Lawyer Paul Jomar Alcudia has passed away due to a heart attack. He was 54.
He is survived by his father Quintin, mother Ma. Luz, wife Carmella, only daughter Pamella, brother Ronald and sister Marilou.
Born on July 21, 1966 in Iloilo, Paul spent most of his student life
in Manila, particularly at the University of the Philippines Diliman
where he finished his high school and college education.
After graduating from the UP School of Economics in 1988, Paul
proceeded to take up law. In 1993, Paul graduated from UP College of Law
and passed the Bar exams that same year.
As a lawyer, Paul became a member of International Pro Bono Alliance
which provided free legal services to migrant workers in distress. He
was also an active member of the Volunteer Lawyers Against
Discrimination.
Paul was a member of the Faculty of the De La Salle University College of Law.
“Another good—no, Great —guy gone too soon,” former Supreme Court spokesperson Theodore Te said of Paul’s passing on Twitter.
Te described Paul as “one heck of a lawyer—greatly skilled, fiercely
committed, deeply passionate” for his clients, many of whom Paul helped
pro bono.
Unknown to most people, Nonoy, as Paul was fondly called by his close
relatives and friends, was also a trivia buff. Fellow trivia
enthusiasts gave him the moniker “El Ponente” because it was Paul who
always penned for his team the final answers to trivia questions during
pub quizzes which he attended regularly if he was not busy with his
court cases.
Trivia books author Bong Barrameda, one of Paul’s teammates, broke
the news of Paul’s death to his trivia quiz circle Utak Atak: “Guys, our
dear Ponente Atty. Paul has passed away… Such a sad, sad day.”
Friends, colleagues, relatives and fellow trivia aficionados paid
their last respects to Paul at his wake at the Santuario de San Antonio
Chapels on McKinley Road, Forbes Park, Makati City.
His remains will be cremated on Tuesday. There will also be a necrological Mass on Zoom.
Leo was the third child of eight children, born December 1, 1937 to
Irineo Medina and Consuelo Ocampo Medina. He is a graduate of the
University of the Philippines with a Teacher’s Diploma in Music
Composition and Conducting. He is also a graduate of the University of
North Dakota with a Masters Degree in Music Education.
His first visit to the U.S. was in 1961 when he performed as a
musician for the Filipinescas Dance Company during the group’s
seven-month tour of Europe and the U.S. It was while he was on tour
that he knew he wanted to return to the U.S. someday. He also taught a
band at the Torres High School in Manila for five years and as
choirmaster at St. Andrews Theological Seminary in Quezon City for two
years.
During his early years in the U.S., he accepted the challenge of cold
weather and, with a teaching contract, he taught nice rural kids with
the Minnesota Public Schools for seven years. He acquired his U.S.
citizenship while residing and teaching in Heron Lake, Minnesota.
In 1974, his wife Flordelis Peleo Medina, a medical doctor and a
graduate of the University of Santo Thomas College of Medicine in
Manila, Philippines, quit her job at the community hospital in Heron
Lake, Minnesota to accept a position in Warm Springs State Hospital in
Warm Springs, Montana. They moved out west not realizing Leo would be
retiring in the neighboring city of Butte, Montana. Then they moved to
Butte permanently.
Since 1975, he had worked for Butte School district as a music
teacher. In 1980, he became music director of the Butte Symphony for
fifteen years.
He was a member of the Montana and American String Teachers
Association. Several of his compositions such as “Concerto for Cello
and Orchestra in Three Movements” and “Philippines Revisited” were
performed by the Butte Symphony. His “Variations for Two Pianos” was
commissioned by the Montana Music Teachers Association in 1986.
In 1995, Leo had retired from Butte High School as well as the Butte
Symphony’s music director. Leo and Flor moved to Helena, Montana to be
closer to their oldest daughter, Cristina, husband Ed Caplis and future
grandchildren, Tara and Ben. Their youngest daughter, Monica, was
living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at that time.
They also spent many months visiting the Philippines. His parents
left him some land that was meant for all their siblings. Realizing
that his brothers and sisters, who were all living in the states and
Canada, were not so bent anymore on returning soon to manage the family
property. He took it upon himself to become custodian of their land
with the help of sisters Carmencita and Adela.
In Helena, Lew became involved with the Music Ministry of Covenant
United Methodist Church for more than ten years. In December of 2003,
as campaign chairman, Leo thanked the church and especially Wally and
Fran Waddell for donating a set of three octave handbells to the Taytay,
Rizal United Methodist Church in the Philippines. As a result of the
donation, Leo and Fran decided to organize a church bell choir which
came to be known as the “Bells of the Covenant” in Helena.
Since 1982, Leo was a member of the Butte Mile Hi Lions Club and
then, Helena Lions Club. In 2012, he was a recipient if the
Presidential Certificate of Appreciation during the annual district 37
convention (Montana and Canada) in “recognition of distinguished
achievements in fulfilling the mission of Lions Clubs International”.
In 2017, the Helena Lions Club awarded Leo the “Melvin Jones Fellow
Award for dedicated humanitarian services to Lions Clubs International
Foundation.”
Leo is survived by his loving wife, Flor, two daughters, Cristina and
Monica and their spouses (Ed Caplis and Steve McCurdy), three
grandchildren, Tara and Ben Caplis and Maggie McCurdy, two brothers,
Rene and Noli, two sisters, Mencie Estacio and Lucy del Rosario. Leo
will be sadly missed by his cousins, nieces, nephews, relatives and
countless friends in the Philippines and abroad.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Irineo and Consuelo, two sisters, Betty and Deling, and brother Banny.
In lieu of flowers, memorials are suggested to Butte Symphony
Association, PO Box 725, Butte, MT 59703, Covenant United Methodist
Church, 2330 E. Broadway St. Helena, MT 59601 and Helena Lions Club
Foundation PO Box 1077 Helena, MT 59624-1077.
Graveside services will take place at 11 a.m. on Saturday, November 21st at Resurrection Cemetery. The family is planning a Celebration of Leo’s Life next year at a time to be determined.
It’s been a month since my Papa passed away. Thank you for your condolences and kind words. My family would like to share with you something we wrote about my Papa. We hope it will inspire you or at the least put a smile on your faces. Here it goes:
Last October 23rd we lost our dear Juan S. P. Hidalgo Jr. – Gayyem (friend) to his wife Namnama, Papa to his three daughters, Lolo to his six grandchildren, Johnny and Manong Johnny to many. Active for most of his 84 years, his age finally caught up with him. While we terribly miss him and feel that his brilliant light passed away too quickly, we cannot feel sad for long if we remember how he lived. Our Papa is one happy person and he spread his happiness around. It may be because he became who he wanted to be – a highly-accomplished writer, a beloved writing mentor, a family man, a painter, and a treasure hunter.
Born in 1936 to an entrepreneur and an English teacher, his early life was very comfortable. He spent his happy childhood in Rosales, Pangasinan – swimming in the Agno River, joining his grandfather down the farm, and after the war, frequenting the cinemas. Back home, he gathered his elders and cousins in the family yard and excitedly shared with them the films he just watched. At 10 years old, his family saw in him an excellent storyteller. And storytelling he did his whole life.
He spent his high school years in Manila, frequently moving houses to follow where his mother taught. At 15 years old, he entered the University of the Philippines in Diliman, first as a pre-med student, much to his protest, and later on as an English major. He joined the UP Vanguard, thinking of becoming a soldier like his Peralta relatives. While at the university, he studied the writings of British, European and American writers. He finished writing his first novel, written in English.
A series of unfortunate events in his family life, that left them from extremely rich to dirt poor, made him promise to himself to be the kindest person to his future wife, children and to others. Penniless and to make ends meet, he made money as a film extra in many films of LVN Pictures and other studios. He was very often in film sets and with his movie star looks, film students started interviewing him too. But becoming a famous actor was not his dream, for he just wanted to be a writer and a painter.
For about five years he worked as a warehouseman for the national power plant in Montalban. In the peace of the wilderness, where his neighbors were the nomadic Dumagats, he continued writing and started submitting his Iloco writings to Bannawag. After two published stories to his name, he was hired as a proofreader for the magazine. In magazine publishing he found his place, later on becoming a Literary Editor, Circulation Manager and Managing Editor. He wrote prolifically, for which he received recognition as an outstanding writer in Iloco. At Bannawag, he discovered his love for mentoring new writers. He coached them, even demanded that they find their own voice. Papa was during his whole life committed to GUMIL, an organization of Ilocano writers he founded in 1968. Up until when he was almost 80 and could hardly read anymore, for he suffered from an incurable eye condition, he was a writing mentor in the yearly Ilocano writers workshop. He always looked forward to inspiring new and struggling writers.
His happiest times included his years as part of the UP Campus Sunday Painting Group in the late 1970s. He went around UP Campus with his good friends Alejandrino G. Hufana and Zeus A. Salazar. Many painters joined them. It was quite a sight to see them with paintbrushes and sketch pads, painting along the UP Lagoon and various places around the campus.
Papa lived a very creative life. He never got materially rich – he never found any Yamashita treasure – yet his life was culturally rich. It was made even richer by his sense of curiosity, openness and deep spirituality. For him there is something interesting in everyone. He listened without prejudgments. If he cannot talk to people, he was just as happy to observe them from afar.
He was able to do much because he kept to simple values. Integrity being one. If you sacrifice your integrity – stole from someone or accepted a bribe – no matter how rich or powerful you become, you are still a nobody. Family is most important. Whatever recognition you receive, at the end of the day it is still your family that counts most. Kindness, openness, respect and curiosity about others are what drove him. These made life worthy for him and, hopefully, for the ones who were lucky enough to have known him.
Professor Aurora Roxas-Lim, former dean of the Asian Center, University of the Philippines Diliman, passed away on 16 November 2020. She was 84.
A literature major and art historian by training, Professor Roxas-Lim, or Roxy, as colleagues knew her, wrote much on Southeast Asian art, history, culture, religion, and maritime societies. Her writings span six decades, and cover an impressive breadth, from art and cultural exchange to Philippine history and Chinese Studies. These include:
Chinese Pottery as a Basis for the Study of Philippine Proto-History (1966)
Buddhism in Early Southeast Asia (1973)
Art in Ifugao Society (1973)
Caves and Bathing Places in Java as Evidence of Cultural Accommodation (1983)
The evidence of ceramics as an aid in understanding the pattern of trade in the Philippines and Southeast Asia (1987)
Salvador P. Lopez: A Biographical Sketch (1990)
Irrigation systems in Java and Bali during the classical period :
their social significance (1994, co-authored with Hasan Muarif Ambary)
Rethinking Area Studies (1997)
The Ideas of Gregorio Sancianco: A Blueprint for Economic Development in the 19th-Century Philippines (1998)
Apolinario Mabini and the Establishment of the National Church (1999)
Marine Adaptations and Ecological Transformation: the Case of the Bajau and Samalan Communities (2000)
Cultural Exchanges between the Muslim and Christian Worlds: Focus on the Philippines (2002)
Historical and Cultural Significance of Admiral Zheng He’s Ocean Voyages (2003)
SPAFA, a Vehicle for Regional Cultural Cooperation: a Review of Its Achievements (n.d., coauthored with Djasponi)
Traditional Boatbuilding and Philippine Maritime Culture (n.d)
China’s Economic Development Assistance to the Philippines: A Preliminary Assessment (2013)
Marine-Oriented Sama-Bajao People and Their Search for Human Rights (2017)
Implications of China’s Belt and Road Initiative on the Philippines (2019)
Professor Lim was “one of the earliest faculty members recruited” into the Institute of Asian Studies—which was established in the University in 1955 and which later became the UP Asian Center. In such a capacity, she belonged to the first-generation of area studies practitioners in the Philippines. Her 1997 essay—written a few years before she retired from university service—is only one of several essays that have aimed to define theorize the field in late-20th-century Philippines. Drawing on thirty-years of teaching at the UP Asian Center, she writes that area studies seeks:
To train experts and other specialists who possess in-depth knowledge and understanding of the peoples, languages, cultures, history, social, economic and political institutions and processes, etc. of a country, region or area of specialization, and who will undertake sustained research on them, so that they will be consistently prepared to respond to issues and problems that may arise in our relations with these countries, regions or areas; (2) To promote better understanding and friendship with the people of the country, region or area of one’s specialization in order to help create a congenial climate of opinion for our nation; (3) To enable us to have mutually beneficial economic, political, cultural and people-to-people relations with that country, region or area…… ….An Area Studies program which seeks to understand societies, and peoples, as well as their history, traditions, languages and literature, rather than their political and economic affairs alone, can help in this direction. By enabling one to gain an insight of other peoples and societies, Area Studies can develop one’s ability to compare different peoples and cultures. At the same time, it can provide the impetus for reexamining one’s own culture. In turn, the insights gained from such effort can serve as an important corrective not only to various forms of chauvinism, prejudice and discrimination, but to the cynical manipulation of people whether for political, religious or pecuniary ends, as what occurred during the Cold War.
To train experts and other specialists who possess in-depth knowledge and understanding of the peoples, languages, cultures, history, social, economic and political institutions and processes, etc. of a country, region or area of specialization, and who will undertake sustained research on them, so that they will be consistently prepared to respond to issues and problems that may arise in our relations with these countries, regions or areas; (2) To promote better understanding and friendship with the people of the country, region or area of one’s specialization in order to help create a congenial climate of opinion for our nation; (3) To enable us to have mutually beneficial economic, political, cultural and people-to-people relations with that country, region or area……
….An Area Studies program which seeks to understand societies, and peoples, as well as their history, traditions, languages and literature, rather than their political and economic affairs alone, can help in this direction. By enabling one to gain an insight of other peoples and societies, Area Studies can develop one’s ability to compare different peoples and cultures. At the same time, it can provide the impetus for reexamining one’s own culture.
In turn, the insights gained from such effort can serve as an important corrective not only to various forms of chauvinism, prejudice and discrimination, but to the cynical manipulation of people whether for political, religious or pecuniary ends, as what occurred during the Cold War.
In the early 1970s, Professor Roxas-Lim was already Assistant Professor of Oriental Arts at the Asian Center. She contributed to an understanding of Ifugao Art amidst the modernization of the Philippine society. For her article, “Art in Ifugao Society,” she conducted field work in 1966, and her research provided “instructive” results. Delfin Tolentino writes that her study:
introduces an important theme: that in the mid-60s the Ifugao already knew that they were no longer confined to a social formation defined exclusively by the agricultural cycle and its accompanying social practices—like the world outside, their society had changed, and they must contend with its new requirements. Thus, the making of objects not associated with agrarian life signifies not only a new sphere of production but also a new way of re-shaping their identity as stipulated by new conditions within and without.
Professor Roxas-Lim was Curator of the U.P. Vargas Museum from 1988 to 1994, and Deputy Director of the Special Project in Archeology and Fine Arts (SPAFA) of the Southeast Asia Ministries of Education (SEAMEO) from 1985 to 1986. She later served as Dean of the UP Asian Center from 1994 to 1997, and retired from the University of the Philippines by 2000.
In many ways, her book, Southeast Asian Art and Culture: Ideas, Forms, and Societies represents the culmination of a lifelong dedication to the field. It was published in 2005 by the ASEAN Committee on Culture and Information.
The diverse cultures of Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, the ten countries of the ASEAN region, evolved basic artistic forms and expressions that closely interface with their history, society and religion. This publication is the result of discussions and exchanges among representative scholars of the ASEAN countries on presenting Southeast Asian art and culture from a contextual Asian perspective. It shows art and culture across Southeast Asia drawing from similar and yet locally distinct mythical and religious beliefs, cultural traditions, cycles of migrations, trade and political change
Even after her retirement from the University of the Philippines, Professor Roxas-Lim continued to be active in the academe, writing articles and essays, taking part of conferences, and lecturing on Chinese Studies at the Ateneo de Manila University, where she handled courses on Science an Technology in China and Chinese Art and Society. She served as President of the Philippine Association for Chinese Studies from 2001 to 2006.
Just a few months ago, she penned two essays, “US concerned with China-Europe advanced quantum research” for the Manila Times and “COVID-19 Pandemic: Lessons Learned—Analysis” for the Eurasia Review. In October 2018, she gave a lecture, “Ancient Balanghai: A Story of Filipino Seamanship and Maritime Trade” at the 4th National Forum on Philippine Maritime Heritage. And among her last public presentations was a lecture, “Filipino Seamanship and Maritime Trade and Culture,” as part of a webinar, “The Balangay through the Lens of Philippine Maritime History and Boat Culture,” where she:
focused on movements by sea and stated that the Austronesian peoples, including those in the Philippines, were expert boat builders and navigators who ventured across the oceans including to China and thus, established trade routes. The long Filipino tradition of seafaring only ceased after colonizers disrupted inter-island trade and fostered religious hostility.
Professor Aurora Roxas-Lim took up English Literature at the University of the Philippines, and finished in 1959 her Master of Arts in General Studies of the Humanities (combining Literature and Art History) at the University of Chicago.
The
UP Law Alumni community mourns the demise of Judge Ma. Teresa S.
Abadilla, Class of 2002, who took to heart the principles we hold dear —
honor, excellence, and service. Her tragic death, while in the line of
duty, heightens our collective grief.
May her family, friends, and loved ones find peace and comfort amidst this painful and untimely loss.
Engineer Benjamin S. Luna, one of the very few remaining alumni of the first batch that graduated in UP Diliman when it moved from Padre Faura, peacefully passed away last October 18, 2020 at the age of 95.
He entered Diliman after getting his diploma as Valedictorian from a private school in Lipa despite not completing the year when the school closed at the onset of World War 2 in December 1942. He spent the wartime years in Padre Faura, transferring to Diliman towards the end of his college life and was one of the first to graduate from Diliman in 1949.
Engineer Luna taught mathematics at private schools in his hometowns of Lipa City and San Jose. He started a well drilling business at a young age and was a founding Chair of the Lipa City Water District, now the Metro Lipa Water District, which garnered multiple awards for good coverage and fiscal management from its inception.
He also founded several companies that went on to provide the most basic of needs – water. Semana-Luna Drilling and Construction Company served the needs of Southern Tagalog for decades. He was founding Chair and President of General Trias Water Corporation at the time of his death.
Several other companies engaged in financing and agribusiness benefitted from his entrepreneurial skills and savvy and continued to provide Southern Tagalog with primary needs.
Engineer Luna was well known for his sunny disposition, modesty, humor and sharp intellect and problem-solving abilities as well as a devotion to his family that extended to the larger clan.
He is survived by his wife Violeta Garcia, six children including UP alumni Maria Paz Luna (AB Psych 1986 and Law 1990) and Dr. Benjamin G. Luna Jr (BS Biology 1977), grandchildren and great-granchildren.
We at the UP Los Baños College of Development Communication (UPLB CDC) are crestfallen at the passing of Dr. Nora Cruz Quebral on Saturday, 24 October 2020. She was 94.
We mourn the loss of an esteemed educator, institution builder, colleague, mentor, mother, and friend. Though difficult this time may be, we take this opportunity to commemorate a life well-lived, with a smile.
A Filipina communications scholar, Dr. Quebral is world-renowned as a veritable pillar of development communication. Her 1971 seminal paper “Development Communication in the Agricultural Context” is one of the first written works on this field of practice. Moreover, Dr. Quebral founded the first faculty of development communication in Asia. From a lean department to a growing institute to a full-fledged college, UPLB CDC became the first institution in the world to offer a three-tiered academic program in development communication. The Devcom Los Baños school of thought is well-attributed to Dr. Quebral, among other eminent forebears.
A Professor Emeritus of development communication at UPLB, Dr. Quebral earned her PhD in Communication from the University of Illinois and her MS in Agricultural Journalism from the University of Wisconsin. Her journey in the academe began at the UPLB College of Agriculture where she served as editor of the Philippine Agriculturist. Soon after, she chaired the Office of Extension and Publications and the various departments from which UPLB CDC would emerge.
In recognition of her invaluable contributions to the field of development communication, Dr. Quebral was conferred an honorary doctorate by the London School of Economics in 2011. It was during the Honorary Doctorate Celebration Seminar that Dr. Quebral delivered her lecture “Devcom Los Baños Style.” To borrow some lines from her paper:
While Dr. Quebral is no longer with us, her legacy lives on. Her passing only inspires us to honor her memory by enriching the practice of Devcom Los Baños Style. Armed with new knowledge, skills, and tools, we remain ever true to our roots of harnessing the power of communication to better the lives of disadvantaged communities. For the meaningful decades we have shared with her and her with us, we pay tribute to Dr. Nora Cruz Quebral—without whom our institution and, perhaps more importantly, the field of development communication would not have flourished.
It is with deep sadness that UP Manila announces the passing of Dr. Ricardo M. Salonga of the UP College of Medicine Class 1973 during this COVID-19 pandemic due to complications of his chronic illness…
You may choose not to have a unique web analytics cookie identification number assigned to your computer to avoid the aggregation and analysis of data collected on this website.
To make that choice, please click below to receive an opt-out cookie.
