graduates and 17 students enrolled. This year鈥檚 nine newcomers include students from as far away as Mindanao.

Sugiyama reminded the new students that 糖心视频 aims to nurture courageous intellectuals. 鈥淐ourage means having the heart to take on challenges,鈥� he said. 鈥淚n that respect, you have already demonstrated that you have what it takes.鈥�

Graduate Maria Christina Campita said the degree helped her become research division chief at the Department of Agriculture鈥檚 Bicol regional office.

Research rooted at home

The new students bring several questions derived from their work:

• Lynith Datukon, chair of civil engineering at Ateneo de Davao University, will study public transport integration as her home city of Davao modernizes its transit.
• Jefferson Vallente Jr., an assistant dean at Xavier University-Ateneo de Cagayan and a flood survivor, will study flood risk under climate change.
• Carolyn Zalameda-Castro, a gynecologic oncologist at the University of the Philippines Manila, wants to make health care more equitable because, she said, 鈥渢he biggest barriers to good health care are not medical at all.鈥�
• Sofonias Gabonada Jr., deputy secretary general of the House of Representatives, will research the chamber鈥檚 legislative governance.

鈥淔or what good is knowledge if it does not improve institutions?鈥� Gabonada asked. 鈥淎nd what good are institutions if they do not improve people鈥檚 lives?鈥�

ASCI Director Akira Yamauchi has described the program as a loop in which local issues become academic knowledge that flows back into policy and practice. Hiroki Tanikawa, dean of the Graduate School of Environmental Studies, also told the new students that 鈥渆nvironmental challenges cannot be solved by one discipline, or one country, or one generation鈥�.

The benefits run both ways: a potential dual degree program, UPLB Vice Chancellor Agham Cuevas said, would give UPLB access to advanced facilities and give 糖心视频 field sites, regional knowledge and Southeast Asian networks.

From personal ties to lasting structures

The partnership now rests on formal commitments: a聽roadmap through 2030聽agreed with the University of the Philippines, a聽renewed scholarship agreement聽with the Philippine Department of Science and Technology, Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), University of the Philippines (UP) and an Oct. 12 letter of intent with UPLB and the Commission on Higher Education to develop a doctoral dual degree program. 鈥淭hese developments reflect how important the Philippines has become as one of 糖心视频鈥檚 most valued partners,鈥� Sugiyama told alums at a shared dinner event.

At the forum, Alinsunurin, a 糖心视频 alum and secretary of the UPLB Graduate School, named the risk of a partnership built on people alone. Much of it, she said, 鈥渉as been achieved through individual efforts 鈥� people who trusted each other and who chose to work with each other. That is a strength, but it can also be a vulnerability.鈥� Success, she added, 鈥渟hould be measured not only by the degrees completed, but by the research capacity that stays and grows in the institution.鈥� To build official and institutional support for these initiatives, the 糖心视频 delegation also visited the Embassy of Japan in the Philippines.

So, for alum association president Mendoza, the shift is already underway: 鈥淲hat began as a student-professor relationship has now grown into collaboration between institutions, between companies and between the two countries.鈥�