2016 Directors called on stage (l to r): L. Tumbocon, L. Espiritu, C, Berba, E.del Rosario, D. Abando, P. Pascual, and D. Briones

Once again, UP’s Bahay ng Alumni was witness to the UPAE Alumni Homecoming which happened last Saturday, November 7, 2015.

Participants all commented on the smooth registration processing which owed much to the efforts of Engineering Student Council volunteers led by Chair Raymond Velasco and Vice Chair Edgardo Alegre Jr. In fact, the ESC members had done several on-site simulations to make sure their process flow would be free of snags and bottlenecks. Registrants were given glasses of wine upon entry and an opportunity to pose against the paparazzi wall splashed with the homecoming theme and UPAE logo. UPAE staff Grace, Shane and Rachel manned the booth that gave away the 208-page 2015 Ingenium copies which early goers quickly devoured cover to cover. Mon Ramirez, a homecoming regular, e-mailed his friends the following day, “If only for the Historical Reference section, it’s worth having a copy of this Ingenium. But there are more informative items in the yearbook that should be of interest to an engineering alumnus, like: the annual reports of the COE, departments, Tito Aliga’s ERD Foundation, fraternity alumni organizations, etc.; milestones and major events from 2014 to 2015; and the UPAE year in review.”

Spotted among the early comers was ex-Prime Minister-and-alumnus Cesar Virata. Also early were the 1965 Golden Jubilarians who had their own reserved table in front as well as the 2015 awardees and their spouses. The stage was decorated with a Filipiniana theme complete with sinamay and native weave accents. The opening number, coming after the solemn invocation by UPAE Treasurer Dan Abando, was an elegant Maria Clara dance number by the UP Filipiniana Dance Group.

The emcee of the evening was none other than the vivacious and charming Giselle Sanchez, a singer, CNN talk show host and comedienne who also happened to be a UP alumna – though from the College of Mass Communications. She joked that the MassComm girls would often drop by Melchor Hall to try and attract the engineering males and in fact, she was successful in getting married to an engineering alumni 13 years ago.

Lilit Tumbocon gave the welcome message followed by the acknowledgment of the Jubilarians, which included Batch 90 (celebrating their Silver Jubilee), Batch 75 (Ruby Jubilee), Batch 65 (Golden Jubilee), and Batch 55 (Diamond Jubilee). Clearly the most prepared were the Golden Jubilarians, led by Filemon “Jun” Uriarte Jr., former DOST Secretary, who with batchmates Mel Ricafrente, Celia Sta. Ana, Peter Tan all dressed up in their barongs and Filipiniana attire went up the stage as one cohesive group. Applauded well were the Diamond Jubilarians Victor Sandoval and Eliseo Purificacion. Others present were Ruby Jubilarians Alfredo Chanbonpin, Payapa Cruz, Fernando San Miguel and Silver Jubilarians.

One of the highlights of the evening was the introduction of the Study Now Pay Later program of the UPAE, which included an AVP with a video of the first seven beneficiaries and the exciting pledging session led by Vice President-External Dante Briones and Vice President-Internal Levy Espiritu, with alumni and fraternities outbidding each other to pledge P120,000 (or higher) in support of the SNPL program.

Then it was UPERDFI’s turn as its president, Tito Aliga, led the ceremony to confer the “sundial” plaque of appreciation to this year’s professorial chair donors. Going up the stage to receive their plaques were Koichi Kuwamura, CEO of Marubeni Philippines; Kenshi Ideri, CEO of San Roque Power; Toshiro Kume, CEO of Team Energy; Edwina Consunji-Laperal, Director of Semirara Mining and Power; Joselito Alzona, representing Beta Epsilon Brothers; Lilian W. T. Yao CFO of SteelAsia; Victor Sandoval, President of Concepcion Hidalgo-Sandoval Foundation; Levy Espiritu President of DATEM Inc.; Roxanne Espiritu, President of LevyRox Corporation; and Amante Aguilar.

The other highlight of the homecoming evening was the conferment of the 2015 alumni awards. This included professional degree awards to Florentino Silayan (ChE), Edgardo Cruz (CE), Allan Nerves (EE), Manuel Ramos (ECE), Edgardo Basilio (GE), Jose Jerome Pascual (IE), and Eric Cutiongco (MME); global achievement awards to Marcelino Martinez (CE), Arnel Santos(ChE), and Roberto Castillo (supply chain); national achievement awards to Gerardo Villacorta (entrepreneurship), Ruben Reinoso (government service), Carlos Berba (corporate governance), and Abraham Co (banking); posthumous awards to Fernando Javier and Peter Valdez; the UPAE presidential award by Lilit Tumbocon to former UPAE president Rafael Aguila; and the most distinguished alumnus award to Leonardo Liongson. Leony talked about teachers inspiring their students to succeed, who later on as alumni pay back through chair endowments that allow the teachers to live decently. He also joked about the UPAE finally getting its own logo after decades of copying the CoE logo – and that this time, the Oblation had a superhero cape, which had the audience laughing. But when Giselle did a skit with Leony where he had to kiss her, the audience was again laughing because he was visibly uncomfortable since Mrs. Liongson was in the front row.

Before delivering her own message, Dean Aura C. Matias informed the crowd that this was going to be her last time to address a UPAE homecoming as dean since she was going to complete her second and last term by June 2016. She then proceeded to outline the gains and accomplishments of the past year.

Perennial Comelec chair Jess Gopez then announced the eight newly elected directors. The list included – reelectionists Lilit Tumbocon and Dante Briones; Carlos Berba, Frankie A. Arellano, Adrian S. Arias, Alfredo Austria, Carlos Antonio M. Berba, Michael Sicat, and Adolfo Carlos D. Umali. They were later joined up the stage by continuing directors Levy Espiritu, Elise del Rosario, Patrick Pascual, and Dan Abando.

Of course, no homecoming would be complete without raffle prizes and the 2015 homecoming was no exception. This included a host of small appliances – electric fans, flat irons, steamers, etc. – followed by the three major prizes – microwave oven, refrigerator, and the grand prize of a 40-inch Sony Bravia LED TV, won by IE 77 alumnus Benjie Mirasol.

The sumptuous food, which included pinoy mainstays like kare-kare, bam-i, lechon, among others, plus buko salad and ube cake slices for dessert, was overwhelmingly appreciated by the nearly 300 attendees.

The programme proceeded like clockwork and finished on the dot, as scheduled. Jessica “Liza” Reyes-Ting, IE 85, expressed the view of several others who attended, “it was a great evening, and in my opinion much better organized than previous homecomings.” Clearly, another night to remember.