Ley Meynard G.

Opea
Applicant
UPOU - Diploma in Land Use Planning

I grew up and gained a typical childhood experience here in Tagum City. For over twenty years,
I have seen its rapid development. I can still remember the time when our first Jollibee was being
constructed and how we only have one mall before. Now, commercial buildings are everywhere and more
investors come to establish their own businesses.
Being privileged to live in the urbanized area of the city, I have felt the said developments.
However, for some people who live in the rural barangays like Cuambogan and Liboganon, these facilities
are still inaccessible. In my opinion, one of the reasons why this problem is still present, is because of
the fact that these establishments are located at the heart of our city. It will only take you about five
minutes to go from one mall to another by walking. Even though it gave employment for the people, I
believe that this centralization also caused the traffic problem we are currently facing.
As a BS Applied Mathematics Major in Operations Research graduate, we are equipped with
different optimization techniques (such as resource allocation) used to design alternatives to help in the
decision making process in solving real world problems. One of these tools is the Geographic Information
System (GIS). GIS is a powerful method used to analyze spatial or geographic data. We were taught how
to design maps that determines suitable sites for different types of facilities. With the help of GIS, the
problems mentioned above wouldnt have emerged. It may have determined the impacts of building a
facility in the area, and the establishments could have been built in a site that is accessible to rural areas
without compromising the profit of investors. It is really important to know that land and its entirety is a
scarce resource that should be allocated properly to attain a sustainable environment.
Even before entering college, I really have this burning passion in research and working in the
government. Luckily less than a month after graduation, I was hired as a researcher in our Local
Government Unit and was assigned at the City Planning and Development Office. Currently, I am a part
of the technical working group that studies/measures the impact of road infrastructure developments and
the kahayag (Street Lights) program on the happiness and well-being of Tagumeos. In my two months
of working at CPDO, I found out that theres a shortage of employees working in the field of land use
planning and only a few of my co-workers know how to use GIS. This made me conclude that our city
really lacks personnel that works on scientific planning.
With my desire to continue my studies, I decided to apply in the graduate degree Diploma in Land
Use Planning. I applied for this program not only to explore and learn new knowledge but also to
strengthen our citys capability to produce solid research in the field of Land Use Planning. This would
also help cater the needs of the people and bridge the gap between rural and urban areas. Bridging this
gap will be very difficult. However, learning new concepts, especially in the different theories and research
methods in Urban and Regional Planning will help me further formulate research topics or studies that
would help our LGU in its policy making. These studies will hopefully help in the development (social &
economic) of our city.
I opt to apply in UPOU because I believe that the resources that will be given to me by the Faculty
of Management and Development Studies will be more than enough to help me in my future plans. I
would also gladly share my learnings in the program to further help our office deliver the necessary targets
provided by the council. Distance learning is not new to me. In fact, I took up Introduction to Project
Management, an MOOC provided by the University of Adelaide under the edX platform. At this moment,
I am taking up another MOOC provided by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Introduction to
Computer Science using Python. Distance learning provided the needs in my life long journey for
education. I found it very fulfilling because it makes study and work schedule more flexible. This is also
one of the reasons why I chose UPOU. All of the alumni I know received a positive impact in their lives
when they entered and earned their degrees at UPOU.

500-words Essay