UP wins IABC Gold Quill for “Stop Covid Deaths”

Written by UP Media and Public Relations Office

When the COVID-19 pandemic began to rampage in early 2020, there were no experts on the disease nor any well-established treatments. Any knowledge gained came at a great price as doctors, and other medical professionals were among the first to fall to the new, highly infectious viral disease.

The Philippines alone lost nearly two dozen medical specialists to COVID, a devastating blow to a country where health workers were already in short supply. Add to this the skyrocketing incidence of burnout among Philippine health workers as the pandemic raged on, as well as the government’s relatively weak COVID-19 response compared to the rest of ASEAN, and it becomes apparent that the country’s healthcare system’s recovery from the pandemic remains an uphill battle.

Early on, the University of the Philippines (UP), the country’s national university, saw the urgent and continuing need for the exchange of accurate information about and on-the-ground experiences with COVID-19 among doctors, nurses, health workers, scientists, government officials, private healthcare representatives, and other frontliners.

UP was then determined to ensure that the Philippine healthcare sector provides the best possible care for COVID-19 patients and national and local pandemic response. The general public also needed resources for science-based information about COVID-19 to counter the parallel epidemic of fake news and misinformation.

By tapping into its community of the country’s top experts in multiple fields and disciplines, UP organized the “Stop COVID Deaths” webinar series early into the pandemic. This series is a collaborative work with the UP Manila National Institutes of Health (UPM-NIH) and National Telehealth Center (UPM-NTC), and the UP Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH), with TVUP handling the Zoom-based program, including its livestreaming.



These informative, educational webinars are held every Friday at noon over the TVUP YouTube channel and through the University’s Twitter account and TVUP’s Facebook page, making them free and openly accessible to anyone. UP has produced 96 “Stop COVID Deaths” webinars. They are still available for viewing on the TVUP YouTube channel. The latest round expands the discussion beyond COVID-19 and other infectious diseases significantly impacting the Philippine population, such as measles.

2022 Gold Quill Award of Merit

The university’s significant educational and public service initiative—now into its third year—has recently earned international recognition when the UP “Stop COVID Deaths” webinars won a 2022 Gold Quill Award of Merit from the US-based International Association of Business Communicators (IABC).

According to its official website, IABC’s Gold Quill Awards have recognized and awarded excellence in strategic communication worldwide. It is the only awards program that globally honors communicators’ dedication, innovation, and passion. Since 2008, organizers have screened more than 4,451 projects.

As one of the awardees for 2022, the UP “Stop COVID Deaths” series won an Award of Merit under the Communication Management Division of the Gold Quill Awards in the “COVID-19 Response and Recovery Management and Communication” category. Its co-winners in its category include projects by the Region of Peel and the Vancouver Coastal Health (Canada), and the London Health Sciences Centre (UK).

According to a letter from the IABC Awards Committee sent to UP Vice President for Public Affairs Elena Pernia, “Our Gold Quill Blue Ribbon Panel evaluators assessed your entry against the IABC Gold Quill Award criteria and IABC’s Seven-point Scale of Excellence. Your work met this high standard—a great accomplishment!”

“Through this work, you’ve managed to create a movement that has had a major impact on your country not only as it relates to how information is shared amongst frontline medical workers but also in the access that the public has to information that is highly relevant and important to Filipinos,” the IABC Gold Quill jury commented in its assessment of the webinar series.

“In a time where many people and organizations were overwhelmed, this project stands out as one that demonstrates how effective and impactful simple, clear and consistent communication can be,” it added.

Other winners from the Philippines are ABS-CBN for excellence in communication award for the web for its “Act as if you have the virus” campaign and recognition of merit in communication skills for its Kapamilya Himig Handog event, Christian Kyle Pascual of the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde earned the award of merit in audio-visual communication skills for the presentation “Turtales: Telling the Tales of Endangered Marine Turtles,” the Megaworld Foundation garnered an award for excellence in communication skills in social media for its “Mega Summer Ventures Version 2.0” and Meralco for excellence in communication skills in publications award for its 2020 Corporate Reports and award of merit in communication skills in social media for its Meralco Corporate Partners Viber Community.

Everyone is invited to attend this week’s UP “Stop COVID Deaths” webinar titled “Batang Biglang Hindi Makalakad: Siryosohin Natin ang Tigdas”, to be held on April 29, 2022, from 12 to 2 p.m.

With reports from Jo. Florendo B. Lontoc

Source: https://up.edu.ph/up-wins-iabc-gold-quill-for-stop-covid-deaths/

Upsilon Sigma Phi congratulates Fellow Glenn S. Lubuguin 2015 for being appointed as the Vice President for Planning and Development of Wesleyan University Philippines



The Upsilon Sigma Phi congratulates Fellow Glenn S. Lubuguin 2015 for being appointed as the Vice President for Planning and Development of Wesleyan University Philippines.

The Wesleyan University Philippines is the only autonomous private higher education institution in Nueva Ecija and one of the largest universities in Region III.

He will also concurrently serve as Executive Director, Office of the University President and Director of the Center for Nueva Ecija Studies.

Congratulations, Brod!

#UpsilonSigmaPhi
#CelebratingExcellence

Source: Upsilon Sigma Phi Facebook post

Tan-Mabilog is new IPO head

Mr. Carlson Alelis



Ms. Gerthrode Charlotte Tan-Mabilog of the Division of Professional Education, University of the Philippines Visayas (ProfEd-UPV) is the new director of the Information and Publications Office (IPO), effective April 8, 2022.

Tan-Mabilog finished her bachelor’s degree in Broadcast Communication/Management and master’s in Education Major in English as a Second Language at UPV in 2001 and 2012, respectively.

She has extensive experience in the media industry, being a news anchor for Ratsada 24 Oras, formerly Ratsada and 24 Oras Western Visayas, GMA TV-6’s afternoon public affairs and news program, from the early 2000’s until 2015.

She also served as a field reporter, executive producer, and supervising producer for the said program. From 2012 to 2015, she was program manager for GMA Bacolod ’s public affairs program Isyu Subong and GMA Cagayan de Oro’s daily newscast 24 Oras Northern Mindanao.

Prior to her working at UPV, Tan-Mabilog had served in various capacities as part of the academe.

She was the former vice president and chief operations officer of Alphacrest Academy and Big Heart Development School based in Iloilo City.

Likewise, she taught English in the high school and senior high school levels of Alphacrest Academy. She also served as a lecturer of the University of San Agustin’s Mass Communication program.

Tan-Mabilog is a fellow of the 16th Lopez Jaena Journalism Workshop in UP Diliman.

She is also a trainer, motivational speaker, book lover, movie enthusiast, mental health advocate, and writer, among others.

She replaced Prof. Julie Prescott of the Division of Humanities as director of IPO.

Tan-Mabilog’s appointment is effective from April 8 to December 31, 2022.

Source: https://www.upv.edu.ph/index.php/news/tan-mabilog-is-new-ipo-head

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/