FACULTY OF Arts and Letters Assistant Dean Assoc. Prof. John Manuel Kliatchko aims to improve psychology education nationwide during his stint as head of the Psychological Association of the Philippines (PAP).
As the largest group of psychology experts in the Philippines, PAP’s roster of professionals could aid in enhancing instructional delivery of universities nationwide, Kliatchko said.
“They (students) don’t go to Manila anymore. So it would be good to spread good practices in the delivery of instruction to other regions. Not just content but also the modern ways of instructional delivery… and the trends that emerge related to scientific research,” he told The Flame.
“Because most of the experts are in Manila and they are in PAP when it comes to that. So I was thinking PAP can help in providing technical expertise for other people.”
Kliatchko was elected PAP president for the fiscal year 2025-2026 after being re-elected as a member of the association’s board of trustees for 2025-2028. The AB assistant dean was in his second term as the vice president of PAP. He was reelected to the post for the 2024-2025 term.
Although he initially had no plans to be president, Kliatchko said an ongoing project under the Professional Regulatory Commission (PRC) seen to have a “far-reaching benefit” in creating career pathways for professionals in the field provides him with purpose.
Kliatchko is also a member of PRC’s career progression and specialization committee that devises the career stages from foundational levels to more advanced roles and specialized expertise for psychologists and psychometricians.
As president, Kliatchko seeks to strengthen PAP’s programs and provide its members with quality service that could aid in their professional endeavors.
“It’s already doing a lot and if we add more to that, we are spreading too thinly what we can do. So for me, I want to build on the strengths of what the organization already has,” he said.
“So [that] if we provide services [to the members], they can see its impact on them.”
Kliatchko said he hopes to inculcate ethical practice among the PAP members and seek amendments to the Philippine Psychology Act of 2009, which he described as among the most pressing issues facing the profession.
“We already have people who are big [in this profession] and I just have to stand on that.I don’t have to be big myself pero the fact that these people are helping me or providing me that support. It’s really more than enough because for me, that’s very important. And all we have to think about maybe at this time is really how to help this organization move forward,” the Artlets assistant dean said.
Before being elected president, Kliatchko was a member of the PAP board of trustees in 2022 and later became vice president for two consecutive years. He has been with PAP for about two decades and is already in his 10th consecutive year serving the association with his election as president.
Kliatchko finished his Behavioral Science degree in 1989 and finished his master’s degree in psychology in 1998 at the University. He later completed his doctorate degree in Philosophy major in Social Psychology at the University of the Philippines in 2009.
Established in 1962, the PAP is the largest and oldest professional organization for psychologists and psychometricians in the Philippines. F – Ariza Marie Llorca
