Palma Hall, University of the Philippines, Diliman

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Architect Cesar Concio
Location Roxas Ave., University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City
Typology Educational
Construction 1939 - 1951

Palma Hall, popularly known as AS (Arts and Sciences), or LA (Liberal Arts) for some in the past, has been the home of the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy since 1983.
Its name is derived from then-Senator Rafael Palma, the fourth (and first Filipino) president of the University of the Philippines from 1925 to 1933.
Most General Education courses are held here, thus registering the highest student traffic among all buildings in UP Diliman.
Because of its strategic location, miting de avances, rallies and exhibits of different organizations are situated in the building.
Palma Hall continues to beat with the pulse of students from different units of UP Diliman.
It is the place to see other students and to be seen. In more ways than one, Palma Hall or AS is the heart of the UP Diliman.
The site of the Palma Hall was once an open field filled with trees, as Diliman, Quezon City was still undeveloped.
When the University of the Philippines administration decided to acquire a larger site to move its flagship campus from Manila to Diliman, construction started in 1939, and one of the first six buildings was Palma Hall, which was completed in 1951.
The Hall first housed the College of Liberal Arts (LA). After the College's reorganization, the University College, College of Arts and Sciences and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences were located here, thus the term "AS" (Arts and Sciences) was coined.
It was only in 1983 that the building was officially the home of the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy (CSSP), when the College of Arts and Sciences was split into three colleges - CSSP, College of Science (CS) and College of Arts and Letters (CAL).
At present, classes offered by the CSSP and some by the CAL are done in the Hall, while some classes by the CS are done in the Pavilions.
It also houses the Population Institute and the Third World Studies Center.
The Palma Hall Restoration and Modernization Project is currently ongoing: modernization of a wing in one floor, conversion of a classroom to a smart classroom, construction of research hall or lecture laboratories, restoration of artworks and the lobbies, and pooling of resources for the modernization of classrooms.
Projects already accomplished were: changing its roof, repainting the building, and renovating all the comfort rooms. These improvements all lead to the vision of CSSP to make the building at par with those of similar institutions in the country and the Asian region.
The Palma Hall was designed by Cesar Homero Rosales Concio, the University Architect, who also designed the Melchor Hall (Palma Hall's twin building) and the Vinzons Hall, following the International Style mixed with Filipino design expression.
The main building is an asymmetrical structure and is divided into two wings, where the east wing has four floors and the west wing with three, imposed by a central section. Each wing features a continuous open balcony in each floor.
The main entry of the building is a rectangular three-story-high portal, where the balconies of the second and third floor overlook it.
The overall idea of the design is to make the structure well-ventilated and to let natural light enter its halls.
Due to the growing student population, the Palma Hall Annex was constructed in 1985 to house the Department of Psychology.
Offices of the graduate faculty and of the administrative staff are located in the first floor.
The building also includes the Psychological Assessment Laboratory and the Human Experimental Psychology Laboratory. Adjacent to the PHAn building is the newly renovated and expanded Physiological Psychology Laboratory which houses specimens and equipment for various forms of physiological research.
Serving as the main entrance for Palma Hall, AS Steps is famous for being the home and center of all academic and political gatherings in the university since 1948.
Its wide and open space makes it convenient for students and professors to hold assemblies, rallies and concerts. It is the place most students commonly associate academic freedom and freedom of expression with.
Since the establishment of Palma Hall, the Steps has been witness to all activities that have defined the history of UP.
In 1971, Salvador Lopez, then UP President, along with hundreds of students and professors gathered at AS Steps for the Diliman Commune in opposition to the militarization of the university.
In 1972, it is where Senator Benigno Aquino delivered his last speech before he was assassinated.
The UP Symphonic Band also took on the Steps for a performance against President Gloria Arroyo’s Proclamation 1017 (State of Emergency) in February 2006.
Found at the topmost step of the Steps is the Jose Rizal bust, a sculpture of national hero Jose Rizal made by Guillermo Tolentino.
Located inside the lobby is the Arts and Sciences mural made by National Artist Vicente Manansala. Measuring 14 meters long and two meters wide, it is Manansala’s biggest mural in the university. In conformity to the then-College of Arts and Sciences (changed into College of Social Sciences and Philosophy in 1983), the mural depicts various symbols of arts and sciences in a surrealist style. Surrealism refers to the release of the “creative potential of the unconscious mind.”
The ever-unique design of the lobby floor is of terrazzo granolithic design with abstract figures, featuring symbols of the arts and sciences.
Directly opposite AS 101 (Office of the College Secretary) is the AS Pond where the Jose Rizal monument, created by Domingo Celis, is located. The Jose Rizal monument is created by Domingo A. Celis, a UP Fine Arts alumnus circa 1910-1914. His daughter, Mrs. Trinidad Celis-Tuazon, offered the monument to the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy on October 22, 1996.
AS Hill sits above the AS Pond and has been the gathering place of students for group studies and Bible studies offered by the Campus Crusade for Christ until it became the tambayan of organizations such as Alpha Sigma, Psychology Society, Pugad Psych, Kalilayan, Pi Sigma and Pi Sigma Delta.
The cemented pathway near AS Hill and AS Pond is the AS Walk where tiangges and book stores are situated. Famous within AS Walk during the 1970s was the Greenhouse canteen surrounded by tambayans of Scintilla Juris, Alpha Phi Omega and Kappa Epsilon. Straight ahead are the Third World Studies Center and the AS Bridge.
The AS Walk is 302 meters long.
Room 134 of Palma Hall first housed DZUP (laboratory radio station in UP) before it was transferred to the Institute of Mass Communication (now College of Mass Communication) in 1987.
The station was founded by Professor Consuelo Fonacier of the Department of Speech and Drama in 1959-1960. The station used the experimental transmitter from the College of Engineering, and it remained with the college when the laboratory was transferred to the College of Arts and Sciences.
It aired programs at five to nine in the evening from Monday to Sunday at 1550 kHz.
Some of the programs were Voice of the State University (news about the Administration including monthly talks with the President), From the Bookshelf (Book Reviews), Speech and Drama Workshop, Children’s Hour and UP News.
During the Diliman Commune, the station operated under the hands of the activists. It played nationalist songs and aired poems by Amado Hernandez.
The canteen of the College of Arts and Letters was famous for being called “basement.” It served as a meeting place for devotees and followers of Arts and Sciences of the University of the Philippines. Intellectual talks and debates were also held there during the ‘60s and ‘70s.
The canteen closed during the early part of the year 1990. At present, the Archeological Studies Program (ASP) and the Inisyatiba sa Pag-aaral ng mga Etnolinggwistikong Grupo ng Pilipinas (IPEG) are built at the very place where the canteen used to stand.
For the last semesters of the 1970’s decade, the AS 2nd Floor Lobby was famously called “Second Floor Republic” by the student activists as the place served as a home for three activist fraternity/sorority (Pi Sigma/Pi Sigma Delta, Sigma Kapa Pi/Sigma Delta Pi, Alpha Sigma/Sigma Alpha Nu) and other organizations (Kalilayan, Asylum, Nmanama, Kutang Bato).
The mural is a creation of the UP Artists’ Circle Fraternity in 1996. Great Filipinos who showed undeniable significant acts, especially during the Propaganda Movement (1882-1892), are being celebrated by the mural. Almost all of them are martyrs: Andres Bonifacio, Jose Rizal, Emilio Jacinto, Apolinario Mabini, Marcel H. Del Pilar, Graciano Lopez-Jaena, Gregorio Del Pilar, Antonio Luna, Melchora Aquino, Ninoy Aquino, Jose Diokno, Cory Aquino, Remberto de la Paz, etc. Also seen in the mural are remarkable student leaders such as Edgar Jopson, Lorena Barros, and Lean Alejandro.
Wilfredo Ma. Guerrero is a playwright for over two generations and the director of the UP Dramatic club. He is the first Filipino to have a theater named after him within his lifetime. Located at the second floor of the Palma Hall, the theater stages a variety of plays.
Room 209 of the Palma Hall served as the Office of the President of the University of the Philippines from 1951 to 1956. Formerly called as the College of Liberal Arts, Vidal A. Tan (9th President of UP) who allotted the college for “higher general education”.
During the years 1974 to 1975, in Room 207, the members of the Consultative Committee on Student Affairs (CONCOMSA) gathered and prepared for the return of the UP Student Council (USC) which was prohibited by the Martial Law in 1972. The A.S. Student Council was first to be established and had its office at Room 207. Organizations, such as SINAG (official publication of the students) and the Freshmen Orientation Program Committee (FOPC), which gave inspiration and hope for other student organizations to be built also had their meetings in the room.
It was July 13, 1967 when the UP Anthropology Museum was officially opened with the leadership of Iluminada Panlilio, the University Secretary.
The fourth floor or the “rooftop” of the Palma Hall was one of the meeting places of the students who participated in making a brigade around the campus on February 1-8, 1981- it was called the Diliman Commune.
On February 3, 1971, a red flag was raised and waved on the rooftop. Also, fireworks or rockets against the Military helicopters trying to surround the campus were also fired from the rooftop. For a time, the name “Bulwagang Palma (Palma Hall)” was changed to “Bulwagang Dante (Dante Hall)”, from the name “Kumander Dante (Commander Dante)”, nom de guerre of Bernabe Busayco, leader of the New People’s Army at that time.
Before the 1990’s, there was no wall or corridor ledge along the fourth floor, only metal railings were there. On these metal railings, students sat, hanging their feet outside the building, while watching the blanket-like red flowers from the Acacia and Fire trees, and appreciating the smell of the white flowers of Calachuci during summer time.