THE UNIVERSITY of Santo Tomas honored 49 retiring faculty members, four of them from the Faculty of Arts and Letters (AB), in a testimonial ceremony that highlighted their decades of service to the Thomasian community.
Former AB dean and English Prof. Marilu Madrunio, Tiger Media Network founder Asst. Prof. Faye Abugan of the Communication department, Asst. Prof. Emelita Samala of the History department and Asst. Prof. Anna Ward of the English Department were among the honorees during the ceremony held on July 17 at the Buenaventura Garcia Paredes, O.P. Building.
Madrunio devoted over 38 years to the AB community, where she served as the coordinator for Languages from 1994 to 1995, 1997 to 1999 and 2001 to 2003. She also worked as the Philosophy chair from 2003 to 2006 and as the chair of the university-wide committee on English from 2004 to 2005.
In 2006, AB appointed Madrunio as chair of the Department of Languages, a post she handled until 2012. She also served as a member of the faculty council from 2010 to 2013.
Madrunio was also the dean of the UST Graduate School from 2013 to 2019 and of the Faculty of Arts and Letters from 2019 to 2022. As AB Dean, she performed the crucial tasks of leading the faculty as it was forced to shift to online classes during the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuring a smooth transition to hybrid mode of instruction.
READ: Marilu Madrunio: The dean who steered AB during the peak of the pandemic
Madrunio is currently the chairperson of the Commission on Higher Education’s technical panel for foreign languages until December 31, 2028. Her position involves designing a five-year roadmap to update policies and educational standards in the field and managing evaluation guidelines for designating Centers of Excellence and Development in English and foreign languages.
Meanwhile, Abugan served the University for 31 years. She earned her Communications degree from UST in 1993 and began her teaching career at age 22.
In 2018, she spearheaded the transition of the university’s campus broadcasting team to the Tiger Media Network within the Communications Bureau, serving as its assistant director for broadcast media.
Under her guidance, the student-led network bagged multiple local and international honors, including the Philippine Student Quill Awards, the International Student Broadcasting Championship and the Intercollegiate Broadcasting System College Media Awards in the United States.
With her retirement from the University, Abugan plans to transition into other forms of broadcasting, such as digital content creation.
READ: ‘Now’s the time:’ Abugan to leave UST, plans to venture full-time into content creation
Samala, who worked in UST for 44 years, served as an instructor in AB from 2014 to 2026. She previously worked as the college secretary of the UST-Alfredo M. Velayo College of Accountancy from 2013 to 2016.
Meanwhile, Ward previously served as president of the Linguistic Society of the Philippines, the country’s premier organization of language educators, while working in AB. She served the University for 43 years.
Of the 49 retirees this year, 12 came from the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, namely, Assoc. Prof. Ma. Cartrini Cruz, Assoc. Prof. Maria Cumagun, Asst. Prof. Ma. Clarissa Fortuna, Prof. Ramon Gonzalez, Assoc. Prof. Dennis Lusaya, Assoc. Prof. Vivienne Lusaya, Assoc. Prof. Alberto Paulino Jr., Asst. Prof. Juan Perez de Tagle, Asst. Prof. Antonio Rebosa, Prof. Estrellita Ruiz, Prof. Consuelo G. Suarez and Asst. Prof. Francis Villanueva.
The honorees from Fine Arts and Design were Asst. Prof. Stephen Buñi, Asst. Prof. Santiago Caaway III and Asst. Prof. Noli Vicedo, while those from Engineering are Assoc. Prof. Peter Lim, Prof. Lola Pestaño and Asst. Prof. Vilma Santos.
Three retirees from the College of Rehabilitation Sciences were also recognized, namely, Asst. Prof. Vanessa Gonzalez, Asst. Prof. Denis Ngo and Assoc. Prof. Rosalynn Papa, while another three were honored from the College of Science, namely, Prof. Rosario Garcia, Assoc. Prof. Florencia Ledesma and Loreto Juelar.
Asst. Prof. Marife Narcida and Asst. Prof. Ma. Gina Sadang from the Faculty of Pharmacy, senior high school teachers Judy Aguinaldo and Marlene Navera and senior librarians Leonila Manuel and Juanita Subaldo from the Miguel de Benavides Library were also honored for their service.
Asst. Prof. Maria Vicenta Sanchez from the College of Architecture, Assoc. Prof. Herminigildo Ranera from the Conservatory of Music, Asst. Prof. Ma. Elena Ramirez from the College of Nursing, Asst. Prof. Gerardo Castro from the UST-Alfredo M. Velayo College of Accountancy, senior counselor Christine Quita from the Counseling and Career Center and Asst. Prof. Felix Silbor from the Institute of Physical Education and Athletics were also lauded for their contributions to the University.
Nine support staff retirees were recognized for their dedication: Emelina Certeza from Office of the Vice Rector for Finance, Maria Ladisla of the Office of the Registrar, Dionisio Layacan from the College of Science, Perla Martin of the Miguel de Benavides Library, Arsenio Medel from the Faculty of Engineering, Jimmy Payot of the Office of the Vice Rector for Academic Affairs, Adolfo Silva and Claudio Subido from the Facilities Management Office and Glenn Vasquez of Faculty of Pharmacy. F
