FOR a long time, the University of the Philippines (UP) has stood proud and tall in its claim of being the only national university in the country. It almost was considered as the flagship university. But we now have a much-changed landscape. We now have regional universities that are also funded by the government so that UP can no longer claim its unique place.

While maintaining its academic leadership in many fields, UP no longer has monopoly over excellence in every discipline. UP no longer has the sole intellectual supremacy, as evident in the several instances that its graduates have been bested not only by graduates from private universities and colleges, but by those from other state universities in professional licensure exams, which include the bar exams.