iAmUPHi and UPAA Iloilo Chapter donate to WVSU-MC

Ms. Anna Razel Ramirez

iAmUPHi’s and UP Alumni Association – Iloilo Chapter’s UP Fight Team turned-over three desktops and a computer printer to West Visayas State University Medical Center on November 7, 2020.

These gadgets came from UPHSI alumni and their friends’ donations through the iamUPHi “Fight for Frontliners” campaign. This campaign started in March 2020 when the region and the rest of the world battled with the Covid-19 pandemic. The efforts of the group continue up to now.

iAmUPHi batch representatives Marge Tamayo (UPHSI Batch 2004) and Dr. Aretha Gacutan (UPHSI Batch 1984) received the donations, which were then handed over to Dr. Dave Gelito, Chief of Hospital, WVSU Medical Center. The units will be used at the molecular laboratory of the soon-to-open COVID-19 Testing Laboratory of the WVSU-MC headed by Dr. Anna Sombong. Dr. Joselito Villaruz, a UPV alumnus and President of West Visayas State University, lauded this move and sent his appreciation to the UP Fight Team. 

Source: www.upv.edu.ph

#SamaSamaTulongTulong Bicol Relief Operations

Inilunsad ng University of the Philippines, kasama ang UP Resilience Institute, Ugnayan ng Pahinungod, UP Diliman College of Human Kinetics, UP Fighting Maroons, nowhere to go but UP at UP Fighting Maroons, ang #SamaSamaTulongTulong Bicol Region Relief Operations upang tulungan ang ating mga kababayan sa Bicol sa gitna ng sunod-sunod na pananalasa ng mga bagyo.

Para sa mga in-kind donations, maaari lamang po na magtungo sa MBT Coaches’ Lounge sa UP Diliman College of Human Kinetics. Handa ang ating mga volunteers upang tumanggap ng donasyon hanggang Sabado, Nobyembre 14, 8-5PM. Makipag-ugnayan kay Sheryl Ladublan sa 09171902094.

Para sa tulong pinansyal, bukas ang sumusunod na channels:PayMaya at GCash (09278692946)PayPal (https://www.paypal.me/bagyongrolly2020)BPI (NowheretogobutUP Foundation, Inc., Account Number 0993-0113-39).

Ipadala sa Viber (09278692946) o sa [email protected] ang transaction receipt. Maraming salamat po!

Source: UP Public Service FB page

Gonzales is the New Alumni Director

Ms. Anna Razel Ramirez

Prof. Rey Carlo T. Gonzales has been appointed Director of the UP Visayas Office of Alumni Relations, beginning November 1, 2020.

Prof. Gonzales is an alumnus of UP Visayas. He joined UPV in 1996 as a high school student at the UP High School in Iloilo. He took his Bachelor of Arts in History at UPV Miagao and proceeded to UP Diliman for his MA History degree. He has been teaching as a professor of History under the Division of Social Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences since 2007. Under the UP System’s Doctorate Studies Fund, he took his Ph.D. in History at the University of Manchester in England and returned to service in 2015. Between 2015 and 2020, he served under the Office of Student Affairs as the Coordinator of Student Organizations and Activities.

Dr. Gonzales will serve a three-year term under the administration of Chancellor Clement C. Camposano.

Source: https://www.upv.edu.ph/index.php/news/gonzales-is-the-new-alumni-director

UPV CM Alumni Batch ‘93 Turns Over Donation to ISKompyuter Drive

Mr. GC Castro

UP Visayas College of Management (UPV CM) alumni batch Bluechips93 turned over to UPV its donation in support of ISKompyuter Drive last October 21, 2020, at the New CM Lobby, UPV Iloilo City campus. 

Bluechips93 gave 10 tablets, ranging from 8-inch to 10-inch, amounting to Php77,900. The tablets were intended to be for the use of UPV CM’s students. The alumni batch chose three accountancy students, two marketing students, and five management students to be the beneficiaries. 

UPV CM Dean Prof. Arthur Barrido, Jr. was present to receive the donation, along with the student beneficiaries. College Secretary Prof. John Lorenz Belanio, college organization advisers Prof. Christopher Honorario, Prof. Charis Bautista, and Office of Alumni Relations (OAR) OIC-Director Prof. Maria Theresa Albaña were also there for the event. Bluechips93 was represented by Ms. Jennifer Koa-Chua, Ms. Milyn Leghid, and Ms. Arllene Castro.

UPV’s ISKompyuter Drive is UPV’s call to its alumni and other benevolent benefactors to help support UPV students this school year to cope with the demands of remote learning. The fund drive is in line with UP System’s Kaagapay sa Pag-aaral program.

For more information on ISKompyuter Drive, please contact the OAR via messenger (facebook.com/upvoar), email ([email protected]), or landline (033-3368837).

More photos here: https: //www.facebook.com/U.P.Visayas.Official/
Photos by: GC Castro/OAR and Alven Polido/IPO

Source: https://www.upv.edu.ph

UPAAGLA President’s Fall 2020 Message

Happy Filipino American History Month to all of my fellow UPAAGLA Members!

Gratitude:  The most important word of 2020.  I am very grateful in all aspects of my life including the roof over my head, the food on my table, and most especially my health.

In terms of UPAAGLA, I am sincerely appreciative of all of YOU, my fellow UP alums, for your generosity of time and treasure through these very trying times.

To date, we have collectively raised $12,501.51 towards the Kaagapay Laptop Fundraising campaign of our alma mater.  We already disbursed $10,600 at the beginning of September and will disburse the additional $1901.51 before the end of October. 

Out of the $19,000 donation accounted for outside of the Philippines by the University, $10,600 of that came from our initial UPAAGLA collective donation.  Hats off to all of you for helping in this global campaign and setting a great example for other alums to follow as we continue with our fundraising efforts for this major initiative. 

Please check the Home Page of our website to see the most updated list of Donors.  www.upaagla.org

Taos puso akong nagpapasalamat sa inyong lahat!

With that being said, I am very excited to share with you two upcoming events. As part of our goal to raise the profile of UP alums in our community, and timely during the Fil-Am History Month of October, we have organized the following FREE events.

Thursday, October 29 – UPAAGLA Symposium Series #1– Explore. Empower. Excel.

Saturday, October 31 – UPAAGLA Presents Filipinx:  Re-Discovered. Re-Imagined.

We look forward to seeing all of you on October 29 and October 31.  Scroll down for details and to register today!

Thank you to our media partners who helped us promote these two events: TFC, Asian Journal, Philippine Post, and Pilipino Express.

On another note, we are planning for our last UPAAGLA event of 2020, our virtual Christmas/Holiday Party, set for Saturday, December 19, 2020.  Stay tuned for details.

We have extended the Call for Nomination to our very first UPAAGLA Awards Program.  Please check out www.upaagla.org/awards for details.

Please scroll down below to see the list of UPAAGLA members who have joined us since January 2019.  Thank you for supporting our alumni association through your annual and life membership.  

Lastly, I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to my incredible Dream Team, the 2019-2021 UPAAGLA Executive Officers and Board Members, who volunteer their time, effort, and resources to make this pandemic year a very productive one in spite of it.  Special thanks go to our UPAAGLA members who have stepped up to volunteer as well to work on our Committees.

We are a very resilient bunch.  It is in our DNA as Iskolar ng Bayan. 

Maraming Salamat!

Ingat,

Ethel G. Rubio
President
2019-2021

Virtual Memories


TOP PHOTO:  Souvenir from our Virtual Tambayan held in August 2020.
BOTTOM PHOTO:  Virtual Board meeting held in July 2020.

EXTENDED!!!  Please nominate a deserving UP alum in the UPAAGLA coverage area (from Kern County to Orange County).  www.upaagla.org/awards

Invite a fellow UP alum to join today and share this link to complete the online application form: www.upaagla.org/join

We Continue to Make a Difference!!!

December 2019:  $1,000 from our Endowment Fund to the UP Mindanao Earthquake Relief Efforts.

January 2020:  $1,000 from our Endowment Fund to the UP Emergency Relief Efforts – Taal Eruption

March 2020:  $2,000 from our Endowment Fund to the UP Stranded Students in UP Los Banos and UP Visayas.
April 2020:  $2,200 to the Beta Epsilon COVID-19 UP PGH HazMat Suit Project. ($1,000 from our Endowment Fund and $1,200 private donation)

September 2020:  $10,600 to the Kaagpay sa Pag-Aaral global campaign from direct donations from UP alumni, family, and friends.

Additionally, we disbursed $1,000 to the UP College of Engineering towards the Thesis Senior Grant in October 2019, and $5,000 to the UP Main Library towards the Laptop Lending Program in September 2020 per allocation from the UPAAGLA funds raised by the 2017-2019 Board of Directors.

Join UPAAGLA at www.upaagla.org/join



Meet One UPV’s Officers and Board Members

We are thrilled to introduce the Board of Directors and Officers of the One UPV Foundation. These alumni of the various colleges of UP in the Visayas bring years of experience and leadership to help the Foundation in achieving its goal to provide scholarships for deserving UP in the Visayas students. To know more about the members of our Board of Directors and Officers, please visit our website, www.oneupvusa.org.

Source: One UPV Foundation USA FB page

Filipino grad student wins prestigious $50,000 Canadian prize

By: Teodoro ‘Ted’ Alcuitas@inquirerdotnet

EDMONTON, Alberta — A Filipino graduate student is one of two recipients of the prestigious Dorothy J. Killam Memorial Graduate Prize.

University of the Philippines Los Baños alumnus Albert Remus Rosana will receive $50,000 over the next two years to support his graduate studies. (Univ. of Alberta)
University of the Philippines Los Baños alumnus Albert Remus Rosana will receive $50,000 over the next two years to support his graduate studies. (Univ. of Alberta)

Albert Remus Rosana and Cassandra Wilkinson will each receive $50,000 over the next two years to support their studies.

Recognition with the Dorothy J. Killam Memorial Graduate Prize is a testament to a graduate student’s academic achievement and research.

Working under the supervision of John Vederas in the Department of Chemistry, Rosana is looking for new ways to stop the spread of mountain pine beetles in Western Canada and beyond.

The University of the Philippines Los Baños alumnus and international student says the funding will further support him in completing several ongoing national and international collaborative projects.

He says the financial support will help focus on key priority projects such as the completion of the mountain pine beetle mitigation project as well as several international microbial systematics and agricultural microbiology projects.

Rosana is the lead graduate student working on the development of a promising new approach for controlling the spread of the mountain pine beetle epidemic that threatens not only the Western Canadian pine tree forest but the whole country’s forest ecosystem.

Canada’s forest is an integral part of the Earth’s ecosystem as it influences the climate, contributes to CO2 uptake, provides wildlife habitat and clean water. Economically, it accounted for $19.8 billion of Canada’s gross domestic product in 2013. This ecosystem is now threatened by the invasive mountain pine beetle as the insect crosses species barrier in the Rocky Mountains and potentially all the way to the East Coast if not mitigated.

One promising alternative is the use of insect-killing molds like Beauveria bassiana. The elucidation and engineering of the unique beetle aggregation pheromones pathways into the mold will result in a targeted fatal attraction. A scenario where a mold-infected dead beetle will now produce the pheromone and will attract only the mountain pine beetles and a cascade of fatal attraction is expected.

Rosana finished his degree in Microbiology at the University of the Philippines Los Banos in 2005.

He garnered multiple awards for academic excellence in the Philippines as well as in Canada.

Source: Inquirer.net

Low-cost COVID-19 test developer among 11 Filipinos in top 100 Asian scientists

Anjo Bagaoisan, ABS-CBN News
Filipinos in 2020 Asian Scientist 100 list: Alicia Aguinaldo, Carlo Arcilla, Joselito R. Chavez, Raul Destura, Robert Dizon, Alonzo Gabriel, Susan Gallardo, Cleotilde Hidalgo-How, Emil Q. Javier, Emma Sales, and Raymond Tan. Compilation from Asian Scientist & DOST

MANILA – The scientist behind the Philippines’ first locally developed testing kit for COVID-19 is one of 11 other Filipinos recognized as part of Asia’s “most outstanding researchers” for the year by a regional science magazine.

The Asian Scientist magazine’s 100 list for 2020 also included 2 executive directors of Philippine science agencies and a National Scientist.

Dr. Raul Destura of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the University of the Philippines (UP) Manila was cited for creating the “faster, more affordable, accessible” Biotek-M dengue diagnostic aquakit.Game-changing Philippine-made COVID-19 test kits finally get FDA approval

Dubbed a “lab in a mug“, the Biotek-M can be used within an hour to detect dengue from the onset of a patient’s fever.

Destura’s work on the diagnostic kit since 2010 also landed him a 2019 presidential recognition.

Earlier this year, Destura led the NIH and the UP Philippine Genome Center in developing a local real-time Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (rRT-PCR) detection kit for COVID-19.

The GenAmplify test kit manufactured by Destura’s company Manila HealthTek, Inc. was touted to be a cheaper alternative to imported tests in the drive to test more Filipinos for the coronavirus.Meet the Filipino scientist who invented the low-cost COVID-19 testing kits

While initially recalled due to raw material contamination, the UP-developed testing kit was declared ready for commercial use by the Department of Health (DOH) in July.UP-developed test kits ready for commercial use: DOH

DOST EXECS IN LIST

Also part of the Asian Scientist’s “best and brightest” list are Robert Dizon and Carlo Arcilla, who head two agencies under the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).

Dizon, executive director of the DOST Metals Industry Research and Development Center (DOST-MIRDC), received the Mario Cruel Award for his work on the torque mode configuration for the multiple variable frequency drives that came to be used in 3 DOST transportation projects: the Hybrid Electric Train, the Automated Guideway Transit System, and the Hybrid Electric Road Train.

Arcilla, meanwhile, heads the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI). He received the Gregorio Zara Award for his contributions in mineral resource development, water management, and peaceful nuclear energy applications in the country.

National Scientist Emil Javier was recognized for his pioneering work as a plant geneticist and agronomist. Aside from his promotion of innovations for farmers and fisherfolk, Javier was also cited for academic leadership, having been president of the UP.

Other Filipino scientists in the 2020 list are:

  • Alicia Aguinaldo of the University of Santo Tomas
  • Emma Sales of the University of Southern Mindanao
  • Cleotilde Hidalgo-How of UP Manila
  • Joselito Chavez of the National Kidney and Transplant Institute
  • The late Alonzo Gabriel of UP Diliman
  • Raymond Tan of De La Salle University
  • Susan Gallardo of De La Salle University.

This year’s list also has 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry recipient Akira Yoshino of Japan, creator of the first commercially viable lithium-ion battery in 1985.

The Asian Scientist 100 list recognizes researchers from Asia who received a national or international prize in the preceding year for their research.

The list’s honorees may also be included for having “made a significant scientific discovery or provided leadership in academia or industry.”

Since the list was formed in 2016, 42 Filipinos have already been included.

Source: ABS-CBN News

Outstanding UPLB alumni recognized at virtual Loyalty Day awarding ceremony

Attendees in the 102nd UPLB Loyalty Day Recognition Program for Outstanding Alumni may have missed the warmth of handshakes and embraces that symbolize felicitations and gratitude among fellow alumni. But with it being held virtually and streamed via Facebook and YouTube, more UPLB alumni in various time zones and places were able to root for their former classmates and peers as they received their trophies.

More than  80 alumni were honored under different awards categories at this year’s Loyalty Day, which was held entirely online in conjunction with the limitations imposed by the on-going COVID-19 pandemic.

Agriculture Secretary William Dar, (PhD Horticulture ’80), led the awardees as the recipient of the UPLB Alumni Association (UPLBAA) Presidential Award.

“This award holds a special meaning for me, as it comes from an institution that helped mold me into a public servant that I am today, one who strives to live by the example of excellent, faithful, honorable servant leadership,” Dr. Dar said in his message of acceptance.

He went on to say how the recognition has imbued him with a greater sense of purpose as he leads the country’s agriculture sector in its new strategies to address the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on food production and distribution systems.

Meanwhile, eight were recognized as The Outstanding UPLB Alumni Awardees (TOUAA). They were Fabian G. Espiritu (BSA ’59), for agribusiness and food processing; Dr. Manuel L. Logroño, (MS Agro ’84), for innovative management and social entrepreneurship; and Hon. Isidro T. Ungab (BSAECO ’83), for public sector governance.

Also hailed as TOUAA were Roel Z. Castro (BSAB ’88), for corporate governance; Engr. Romeo E. Capuno, Jr.  (BSChE ’95), for global corporate management; Dr. Juan M. Pulhin (BSF ’81, MSF ’87), for exemplary accomplishments in forestry and forest governance; and Atty. Rommel A. Gecolea (MPAf 2013), for good governance and public service.

The eighth TOUAA was Ambassador Bernardita L. Catalla (BACA ’79), who was recognized posthumously for her contributions in foreign service and diplomatic relations.

Meanwhile, seven were named as Outstanding Golden Jubilarians from Class 1970 for their outstanding professional achievements.

They were entrepreneurs and business executives  Dr. Isaias G. Lumanta Jr. (BSA); UP Regent Francis C. Laurel (BSA); Capt. Mauro W. Barradas (BSA); and Nilo A. FlorCruz (BSAgChem); and public service and international development leaders Dr. Ida F. Dalmacio (BSA, MS Plant Path ’72); Dr. Cristino M. Collado (BSA); and Dr. Teresa H. Stuart Guida (BSHT, MS DC ’79, PhD DC ’85).

This year’s Nelia Gonzalez Alumni Service Awardee was Dr. Florendo C. Quebral (BSA ’55, MS Plant Path ’63).

Outstanding Golden Jubilarians Capt. Barradas and Regent Laurel, as well as Crisanto S. Gualberto II (BSA ’62) were given Special Awards for spearheading the annual Prelude to Loyalty Day festivity since 2001, except this year because of the pandemic.

The ceremony also recognized 46 College Distinguished Alumni awardees across 10 colleges and school alumni associations. They were from the College of Agriculture and Food Science, College of Arts and Sciences, College of Development Communication, College of Economics and Management, College of Engineering and Agro-Industrial Technology, College of Forestry and Natural Resources, College of Human Ecology, College of Public Affairs and Development, College of Veterinary Medicine, and the School of Environmental Science and Management.

The Aguiero-Panopio Family with 5 UPLB alumni among them; Catahan Family with 7; Lawas Family with 4; Platon Family with 6; Robles-Sundo Family with 5; and Laurel Family with 4 were given the Multi-Generation UPLB Alumni recognition for producing at least three generations of UPLB graduates in their families.

In his inspirational message, Chancellor Fernando C. Sanchez, Jr. expressed his appreciation for the generosity that the alumni have demonstrated to UPLB and called upon them for their continued support amidst the changes and challenges of the new normal.

“As we face fresh and more complex challenges of the new normal, I would like to stress the need for mutual assistance and support. I am confident that just as we have done in the past, we will overcome these challenges given the history of respect and commitment to public service we have consistently shared,” Chancellor Sanchez ended. (Jessa Jael S. Arana)

Source: https://uplb.edu.ph/all-news/outstanding-uplb-alumni-recognized-at-virtual-loyalty-day-awarding-ceremony/