The agreement was signed by Rector Very Rev. Fr. Richard G. Ang, O.P., PhD, DivinaLaw Foundation, Inc.’s Founder Atty. Nilo T. Divina, JD. Serving as witnesses were UST Graduate School of Law Dean Jacqueline O. Lopez-Kaw, DCL and DivinaLaw Foundation, Inc. Corporate Secretary Atty. Lean Jeff M. Magsombol.

With the support of the DivinaLaw Foundation, this partnership aims to provide scholarship opportunities to faculty members and those wanting to explore the Master of Laws and Doctor of Civil Law programs offered by the UST Graduate School of Law. Likewise, this scholarship program will cultivate the next generation of Thomasian legal scholars, advocates, and leaders.

For the Rector, the scholarship program is pivotal to the University鈥檚 commitment to fostering academic excellence, advancing faculty development, and creating an environment where knowledge is actively utilized to address real-world challenges. 鈥淭he University鈥檚 mission as an institution of higher learning is geared toward generation, advancement, integration, dissemination, and the application of knowledge,鈥� fr. Ang said.

Dean Divina, who has been leading the Faculty of Civil Law since 2009, said, 鈥淭o attract the best, you have to offer the best.鈥� Thus, this partnership is their contribution to the University鈥檚 cause. 鈥淭his scholarship program represents our unwavering belief in the transformative power of education. It is our way of saying we are committed to adjusting standards and raising the bar,鈥� Divina said.

According to Dean Kaw, the scholarship grants are more than just faculty development programs. 鈥淭hey are investments not only to the individual aspirations of the deserving candidates but also to the advancement of the legal profession,鈥� Dean Kaw said.

The post UST gets support from DivinaLaw Foundation for doctorate, master’s degrees of Civil Law faculty appeared first on 91性息港.

With the title 鈥淓nhancing Ethical Behavior: Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic,鈥� Tan-Alora acknowledged the lasting effects of change that COVID-19 brought about. Among them was undeniable surge in the use of online technologies, which inadvertently led to the prevalence of 鈥渋ncomplete knowledge,鈥� brought about by 鈥渞ampant mis/disinformation and predatory journals.鈥� Tan-Alora also lamented the capacity of the 鈥渦biquitous social media landscape鈥� to blur the line between truth and fiction.

In terms of patient care, the isolation of many patients during the pandemic necessitated an 鈥渁djustment of goals of care to patient鈥檚 values鈥� and called for 鈥減ersonalized, dignified, humane care鈥� especially when patients were stigmatized due to the highly virulent nature of the virus and the fear of getting infected. Tan-Alora also lamented how poor governance and communication of policies hampered much-needed copping with the pandemic. Apart from an unprepared health system, leaders were also motivated by 鈥渟elf-interest as the primary goal.鈥� Emotional reactions also prevent balanced discussions on needed actions, and misconduct marred effective healthcare delivery.

With these as a backdrop, Tan-Alora said that 鈥渢rustworthiness鈥� of those serving patients must be recovered. 鈥淲e must recover their [the patients] trust. Only then will they cooperate and comply with health policy,鈥� the Metrobank Outstanding Teacher awardee said. The road to regaining trust back is the professional鈥檚 humility 鈥渢o be an accountable steward society and to my God.鈥�

Tan-Alora saw hope in the immense amount of compassion shown during the pandemic. She called on continued to support for patients and those who may not be ill, but who have been forced to isolation due to mobility restrictions that may lead to 鈥渂eing lonely, depressed, and in need of compassion.鈥� The need for compassion shows the need for developing 鈥渁 culture of sensitive caring鈥� and 鈥渂e present physicians.鈥�

The pandemic, Tan-Alora averred, 鈥渕agnified the hardships of health inequities鈥� and 鈥渕ade visible stark realities on the ground [that exerted] discriminatory impact on class, age, occupation, and socioeconomic status.鈥� She recognized that those who were already at a disadvantage were most vulnerable, suffering death and being victimized by unscrupulous individuals who took advantage of disinformation in order to make a profit.

Tan-Alora is an eminent educator of the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, her alma mater which she also served as Department Chair and Dean. Apart from being UST鈥檚 first-ever Metrobank Outstanding Teacher Awardee, she has earned many plums and is an influential figure in the field of medical and research ethics. She is one of the pioneers of the Philippine Health Research Ethics Board.

The Do帽a Victoria Ty Tan Professorial Chair in Medical Education was established by the Metrobank Foundation in 2019 to support professors and clinicians in undertaking avant garde and relevant studies to upgrade the delivery of medical education. Managed by the UST Research and Endowment Foundation, Inc., the Professorial Chair will be granted to a total of ten medical educators, the first two being Prof. Sandra Navarra and Prof. Fidela Moreno.

The post Medical ethics professorial chair lecture culls lessons from the pandemic appeared first on 91性息港.

A testament of synergy between the two dynamic institutions, the newly signed ADI Professorial Chair Award Donation, totaling to one million pesos over the course of five years, will further empower the Faculty of Engineering to undertake projects that will boost excellence in the field of research, as well as to pave way for professorial chair lectures that will distinguish a faculty member’s academic excellence and recognize his/her service to the University.

On behalf of the University, Vice-Rector for Finance and Faculty of Engineering Regent Rev. fr. Roberto L. Luanzon, Jr., O.P., SThD and Office of Grants, Endowments, and Partnerships in Higher Education (OGEP) Director Rev. fr. Maximo P. Gatela, O.P., PhL led the MoA signing alongside the ADI’s representatives, Mr. Miles Ramirez, Country Manager, and Ms. Cindy Cabezas, Human Resource Director.

The formalization of ties was witnessed by Faculty of Engineering Dean Prof. Angelo R. Dela Cruz, PhD; Assistant Dean Asst. Prof. Cristina Tiangco, PhD; Faculty Secretary Asst. Prof. Ma. Luisa T. Asilo; Department of Electronics Engineering Chair Asst. Prof. Edison A. Roxas; Industry Government Academe and Alumni Relations Program Representative Engr. Maria Sharlene L. Insigne; Physics Laboratory Supervisor Engr. Gabriel Rodnei M. Geslani; OGEP Executive Assistant Mr. Levine Andro H. Lao, PhL-MA; and Networking and Liaison Officer of UST Research and Endowments Foundation, Inc. (REFI) Mr. Christian L. Naval.

ADI has established a longstanding partnership with the University, with the Department of Electronics Engineering being a beneficiary of the support. The said institution also provided high-performance computational devices, staged training to students and immersion to faculty members, as well as granted MS-ECE scholarships.

The post Engineering receives ADI professorial chair award donation to boost its projects appeared first on 91性息港.

Teodoro F. Valencia, one of the most influential journalists in the Philippines, was a member of the UST Journalism class of 1935. Known as 鈥淜a Doroy鈥� in print and broadcast media, he was a radio news commentator, and a household name for his long-running column 鈥淥ver a Cup of Coffee,鈥� which was published in two dailies for almost four decades.

A year after Valencia鈥檚 passing in 1987, the Teodoro F. Valencia Foundation, Inc., formally partnered with UST on March 8, 1988, to establish the Professorial Chair in Journalism in his honor, according to UST Office for Grants, Endowments, and Partnerships in Higher Education (OGEP) Executive Assistant Mr. Levine Andro Lao.

The Valencia family was represented by Mr. Jose V. Ferro, the grandson of Mr. Teodoro Valencia, who congratulated Arriola through a video message, saying that he is 鈥渟ure that [his] grandfather would have been very proud of her.鈥�

Arriola was presented by UST Rector Very Rev. Fr. Richard G. Ang, O.P., Ph.D., with the Certificate assisted by UST Secretary-General Rev. Fr. Louie R. Coronel, O.P., E.H.L. while the Professorial Medal was awarded to Arriola by the Father Rector, assisted by Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs, Prof. Cheryl R. Peralta, DrPH.

Professorial Chair Lecture

In her lecture titled “The Prospects of Memory Studies in the Philippines,” Arriola delved into the role of media in collective memory work.

In this context, the term 鈥榤emory studies鈥� is not solely under psychology, but a multidisciplinary field that combines intellectual strands from sociology, anthropology, political science, history, communication, journalism, literature, and cultural studies, among others. 鈥楥ollective memory鈥� does not refer to how one person鈥檚 mind stores thoughts, but rather it is the shared pool of recollections or knowledge of a social group that they shape, share, and communicate together.

Cultural memory, which is rooted in fateful past events and thrives through memory sites, relics, works of architecture that give physical evidence of what happened, can shape a common identity among a group of people that spans generations.  Arriola gave the example of the University鈥檚 Sampaloc campus, and primarily the Main Building, being used as an Internment Camp from 1942 to 1945. Even today, the structure is functional and recognized as a National Cultural Treasure.

 Arriola illustrated the concept of memory itself by sharing, 鈥淚n 2021, the pandemic continued to pose challenges in all domains of life. That it will continue to haunt us in the years to come has almost become a certainty. As it unfolds, we are already forming a memory of it. The moment is so perilous that we know it will leave behind a trace. It was, is, and will be a pivotal moment to remember鈥an event in the past] becomes a pivotal memory because it assumes contemporary resonance or 鈥榤eaning in the present.鈥欌��

Memory is the synthesis of our understanding of the past. For example, the 鈥渕other of all commemorations鈥� is the Eucharistic Celebration, a living memory of the Last Supper where the sacrifice of the Body and Blood of Christ and the consequent redemption of mankind from sin unify the faithful.

With its two-fold moral roles, epistemological (inform people of the needed information about the past) and normative (inform people of the obligations acquired in the past that should guide present behavior), memory  studies hold an important role in forming societal beliefs that influence the present.

The Holocaust Memorials, memoirs of those who suffered through it like Anne Frank, photographs, footage, films, and other plurimedial materials bear the narrative of the systematic genocide of the Jews. This is epistemological since it informs present and future generations of the atrocities committed under the Third Reich. But for the normative function, these remnants serve as a reminder for the world of a moral responsibility to actively resist such malignity and to value human lives.

鈥淢emory, therefore, has its moral imperative: We are duty-bound to remember the past, because [as Paul Ricoeur said], 鈥榯he moral priority belongs to the victims,鈥欌�� emphasized Arriola as she connected it to the Martial Law era in the Philippine context.

鈥淭his moral priority applies to the Martial Law years because it was the victims鈥� voices and freedom that were curtailed by repressive erasure, a systematic type of forgetting imposed by the regime. Of late, we have heard 鈥榝orgetting鈥� in connection with the Martial Law years. There have been efforts made to revise history and to deny that the Martial Law era happened,鈥� Arriola explained.

 鈥淭his only shows that memory work can be highly political and so is forgetting; These are about contested memories,鈥� said Dr. Arriola, recommending that people must 鈥淐ontinue telling the story. Even those who did not witness the actual event are obligated to uphold truth and demand remembering.鈥�

                The 鈥榝orgetting鈥� in recent years is likely due to a breakdown of communicative memory among the generations, exacerbated by the rapid shift from books and film to the non-linearity of digital media consumption and parents leaving the country and their children to work abroad, among other factors.

As a solution, remediation can be attempted, recommended Dr. Arriola, adding that media can be a potent bearer of cultural memory through life-writings or recollections, or film, which recirculates the memory for another time or context, among other avenues.

鈥淭he study of memory is also the study of the folly of forgetting. When we find ourselves pointing at some excesses of power, it becomes an exercise of the ethics of remembering and the value of witnessing to it. The early Christians took to witnessing to remind themselves of Christ鈥檚 promise. The same can be said of today. We can be history鈥檚 new witnesses鈥� Let us do ourselves a favor; Let us remember,鈥� Arriola concluded.

A well-known researcher and author, Arriola was a recipient of the 2021 Outstanding Book Award from the National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) for her book 鈥�Pelikulang Komiks: Toward a Theory of Filipino Film Adaptation鈥� and the National Research Council of the Philippines (NRCP) 2019 Achievement Award in the Humanities. Another work, 鈥淧ostmodern Filming of Literature: Sources, Contexts and Adaptations,鈥� secured the National Book Award in Film/Film Criticism in 2007.

Having served the University in various capacities for almost three decades, Arriola is currently a professor of Literature and Communication at the UST Faculty of Arts and Letters and the UST Graduate School; a research fellow at the UST Center for Theology, Religious Studies and Ethics; a resident fellow of the UST Center for Creative Writing and Literary Studies; and the associate editor of the UNITAS Journal, the oldest extant academic journal in the Philippines.

Prior to these posts, she was most recently the Founding Director of the Director of the Research Center for Culture, Arts and Humanities. Arriola has also held the positions of Founding Chair of the Department of Literature, Director of the Centre for Intercultural Studies, Chair of the Department of Communication and Media Studies, and Assistant to the Director for Faculty Development of the UST Educational Technology Center.

A graduate of the Faculty of Arts and Letters, where she currently teaches, Dr.  Joyce Arriola graduated with a Bachelor of Arts major in Literature degree, cum Laude in 1988. She earned her graduate degrees in Literature: MA in Literature in 1995; Ph.D. in Literature, Summa cum Laude in 2003, from the UST Graduate School. She obtained graduate degrees, MA in Communication, major in Journalism in 1998 and Ph.D. in Communication, Best Dissertation Award in 2013, from the University of the Philippines.

The event was conceptualized as a hybrid in-person program with a few members of the academic community in the venue and students and faculty members from the Faculty of Arts and Letters as part of the online audience. Faculty Secretary Asst. Prof. Ma. Zenia Rodriguez was the remote Master of Ceremonies. Onsite Master of Ceremonies was Asst. Dean Assoc. Prof. Alejandro S. Bernardo, Ph.D. The virtual program remains publicly available for viewing

The post UST confers Arriola with Teodoro F. Valencia Professorial Chair in Journalism appeared first on 91性息港.

I帽igo Chua and Daoana will each receive P150,000 for their researches on the lifeworks of Thomasian artists Raul Sunico and Danilo Dalena, respectively. Sunico, former Dean of the Conservatory of Music, is an internationally acclaimed pianist, while Danilo Dalena is a visual artist known for his expressionist folk paintings.

I帽igo Chua is teaching at the UST and is a researcher of the UST . Meanwhile, Daoana is a multi-awarded poet and art critic who teaches at the Ateneo de Manila University.

On , son D. Edgard A. Cabangon led the family of the eminent philanthropist in formally establishing the UST-Ambassador Antonio L. Cabangon Chua Research Award for the Humanities in honor of their father. It was done through the signing of a memorandum of agreement between the family and the University, through the UST Research and Endowment Foundation, Inc. (UST REFI).

First reported in: The Business Mirror ()

The post I帽igo-Chua, Daoana receive UST-Amb. Antonio L. Cabangon Chua research awards appeared first on 91性息港.

Dr. Ty studied in UST and in 2014, he was conferred an honorary degree, Doctor of Humanities, by the University.

The GT Foundation, Inc. was established on October 7, 2009 to administer the philanthropic works of the Ty family which were focused on health, environment, legacy projects, and grants. The foundation incorporates the humanitarian activities of the Ty family and the different programs that are aimed at providing for the needs of the underprivileged members of different communities.

The post UST, GT Foundation, Inc. sign memorandum of agreement for turnover of Dr. George S.K Ty Hall appeared first on 91性息港.