TWO VETERAN journalists who graduated in the UST Faculty of Arts and Letters are among the University’s outstanding alumni this year for their exemplary contributions to society and the Church.
Journalism alumni Nestor Cuartero and Asst. Prof. Joselito Zulueta emerged as recipients of The Outstanding Thomasian Alumni (TOTAL) for media and entertainment, the UST Office of Alumni Relations announced in a Facebook post on Monday, Sept. 23.
The University will formally honor Cuartero, Zulueta and 12 other awardees in a ceremony on Friday, Sept. 27.
A former adviser of The Flame, Cuartero is a Manila Bulletin columnist and feature writer whose journalism career has spanned five decades. He shares stories about the Philippine entertainment industry through his column “Passersby,” and has authored three books, namely, At Large, At Leisure (2008), PH Movie Confidential (2022) and Easy Listening (2023).
Cuartero has received multiple recognitions for his work, including Binhiabout Awards’ Environment Journalist of the Year by the Philippine Agricultural Journalists in 2010 and the Grand Prize in Premio de Periodismo by Instituto Cervantes in 2000.
Cuartero graduated in 1974 from the University, where he served as a faculty member of the now-defunct Communication and Media Studies department. He was also an associate of the UST Center for Creative Writing and Literary Studies (CCWLS).
Zulueta will also be honored for his contribution to media and entertainment. A journalist of over 30 years, he has covered metropolitan and national issues, including the Church, and has reaped multiple accolades for his reporting.
He was awarded Best News Coverage by the Catholic Mass Media in 2015 and Best Editorial in the Journalism Awards of the Manila Rotary Club in 1993. In 2018, he was recognized as an outstanding alumnus in media by the UST Graduate School.
Zulueta completed his degree in Journalism in 1991 and obtained his Master of Arts in Literature at the UST Graduate School in 2017. He teaches communication and journalism courses at the University and serves as an adviser of The Varsitarian. He is also a resident fellow of the CCWLS.
Other recipients of the TOTAL Awards 2024 are Alice Eduardo for accountancy, business, and management; Maria Marissa Viri for health allied; Associate Justice Amy Lazaro-Javier for law and judiciary; Catherine Teh for medicine; Edgar Doctor and Jose Pedro Recto for music, arts, literature and design and Hasan Fard for science and technology.
Grace Tan Caktiong and Assoc. Prof. Pilar Romero will receive honor for service to humanity and to the church, respectively. Special awards will be given to Paul Anthony Pangilinan (Young Thomasian award), the Ling family (Thomasian family award) and Mariano Agoncillo (Posthumous award).
The TOTAL Awards is a biennial event that selects outstanding Thomasian alumni through a comprehensive review process by a selection committee consisting of past recipients, UST administrators and officers of the UST Alumni Association Inc. F
