UST Publishing House releases four titles for May

The UST Publishing House announces the release of four new titles this May, namely:

 

“Kami sa Lahat ng Mataba”

“Artemio Tadena, This Craft as with a Woman Loved: Selected Poems”

“Mariposa Gang and Other Stories”

“Looking for Polaris”

 

“Kami sa Lahat ng Mataba” by UZ Eliserio

https://www.facebook.com/USTPublishingHouse/photos/a.196215013731534.48340.184133008273068/1184713034881722/?type=3&theater

 

“Artemio Tadena: This Craft, As with a Woman Loved: Selected Poems” edited by Gemino H. Abad and Myrna Peña-Reyes

https://www.facebook.com/USTPublishingHouse/photos/a.196215013731534.48340.184133008273068/1180817105271315/?type=3&theater

 

“Mariposa Gang and Other Stories” by Catherine Torres

https://www.facebook.com/USTPublishingHouse/photos/a.196215013731534.48340.184133008273068/1184004828285876/?type=3&theater

 

“Looking for Polaris” by Dawn Laurente Marfil

https://www.facebook.com/USTPublishingHouse/photos/a.196215013731534.48340.184133008273068/1179704135382612/?type=3&theater

British Columbia Premier visits UST; witnesses signing of MoU between UST and UBC

Last May 27, 2016 (Friday), the University of Santo Tomas welcomed the delegation led by Premier of British Columbia to Canada Christy Clark, for the ceremonial signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between UST and the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.

For our peoples
In his welcome remarks, Rev. Fr. Filemon I. dela Cruz, Jr., O.P., Vice-Rector for Religious Affairs and Member of the University Board of Trustees stressed the importance of such collaboration as a way to move forward for the citizens of both countries.

Fr. dela Cruz thanked UBC and the government of Canada for opening its doors to the Thomasian students and expressed hope for stronger and deeper collaboration as the years progress.

We know you’re sending the best
In her message prior to the signing of the agreement, H.E. Clark extolled the partnership between UST and UBC as a forging of ties between two well-known and prestigious higher education institutions in the different parts of the world.

Emphasizing on friendship over the oceans, Clark said that it is through knowledge—knowledge of one another, of cultures—that oceans stop becoming blockages to collaboration, which allows nations to progress together as a people. Clark likewise paid homage to UST’s Catholic identity, expressing her admiration for how UST has helped provide knowledge, hone skills, and at the same time spread the faith and Gospel to so many of the young. “You make such a difference for many young people, helping them find their way in the world, but more importantly, equipping each of them to fulfill God’s will.”

Premier Clark expressed her confidence that UST will send their very best, “and we hope to send them back to you better than when we received them.”

Student and faculty exchange for starters
The Memorandum of Understanding was signed by Prof. Lilian J. Sison, PhD, UST’s Director for International Relations and Programs, and Prof. Grace Wong, PhD, UBC’s Senior Advisor for International, Office of the Provost and Vice-President for Academics.

According to Prof. Wong, three years ago, only one Filipino student was sent to UBC for the summer program, but this year, the number has ballooned to 67, with 23 of them coming from the University of Santo Tomas.

Following the ceremony, H.E. Clark and the delegation from the University of British Columbia took the chance to mingle with the Thomasian students who will begin their summer program in July.

#InternationalizationAtUST #ThomasiansForgingLinks

Engineering officials visit Chulalongkorn University and Thammasat University in Thailand

The Faculty of Engineering officials, led by the Dean, Prof. Philipina A. Marcelo, PhD, travelled to Thailand to meet with the officials of the Faculty of Engineering of Chulalongkorn University (CU) and the Faculty of Engineering of Thammasat University (TU) last 23-25 May 2016.  The goal of the visit was to establish collaborations between the Faculty of Engineering and the two Institutions in Undergraduate Education, Research, and Graduate Programs. The UST Team was welcomed by their CU counterparts, led by Dr. Phongphaeth Pengvanich, the Asst. Dean for Communication and International Relations, and their TU counterparts, led by the Dean, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Prapat Wangskarn. 

As the six Engineering Programs of the Faculty of Engineering have been selected by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) for the ASEAN International Mobility of Students (AIMS) Program, Student Exchange was one of the areas discussed. As an initial joint venture, both Chula Engineering and the Faculty of Engineering of TU agreed to host UST Faculty of Engineering students in a “Summer Undergraduate Research Internship”, which shall commence in June- July 2016. The students will be jointly advised by UST Engineering faculty and CU or TU faculty. This was also meant to begin exploration of common interests in research.

The Engineering Team and their counterparts agreed to look into their curricula and explore opportunities to jointly offer specific courses in a blended face-to-face lecture and technology-enhanced delivery. In the meantime, UST students are welcome to participate in courses jointly offered by Chula Engineering with their Japanese partners.

UST Eng’g Team at the Chula Museum during their campus tour

Meeting between UST Eng’g Team and Chula Engineering Team led by the Assistant Dean for Communication and International Relations, Dr. Phongphaeth Pengvanich

After the meeting, the UST Eng’g Team with the Chula Team led by Dr. Phongphaeth Pengvanich (first from left)

Meeting with the Thammasat Faculty of Eng’g officials led by the Dean, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Prapat Wangskarn (first from right)

UST Eng’g Team with the Thammasat Eng’g officials after the meeting

UST Eng’g Team with the Thammasat Eng’g officials after the meeting

The UST officials also discussed with their CU and TU counterparts the joint offering of M.S. in Electrical Engineering Program with research tracks in Electrical Engineering, Electronics Engineering, and Computer Engineering.  They plan to establish an Agreement on the Program next Academic Year, and have the first cohort of UST graduate students be sent to CU or TU in AY 2017-2018.  This will also establish joint research platforms and collaborations between faculty members in the three Institutions. In the meantime, Visiting Professors from CU and TU will be welcomed in the UST Faculty of Engineering, who will be engaged in both teaching and writing joint research proposals with UST faculty; and UST Engineering faculty members will be sent to CU and TU Graduate Programs.

Joining Dean Marcelo to comprise the Engineering Team were Asst. Prof. Michael Francis D. Benjamin, PhD (Coordinator, Engineering International Relations and Programs; Researcher, RCNAS), Asst. Prof. Patric Ellis Z. Go, PhD (Supervisor, Electrical Engineering Laboratory), Asst. Prof. Angelo R. Dela Cruz, PhD (Supervisor, Electronics Engineering Laboratory; Researcher, RCNAS), and Asst. Prof. Ma. Luisa T. Asilo (Chair, Engineering Accreditation and Continuous Quality Improvement Program).

Fr. Dagohoy receives fresh four-year term as Rector

In an appointment decree dated May 27, 2016 (Friday), the Very Rev. Fr. Herminio V. Dagohoy, O.P., PhD has been appointed as Rector of the University of Santo Tomas. He will serve his second four-year term, from 2016-2020.

Fr. Dagohoy’s appointment comes a month after the members of the Dominican community in UST elected the Terna, or top three choices for Rector, and after the Academic Senate and Board of Trustees screened the candidates.

Upon endorsement of the Vice-Chancellor, Fr. Dagohoy’s candidacy was cleared by the Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education of the Vatican, which paved the way for his appointment by the Master of the Order, the Very Rev. Fr. Bruno Cadoré, O.P.

‪#‎LeadershipInUST‬ ‪#‎NewRector‬ ‪#‎OP800‬ ‪#‎CatholicChurch‬

Manahan of MedTech elected as member of Board of Directors of the Philippines Association of Schools of Medical Technology

Assoc. Prof. Edilberto P. Manahan, MSMT, PhD was elected as a member of the Board of Directors of the Philippine Association of Schools of Medical Technology during its conference earlier this week.

 

Dr. Manahan is a faculty member of the Department of Medical Technology of the Faculty of Pharmacy and is the Assistant Principal of the Senior High School.

 

#ThomasiansLeadingTheWay

Fr. de la Rosa becomes first Asian Rector of Pontifical University of Santo Tomas of Aquino – Angelicum, Rome

From being a three-term Rector of the Pontifical University of Santo Tomas in Manila, Rev. Fr. Rolando Valenzuela de la Rosa, O.P., PhD, SThD heads to Angelicum, Rome to take the helm of the Pontificia Universita’ S.Tomasso D’Aquino (Pontifical University of Saint Thomas of Aquinas), following his election as its Rector. He will serve a term of four years, from September 1, 2016 – 2020.

 

Fr. de la Rosa succeeds Fr. Miroslav Konštanc Adam, O.P. Fr. de la Rosa served as Rector of the University of Santo Tomas, Manila for a combined total of 13 years, from 1990-1998 and from 2007-2012. PUST, known commonly as Angelicum, Rome, has an illustrious list of alumni that includes no less than Pope Saint John Paul II.

 

The news was announced in the official Facebook account of the Order of Preachers.

ITSO hosts patent drafting workshop

The participants listen intently to the presentation.

The Innovation and Technology Support Office (ITSO), an arm of the Office of the Vice-Rector for Research and Innovation (OVRRI), in collaboration with the Association of PAQE Professionals (APP) conducted “Patent Drafting and Prosecution Writeshop” to members of the APP last May 26, 2016 at the SWR 1, Thomas Aquinas Research Complex.

The Patent Agent Qualifying Examination (PAQE) passers are IP practitioners who are certified to draft patent specifications and perform patent prosecution.  They are called Patent Agents. 

In the University, Assoc. Prof. Michael Jorge Peralta, Executive Assistant for Intellectual Property & Research and ITSO Manager is the only Patent Agent. The objective of the activity is to provide continuing training on the methods of patent drafting and prosecution.  The activity was participated in by IP lawyers from law firms and ITSO personnel from different universities who are members of the APP. One of the goals of the ITSO Project is to organize a community of patent information users and drafters in order to improve the patent portfolio of the University. 

Peralta of ITSO speaks on patent search in Adamson University

Assoc. Prof. Peralta receives the certificate of appreciation from the faculty.

Assoc. Prof. Michael Jorge Peralta, Executive Assistant for Intellectual Property & Research and ITSO Manager, was invited by Asst. Prof. Anna Ramos, of the Adamson University ITSO, to be one of the resource speakers on Patent information Search in the faculty development seminar of the College of Pharmacy last May 19, 2016 held at St. Therese Building, Adamson University.

Its objective is to build the capacity of their faculty researchers to conduct research and to be better thesis advisers to their students. Capacity building is one of the objectives of the ITSO project not only in the home ITSO institution but also to other ITSO host institutions taking advantage of the ITSO network. They also serve as patent libraries, the source of patent information.  They offer services such as basic IP trainings, patent search, patent drafting, and soon, technology transfer. 

ITSO conducts patent search workshop for BS Electronics Eng’g. students

Assoc. Prof. Peralta talking about patent search to the students.

The Innovation and Technology Support Office (ITSO), an arm of the Office of the Vice-Rector for Research and Innovation (OVRRI), conducted patent search workshop to the 4th-year BS Electronics Engineering students last May 4, 2016 as part of its IP capacity building fora for both students and faculty.  Assoc. Prof. Michael Jorge Peralta, Executive Assistant for Intellectual Property & Research and ITSO Manager together with Asst. Prof. Lourdes Baldelomar, ITSO Technical Expert and Patent Searcher in Engineering, facilitated the workshop.

One of the goals of the ITSO Project is to increase IP awareness within the University and to organize a community of patent searchers to assist both students and faculty in determining novelty of their research projects to prevent ‘re-inventing the wheel.’  This raises the bar of research and thus developing more patentable researches that addresses industries challenges that makes it more relevant to society.  The ITSO hopes to reach more Colleges and Faculties to improve IP Awareness.

BS Accountancy program granted Level III re-accredited status; Management Acct’ng. program now Candidate

Last April 2, 2016, the BS Accountancy program of the Alfredo M. Velayo – College of Accountancy was granted Level III Re-accredited status by the Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities Commission on Accreditation (PACUCOA). The status is effective from April 2016 – April 2019.

 

In the same ceremony, the BS Management Accounting program was endorsed for Candidate status to the Federation of Accrediting Agencies of the Philippines, from April 2016 – April 2018.

 

#ThomasianExcellence #ThomasiansForQualityEducation

Accountancy is 2nd top performing school in May 2016 CPA boards

The UST Alfredo M. Velayo – College of Accountancy emerged as the second top performing school in the May 2016 certified public accountant boards, after 84 new CPA’s scored a 90.38% passing rate for UST.

‪#‎ThomasianExcellence‬ ‪#‎ThomasianAccountants‬

Systematic Biologists convene in UST

This year, the annual symposium and meeting of the Association of Systematic Biologists of the Philippines (ASBP) was held for the second time at the University of Santo Tomas from May 19 to 20, 2016. This year’s event was held in cooperation with the UST Graduate School and had the theme “Philippine Systematics beyond Borders”. Dr. Grecebio Jonathan Alejandro, President of ASBP (2014-2016) served as Convention Chair, while Dr. Rey Donne Papa and Dr. Cecilia Banag served as co-chairs of the local organizing committee. The event saw more than 80 participants from different parts of the country as well as Japan joining the various activities such as the keynote and plenary lectures, parallel oral presentations, poster presentations, workshops, and the graduate and undergraduate Young Systematic Biologists Forum. Papers presented during the two-day event focused on various aspects of animal, plant and microbial systematics.

Among the highlights of this year’s symposium was the Keynote Lecture on the theme delivered by Prof. Dr. Ireneo L. Lit, Jr. of the University of the Philippines Los Baños, a well-known entomologist who previously served as the Director of the UPLB Natural History Museum. Plenary lectures were also delivered by renowned scientists such as Prof. Dr. Masahiro Ohara (Hokkaido University), Prof. Dr. Edwino Fernando (UPLB), Prof. Dr. Roberto Pagulayan (Angeles University Foundation) and Prof. Dr. Spencer Benson (University of Macau).

Conference speakers, organizers, and delegates

Thomasians dominated the best poster awards as well as the undergraduate and graduate categories of the Young Systematic Biologists Forum. The following awards were given during the Closing Ceremonies:

Poster Competition

3rd Place	An Inventory of Rubiaceae in Balangkayan, Eastern Samar Including a Phytochemical Screening and a Preliminary Report on the Cytotoxic Activity of Neonauclea formicaria (Elmer) Merr. Jaydan I. Aguilar, Joanna Domini T. Bernardino, Miguel Lawrence F. Sta. Maria, Jenica Nicole S.J. Yu and Cecilia I. Banag (University of Santo Tomas)
2nd Place	New Faunistic And Host Record Of Phauda Flammans Walker (Lepidoptera: Zygaenidae) From The Philippines Elliaj Kaye Capacete, Alice Geraldine Hernando, Richard Lagrimas, Jalizah Jaira Lim, Sharlaine Orense, Joan Rivera, Gerald Soliven, Michael Tabug and Aimee Lynn Dupo (University of Santo Tomas and University of the Philippines – Los Baños)
1st Place	Landmark-Based Geometric Morphometric Analysis on Nepenthes saranganiensis Kurata in Relation to the Plant’s Trapping Strategies John Vincent P. Anino II and Dave P. Buenavista (Central Mindanao University)

YSBF (Undergraduate Level)

3rd Place	Phylogenetic placement of selected Philippine Gardenieae using cpDNA molecular datasets Christian Emmanuel E. Braganza, Catherine Louise N. Chua, Hedder A. Lim, Bennett O. Tia, and Grecebio Jonathan D. Alejandro (University of Santo Tomas)
2nd Place	Phylogeny of selected Philippine Ophiorrhiza L. (Ophiorrhizeae—Rubiaceae) inferred from mul-tiple sequence data including accounts of two new species Yñigo Luis del Prado, Nadia Mariella Diestro, Frederick Ferdinand Gomez, Princess Bituin Tapire, and Grecebio Jonathan Alejandro (University of Santo Tomas)
1st Place	Genetic Diversity of Ixora macrophylla with a Preliminary Report on its Phytochemical Components Czarina Alexei S. Gaticales, Ellize Gail P. Gonzales, Juan Karlo L. Marquez, Gabriel Louis L. Montalbo, Grecebio Jonathan D. Alejandro, and Cecilia I. Banag (University of Santo Tomas)

YSBF (Graduate Level)

3rd Place	Evaluation of five DNA loci (rbcL, rps16, trnT-L, trnL-F, and ITS) for molecular authentication and phylogeny reconstruction of Philippine Argostemma species (Rubiaceae) including a new ac-count of species and variety Hao Wei Hsu and Grecebio Jonathan D. Alejandro (University of Santo Tomas)
2nd Place	Third species of Vanoverberghia Merr. (Alpinieae: Zingiberaceae) discovered in Aurora, Philippines Rudolph Valentino A. Docot and Cecilia I. Banag (University of Santo Tomas)
1st Place	Saving our slime molds (SOSm): a comparative diversity study on the slime molds of two lowland forests in Mindoro Island, Philippines and its implication to biodiversity conservation Melissa Pecundo,Nikki Heherson Dagamac, Martin Schnittler and Thomas Edison dela Cruz (University of Greifswald and University of Santo Tomas)

During the elections for the next set of ASBP officers, Dr. Rey Donne Papa of the UST College of Science, Graduate School and RCNAS was elected Vice-President together with fellow Thomasian alumnus, Dr. Axel Arriola (University of the East), who was elected Treasurer. They will serve as officers of the ASBP from 2016 to 2018 together with Dr. Lawrence Liao (President; Hiroshima University), Dr. Florfe Acma (Secretary; Central Mindanao University), Dr. Juan Carlos Gonzalez (Asst. Secretary; UPLB), Dr. Robert Guino-o (Business Manager; Silliman University), Dr. Hendrik Freitag (Auditor; ADMU) and Dr. Roberto Pagulayan (PRO; Angeles University Foundation).    

The ASBP is an organization of Filipino systematic biologists founded in 1982. Thomasians have long been involved in the association as well as its official publication – the Philippine Journal of Systematic Biology. Both the founding and immediate past president were alumni of the M.Sc. Biology program of the UST Graduate School. Dr. Domingo Madulid of the Philippine National Museum served as president of the ASBP in 1982 and spearheaded its revival in 2004 while the outgoing president, Dr. Grecebio Jonathan Alejandro, the Director of the Office for Graduate Research of the UST Graduate School just concluded his term as President from 2014 to 2016.

The word “Systematic” in Systematic Biologists is not an adjective, though it could very well describe how these scientists work. Systematic Biologists conduct research on the kinds and diversity of organisms and their interrelationships whilst applying taxonomic principles. They play a significant role in studying biodiversity – as they help to accurately analyze and examine plants, animals and microorganisms in order to assign proper scientific names and classify them into different taxa.