ILIGAN CITY—The former president of the Mindanao State University
(MSU), Dr. Ahmad Domocao Engracia Alonto Jr., died on Friday, Oct. 1,
the university and his family announced.
“The MSU administration, constituents, and community would like to
express deepest condolences and sympathy to the family of former MSU
President Ahmad Domocao “Jun” Alonto Jr., who has just returned to his
Creator,” said a statement from MSU on Friday.
In a social media post, Trade Undersecretary Abdulgani Macatoman, his
son-in-law, said that before he died on Friday morning, Alonto had been
“frail” in the past weeks.
Alonto was part of the then surging anti-Marcos democratic forces in the 1980s.
He took the helm of MSU in 1986, right after the uprising that swept
President Corazon Aquino into power. He was eventually appointed to a
regular term as president from 1987 to 1992.
Alonto is the son of the late Sen. Ahmad Domocao A. Alonto Sr., an
eminent Maranao politician who authored, among many others, the MSU
charter.
He is the brother of former Lanao del Sur Gov. Soraya Alonto-Adiong.
In 2001, Alonto was part of the negotiating panel of the Moro Islamic
Liberation Front chaired by its then military chief Murad Ebrahim that
carried out peace talks with the government after President Joseph
Estrada’s all-out war a year earlier.
Alonto was an agriculturist, earning his agriculture degrees from the Mindanao Institute of Technology (now University of Southern Mindanao) in Kabacan, Cotabato, and the University of the Philippines in Los Baños.
Tapia. Photo from the UPD Institute of Mathematics Facebook page
Retired mathematics professor Cesar G. Tapia, PhD passed away on Sept. 21. He was 73.
Tapia worked in UP as instructor at the then Department (now
Institute) of Mathematics (IM) immediately after he earned his
bachelor’s degree in mathematics in 1970. There he stayed up until his
retirement in 2012 with the rank of Professor 12.
Tapia handled courses on linear programming, non-linear programming,
integer programming and combinatorial optimization, dynamic programing,
and numerical analysis.
As UP administrator, Tapia served as UP Diliman (UPD) assistant
university registrar, and was college secretary of the College of Arts
and Sciences. At the College of Science, he was associate dean for
administration and chair of the Computer Research System Committee that
set-up the Computational Science Research Center (CSRC). The CSRC is a
facility that provides computing support to researchers and graduate
students engaged in information system development, algebraic
computations for modeling, and simulations.
According to the IM Facebook post, Tapia was IM program head for
operations research for many years. He served as affiliate at the UP
College of Business Administration and the UP Technology Management
Center.
Tapia has published numerous papers in operations research and
mathematical programming, and has been awarded multiple times. Among
his awards were the 1998 Philamlife Insurance Company Chair for
Professor of Mathematics, the 1995 PNOC DJ Professorial Chair in
Science, and the1995 Outstanding Published Research, UP Diliman
Chancellor’s Award.
Tapia earned his master of science in mathematics (1976) and his PhD in Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering (Operations Research, 1991) from UPD and University of New South Wales, Australia, respectively. He had post-graduate studies at the Université Scientifique et Médicale, Grenoble, France (1981-1982), University of London (1977-1978), and the University of Bucharest (1976-1977). He also had post-doctoral studies at McGill University, Montreal, Canada from January to May 1992.
It is with deep sadness that the Board of Trustees of Holy Angel University announces the passing of the University’s ninth President, DR. LUIS MARIA R. CALINGO on the first day of October, two thousand and twenty-one, on the eve of the Feast of the Holy Guardian Angels.
The HAU administration, faculty, employees, students and alumni express their sincerest condolences to the bereaved family and friends of Dr. Calingo and join everyone in praying for the eternal repose of his soul.
Please join the University in a Prayer Service for Dr. Calingo on October 3, 5:00 PM to be livestreamed on HAU’s Facebook and Youtube accounts.
“And I heard a voice of heaven saying, ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord, for they rest from their labours, and their works do follow them.'” ― Revelation 14:13
Those who wish to express their condolences and share fond memories of the departed president may do so in the conversation thread on this post.
In lieu of flowers, please send your donations to BPI Account No. 9683 0123 32 for the HAU Scholarship Funds.
Please wait for further announcements and details.
The UPCM mourns the loss of the president of our UPCM Faculty Association, Dr. Allan Hilario. He was a faculty of our Biochemistry and Molecular Biology department. He was very active in our faculty activities such as the faculty recognition and faculty awards ceremonies among others.
The content of our faculty association page in our website was made by Dr. Hilario. You may read and watch the content he created and provided at https://cm.upm.edu.ph/p/faculty/
Our sincerest condolences to his family and loved ones.
We thank you for your service to the college. Rest in peace sir.
Writer, poet, critic, dramatist,
mentor, scholar, political prisoner, activist. Dr. Bienvenido L.
Lumbera, National Artist for Literature, was all this and more.
With his passing on September 28, 2021, at the age of 89, Dr. Lumbera—Ka Bien to his friends and colleagues—left behind a distinguished body of works and a legacy of fearless activism, harnessing the power of literature and the arts for the cause of freedom, truth, and nationalism.
A writer’s childhood
Dr. Lumbera’s literary work encompasses
multiple genres, from poetry to stage plays and librettos. His love for
these different genres stems from his childhood. Born in Lipa,
Batangas, on April 11, 1932, to Timoteo and Carmen Lumbera. Young
Bienvenido was orphaned at an early age. He and his older sister Leticia
were cared for initially by their paternal grandmother, then when the
war ended, by his godparents, Enrique and Amanda Lumbera.
Despite the tragedy he had experienced
at such a young age, Lumbera recalled having a rich childhood. He played
with the neighboring kids, played the action movies he watched and
listened to his aunts read aloud from the novella series in Liwayway
magazine. His childhood experiences in the historic town of Lipa formed
the foundation of his writing career. One of his renowned musical
dramas, Hibik at Himagsik nina Victoria Laktaw, is set in his childhood town.
Lumbera went to Lipa Elementary School
and finished high school at Mabini Academy. Initially, he wanted to
attend college at the University of the Philippines. However, his
guardians, who supported his education, convinced him to enroll at the
University of Santo Tomas instead. It was closer to their place of work.
In 1957, he earned his B.Litt in Journalism from UST. In 1967, he
obtained his M.A. and Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from Indiana
University. His groundbreaking dissertation focused on Tagalog poetry
from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries. While studying in the
U.S., he threw himself entirely into education in culture—film, theater,
opera, jazz, and everything in between.
After coming home from the U.S.,
Lumbera taught Literature, Philippine Studies, and Creative Writing at
the Ateneo de Manila University. This period saw his activist spirit
ignite. He was involved in the Filipinization movement in the 1960s, and
served as the chairman of the Panulat Para sa Kaunlaran ng Sambayanan
(PAKSA), an organization of activist-writers. His activism was so
well-known that when Ferdinand Marcos declared Martial Law in 1972,
Lumbera knew he was among those targeted for arrest and was forced
underground. He was arrested in January 1974, and released a year later
after Cynthia Nograles, his former student at Ateneo de Manila
University, appealed for his release. The two were married a few months
later.
A nationalist writer in the time of Martial Law and beyond
In an interview with Rappler published on April 12, 2017,
Lumbera shared an experience he had following his release from prison
during Martial Law. He described how department stores hired people to
dress up and pose in shop windows as living mannequins.
“So nandoon naka-display sila. Alam mong buhay ang mga tao na ito, pero hindi sila nakikipag-usap, hindi sila gumagalaw. Ang laki ng epekto noon sa akin. Naiyak ako,” Lumbera revealed. “Ang mga tao na ito ay mga tunay na tao, pero nagpapanggap na hindi tao. Parang ganon ang sitwasyon sa panahon ng Martial Law—na kailangan ng mga tao na magpanggap na iba sila sa tunay na pagkatao nila [So there they are on display. You know they’re alive, but they don’t speak, they don’t move. This had a profound effect on me. I wept. These are real people pretending not to be. This was how it was like during the time of Martial Law—people having to pretend that they are not who they are].”
Photo from UP AVP Jose Wendell Capili.
For Lumbera, this experience and
imprisonment only cemented his commitment as a truth-teller and
nationalist writer. In 1976, through Professor Petronilo Bn Daroy,
Lumbera began teaching at the Department of Filipino and Philippine
Literature, UP College of Arts and Sciences (CAS). A year later, UP CAS
Dean Francisco Nemenzo appointed him to become editor of the Diliman Review, which was critical of the Marcos dictatorship.
Lumbera began writing librettos for
musical theater, starting with the Philippine Educational Theater
Association’s (PETA) request to create a musical based on Carlos
Bulosan’s America Is in the Heart. Eventually, Lumbera wrote several highly acclaimed musical dramas such as Tales of the Manuvu, Rama: Hari, Nasa Puso ang Amerika, Bayani, and Noli me Tangere: The Musical. He counts his adaptation of Dr. Jose Rizal’s novel, Rama Hari and Hibik at Himagsik nina Viktoria Laktaw,
a tribute to Filipino revolutionary women during the revolution of
1896, as his most successful plays. In 2004, De La Salle
University-Manila Press published Sa Sariling Bayan: Apat na Dulang May Musika, an anthology of Lumbera’s musical dramas.
Lumbera authored numerous books on literary criticism, textbooks, and anthologies such as Revaluation:
Essays on Literature, Cinema, and Popular Culture; Pedagogy; Philippine
Literature: A History and Anthology; Rediscovery: Essays in Philippine
Life and Culture; Filipinos Writing: Philippine Literature from the
Regions; and Paano Magbasa ng Panitikang Filipino: Mga Babasahing Pangkolehiyo.
He once admitted he preferred writing poetry rather than short stories
because he disliked using a typewriter for more extended periods. Most
of his poems are collected in Likhang Dila, Likhang Diwa,
published in 1994. These include “Ka Bel”; “The Yaya’s Lullaby,”
“Servant,” “Sadness,” “Jamborzkie Light,” and the frequently
anthologized “Eulogy of Roaches.”
Bayan at Lipunan: Ang Kritisismo ni Bienvenido Lumbera,
edited by UP Professor Emerita Rosario Torres-Yu, was published and
launched by the UST Publishing House, and celebrated by UP in January
2006.
Aside from UP, Lumbera also taught
Literature, Philippine Studies, and Creative Writing in the Ateneo de
Manila University, De La Salle University and his alma mater, the
University of Santo Tomas. He also served as Visiting Professor of
Philippine Studies at Osaka University from 1985 to 1988. He is also the
first Asian Scholar-in-Residence at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa.
He mentored generations of outstanding
Filipino writers and scholars, including the highly-acclaimed critic
Doreen Gamboa Fernandez, UP Professors Emeriti Teresita Gimenez Maceda,
and Nicanor G. Tiongson, Ateneo de Manila University Professor Emerita
Soledad S. Reyes, De La Salle University Professor Emeritus Isagani R.
Cruz, University of California at Berkeley faculty member Joi Barrios-Le
Blanc, University of Hawai’i at Manoa Indo-Pacific Languages and
Literatures Department Chair and Center for Philippine Studies Director
Pia C. Arboleda and National Artist for Literature and UP Professor
Emeritus Virgilio S. Almario. He also taught undergraduate students who
became distinguished academics, such as UP Professors Glecy Cruz
Atienza, Galileo S. Zafra, and Alwin C Aguirre.
Legacy of a writer, dramatist, and activist
In the end, Lumbera lived true to his
belief that writers should immerse with the masses and help to improve
society. He remained actively involved in progressive organizations
fighting for social justice and true equality, from the Philippine
Comparative Literature Association in 1969 to the Pamana ng Panitikan ng
Pilipinas in 1970, to the progressive poets’ group Galian sa Arte at
Tula (GAT) during Martial Law. Other writers’ organizations he helped
lead include the Kalipunan para sa mga Literatura ng Pilipinas, the
Philippine Studies Association of the Philippines, and Manunuri ng
Pelikulang Pilipino.
Lumbera is also the founding
chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the multi-awarded media group
Kodao Productions. He was an active member of the Concerned Artists of
the Philippines (CAP) and the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan). He
also served as president of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT), a
national organization of more than 40,000 teachers and employees in the
education sector.
He earned numerous awards and accolades
throughout the years, including the Ramon Magsaysay Award for
Journalism, Literature, and Creative Communication Arts, the Pambansang
Gawad Pambansang Alagad ni Balagtas from Unyon ng mga Manunulat ng
Pilipinas (UMPIL), the National Book Awards for Literary
History/Literary Criticism from the Manila Critics’ Circle, the Carlos
Palanca Memorial Award for Literature, the Philippine Centennial
Literary Prize for Drama, and the Cultural Center of the Philippines
Centennial Honors for the Arts. He became Professor Emeritus of the
University of the Philippines and, in 2006, was named National Artist
for Literature.
Dr. Lumbera’s legacy lies not just in his immense body of works and in the generations of writers and artists he taught. Most importantly, he is noted for his abiding commitment to nationalist writing and to his belief that a writer must, above all, write the truth of their experiences.
Lawyer and former UP Police commissioner, Romeo C. Cruz, passed away on Sept. 17. He was 77.
Cruz started working in UP in 1968 at the UP Law Center, where he met
his wife, Zenaida. He later served as an administrative division head
of the said unit.
He served UP in various capacities for 41 years. He was legal
counsel of the UP Hotel and board member of the UP Community Chest. Cruz
was also legal counsel and member of the UP Credit Cooperative board of
directors. He retired in 2009 as a law education specialist.
Cruz also served the University in his private practice, as legal
counsel and notary public. He was the former president of the Rotary
Club of Metro San Francisco Del Monte, Quezon City, and a member of the
Parish Pastoral Council of the Jesus Lord of Divine Mercy Parish.
Many will likely remember Cruz as the go-to-guy when documents needed
to be notarized. Some of his constant clients were students processing
their scholarship applications, job applicants finalizing their
appointment papers, faculty members processing their employment papers,
and retirees completing their clearance forms.
His son, Prof. Rainier Arthur P. Cruz of the UP College of Music,
described him as “a friend to people from all walks of life; a person
who loved to laugh, and tell his stories and jokes; a lawyer and notary
public well-loved and respected by the UPD community; a very doting
grandfather to his grandchildren; a generous man; and a loving father
and provider to his family.”
In 2015, Cruz transferred his private law office from the Fonacier
Hall (Alumni Center) on Magsaysay Ave. to its current location in the
Kamagong Centennial Dorm on E. Jacinto Street.
“When he had a stroke in 2016, my wife, Atty. Tzeitel Christine DG.
Cruz, continued my father’s service to the UPD community,” Rainier said
in his email.
He is survived by his children and their families: Rosemarie Anne C.
Salamat, her husband Derek, and children Jamie Ann and Jarod; Rio Angelo
P. Cruz; and Rainier, his wife Christine, and daughter Raizelle
Therese. Cruz’s wife Zenaida passed away in 2007.
The family expressed their heartfelt gratitude for all the prayers, words of sympathy, and generosity.
