Excellent, exemplary passers in the 2020-2021 bar examinations

The Bar Examinations Committee did away with the traditional announcement of Top 10 passers this time to avoid the idea of competition among the takers, bar examinations committee chair Supreme Court Associate Justice Marvic Leonen said on Tuesday.

Instead, the committee announced passers with “excellent” performance obtaining over 90% grades and “exemplary” performance with 85% to 90% grades

“The reforms include the recalibration of the grading system to avoid unnecessary competition for an artificial top ten, recognizing that the examinations are not a competition,” Leonen said.

“The system of pass, exemplary pass, and excellent pass without any ranking already recognizes effort without encouraging needless competition among individuals.”

Leonen said only 14 or 0.17% of the passers earned recognition for “excellent” performance, while 761 or 9.23% of passers earned recognition for “exemplary” performance.

University of the Philippines (UP) has four excellent passers, while Ateneo de Manila University and University of San Carlos (USC) have two each, and one excellent passer each in Arellano University, Ateneo de Davao University, Far Eastern University, San Beda University, University of Cebu, and University of the Cordilleras.

See the list of excellent and exemplary passers in the 2021 bar examinations here.

Source: https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/topstories/nation/828312/excellent-exemplary-passers-in-the-2020-2021-bar-examinations/story/

UP Manila grad tops pharmacist licensure exam

MANILA – A graduate from the University of the Philippines-Manila topped the April 2022 Pharmacist Licensure Examination, the Professional Regulation Commission announced on Friday.

According to the PRC, Adriel Luigi Garcia Coseip had a 91.63 rating for the exam, which was conducted in 15 areas.

Following Coseip were fellow UP Manila grads Anjila Bianca Lao Aala and Elizabeth Ann Panes Dela Cruz, who got 91.40 percent and 90.45 percent respectively. Elisha Bersamina Soriano from the University of Santo Tomas tied with Dela Cruz at third place with 90.45 percent as well.

678 out of 1,870 examinees passed the test, according to the PRC.

University of the Philippines-Manila was the top performing school with a passing rate of 100 percent.

The successful examinees who garnered the 10 highest places in the April 2022 Pharmacist Licensure Examination are the following:

According to the PRC, the date and venue for their oathtaking will be announced at a later date.

The full list of exam passers can be seen here.

Source: https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/04/08/22/up-manila-grad-tops-pharmacist-licensure-exam

Lawyer Raphael Pangalangan new Inquirer columnist



MANILA, Philippines — The Opinion section welcomes a new column today, “Just Thinking,” by lawyer Raphael A. Pangalangan.

Pangalangan has an impressive resume: he earned his Juris Doctor degree from the University of the Philippines and master’s in human rights from the University of Oxford, and completed his postgraduate law degree at the University of Cambridge. He was a prosecution officer at the Office of the Ombudsman between 2017 and 2018, recommending the resolution of over 100 administrative and criminal cases for graft, corruption, and breach of public trust.

He is currently a visiting scholar at Harvard Law School where he presented comparative law research on vaccine equity frameworks in Southeast Asia and conducted research on environmental justice and corporate liability regimes, among others.

Double entendre

Pangalangan will be writing about social, economic, and related issues. “‘Just Thinking’ [is] a double entendre for what we do and what we should seek to do: To think, and to think justly. The column keeps a close ear to undertones.”

He assures that his weekly contribution to the discussion of national issues will not be entirely legalese for the regular readers. “It isn’t necessarily about law, politics, or philosophy, but their interface. It’s about abstracting quiet implications of contemporary issues, acknowledging what they say, and appreciating what they say about us,” he explained.

Pangalangan has previously contributed commentaries to the Opinion section prior to his official inclusion in the roster of the Inquirer’s esteemed columnists, including other legal luminaries, former Supreme Court chief justice Artemio V. Panganiban and Joel Ruiz Butuyan, his former boss at the Butuyan & Rayel Law Offices.

“It is an immense honor to be joining PDI. The Inquirer has a long track record of attracting intellectual juggernauts to its roster. I am gratified to find myself among its ranks, and to share this stage with no less than the likes of Chief Justice AVP — himself a guiding light in the field of law and a mentor to me in both academia and advocacy. I truly am standing on the shoulders of giants,” Pangalangan said.

Read his first column: “The unbearable whiteness of international law.

Source: https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1579550/lawyer-raphael-pangalangan-new-inquirer-columnist

2 CHE faculty elected to COHREP board

Anna Regidor – Diliman Information Office

Two faculty members of the UP Diliman College of Home Economics (CHE) Department of Hotel, Restaurant, and Institution Management (DHRIM) were elected to the Board of Directors of the Council of Hotel and Restaurant Educators of the Philippines (COHREP).

In a post on the DHRIM Facebook page on March 28, CHE Dean Shirley V. Guevarra and Prof. Raymund Gerard I. Guerrero were named as vice president and auditor, respectively.

Guevarra. Image from the DHRIM Facebook page

Guevarra has been with the University for more than two decades and was DHRIM department chair from October 2007 to October 2013. Her research interests include hazard analysis critical control point system, environmental management, property management and human resource management, and food and cultural tourism.

An associate editor of the “Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research,” Guevarra is currently serving as country representative to and external secretary of the Asia Pacific Tourism Association, which is based in Busan, South Korea. She is also regional and country representative to the Asia Pacific Council of Hotel and Restaurant Educational Institution.

Guerrero. Image from the DHRIM Facebook page

Meanwhile, Guerrero joined the DHRIM as a lecturer in 2002 and as a full-time faculty member in 2003.

Before joining the academe, Guerrero worked with the Westin Philippine Plaza (now Sofitel Philippine Plaza), holding various positions at the Front Office Department.

In 1999, he left the Westin Philippine Plaza and pursued a master’s degree (Master of Business Administration) at UPD, where he also earned his bachelor’s degrees in philosophy (1988) and hotel and restaurant administration (1991).

COHREP is a leading academic professional organization “promoting quality hospitality and tourism education in the Philippines.”

According to their website, COHREP aims to “promote teaching excellence in hospitality education by providing venues to transform educators into confident and values-laden professionals, committed to the development of competent graduates with employable skills.”

It has over 500 individual and 95 institutional members all over the country. Guevarra and Guerrero will serve on the board until 2024.

Source: https://upd.edu.ph/2-che-faculty-elected-to-cohrep-board/

UP Los Baños dominates March 2022 Veterinarian Licensure Examination

By Kaithreen Cruz



THE Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) announced that 288 out of the 607 examinees passed the March 2022 Veterinarian Licensure Examination.

Five graduates from the University of the Philippines Los Baños placed a spot in the top 10 namely Mark Lawrence Atienza (1), Stephen Cyril Pineda (3), Lia Isabella Soliman (5), Hannah Lee Aldave (7), and Zandrelle Lopes (10).

Similarly, the same university was also the top-performing school with 50 or more examinees getting at least an 80 percent passing rate after 57 of 60 got a rating of 95 percent.

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

The March 2022 Veterinarian Licensure Examination was held in Manila, Baguio, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Davao, Legazpi, and Tuguegarao.

Source: https://www.manilatimes.net/2022/04/05/news/up-los-baos-dominates-march-2022-veterinarian-licensure-examination/1838919

PH bet captures ‘Chocolate’ crown in Reina Internacional del Cacao pageant

By: Armin P. Adina

Reina Internacional del Chocolate Jerelleen Rodriguez from the Philippines | FACEBOOK PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Batangeuña beauty Jerelleen Rodriguez was crowned Reina Internacional del Chocolate at the 2022 Reina Internacional del Cacao pageant held at Teatro Pacific in Panama on March 30 (March 31 in Manila).

Ecuador’s Maria Laura Aguilera clinched the top title Reina Internacional del Cacao, in the international competition aimed at promoting the global cacao and chocolate industry.

Countries with dynamic chocolate and cacao players and markets take part in the annual tilt.

Rodriguez is not new to beauty pageants, both local and international.

She had previously joined the Binibining Pilipinas, Miss World Philippines, and Jewel of the Philippines pageants. In 2019, she represented the Philippines in the Miss United Continents competition.

During the final round of questioning at the Reina Internacional del Cacao pageant, Rodriguez was asked what she would tell the international cacao industry if she would win.

She responded: “Today as we are still celebrating Women’s Month, I would like to appreciate the women in the cacao industry. In the Philippines, when Supertyphoon ‘Yolanda’ devastated the province of Samar, crops were destroyed as well as the livelihood. And it was the phenomenal women of the province who took it upon themselves to look for a new livelihood, which is cacao. And they’re doing it not only for themselves, but for the future of their family.”

Nineteen delegates participated in the competition.

The 29-year-old Rodriguez holds a degree in Business Administration and Accountancy from the University of the Philippines, and finished sixth in the licensure examination for certified public accountants. She is currently studying to become a lawyer at the UP College of Law.

Source: https://lifestyle.inquirer.net/399925/ph-bet-captures-chocolate-crown-in-reina-internacional-del-cacao-pageant/

UPD professor is new PSSC chair

Anna Regidor – Diliman Information Office



Prof. Excelsa C. Tongson, DSD of the UP Diliman (UPD) College of Home Economics (CHE) is the new chairperson of the Philippine Social Science Council (PSSC), the organization announced on March 22 on their Facebook page.

A faculty member at the CHE Department of Family Life and Child Development, Tongson is also the deputy director for Training, Outreach, and Extension Program of the UP Center for Women’s and Gender Studies.

She conducts seminars and training on gender sensitivity, use of gender fair language, and gender responsive early childhood care and development.

The PSSC is one of the country’s longest running and financially viable non-profit organizations that has carved a niche as a “base for developing social science scholarship and training and a repository of social science resources in the country.” The PSSC was tapped by various foundations and agencies to administer grants and scholarships in the country. Some of its partners include the Ford Foundation, the Asian Scholarships Foundation in Bangkok, and the Philippine Center for Population.

Source: https://upd.edu.ph/upd-professor-is-new-pssc-chair/

Community pantry pioneer named 2022 AirAsia Stellar Awardee

Ana Patricia Non was awarded the 2022 AirAsia Stellar Award for her community pantry initiative, which became a nationwide movement in 2021. Photo by Raoul Esperas

MANILA — Ana Patricia Non, known for her community pantry initiative amid the COVID-19 pandemic, was given the 2022 Stellar Award of the Year by airline AirAsia on Tuesday.

Non, 28, is the first recipient of the award.

In her acceptance speech, the University of the Philippines Fine Arts graduate thanked AirAsia for recognizing her efforts in the community pantry initiative.

“It was only last year that I realized that there were more than 6,000 community pantries set up nationwide. Pagtulong lang po talaga ang layunin ko. I did not realize that I have inspired many kind-hearted people,” Non said.

In 2021, Non initiated the Maginhawa community pantry in Quezon City as a way of providing food and other basic commodities to residents amid the pandemic.

The initiative sparked a snowball effect, prompting other communities to set up pantries of their own.

For his part, AirAsia chief executive officer Ricky Isla said the award recognizes the contribution of employees, stakeholders, the media, and other personalities during the pandemic.

“We were all affected by the pandemic and we at AirAsia value everyone’s contribution to keep us all on our feet and defeat the pandemic. Now that we are on the road to recovery, let AirAsia recognize all of you who stand by our side,” Isla said.

Aside from Non, other personalities were also recognized, including ABS-CBN News’ Jacque Manabat.

—with report from Raoul Esperas

Source: https://news.abs-cbn.com/life/03/22/22/community-pantry-pioneer-wins-airasia-award