The Aquinas University of Legazpi Chorale will compete at the upcoming 6th World Choir Games in Shaoxing, China from July 20 to 26, 2010. The World Choir Games is the largest choir competition in the world. Organized by Musica Mundi and INTERKULTUR Foundation, the World Choir Games is a biennial event that gathers the best choirs from around the world. The AUL Chorale will represent the Philippines along with the Miriam College High School Glee Club and the Kammerchor Manila.

With the motto of “Singing together brings nations together”, the biennial World Choir Games aims to promote the unity of nations through the arts, specifically chorale singing. The competition is open to amateur choirs from all over the world, regardless of their country of origin, race, genre of music or artistic ambitions.

Good Luck to the Aquinas University of Legazpi Chorale! Make us proud!

Image source: Aquinas University of Legazpi Official Website

An alumnus of Bicol University College of Business, Economics and Management (CBEM) Department of Accountancy topped the October 2009 licensure examinations for Certified Public Accountants. Ivan Rhett Villacampa Macabeo of Guinobatan, Albay got a rating of 91.71% and became the exam topnotcher together with Romelyn Manset Carpio of De La Salle University – Lipa, who also garnered a rating of 91.71%.

Kaiser Yohann Pranada Ballecer of Arimbay, Legazpi City, also an alumnus of BU clinched the seventh rank with a rating of 90.57%. Another Bicolano, Paul Robert Vera Morata of Ateneo de Naga is ranked 10th with a rating of 90.14%.

Meanwhile, two alumni of Bicol University College of Engineering also brought prestige and pride to the school by topping the October 2009 licensure examinations for Mechanical Engineers. Marcelo Casquejo Santillan is ranked third with a rating of 88.55% while Christopher Beunavente Sanchez is ranked seventh with a rating of 87.20%.

Bicol University | Photo by Mr. Simon Listana

The Accountancy Department of Bicol University has an impressive track record in CPA Board Exam placements. It consistently ranks as among the top three performing schools in its category since 2002. In the May 2009 CPA Board Exams, BU finally ranked first.

This is the second time that an alumnus of BU clinched the top spot in the CPA board exams. Since 1996, ten of the department’s graduates have made it to the prestigious Top 20 Placers in the country: Janeth T. Nuñez was 4th in 1996, Janel D. Mujar was 1st in 1998, and Hazel Angeline Q. Abenoja was 5th in 2008.

Aside from Accountancy and Engineering, Bicol University, which is celebrating its 40th year this year, also excels in Nursing and Social Work. BU obtained an 81% passing rate in Nursing, having maintained a passing rate of 75% and above since 2005. The Social Work department also maintains consistently high passing rates not lower than 86% in their licensure examinations. In 2004, the Social Work Department posted a 100% passing rate.

Congratulations to the Topnotchers and to Bicol University!

The Aquinas University of Legazpi (AUL) has implemented a project dubbed “Urban Agriculture through the High-Value Commercial Crops Techno-Demo Farm” within its expansive campus here. The project features 60-square-meter greenhouse where vegetables highly sensitive to rain and changes in temperature like broccoli, lettuce, cauliflower and honeydew melon are being propagated.

Gardens for more hardy vegetables such as squash, eggplant and watermelon were also established in an open area of 1,000 square meters whose perimeters were planted to rootcrops like ubi and sweet potato. Cucumber and sweet corn are being intercropped with those plants during the dry season. A 5,000-square-meter farm for upland organic rice is also being established.

Adjacent to the demo farm, organic fertilizers will be produced soon through vermiculture using earthworms in the decomposition process of rice hull and coconut peat. The first phase of the project started late last year with the establishment of a “techno-demo” farm in the Rawis Campus with a timetable of one year. After which, it will be replicated but on an expanded version in a larger property of the university in the upland village of Banquerohan, also here.

The replication will be the second phase of the project being entirely supervised by Dr. Antonio Payonga of the Bicol University College of Agriculture and Forestry (BUCAF) based in Guinobatan, Albay. This phase would start before the end of the year and managed in such a way that it becomes self-sustaining with the income derived from the sale of products be plowed back to the project for continuous production.

A part of which will be saved for future expansion and development, Payonga said. Vegetable production within the urban farm could be done continuously in a year with two or three cycles while upland organic rice and root crops will be produced once a year, he explained.

The demo farm is a project conceived by the Aquinas Center for Continuing Education (CCE) under Dr. Susana C. Cabredo in response to the challenges of the prevailing food crisis felt with the dwindling supply of agricultural crops in the local market.

Cabredo, the CCE head, said the challenge is directed not only to the agriculture sector but to all sectors of society, including the academe as the problem is exacerbated with the increases in prices of oil that directly affects food production and distribution.

“Thus, it behooved academic institutions like AUL to transform from being mere consumers of food products to growers and suppliers especially of high-value commercial crops, the technology of which could be shared with communities particularly those in the urban areas,” she explained.

Related activities could also provide students in science, engineering and commerce hands-on experiences that dovetail with classroom learning about state-of-the-art urban farming technology.

In fact, the AUL College of Business Administration has already prepared a business plan that would help the project earn revenue, Cabredo said. Aside from alleviating poverty and improving the wellbeing of Legazpeños and Albayanos in the long-term, the project could also improve the quality of urban environment through “greening,” and thus help reduce pollution, she said.

Considering the University’s proximity, the demo farm could spur agro-tourism like the strawberry fields of La Trinidad, Benguet. It would also enhance or reinvigorate the entrepreneurial skills of the Aquinians while building stronger linkages with the communities it serves, Cabredo said.

AUL owns several parcels of land within the city such as the downtown Political Science Campus, the Aquinas Peak in Barangay Taysan and a vast agricultural estate in Banquerohan, among others. Close to the business district, the main campus in Barangay Rawis is more than 30 contiguous hectares. (PNA) LDV/jca/LQ/DOC/cbd

Source: ‘Aquinas University spearheads urban agriculture in Legazpi‘, balita.ph, Aug. 31, 2009. Accessed Sept. 3, 2009.

LEGAZPI CITY, July 7 (PNA) – The province of Albay has appropriated the second highest budgetary allocation to the education sector, next to its health program. This year, Albay’s budget for its education program is P58 million, which it has properly divided among different projects.

Dr. Ligaya Palcon, Albay Provincial Coordinator for Education, said that the Education Assistance Project has the highest share amounting to P36 million for the year 2009-2010. “This amount is being utilized as financial assistance to some 7,000 college students enrolled in all community Colleges and three Bicol University Campuses,” she noted. Under the Education Financial Assistance project, tuition fees of students are being refunded in full every end of semester by the provincial government.

According to Palcon, starting this year, their office is implementing the Graduate Study Subsidy Program (GRASSP) for teachers taking master’s degree. “This program has a total budget allocation amounting to P2 million and we are now accepting applicants,” she noted. “The objective of GASSP is to promote highly competitive, intellectual standards and teaching competencies through quality research and this program is available to all graduate students,” Palcon said.

For thesis writing, each student will receive a minimum of P30,000 and a maximum of P60,000 subsidy while for dissertation writing, a student is entitled to a minimum of P50,000 and maximum of P100,000.00 subsidy. Meanwhile, another P6 million has been appropriated for Gawad Albay sa Edukasyon. This program aims to give recognition to Outstanding Principal in the province; Ten Outstanding Teachers in Albay (TOTAL), Student Excellence in Academic Leadership (SEAL) and Kadunong Award for Best Practices in Education program being implemented by the local government unit.

Dr. Palcon also announced that starting this month, the Albay Higher Education Contribution Scheme (AHECS) is now in full swing. “This is a newly introduced education program in the province with a total budget appropriation amounting to P16 million to cover at least 1,600 target student beneficiaries for school year 2009-2010.”

She explained that AHECS is a study now pay later scheme for poor but deserving students in the province. “Because of the increasing number of scholars and high school graduates every year, the provincial government has decided to provide a new program to help students decide what course they wishes to enroll in college.” AHECS beneficiaries are given free hand to chose their courses and schools.

Palcon explained that AHECS is a concessional loan facility designed by the provincial government for Albayano students in the pursuit of higher education adopting the Australian model. “It is a participatory cost sharing, the provincial government pays fraction of school fees directly to the school and so with the students.” The student beneficiary must repay the cost of his or her education when he or she gets a job. (PNA)

Source: Albay allocates P58M to education program by Mike dela Rama

LEGAZPI CITY – Albay Governor Joey Salceda announced Wednesday that the province is adopting the Australian model on Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS) starting school year 2009-2010 with an initial fund of P16 million. Under this program, those who enroll in Bicol University main campus and Albay-based private colleges can apply with the Education Quality for Albayanos (EQUAL) for a loan of P5,000 per semester for every semester for the entire course.

Salceda explained that after graduation, the beneficiary would pay only when he or she gains employment with amortization fixed at 3 percent of his monthly salary via Social Security System (SSS) or Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) until the amount is fully paid computed at 8 percent annual interest.

“If he does not get a job or earns nothing, he pays nothing at all,” he said. “If he loses that job, then he stops paying also and that should compel the government to improve the education system so he gets a job and the government gets paid,” Salceda said. According to him, if the beneficiary gets a better salary, then the loan is paid earlier so there is incentive for government to improve the educational system so he gets a better paying job.

“If he goes into business or abroad, then EQUAL will arrange a separate payment and monitoring scheme through arrangement with Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) for entrepreneurs, Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) for Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs),” he said. He clarified that for those who did not finish their study but got a job or engaged in business, he would still pay 3 percent of his monthly earnings to SSS or GSIS, thus the provincial government gets paid.

“My vision is to escalate this program to a portfolio of P1 billion in six years or P150 million per year funds mobilization from the national government or international foundations and aid agencies or even borrowings,” Gov. Salceda said. He stated that his dream is to implement the Australian education system in Albay so that once an Albayano finishes high school, he could just enroll in any college and degree he chooses and the government would automatically pay for the tuition and even stipend which he would only pay when and if he gets a job.

The governor is hoping that after the fourth year, the provincial government can increase the limit to cover the full tuition and all other incidentals and even provide a stipend. “And by the fifth year, we hope to expand the beneficiaries even to those studying in UP, Ateneo and UST,” he said.

Salceda said that in pursuit of the provincial government goal of shared and safe development through the achievement of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Albay had 10 pillars and education ranked first. “In order to do this, we are executing several strategies and the province performs well in most of the 17 MDGs except for three, two of which are cohort survival and participation,” he said.

Albay is the first and the only provincial government in the entire country with a department dedicated to education. Aside from the P16 million for HECS, the provincial government appropriated P12 million for Special Education Fund (SEF).

Governor Salceda said SEF is dedicated to basic education and its best use was as an incentive for classroom performance through Ten Outstanding Teachers in Albay (TOTAL) with awarding in December and “Oragon sa NAT” (Excellent in National Achievement Test). “In order to further enhance our teachers’ capacity, EQUAL will implement a competitive subsidy program for masteral thesis at P60,000 and doctoral dissertation at P100,000 for Albay residents taking masteral and doctoral studies in Albay-based universities or colleges,” Salceda said.

For this program the provincial government has initially budgeted P2 million for school year 2009-2010. “We are adopting a target production of 150 doctors in philosophy and 600 masters in our educational sector,” he said. “But the bigger and rapidly expanding role of EQUAL is the management of our scholarship program which has a budget of P38 million this year supporting 13,750 scholars in tertiary education,” the governor said.

The scholarship scheme is innovative as it is beneficiary-led procurement. If a qualified beneficiary is enrolled in a community college, the school will bill the province. The province does not pay for the service that does not benefit a constituent. “If you do not benefit from the scheme, it is because you did not avail of it,” Salceda said. (PNA)

By Mike dela Rama, Philippine News Agency

This is the first time Aquinas University of Legazpi has joined the PWAs and emerged triumphant in its category. For the 11th PWAs, there were 100 websites across 18 categories including Corporate, SMEs, Organizations, Schools, E-Commerce, News & Media, Lifestyle & Leisure, and Blogs, that made it through to the semi-finals. Seventy nine websites made it to the finals and 37 were named the best and most popular in their categories.

The awarding ceremonies were held at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium, RCBC Plaza, Makati City last February 27, 2009.

AQ Website (as of March 3, 2009):