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Ivan Anthony S. Henares ’98 was selected as one of the ten fellows of the Philippines 21 Young Leaders Initiative for 2008. He is the second Upsilonian to be selected to take part in this prestigious program after former Cavite Representative Gilbert Cesar C. Remulla 89 in 2006. Henares will fly to Tokyo, Japan in November to participate in the Asia 21 Young Leaders Forum, a three-day event that will bring together 200 young leaders from Asia and the United States. The forum will discuss issues such as global economics, security, regional relations, and social issues. Click here for more information on Philippines 21 and Asia 21.

Henares was selected earlier this year by the Manila Jaycees as one of the “Sixty Youth Leaders” for awarding later this year. He was also part of the top thirty which took part in the first batch of the Cultural Citizens Program of the U.S. State Department and Northern Illinois University. Congratulations brod!

Benjo A. Delarmente ’05, former chairperson of the College of Medicine Student Council, was named one of the the Ten Outstanding Students of the Philippines (TOSP) for 2008 at awarding ceremonies in Malacanang Palace last July 17. Since 1961, the TOSP program has recognized outstanding youth of the nation for academic excellence, exemplary leadership, community involvement and good moral values. Congratulations brod!

July 1st, 2008, marks the birth of the very first minority-owned Title Company if not in the entire country, definitely in the State of California. With a management agreement signed between Team Nation Holdings, Inc., a Nevada Corporation and Reliance Logic, Inc., a California Corporation, the Alameda Division of First Southwestern Title was fully conceived. Mike Macapagal, a Filipino-American, and current President and CEO of First Reliance Escrow will serve as Division President and co-owner with 60% equity interest in his division. He will be headquartered in Union City, California. Another escrow branch is operating in Daly City, California. Several branches in and around the San Francisco Bay Area and Southern California will open very soon.

With a team of highly qualified escrow and title professionals, the Southern-California based First Southwestern Title will see its operations expanding in Northern California for the very first time. Dennis Duffy, CEO of TEAM Nations, a publicly-traded holding company which owns several title, escrow, mortgage and other real estate companies based in the United States is extremely pleased of this development. We have long wanted to expand and target the key territories in the SF Bay Area but never had the opportunity to. Now, with the creation of the Alameda Division, under the able leadership of Mike Macapagal, we believe that we will capture a good portion of that market.

For his part, Mike Macapagal is excited of being given the chance to own a piece of a title company and build it from scratch in Northern California. I am humbled of this opportunity, but I am also confident that we can make a huge difference here. I have the best and the brightest escrow team operating in the SF Bay Area today. And thats always been the key to my success. We will continue to expand and look for creative ways to stay afloat in this difficult market, while positioning strategically for when the market picks up in a year or two.

Remembering is the Heart of Direction

The Resident Fellows in UP Diliman will commemorate the 25th anniversary of the assassination of Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. ’50, martyr and fraternity brother, with a book that focuses on his life and works.

Ninoy joined the oldest student fraternity in the country’s premier institution of scholarship in 1950, and ever since then marked his life with single dedication and depth for what would eventually raise the consciousness of his people and, eventually, take away his life for a noble purpose.

Individual essays as well as collective accounts from respective batches are very much welcome for this project. Photographs of the late brother will also make the book more impressive, and will be duly accredited and returned to the donor after scanning.

For editorial reasons, entries for the personal essay will be limited to 3,000 words, in addition to the bionote in MS Word file. For photographs, kindly contact the editor for arrangements. Financial donations are most welcome for the book printing. Deadline for submission is on 25 July 2008.

The Editorial Board is headed by Jaime Dasca Doble ’02. In the academic year of 2005-2006, he edited Kadiliman: The Philippine Collegian Anthology of Critical and Creative Writing, a definitive work of 30 writers paving the way for this year’s university centennial. He is also the author of the well-received bilingual poetry collection, Order of the Poets.

Interested parties may submit their essays and photographs to jaimedascadoble@gmail.com.

Edgar Gumabon 58 was recently elected as the a member of the Board of Directors of UNICEF Sweden for 2 years starting May 21, 2008. Another toast to a tried and true Upsilonian! Congratulations brod!

Congratulations to the Upsilonians in the UP Medicine Class of 2008 namely Yosef Rizalde R. Laudencia Jr. ’02 (BS BMS ’05), former chairperson of the UP Manila USC Albert Francis E. Domingo ’04 (BS MBB ’03 and recipient of the Eusebio S. Garcia – Class ’36 Leadership Award), and former chairperson of the UP Med Student Council Benjo A. Delarmente ’05 (BS MBS ’05 cum laude, Outstanding Intern in Pediatrics, UP-PGH 2008 and UP Manila Outstanding Student for 2005).

UP Visayas Cebu College – Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (PGMA) today signed into law Republic Act 9500, entitled “An Act to Strengthen the University of the Philippines as the National University”, also known as the New UP Charter of 2008.

The event marked triumph for UP’s 16-year struggle to have Act 1870 (or the University Charter of 1908) revised in consideration of its being outdated and obsolete in light of today’s developments in the University System.

RA 9500 honors UP with the title “National University”, setting it as, in PGMA’s own words – the Primus Inter Pares among Philippine State Universities. It effectively recognizes UP as a University System, while also democratizing its highest governing body – the Board of Regents (BOR) – by the inclusion of an Administrative Staff Regent among its members.

Furthermore, the New UP Charter effectively exempts UP’s Professors and Staff from the Salary Standardization Law, which will allow the BOR to craft more competitive compensation plans for UP’s underpaid, overworked, but highly dedicated and motivated faculty and personnel. This provision is only one of several new features in the updated law, that seeks to restore the University to its premier place among Asia’s – and even the World’s best academic institutions.

In the photo above are former UP Manila USC Chair Albert Francis E. Domingo ’04, Senator Francis N. Pangilinan ’81, and incumbent UP Diliman Centennial USC Chair Herminio C. Bagro III ’02 at the Signing Ceremonies in UP Visayas Cebu College. They all played significant roles in the passage of RA 9500 – Senator Pangilinan was the then Senate Bill’s primary sponsor and advocate, while Domingo and Bagro consulted student groups in their own campuses and attended Congressional hearings on the matter. Michel Kristian R. Ablan ’00 also played an active role as chairperson of the UP Diliman USC in AY 2004-2005.

The results of the 2007 Bar Examinations came out last weekend. Congratulations to our new lawyer brods: Alfred “Pet” T. Pagayatan ’95, Jeffrey Jefferson “Jepri” Y. Coronel ’01, Avelino “Ave” D. Tolentino III ’01, Juan Paolo “JP” E. Colet ’04 and Vibenditho “Viben” J. Piga ’04!