UPM grads top Pharmacy licensure exam, College gets 100% passing rate

By Arlyn VCD Palisoc Romualdo



Five UP Manila (UPM) College of Pharmacy (UPCP) graduates were among the top ten passers of the April 2022 Pharmacist Licensure Examination, garnering the first, second, third, eighth, and ninth places.

The College also registered a 100 percent passing rate with 46 successful examinees. It was the top-performing school.

Adriel Luigi Coseip (BS Industrial Pharmacy, 2021, cum laude) earned the number one spot with 91.63%.

Anjila Bianca Aala (BS Industrial Pharmacy, 2020, cum laude) was in second place with 91.40%.

Elizabeth Anne Dela Cruz (BS Pharmacy, 2020) occupied number three with 90.45%.

Theresse Aireen Evangelista (BS Pharmacy, 2020, cum laude) was in eighth place with 89.75%.

Finally, Ma. Lourdes Pecunda (BS Industrial Pharmacy, 2019) finished ninth with 89.57%. UPM was also the top-performing school in the June and November 2021 exams, with 100% and 98.18% passing rates. Five UPCP graduates were also on the lists of top ten finishers in both 2021 exams.

In June 2021, they were at numbers two, three, five, seven, and nine. In November 2021, they finished in first, second, fifth, seventh, and ninth places. The conduct of the 2020 Pharmacist Licensure Examinations, among others, was postponed by the Professional Regulation Commission due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

National Artist Ryan Cayabyab leads 2021 UPAA awardees

Written by Jo. Florendo B. Lontoc

Maestro Ryan Cayabyab, National Artist for Music [2nd from left], receives his UPAA Most Distinguished Alumnus 2021 award from UP Vice President for Public Affairs Elena Pernia [extreme left], UP Alumni Regent and UPAA President Reynaldo Laserna [2nd from right], and UPAA Board Member Romeo Nones [extreme right]. Photo by Jonathan Madrid (UP MPRO).

National Artist for Music Raymundo Cipriano “Ryan” Cayabyab was named 2021 Most Distinguished Alumnus by the University of the Philippines Alumni Association (UPAA). Thirty-three other alumni, one organization, and five families received recognition for lifetime achievement, contribution to their fields, and service and loyalty to the University at a dinner ceremony on May 19, 2022, at the UP Ang Bahay ng Alumni in UP Diliman.

Recognized for their lifetime achievements were nurse-educator Phoebe Cabotaje-Andes, Justice Francis Jardeleza, Architect Antonio Turalba, and an agriculturist-academician, Dr. Reynaldo Villareal.

Named distinguished alumni were: Henry Rhoel Aguda for banking innovation; Dr. Julie Caguiat for community development; Dr. Leonora Angeles for community planning; Cecilia Cayosa-Borromeo for corporate governance in banking and finance; Engr. Jose Maria Ochave for corporate governance in the pharmaceutical industry; Dr. Edgardo Manguiat for music; and Florencio Louis Antonio Quintos for theater.

The next batch of distinguished alumni awardees includes Dr. Eligia Clemente for educational innovation; Engr. Ramon Allado for engineering and construction management; Engr. Raymund Arnold Albert for entrepreneurship and employment creation; Prof. Herman Mendoza for environmental conservation and sustainable development; Atty. Generoso Calonge and Atty. Jaime Victor Ledda for foreign service; Ramon Eleuterio Alikpala for water governance; and Santa Rosa, Laguna Mayor Arlene Arcillas and Andrea Domingo for good governance.

The large hall in Ang Bahay ng Alumni comes alive once again as the UPAA honors this year’s jubilarians and crop of Distinguished Alumni awardees. Photo by Jonathan Madrid (UP MPRO).

The third batch consisted of Dr. Rodrigo Angelo Ong and Evelyn Calica-Mayuga for humanitarian services; Dr. Herbert Gaisano for medical health research; Dr. Abraham Rasul, Jr. for overseas health professional empowerment; Dr. Manuel Vallesteros for public health promotion; Sen. Pilar Juliana Cayetano for public service; Atty. Roberto Rafael Lucila for legal empowerment and development; and Eleanor Guerrero-Campbell for public service for the welfare of Filipino migrants and urban planning and innovation.

Mia Joy Oallares-Cawed is the awardee for legal development and empowerment in protecting women and children; Prof. Reynaldo Libunao Garcia for molecular biology; Dr. Armand Salvador Mijares for archaeology Engr. Francisco Arellano, for water conservation and sustainable development.

Ethel Rubio of UPAA-Greater Los Angeles and the UPAA in America Inc. are UPAA awardees for Distinguished Service. The Uson-Noel family is the four-generation UPAA awardee. The Cariño, Papasin-Tapang, Pineda-Romero, and Turalba families are recognized for producing three unbroken generations of UP alumni.

UP President Danilo Concepcion gives a virtual toast in honor of the UPAA Distinguished Alumni awardees. Photo by Jonathan Madrid (UP MPRO).

The UPAA awards are traditionally held in conjunction with the organization’s annual general alumni homecoming. This year’s jubilarians were Batches ’96, ’81, ’71, and ’61. Because of the pandemic, their presentations were videotaped.

The first face-to-face awarding ceremony during the COVID-19 pandemic was also an opportunity to hand over the trophies and plaques to the 2020 UPAA awardees, the UP health front-liners represented by the UP constituent university chancellors. The UPAA decided to give an unprecedented collective award, the UPAA Most Distinguished Alumni Award, for their service in the face of the global pandemic.

UP President Danilo Concepcion, who hosted the event, sent a video message to the awardees. “This recognition from the UP Alumni Association is distinct. Your Alma Mater and your fellow alumni honor you for bringing pride and glory to UP and embodying the Tatak UP to the fullest,” he said.

Concepcion described the awardees as “heroes” and “exemplars.” “Our people, especially our UP students, need to see more demonstrations of the values to help them navigate this ‘new normal,” he pointed out.

Cayabyab described the award as “very special,” coming from the University where he lived since birth, the son of a College of Music faculty member and opera singer, studied from elementary to college, and taught for two decades.

“Malaki ang responsibilidad ng isang alumnus ng UP. . . . Hindi po natatapos ang paglilingkod nating mga isko at iska sa bayan. Ang alam ko, titigil lamang ang paglikha ko ng musika kapag ako’y patay na,” Cayabyab stressed. He made a point about UP alumni knowing how to sort through the mass information, lies, and errors online.

Source: https://up.edu.ph/national-artist-ryan-cayabyab-leads-2021-upaa-awardees/

PCC chair Arsenio Balisacan is Marcos’ pick for next Socioeconomic Planning chief

Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) Chairman Arsenio Balisacan speaks during an interview at Vertis North Corporate Center in Quezon City on April 10, 2019. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News/File


MANILA (UPDATE) – Presidential frontrunner Ferdinand Bongbong Marcos Jr on Monday said he has nominated Philippine Competition Commission chairperson Arsenio Balisacan to head the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).

Marcos said he worked with Balisacan “extensively” when he was still a governor.

Balisacan will replace outgoing NEDA director-general and Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua.

“I also tapped an old friend, who also was formerly in this position. Arci Balisacan who is our former NEDA and I’ve asked him to return to NEDA,” Marcos said.

“We have very similar thinking in that regard, kaya malakas ang loob ko. I know he’s very competent, I know his policies are policies that will be to the betterment of our country,” he added.

Balisacan said he has accepted Marcos’ offer.

“Upon the invitation of presumptive President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., I have decided to help meet the challenges of the economy as Secretary of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) in this important period of our economic history,” Balisacan said in a statement.

Balisacan was a former NEDA director-general and Socioeconomic Planning Secretary from 2012 to 2016.

“In returning to a post I have previously held, we rely on experience and judicious reckoning of socioeconomic issues to build stronger foundations for a more robust, more inclusive, and more resilient Philippine economy,” the incumbent PCC chair said.

He said he looks forward to working with the economic team and the private sector to bring back the country to its pre-pandemic high-growth trajectory, deliver rapid poverty reduction, and reduce socioeconomic inequality.

Balisacan served as Board Chairman of the Philippine Institute for Development Studies and as the first Board Chairperson of the Philippines Statistics Authority and the Public-Private Partnership Center of the Philippines, according to the PCC.

He also teaches development economics at the University of the Philippines.

Balisacan has a PhD in Economics from the University of Hawaii, MS n Agriculture from the University of the Philippines Los Baños and BS in Agriculture from the Mariano Marcos State University.

Marcos asked the public for “a few more days” to announce other nominees that would complete his economic team.

Source: https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/05/23/22/pcc-chair-balisacan-is-marcos-pick-for-next-neda-chief

CA’s Maria Filomena Singh is new Supreme Court justice

By CNN Philippines Staff



Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 18) — President Rodrigo has appointed Court of Appeals Justice Maria Filomena Singh as the newest Supreme Court justice on Wednesday.

Singh will be Duterte’s last appointee to the high court before he steps down as chief executive in June.

She will take over the post vacated by retired Associate Justice Estela Perlas-Bernabe who retired on May 14.

Singh graduated from the University of the Philippines with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English, before earning her Juris Doctor degree from the Ateneo de Manila University School of Law.

A statement from the Supreme Court said she obtained her Master of Laws in International Legal Studies at the Washington College of Law of the American University in Washington, D.C.

She was appointed as an associate justice to the Court of Appeals in 2014.

Singh will take her oath on May 18 and will become one of the longest serving Supreme Court justices before her mandatory retirement in 2036.

CNN Philippines’ Anjo Alimario contributed to this report.

Source: https://www.cnnphilippines.com/news/2022/5/18/maria-filomena-singh-supreme-court-justice.html

3 graduates share top spot in Civil Engineer Licensure Exam

THE Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) welcomed the 5,836 new civil engineers who passed the May 2022 Civil Engineer Licensure Examination out of the 13,781 who took it.

Three examinees — Arianne Joyce Dameg of the University of the Philippines Diliman, Archigine Labrador of the University of Saint Louis-Tuguegarao, and Jameson Glen Lim of Xavier University — shared the top spot, scoring 93.95 percent.

Meanwhile, the top-performing schools for the Civil Engineer Licensure Exam with 50 or more examinees and with at least an 80 percent passing rate were the University of the Philippines Los Baños (95 percent, 76 of 80 examinees passed), University of the Philippines Diliman (94.57 percent, 87 of 92 examinees passed), De La Salle University-Manila (89.47 percent, 119 of 133 examinees passed), University of Santo Tomas (85.94 percent, 165 of 192 examinees passed), University of San Carlos (85.39 percent, 76 of 89 examinees passed), and Ateneo de Davao University (82.93 percent, 68 of 82 examinees passed).

The list of successful examinees may be viewed on the PRC website at prc.gov.ph.

“The result of examination with respect to one examinee was withheld as per Board Resolution 3 dated May 11, 2022, and one examinee was withheld pending the final determination of his liabilities under the rules and regulations,” the commission noted.
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Results of the examination were released five days after the last day of examination held in Manila, Baguio, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Davao, Iloilo, Koronadal, Legazpi, Lucena, Pagadian, Pampanga, Rosales, Tacloban, Tuguegarao and Zamboanga.

The members of the Board of Civil Engineering who gave the licensure examination were Chairman Engr. Praxedes Bernardo, and Members Engr. Pericles Dakay and Engr. Romeo Estañero.

PRC reminded successful examinees to register online from June 8 to 19, 13 to 17, and 20 to 21 for the issuance of their Professional Identification Card (ID) and Certificate of Registration. They are also to personally register and sign in the Roster of Registered Professionals.

According to the commission, the date and venue for the oath taking of new civil engineers will be announced at a later date.

BDO Capital head named Alpha Southeast Asia’s 1st Filipino Achievement Awardee

Eduardo Francisco.

MANILA, Philippines — Alpha Southeast Asia recently honored Eduardo Francisco, president of BDO Capital & Investment Corp., with the Achievement Award for Contribution to Local Capital Market during its 15th Annual Best Deal & Solution Awards 2021.

Francisco is the first Filipino recipient and only the third awardee in 15 years. He succeeds Dato’ Lee Kok Kwan, former deputy CEO of CIMB Group, and Seohan Soo, former CEO of AmInvestment Bank BHD.

“The awards outcome this year is especially momentous, considering the challenging operating environment for corporate, commercial and investment banks—as well as financial media companies,” said Alpha Southeast Asia.

The Hong Kong-based financial publication cited the investment banker’s noteworthy career that has already spanned for decades. Under Francisco’s leadership, BDO Capital, a wholly owned subsidiary of BDO Unibank, has proven itself an industry trailblazer.

During the 10-year period between the Asian financial crisis in 1998 and the global credit crisis in 2008, BDO Capital helped raised a total of $22 billion in equity offerings and debt issues for both government and private institutions. Later on, BDO Capital helped raised $180 billion for Philippine-based issuers and borrowers.

Alpha Southeast Asia also noted the bank’s excellence in public, private, and sovereign-led deals. BDO Capital has marked key milestones of leading companies including the IPOs of Monde Nissin, SM Investment Corp, Aboitiz Power, Alliance Global, Vista Land, and Synergy Grip & Development, as well as most of the corporate bond offerings of the leading listed companies in the country, and the bond issuance of SMC Global Power, Manila North Tollways and South Luzon Tollways.

Francisco played a pivotal role in introducing the first Retail Treasury bond (RTB) in the Philippines. Today, Filipinos can invest in RTBs for as low as $100 or P5,000. Since the launch of RTBs about 20 years ago, there have been over 23 issuances. RTBs can now also be accessed through an online platform for investors’ convenience.

Francisco also had an active role in establishing REITs in the Philippines against a background of tax and regulatory issues. Today, there are at least five REITs offerings in the country amid the pandemic. He also led the first dollar preferred share listed in the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) for Del Monte and was involved in most of the perpetual preferred offerings in the country.

The BDO leader holds a MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of the Philippines. Outside of BDO, he helps the PSE, the Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP), and the Philippine Dealing & Exchange (PDEX) with their product launches and rule changes from time to time.

Francisco is a recipient of the Financial Management Excellence from the University of the Philippines and the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the UP College of Business Administration. He was honored by BizNewsAsia as one of the Nation Builders and was an Asia Leaders Awards’ Mentor of the Year finalist.

Source: https://www.philstar.com/business/2022/05/06/2178986/bdo-capital-head-named-alpha-southeast-asias-1st-filipino-achievement-awardee

UPLB grad tops April 2022 electrical engineer board exam

The Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) announced Thursday that 3,029 out of 5,567 examinees passed the electrical engineer licensure examination given last April.

Rob Christian Magdayo Caduyac of University of the Philippines Los Baños received the highest rating at 91.70 percent.

Bienvenido Barrameda To Jr. of Malayan Colleges Laguna placed second (90.05 percent) while Jasper Biboso Gementiza of Northwest Samar State University in Calbayog was third (89.55).



A total of 1,717 out of 3,712 examinees, meanwhile, passed the master electrician licensure examination.

Rodriner Casugbo Billones of Capiz State University Main Campus topped the exams with a rating of 93 percent.



View the roll of successful examinees for the electical engineer and master electrician licensure examinations here.

Meanwhile, a total of 55 passed the technical evaluation for the upgrading as professional electrical engineers.

Source: https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/05/22/uplb-grad-tops-april-2022-electrical-engineer-board-exam

Kriz Gazmen named new head of ABS-CBN Films

by Manila Bulletin Entertainment

Kriz Gazmen, Olivia Lamasan

ABS-CBN announced the appointment of Kriz Anthony Gazmen as the new head of ABS-CBN Film Productions Inc. effective May 1, succeeding Olivia Lamasan who will continue to serve as a consultant of the company known for its film brands Star Cinema and Black Sheep Productions.

Before this appointment, Kriz served as the business unit head of Black Sheep. His creativity, innovation, and business savviness were instrumental to the successful establishment of the young film brand in 2018, introducing a new wave of storytelling in hit movies such as “Exes Baggage” (2018) and “Alone/Together” (2019).

He joined ABS-CBN Films as a creative producer for Star Cinema in 2007 and steadily took on bigger roles eventually becoming creative director in 2015. His notable projects include “I Love You Goodbye” (2009), “No Other Woman” (2011), “One More Try” (2012), “The Trial” (2014), and “Etiquette for Mistresses” (2015).

Kriz graduated with a Cum Laude distinction from the University of the Philippines – Diliman with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Film and Audio-Visual Communication.

In his new role, Kriz will usher in a fresh era of storytelling as ABS-CBN Films continues to explore novel approaches in content creation and platform migration in order to reach more audiences.

Meanwhile, Olive will be a consultant for content, partnerships, and talent management via RISE Artists Studio.

The award-winning filmmaker fondly called ‘Inang’ in the industry has been with ABS-CBN for over 34 years, with unforgettable cinematic milestones under her direction including “Sana Maulit Muli” (1995), “Madrasta” (1996), “Milan” (2004), “In the Name of Love” (2011), “The Mistress” (2012), “Starting Over Again” (2014), and “Barcelona: A Love Untold” (2017). She also helped shape the ABS-CBN drama landscape on television as a creator of game-changing hits “Maalaala Mo Kaya,” “Pangako Sa’Yo,” “Forevermore,” and a lot more.

Amid the many challenges brought by the pandemic, Olive steered ABS-CBN Films towards new ventures and partnerships, making its well-loved content available across different platforms while maintaining its position as a reliable producer of inspiring Filipino stories.

Source: https://mb.com.ph/2022/04/29/kriz-gazmen-named-new-head-of-abs-cbn-films/