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WVSU Panayana Cultural Group, Irong-Irong Dance Company Perform During ASEAN Exhibit

By Abegail G. Lapating, Elyn Joy B. Estimada, and Mary Angel Lou S. Tribiano

ILOILO CITY–West Visayas State University (WVSU) Panayana Cultural Group and Irong-Irong Dance Company showcased the talent of Taga-West, during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Exhibit, spearheaded by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Region VI.

The Panayana Cultural Group rendered the Opening Prayer, Philippine National Anthem, ASEAN Hymn, Iloilo City Hymn, and CHED Hymn. The Irong-Irong Dance Company performed an Indonesian cultural dance.

The exhibit unveiled the ASEAN countries’ cultural clothing and native foods, in celebration of the association’s 55th Founding Anniversary.

With the theme, A Showcase of ASEAN Culture and Education, colleges and universities represented the ASEAN countries, through dance and costumes.

Aklan State University – Laos

Capiz State University – Malaysia

Central Philippine University – Philippines

Guimaras State University – Thailand

Iloilo Science and Technology University – Cambodia

Iloilo State College of Fisheries – Vietnam

University of Antique – Brunei

Colegio de San Jose – Myanmar

Northern Iloilo State University – Singapore

West Visayas State University – Indonesia

The ASEAN Exhibit commenced on September 26 and concluded on September 30, at Robinsons Mall, Jaro, Iloilo City.

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WVSU President, COM Faculty Receive Outstanding Alumni Award from UPAA Iloilo Chapter

Photo Caption: The awardees at the Iloilo Convention Center during the Alumni and Faculty Homecoming Dinner and Awards night. Photo source from UPV Office of Alumni Relations FB post.

by Abegail Lapating, Elyn Joy Estimada, Mary Angel Lou Tribiano

The University of the Philippines Alumni Association (UPAA) Iloilo Chapter recognized its outstanding alumni during the homecoming dinner last August 21, 2022 at the Iloilo Convention Centre. Among the seven awardees were the West Visayas State University (WVSU) President, Dr. Joselito F. Villaruz and College of Medicine (COM) faculty, Dr. Ma. Pilar S. Malata.

WVSU President Dr. Joselito F. Villaruz (BS Biology 1987, MA in Public Management 2004) was honoured for his work in the field of Governance, Public Administration, and Public Service.

With 25 years of public service, Dr. Villaruz was recognized as a 2022 UPV Jubilarian by the UP Alumni Association, an acknowledgment of his dedication and hard work.  The WVSU President established the Juris Doctor program, Doctor of Dental Medicine program, and Bachelor of Science in Chemistry. Dr. Villaruz is also dedicated to making WVSU a premier research institution.

In an interview with the Forum Dimensions, the UPV Jubilarian Awardee said that “the recent award given by the UPV Alumni [Association] as an outstanding professional in the field of governance and public service is an affirmation and is proof of the acknowledgment of the efforts and services that I have given in the public sector.”

Another pride of WVSU and a mental health advocate, Dr. Ma. Pilar Servigon-Malata (UPHSI 1982) from WVSU College of Medicine, spoke on behalf of the awardees during the event.   UPAA Iloilo Chapter recognized her with an award for achievements and contributions in the field of education.

The recipients had to comply with the necessary documents to be validated by the association and were selected through a strict screening process.

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WVSU Represents Indonesia at the ASEAN 55th Founding Anniversary Exhibit

By Leo Almonte

West Visayas State University (WVSU) represents Indonesia during the week-long ASEAN Exhibit: A Showcase of ASEAN Culture and Education that started last September 26, 2022, at Robinsons Mall, Jaro, Iloilo City. 

ASEAN, a regional body, composed of 10 member states founded in 1967, is committed to promoting intergovernmental cooperation in economic development, security, military, politics, and education. 

CHED Region VI and Western Visayas Association of Higher Education Institutions (WVAHEI) organized the event in collaboration with WVAHEI members to celebrate the 55th Founding Anniversary of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Higher Education Institutions participating in the event stand-in for an ASEAN member state through booths showcasing its culture. Assigned to represent Indonesia, WVSU’s International and Local Linkages Office (ILLO) booth featured its culture through Indonesian-inspired decorations, visuals, and symbols. 

WVSU’s Janiuay and Lambunao Campuses put their culinary skills into high gear by preparing Indonesian cuisines like Beef Rendang, Ayam Goreng, Chicken Satay, Cilor, and Klepon. Mall goers swarmed the booths for free food tasting and a closer look at the display. ILLO staff and interns manning the booth donned  Indonesian-themed outfits. 

The ASEAN Exhibit became an opportunity for the different WVSU campuses to work as a team and contribute to the event’s success. The other units that contributed to cultural production, logistics, booth set-up, concept development, theme, design and promotion were the Dance Cultural Affairs Office, College of Business and Management, Pototan Campus, MIS, PAMCO, WVSU Artist Guild, ILLO and PAMCO interns, and the General Service Office.  

Like in all the booths, WVSU’s corner garnered visitors for selfies, food-tasting, and small talks with staff about their “adopted” country. The ASEAN Exhibit is open to the public until September 30, 2022 at  Robinsons Mall, Jaro, Iloilo City. 

 

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WVSU Joins the 55th ASEAN Founding Anniversary Celebration

By Abegail G. Lapating, Elyn Joy B. Estimada, Mary Angel Lou S. Tribiano 

ILOILO CITY– In celebration of the 55th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Founding Anniversary and collaboration with the Western Visayas Association of Higher Education Institutions (WVAHEI), CHED Region VI launched the ASEAN Exhibit: A Showcase of ASEAN Culture and Education, a week-long celebration, last September 26, 2022, at Robinsons Mall Jaro, Iloilo City.

West Visayas State University (WVSU) showcased the culture of Indonesia together with nine other private and government higher educational institutions around Panay and Guimaras, representing the ten ASEAN members.

 Various Colleges and universities exhibited the rich culture and heritage of ASEAN nations through their well-designed, thematic, and festive booths with the University of Antique representing Brunei, Iloilo Science and Technology University (Cambodia), West Visayas State University (Indonesia), Aklan State University (Laos), Capiz State University (Malaysia), Colegio de San Jose (Myanmar), Northern Iloilo State University (Singapore), Guimaras State University (Thailand), Iloilo State College of Fisheries (Vietnam), Central Philippine University (Philippines).

 Dr. Raul C. Alvarez (Regional Director, CHEDRO VI), Dr. Lilian Diana B. Parreño (Guimaras State University President), and Dr. Raul F. Muyong (Iloilo Science and Technology University and WVAHEI President) opened the exhibit with a ribbon cutting ceremony. Dr. Ma. Asuncion Christine V. Dequilla,  VP for Academic Affairs, represented WVSU in the event.

Representatives from different colleges and universities joined the parade of flags in their respective traditional attires. The cultural group from WVSU, Panayana, sang the opening prayer, followed by their soulful renditions of the Philippine National Anthem, ASEAN Hymn, Iloilo City Hymn, and CHED Hymn.

Dr. Raul Muyong delivered the welcome message, while  Dr. Raul C. Alvarez declared the ASEAN Exhibit open after his keynote speech. Day One of the Celebration commenced with successive cultural presentations of groups from each university and college.

The ASEAN Exhibit is open to the public from September 26 to 30, 2022, at the Robinsons Mall, Jaro, Iloilo City.

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Journal for Law Advocacy – Clinical Legal Education Program and Revised Model Law Curriculum

The WVSU Journal for Law Advocacy (JLA) is an academic journal committed to the development of legal scholarship for and from the Visayas Region and Southern Philippines. The student-run editorial board adheres to a double-blind peer review process as its editorial policy to determine the quality of submission both from law students and legal practitioners. JLA’s inaugural issue carries the theme “Electoral Laws and the 2022 Philippine Election” and contains seven carefully selected chapters that provide important legal analyses of electoral issues that limit, if not hostage, the conduct of free and fair elections in the Philippines. In preparation of the journal’s official launch by October 1st of 2022, online versions of the seven stand-alone chapters will be shared to the reading public. For this week, JLA is featuring its maiden commentary contributed by Judge Enrique Trespeces of the WVSU College of Law.
(Click the image to access the full article)
The inaugural issue concludes with a commentary on the Clinical Legal Education Program (CLEP) and its relation to ethical-driven lawyering – an important pedagogical improvement in law school curricula that can help bridge the gap between the study of law and practice of law that can help address some of the systemic electoral issues discussed in earlier chapters of the first issue of the Journal. Entitled “Clinical Legal Education Program and Revised Model Law Curriculum: Championing Law Advocacy and Ethical-driven Lawyering”, Judge Trespeces notes that Revised Model Law Curriculum launched in the last quarter of 2021 now zeroes in on the pressing need for lawyers not only to be practice-ready but ethically-driven as well. He cites his own survey that from 2017 to 2021, 430 bar discipline cases docketed at the Supreme Court, which reflected the “dark side” of lawyering, spread throughout the legal profession. The author argues that the integration of a clinical component of legal and judicial ethics in procedural subjects like criminal procedure, civil procedure in dispute resolution, and evidence rules is a significant enhancement of achieving ethical-driven lawyering. To illustrate, the editors take note that WVSU College of Law recently integrated its CLEP learning activities into the teaching of the course Administrative Law, Law on Public Officers, and Election Law. This timely integration of CLEP activities to relevant subjects, such as Election Law, coincided with the recently concluded 2022 National Elections. Without a doubt, strategies like this are in accord with CLEP’s goal to inculcate in students’ values of ethical lawyering and public service. Judge Trespeces in his conclusion notes that these initiatives require the concerted efforts of all stakeholders to set the CLEP in motion in order for its objectives to come to fruition.

The student editors, as well as contributing authors of this inaugural issue, hope that readers arrive at a more complete picture of the interplay of law, jurisprudence, and electoral reform in the Philippines. The different chapters of this volume earnestly put together provide at the very least, a diagnosis of each of the key areas of reform in the Philippine electoral system. The official date of the Inaugural Launching of the Journal for Law Advocacy is on October 1st of 2022, 3:30pm onward at the Moot Court, Quezon Hall Building. If you wish to attend the said event and if you have inquiries on how to submit your original legal manuscripts or on how to subscribe to our Journal, please email the Journal’s Executive Editor – Clyde Gacayan at [email protected]

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Journal for Law Advocacy – The Rules on Substitution of Candidates in the Philippine Electoral System

WVSU Journal for Law Advocacy’s featured article for this week is written by Philipp Centenni Ruel, a student of WVSU College of Law. As with the first five papers we have released over the last four weeks which discussed about the interplay of electoral laws and jurisprudence, Ruel provides a sharp analysis as to how some politicians have exploited the rules on the substitution of candidates within our electoral laws.

(Click the image to access the full article)

In the sixth chapter entitled “Exploiting Electoral Exchanges: The Rules on Substitution of Candidates in the Philippine Electoral System”, Ruel examines the recent trend of politicians using and abusing the legal option allowing candidates to give up his/her candidacy to other candidates as a mechanism for emergency circumstances where a candidate is incapacitated or for some other serious reasons, compelled to withdraw his/her candidacy. Ruel, however, observes that there are numerous instances where substitution has been put in the national spotlight which he calls an electoral fiasco. Citing the 2016 substitution of then presidential candidate and now former President Rodrigo Duterte replacing Martin Diño, and Sarah Duterte as a substitute Vice-Presidential candidate replacing Lyle Fernando Uy, the author notes that the substitution card has been mainly a game plan not only for national politicians but has been replicated in congressional and party-list seats, as well.

Ruel cites COMELEC’s leniency towards the matter at hand as one of the reasons that explain why the substitution mechanism has been abused and utilized by politicians. The author argues that the exploitation of the rules on substitution empowers, rather than limit political dynasties. He calls the apparent abuse of substitution mechanisms not only a political gimmick but warns that it has become an electoral norm that coincides with the flawed system of Philippine elections. Ruel provides that the apparent abuse of the rules on substitution is a sham and mockery of the election process, and if taken for granted, would pave the way for the erosion of the spirit of democratic selection processes.

The WVSU Journal for Law Advocacy (JLA) is an academic journal committed to the development of legal scholarship for and from the Visayas Region and Southern Philippines. In preparation of the journal’s official launch by September 23rd 2022, online versions of the seven stand-alone chapters will be shared to the reading public every week. For inquiries and to submit your original manuscript for publication, please email the Journal’s Executive Editor – Clyde Gacayan at [email protected].

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WVSU Sees Increase in Enrolment this S.Y. 2022-2023

By Abegail G. Lapating and Ciarra Mae Imbang with PAMCO.

West Visayas State University has 21,640 enrollees on all campuses in the first semester of the school year 2022-2023, which is higher than the 20,576 enrollees during the first semester of the previous school year.

In an interview with Ms. Mardy A. Ledesma, director of office of the admission and records/registrar, the general number of enrollees in WVSU for S.Y. 2022-2023 reached a total of 9, 286 for the main campus only.

The Baccalaureate Programs have a total of 6,608 enrollees. The College of Education tops the number of enrollees with 1,631, followed by the College of Business and Management (1,049) College of Arts and Sciences (1,044),  College of Information and Communication Technology (840), College of Communication (510), College of Nursing (487), College of PESCAR (487), College of College of Medicine (476) and College of Dentistry (84).

The Integrated Laboratory School (ILS) has a total of 595 enrollees while the Post-Baccalaureate Programs have a total of 212 (136 in Distance Education, and 76 in College of Law). .

In Graduate School Program, there are a total of 1,871 enrollees: 262 in College of Arts and Sciences, 151 in College of Business and Management, 15 in College of Communication, 1134 in College of Education, 82 in Distance Education, 46 in College of Information and Communications Technology, 51 in College of Nursing, 130 in College of PESCAR.

This data includes the number of enrollees per college in WVSU main campus only.

“There are barely any  issues in the system”, Ms. Ledesma said that.  “The students are already familiar with the university’s IUIS. The office, together with the MIS, conducted an orientation to new students on the process of online registration as well as the college secretaries and advisors. Although there were glitches in the system, the issues were addressed immediately.  Aside from orientation, infographics were also posted in various Facebook pages of WVSU.” 

According to Ms. Ledesma, WVSU extended the enrollment for one week because the accounting office introduced a payment gateway. Students have options to settle their enrollment fees at payment centers like 7/11 and banks.

“As of now, there are just minimal enrollment  challenges like connectivity and Internet disruptions, Ms. Ledesma said.

The demand for credentials and other documents from continuing and newly graduated students has been keeping the office of admissions and records/registrar  busy. Among the documents that students have been requesting are the Certificate of Registration for DSWD educational cash assistance and the Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID).

Ms. Ledesma is assuring the student body  that their office is  on track in upgrading the system with the help of MIS office technical team to minimize the glitches as well as concerns regarding the enrolment process.

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WVSU College of Education Alumnus tops the 2022 Guidance Counselor Licensure Exam

By Elyn Joy B. Estimada and Mary Angel Lou S. Tribiano with PAMCO

The Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) announced last August 24 that Dr. Ryan Michael Flores Oducado topped the 2022 Guidance Counselor Licensure Exam with a rating of 89.25%.

Dr. Oducado is a registered nurse and a graduate of the WVSU College of Nursing, Cum Laude, Class of 2007. Incidentally, he is serving his Alma Mater as an assistant professor and director of the Research and Development Center.

The topnotcher studied Professional Teaching Certification at the University of the Philippines Open University, his Master of Arts in Nursing, majoring in Community Healthy Nursing at Central Philippines University, and his Master of Arts in Education, majoring in Educational Management at Northwestern Visayan Colleges. He is also currently studying Doctor of Education – Educational Management at Iloilo Science and Technology University.

Dr. Oducado took his Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Education, majoring in Psychology and Guidance at WVSU’s College of Education (With High Distinction, 2020) which made him eligible to take the Licensure Exam for Guidance Counselor this 2022.

The outstanding WVSU Alumnus and two-time Outstanding Researcher of the University, took four licensure examinations within fifteen years. He passed the Nursing Licensure Exam in 2007, the Midwife Licensure Examination in 2014, where he ranked second and garnered a 90.75 percent grade, and in 2015, he passed the Licensure Examination for Teachers.

In an interview with Bombo Radyo, Dr. Oducado said, “Masadya gid kay ang tanan ko nga efforts sa pagtuon sa pila ka tuig, nag-bear fruit sa amo ni nga board exam.”

According to the PRC, 405 out of 661 examinees passed the 2022 Guidance Counselor Licensure Examination.

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WVSU College of Nursing Honors Its Students with a Capping and Candlelighting Ceremony

Millien E. Acanto and Honeylen S. Sarmiento with PAMCO

The West Visayas State University College of Nursing (CON) Class of 2024, Batch Zephyr, conducted their Capping and Candlelighting Ceremony at the University Cultural Center last August 30, 2022,

The ceremony honored second-year students as they started their program’s hospital training. The cap is a badge of distinction representing knowledge, experience, and expertise. The pinning ceremony is a historical practice connoting that “nursing is a vocation or a  “calling,” while the lamp represents the desire for life, health, love, and understanding. Nurses and nursing students are expected to serve like Florence Nightingale, renowned for her heroic service and care for soldiers in field hospitals in the 19th century.

A total of 131 student nurses participated in the capping and candle lighting ceremonial tradition.

WVSU President Joselito Villaruz gave his welcome address and emphasized, “I trust that you will triumph over life’s uncertainties because you are not just trained well but trained for excellence with compassion, commitment, and courage.”

The guest speaker for the ceremony, LTC. Jose Romulo Dilag, PAF (GSC) said, “Pursue your dreams, aim for excellence, stay relevant, and be brave and courageous for the challenges ahead. Soar on to wings like eagles.”    

After the nurse’s pledge and prayer, Batch Zephyr sang their batch song, To The Sky.

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Journal for Law Advocacy – Election related offenses and disinformation

The WVSU Journal for Law Advocacy (JLA) is an academic journal committed to the development of legal scholarship for and from the Visayas Region and Southern Philippines.  The student-run editorial board adheres to a double-blind peer review process as its editorial policy to determine the quality of submission both from law students and legal practitioners.

JLA’s inaugural issue carries the theme “Electoral Laws and the 2022 Philippine Election” and contains seven carefully selected chapters that provide important legal analyses of electoral issues that limit, if not hostage, the conduct of free and fair elections in the Philippines.  In preparation of the journal’s official launch by September 23rd 2022, online versions of the seven stand-alone chapters will be shared to the reading public. For this week, JLA is featuring the co-authored chapter of Prosecutor Victoria Heler and Theda Grace Gumban, faculty and student respectively of WVSU College of Law.

(Click the image to access the full article)

Entitled “Towards a Clean and Honest Election: Jurisprudence on Election-related offenses”, the authors revisit important provisions of the Omnibus Election Code of the Philippines and provide a discussion on frequent election violations and related jurisprudence. This includes vote-buying and vote-selling, conspiracy to bribe voters, wagering upon the result of the election, and coercion of subordinates among others. The authors provide a thematic discussion of offenses during voter registration, campaign, voting day, and canvassing. 

Heler and Gumban also provide a rundown of special laws that govern the conduct of elections in the country and argue that while these laws are designed to ensure a peaceful and effective method of selecting political leaders, these laws have to face challenges arising from COVID-19 and disinformation networks in social media.

The student editors, as well as contributing authors of this inaugural issue, hope that readers arrive at a more complete picture of the interplay of law, jurisprudence, and electoral reform in the Philippines. The different chapters of this volume earnestly put together provide at the very least, a diagnosis of each of the key areas of reform in the Philippine electoral system. For inquiries, please email the Journal’s Executive Editor – Clyde Gacayan at [email protected]