U.P. Ibalon was founded on December 1, 1974 by 18 Bicolano students of U.P. Diliman, because of a need to make students aware and be active in fighting the Marcos dictatorship. Since then, Bicolano students, through U.P. Ibalon have collectively acted to espouse awareness and activity for socially-relevant issues apart from promoting the Bicolano culture.

U.P. Ibalon is open to all students of U.P. Diliman who hail from the Bicol Region. The only requirement is that at least one of the student’s parents is Bicolano, that the student has Bicolano roots, or that the student can speak or understand the Bicolano language.