THE search is over. I previously wrote in this column (https:// www.manilatimes.net/2023/03/25/ opinion/columns/up-alumni-bodys-search-for-distinguished-graduates/1884233) that the University of the Philippines Alumni Association (UPAA) “started early on this year the search for nominees for the UPAA Distinguished Alumni Awards for the year 2023. According to the UPAA, the awards are given to honor UP alumni who have pre-eminently distinguished themselves, based on the concept that ‘when the prestige of the alumni increases, the prestige of the institution is thereby increased.’”

2023 awardees

Reproduced here are certain portions from the press release of the UPAA on the 2023 awardees.

“The UPAA Awardees are outstanding individuals recognized for their leadership, achievements, service and contributions to create positive change in the country and in the world. This year’s awards for Most Distinguished Alumna/ Alumnus are given to Maria Leonor Gerona-Robredo (AB ‘86) and Arsenio Balisacan (MS ‘82).”

“The UPAA gives the Lifetime Distinguished Achievement Awards to Lourdes J. Cruz, (BSChem ‘62), Nathaniel A. Von Einsiedel (BSArch ‘68), Gisela Padilla-Concepcion (BSChem ‘75; MS ’82; PhD ‘95) and Rene S. Santiago (BSCE ‘70).”

“The UPAA grants the Distinguished Alumni Awards to individuals with outstanding achievements in their fields of endeavor. This year’s awardees are Roberto A. Alejandro in Art as Advocacy; Peter S. Nery in Championing Hiligaynon Literature and Regional Culture; Bryan Jayson T. Borja in Community Empowerment; Jose Edgardo G. Sunico in Corporate Social Responsibility; Raul B. Villanueva in Court Administration/Public Service; Regalado T. Jose Jr. in Cultural Heritage Work and Advocacy; Filomena Magno-Cantoria in Education and Societal Development; Manuel Peter Paul C. Jorge 2nd in Empowerment Through Health Education; Francisco G. Delfin Jr. in Energy Geosciences; Manuel L. Logroño in Enterprise Development and Corporate Governance; Chan Huan Chyang in Entrepreneurship; Zaldy B. Patron in Foreign Service; Sylvia Estrada-Claudio in Gender Equality or Women Empowerment; El Cid R. Butuyan in Good Governance and Anti-Corruption; Lilia CatrisGuillermo in Good Governance and Public Service; Remedios Calma-Cruz in Human Resource Development and Empowerment; Giselle Lourdes Mangona-Manalo in Innovation in Public Health Education; Alex B. Brillantes Jr. in Innovative Public Administration Education; Floro R. Francisco in International Labor Relations; Alexis D.L. Reyes in Medicine (Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics); Imelda O. Degay in Nutrition Education; Celia C. Carlos in Public Service; Raul C. Pagdanganan in Public Health Promotion; Maria Asuncion A. Silvestre in Public Health Promotion (Newborn Care); Gerry A. Camer in Science and Technology; Juan Carlos T. Gonzalez in Science and Technology; Milagrosa MartinezGoss in Science and Technology (Phycology); Lulu Carandang-Bravo in Science and Technology (Vaccine Research); and Victor B. Ella in Soil and Water Resources Management.”

“The UP Epsilon Chi Fraternity Alumni Inc. receives the UPAA Distinguished Service Award for an Alumni Chapter. Rico V. Domingo, Norberto P. Mendoza and Bienvenido I. Somera Jr. are the recipients of the UPAA Presidential Awards.”

“The UPAA Multigenerational Alumni Family Award is given to a family with alumni in consecutive generations. In 2023, the Ramirez family gets the recognition with four generations of UP alumni. Three generational alumni families with the same award are the Baconguis, Castelo, Guzman, Magno, Malate, Pangalangan, Riego-Javier, Rodriguez-Martinez Nelson and Valencia families.”

UP Epsilon Chi Fraternity

Members of the UP Epsilon Chi Fraternity welcome the award bestowed on the UP Epsilon Chi Fraternity Alumni Inc. (UPECFAI) by the UPAA — the Distinguished Service Award for an Alumni Chapter.

UPECFAI was first nominated for that award by Christine Salangad Pardiñas (BSIE ‘93; MBA ‘04). In her statement to support the nomination, Pardiñas acknowledged that since its founding in 1964, “it has produced a line of student leaders, board topnotchers in their respective fields, government officials here and abroad, respected luminaries of the academe and pillars of industry in the private sector.”

The Epsilon Chi Center (EC Center), a P32-million facility constructed by UPECFAI on the occasion of the fraternity’s golden jubilee anniversary in 2014, is a major testament on the achievements of the organization. The EC Center, donated to and accepted by UP, stands next to the famous Ang Bahay ng Alumni.

Pardiñas added that the fraternity is thinking about the future. “The Epsilon Chi Fraternity would be celebrating its 60th founding anniversary in the year 2024. This early, the officers and members of UPECFAI are already on their drawing boards, brainstorming and deciding on another legacy project that they could turn over to the university by 2025.”

“The UPECFAI deserves the distinction and the honor to be recognized for all their accomplishments and contributions which benefited not only the UP community in

particular, but the nation as well. Based on the foregoing litany of UPECFAI’s performance, there is no other conclusion other than they have rendered exceptional service in the pursuit of the goals of the university and the alumni association,” Pardiñas concluded.

Consul General Zaldy Patron

Zaldy Patron, a member of the UP Epsilon Chi Fraternity, is this year’s awardee for the Distinguished Alumni Awards-Foreign Service. He is the consul general at the Philippine Consulate General in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Patron is a career diplomat, serving since 1996. He has extensive experience in bilateral and multilateral relations, economic and political diplomacy, and consular work.

His recent achievements comprised that of initiating the construction of the Jose Rizal Monument in Nose Creek Regional Park, Airdrie, Alberta (Phase 1 was unveiled on Oct. 23, 2021 and Phase 2 on June 19, 2022); 1st Filipino Restaurant Month in Canada (April 2023); 1st Filipino Language and Culture Conference (August 2022); one-month-long Two-Man Painting Exhibit featuring Filipino painters from Regina, Saskatchewan; the Philippine Film Festival (June 2019); 1st Philippine Trade Expo (July to August 2022) in the three cities of Edmonton, Calgary and Regina; and Graduate Scholarship Program between the Philippines’ Department of Science and Technology and the University of Alberta.

Brdn. Zaldy sent me this message: “The UP education has opened a lot of opportunities for me and brought me to where I am today. I am truly humbled and grateful for the recognition from UPAA. I wish to share this honor with the whole UP Community, especially with UPLB College of Economics and Management, which nominated me for the award, and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), which gave me a career in the foreign service.

“UPLB reared me, the DFA molded me. Both nurtured my passion to serve my country and the Filipino people. The UPAA Distinguished Alumni Award in Foreign Service will be a motivation for me to continue to strive for excellence and professionalism in my present calling.”

Congratulations to the UP Epsilon Chi Fraternity Alumni Inc., Consul General Zaldy Patron and all the other awardees.

The awarding ceremonies of the 2023 UPAA Alumni Awardees would be held on Aug. 19, 2023 at 6 p.m. onwards at the Ang Bahay ng Alumni, UP Diliman, Quezon City.

See you there, Iskolars ng Bayan.