VSU Notable Achievements

---

By Rey Michael Rosolada

The 2010-2011 School year was truly a very memorable year for our school, the Visayas State University. After all,in that year alone,the University’s reputation as one of the best State Universities in the region was further established by numerous awards and recognitions given to the school, school orgs as well as to some of the member of the faculty, staff, and students. These awards were presented from both the regional and national levels. We bring you the accomplishments of some of the award-winning students as well as University staff and faculty.

February 2010 – Led by 2ndLt. Florencio G. Sacdalan, Jr (VSU ROTC Commandant) and 1stLt. Clint M. Edjec (Asst. Commandant) with Cadet Col. Arnold C. Balleser (Corps Commander),the VSU Reserve officer Training Corps (ROTC) unit retains its title as the best ROTC unit of Region 8 since the 2009-2010 Regional Annual Administrative and Tactical Inspection (RAATI).  The ROTC cadets and cadettes showed their well-practiced routine for the ceremonial parade, rank inspection, close order drill, administrative inspection, military stakes, and field demonstration. Their performance garnered a total point of 97.016 based on the following criteria: Administration and Management, 24.769; Drill Test, 29. 169; Theoretical Exam, 18.79; and Military Stakes, 24.288.

April 2010 – VSU’s Institute of Human Kinetics (IHK) adviser – Asst. Prof. Alelie A. Villocino won the Gold medal in the 1.5 kilometer 3rdOlango Challenge Open-water swim Marathon held at the Tambuli beach resort in Maribago, Mactan Island, Lapu-lapu city. She bested other younger swimmers, proving that even at 46; she can still compete just as well or better than the younger generations. For her awesome feat, she was awarded with the Gold Medal, as well as a Timex Ironman triathlon wristwatch and Havaianas gift items from the organizers. A total of 70 swimmers competed in different racing categories. The event was a fund raising activity aimed to raise P1.2 million for livelihood and environmental projects of residents in Olango island, Cebu.

May 2010 – The second place of the Best Paper (Senior Category) Award was bagged by Dr. Anabelle B. Tulin and Ms. Venus O. Saz, professor and science research assistant of the Philippine Root Crops Research and Training Center (Philrootcrops), respectively. They got the second place against 15 other papers of their fellow competitors. Their paper was entitled “Micronutrient Biofortification on Acid and Neutral Soils for Enhanced Crop Productivity and Improved Purple Coloration of Sweet Potato”. While the second place for the Best Paper (Junior Category) was bagged by the undergraduate thesis of Jessie R. Sabijon entitled “Effects of Organic Amendments of Soil Characteristics and Growth and Yield of Tomato (LycopersiconesculentumMill) under the Dr. A. B. Tulin. The Awardswere given during the 13th PSSST Annual Meeting and Scientific Conference on May 27-28, 2010 at the Legend Hotel in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan.

August 2010 – Mr. Hadrian Aguilar, who recently graduated BS in Development Communication, brought honor to the University when two of his photography competition entries “Buwad (dried fish)” and “Sunset’s Reward” were selected as runners-up for the 10th year of the ArtPetron National Student Art Competition. The competition was held at Petron Megaplaza in Makati City. Hadrian also won as Grand Prize Winner of the same event held two years ago. For the ArtPetron 2010, he received a cash prize worth P30,000 plus a certificate of recognition courtesy of ArtPetron.

September 2010 – Four VSU board exam takers ranked high during the 2010 board examination conducted by the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC). Two of them, the Agricultural Licensure Examination board exam takers ranked 1st and 2nd besting examinees from other Agricultural Universities. Engr. Julious B. Cerna from Baybay, Leyte got a rating of 84.20% to take the 1stplace.  The 2nd placer, Engr. Jonas R. Buhay from Tanauan, Leyte got a rating of 83.30%. 12 out of the 13 VSU examinees passed, giving the University an institutional passing percentage of 92.31%.

In the Veterinary Medicine Licensure examination, Ms. Irene Mae L. Limson from Pulupandan, Negros Occidental topped 9th place. 216 out of the 696(31.03%) passed the exam nationwide. VSU got an institutional rating percentage of 28.57.

For the Agriculturist Licensure Examination, Mr. Allan A. Ramal now an Instructor of Chemistry at the Department of Pure and Applied Chemistryfrom Mahaplag, Leyte bagged the 7th place. About 575 out of 1875 examinees passed, giving a nationwide passing percentage of 36.14. VSU has an institutional passing percentage of 51.00.

Mr. Joseph Morales, a BS Geodetic Engineering graduate emerged as another board topnotcher. He ranked 9th among the 400 examinees. Two other VSU Geodetic Engineering Board Examinees passed, giving the University an institutional passing mark of 75.00%. This is higher than the national passing percentage of 38.50%.

October 2010– Ms. JihanSantanina J. Santiago 2010 Magna cum laude graduate in BS in Food Technology was selected as one of 2010 Ten Most Outstanding Students of the Philippines (TOSP). VSU as well as her fellowmen in Pilar, Camotes Island, Cebu are undoubtedlyproud of having a highly achieving student and potential leader like her. The award is given to Filipino students that are academically excellent and shares their talent and leadership skills to actively serve their respective communities, organizations, and field of interest for the greater good of their constituents and members. During the same event, Dr. Jose Bacusmo, the University president, also received a certificate of recognition from the TOSP National Council in gratitude for the VSU’s contribution for making the TOSP National Program a successful event. The awards were personally handed to the awardees by President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III at the Malacañang Palace.

The Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry, and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD), one of the 13 councils of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), has won 3 major awards – the Tanglaw Award, the PANTAS for Research Administrator and the PANTAS for Researcher/Scientistcategories. PANTAS means sage, a wise man or intellectual. VSU, the leading institution of the Visayas Consortium for Agriculture and Resources Program (ViCARP), celebrated this “Grand Slam Victory” for it’s the first time that the PCARRD a Research and Development consortium won these three major awards.

November 2010 – The result of the 2010 Licensure Examination for Teachers was released by both the Board of Professional Teachers (BPT) and Professional Regulation Commission (PRC). Two VSU grads were topnotchers in the examination. Mr. Joel Abunda a 2001 BS in Statistics (BSS) Cum laude grad from Hilongoswho took up some units in education and  now working in the Bureauof Agricultural Research, was ranked 2nd in the LET-Secondary Level. He got a rating of 87.40, just .40 less from the highest ranker. A total of 36, 714 examinees took the exam, but only a total of 9,493 passed giving a national passing percentage of 25.86%.

For the LET-Elementary Level, Ms. Maybelyn Bauyaban, a 2010 Bachelor in Elementary Education Magna Cum Laude grad fromOrmoc City got the 9th place. She got a rating of 83.60.  About 39,508 examinees took the exam, but only 7,737 (19.58%) passed. 42 other examinees from VSU passed the LET-Elementary Level. This gave VSU an institutional passing percentage of 50.59%.Meanwhile, 12 Bio-chem majors, 4Math majors and 3 PEHM majorspassed the LET-Secondary Level giving an institutional passing percentage of 52.78%.

Jade Vincent Q. Membrebe, a VSU ROTC Cadet 4th Class and a then BS Statistics Freshman became the champion of the 11th Philippine Army Regional ROTC Speech Contest held at the VSU Convention Center on November 6, 2010. Several other institutions from Leyte and Samar competed during the contest.

December 2010 – The research paper ofMr. Jayzon G. Bitacura, an instructor at the Department of Biological Sciences, won the 2nd place for the Best Research Paper Award during the DOST-PCARRD-sponsored 2010 Visayas Zonal R&D Symposium and Roadmapping held on November 22-24, 2010 at Cebu Business Hotel, Cebu City. His undergraduate thesis entitled the” Biodegradation of Used Engine Oil Isolated from the Coastal Sediments in the Vicinity of Ormoc City Port Area” bested 12 other competing papers.

January 2011 – On Dec. 8 2010, Mr. Clar Don L. Evangelio, then a freshman of BS Civil Engineering (BSCE) landed second place in the 19th Philippine Statistics Quiz (PSQ) National Level held at the Assembly Hall of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas in Manila. He garnered a total point of 26, and was just one point short of claiming the first place after Mr. Gabriel Paul S. Pascual of Saint Louis University in Baguio City.

TARSIER (Terrestrial Aquatic Restoration by Students Immersed into Environmental Reforms) one of the prominent student organizations in VSU has been recognized as one of the 20 finalists for the Ten Accomplished Youth Organization (TAYO) of the Philippines of 2010. The Organization was represented by Ms. Jihan Santanina J. Santiago. Even though it fell short on making to the top ten, the organization still received a cash prize of P20, 000 and a plaque for winning the Team Energy Special Award. Ms. Santiago received the awards in a ceremony held at the Heroes Hall of Malacañang Palace on December 9, 2010 with his Excellency Pres. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino.

February 2011 -The Amaranth, VSU’s official student publication celebrated its Pearl Anniversary on February 15, 2011 at the VSU Convention center. The 30th Anniversary’s theme was “Celebrating 30 years of Campus Journalism”. The event was attended by the current Amaranth staff as well as some former staff and by VSU students eager to have their own copy of the Pearl Anniversary Issue. The latest Issue was awarded as the “Region-VIII’s Best Magazine for SY 2010-2011” during the Regional Tertiary Press Conference at VSU-Tolosa. Amaranth Staff also garnered numerous awards during the competition including the “Journalist of the Year award” which was given to Ms. VernabelleBalmori, a Foodtech major from Inopacan.

During the 7th National Congress of Veterinary Medicine Students (NCVMS), the VSU College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM) team composed of Zeam Voltaire E. Amper (then DVM-5), Maria Isabel A. Mallillin (then DVM-6), and Harvie P. Portugaliza (then DVM-6), got 1st Runner-Up in the 16th National Quiz Contest sponsored by the Rodeo Club Philippines-BSU (Benguet State University) Chapter. The team was also declared  2nd Runner-Up in the Mentalympics (Veterinary Medicine Quiz Bee They also landed as finalist in the Zootechnics and Parasitology Quiz Bee.

The Accrediting Agency of Chartered Colleges and Universities in the Philippines (AACCUP) Board of Trustees awarded VSU with Level II accreditation after their visit on November 22-26, 2010. This makes the VSU the first-ever institutionally accredited SUC in the country.

April 2011 – Several VSUans were recipients of highest awards during the recently conducted 26th Philippine Chemistry Congress. Dr. Eduardo E. Tulin,VSU professor and VP for Planning and Research Generation, got the PFCS (Philippine Federation of Chemical Society) Achievement Award for Chemical Research for his pioneering work on “novel lectin with immunoproliferative function from Taro (Colocasiaesculenta) and cytokine-mimetic properties of some Philippine rootcrops and medicinal plants.”

Miss Ma. Leah Borines also bagged first price in the Student Poster Competition (Undergraduate Category). Two other poster entries from VSU were presented among 35 national finalists.

On the other hand, Miss Jeella Z. Acedo, 2004 VSU Laboratory High School Class Valedictorian graduate, got the 2nd place in the Student Poster Competition (Graduate Category). She’s now teaching in UP Los Baños.

The awards were presented by the Philippine Federation of Chemistry Societies during the 2011 International Year of Chemistry during the 26th Philippine Chemistry Congress held at the Waterfront Hotel in Cebu City.

These are just a few of the numerous Awards and Accolades received by the University each school year. Even so, this is truly a wonderful proof of just how talented and competitive VSU Students and Staffs are, within or outside the campus. It surely inspires us and makes us even more proud of our dear Alma Mater.