In Memoriam

Araceli Limcaco-Dans (1929-2024)

May 21, 2024



In Loving Memory of Araceli Limcaco-Dans
(December 9, 1929-May 18, 2024)
May 19, 2024

The UP College of Fine Arts deeply condoles with the family and friends of Araceli Limcaco-Dans: an exemplary visual artist, pioneering arts educator, and beloved mentor to generations of artists.

Mentored by Fernando Amorsolo, Dans finished her degree in Painting from the UP College of Fine Arts in 1950. She dedicated nearly eight decades of her life to teaching and painting, sharing her art through more than a hundred group and solo exhibitions.

A trailblazer in the field of art education, she spent the first two decades of her merging painting and pedagogy while raising a family of 10 with Engr. Jose P. Dans. After graduating from UP, she founded the Department of Fine Arts of the Philippine Women’s University in 1950 and reorganized the art program of the Ateneo Grade School department in 1963. She introduced innovations to the teaching of art through her work as a studio teacher with the Ateneo Educational Television in 1964-1968 and co-founded with Brenda Fajardo the Philippine Art Educators Association in 1968.

An artist who worked across different media, from oil to watercolor, she is most celebrated for realistic still life paintings produced since the 1980s. Her series of works re-configuring calado (intricate and heavy embroidery) and local flora arrangements now has its place in the remarkable history of Philippine modern painting.

We are grateful for her leadership and love for the art community, remembering her years serving as a very dedicated President of the UP College of Fine Arts Alumni Association. For her achievements as both a painter and art educator, she was recognized with the Cultural Center of the Philippines Centennial Honors for the Arts, the UP Alumni Association Award, and many more distinctions.

Farewell, Cheloy Dans. Your lifelong commitment to art and your remarkable example of strength, care, and love continues to inspire and comfort us all.

Source: UP College of Fine Arts Facebook

Prof. Leonardo de Castro, PhD (1952-2024)

May 13, 2024

Leonardo de Castro

The UP Office of Alumni Relations sends its deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Prof. Leonardo de Castro, PhD. He was fondly called sir Deca by his students and colleagues at the Department of Philosophy, where he was Chair of the unit for several terms. He also served as the Director of the UP Office of Alumni Relations from 1984 to 1989.

He was a pioneer in Bioethics both in the Philippines and abroad, leading in the field since its inception. He was Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Biomedical Ethics, National University of Singapore and Editor-in-Chief of the Asian Bioethics Review. He chaired the Philippine Health Research Ethics Board, the national body that sets policies and regulates research ethics committees in the country. He sat on the National Ethics Committee. He has served on the National Bioethics Advisory Committee and the National Transplant Ethics Committee. He has been President of the Asian Bioethics Association, Vice-Chair of the UNESCO International Bioethics Committee, Vice-Chair of the Forum for Ethics Review Committees in Asia and the Pacific, and a Bioethics Consultant to the United Nations, the World Health Organization, the European Union and the European Commission. (Source: https://philosophy.upd.edu.ph/faculty/leonardo-de-castro-phd-swansea/)

Atty. Elsie Ramos (1965-2024)

May 3, 2024



Paalam at taos-pusong pasasalamat, Atty. Elsie
Atty. Elsie Ramos
October 13, 1965- April 24, 2024

Bago tunguhin ang pag-aabugasya, naglingkod bilang parte ng kaguruan ng departamento si Atty. Elsie. Nakapagtapos siya ng kanyang batsilyer at masterado sa Kasaysayan mula sa departamento noong 1987 at 1992.

Taos-pusong pakikiramay para sa pamilya at mga kaibigan ni Atty. Elsie.

Source: UP Departamento ng Kasaysayan Facebook

Dr. Carlos Ojeda Aureus (1947-2024)



The DECL mourns the passing of Dr. Carlos Ojeda Aureus (December 23, 1947 – April 23, 2024). Professor Aureus devoted his life to sharing the knowledge he acquired from decades of writing and research, and he will be fondly remembered as an esteemed professor, a generous mentor, and a cherished colleague.

A keen observer of shifting social tides, Sir Caloy expressed his astute observations and personal reflections in Nagueños, a collection of short fiction set in his hometown of Naga City on the precipice of the 21st century. He led a simple life and wished to be remembered as a humble public school teacher.

The Department of English and Comparative Literature invites everyone to celebrate his life and legacy through a memorial mass to be held on April 29, 2024 at 6:00PM at the Parish of the Holy Sacrifice, UP Campus, Diliman, Quezon City. May he rest in peace.

Source: UPD Department of English and Comparative Literature Facebook

Playwright Floy Quintos passes away



Filipino playwright Floy Quintos passed away on Saturday, his family announced Saturday.

In a Facebook post, his niece Celina Quintos said that Floy had a heart attack on Saturday morning and passed away in the hospital emergency room. He had turned 63 this month.

“It is with the heaviest of hearts that I, on behalf of my family, announce that Floy Quintos, esteemed playwright and director, but more importantly beloved brother, son, uncle, cousin, nephew, and friend, has returned to the arms of the Lord,” she said.

“Floy Quintos was a beacon of Philippine culture and the arts, but also shone so much firelight for the people closest to him,” Celina said.

“The country, the world, and our home are much darker with this light snuffed out too soon,” she also said.

Florencio Louis Antonio de la Cruz Quintos, Floy to friends and associates, was a playwright, theater director and actor, and screenwriter. He was born in Manila on 17 April 1961.

He attended grade school at the Ateneo de Manila and high school at the University of the Philippines Integrated School, and then obtained his bachelor’s degree in journalism at UP Diliman, graduating in 1985. Quintos initially worked as a journalist and editor. He was a freelance contributor to various national newspapers like The Philippine Star. He worked for the publicity section of the Metropolitan Theater, 1983-1985, and was managing editor of Metro Magazine, 1988-1995.

In theater, Quintos started as an actor in various Dulaang UP productions. He performed roles in Anton Juan Jr.’s Isang Makabagong Pantomima sa Tawi-Tawi, Cotabato at Iba Pang Pulo and Rene O. Villanueva’s Tribu, both in 1979. He was later cast in William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1983), and Euripides’s The Bacchae/Ang Mga Bacchae (1992).

He started directing productions by different theater companies in the late 2000s.

In a post on her Facebook account, Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility Executive Director Melinda Quintos-De Jesus said Floy “was good and gifted person, a caring and kind nephew who did so much for our families.”

She added: The eldest of my nephews and nieces, we shared many joys as [we] were joined in our politics.”

Quintos, a playwright and director who has won in the Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature nine times, was honored by the UP College of Mass Communication in its annual Glory Awards in 2019.

“For the past three decades, he has written memorable, intelligent plays in English and Filipino that are strong socio-political commentaries spiked with his prickling wit,” UP CMC said then.

His last play, “Grace”, is slated to be staged in May.

The wake will be at Arlington Memorial Chapels in Quezon City. The family is still making arrangements and will post updates, Celina said Saturday.

“We ask for your prayers, love, and support as we navigate this tremendous loss,” she added.

Source: https://news.abs-cbn.com/lifestyle/2024/5/3/mayon-hot-air-1136