Justice Venancio D. Aldecoa Jr. (Government Service)

Justice Venancio D. Aldecoa Jr. was born on March 11, 1926 in Dumaguete City, and graduated from Silliman University with a law degree in 1952. He rose from the ranks in the University, starting as a senior lecturer for the College of Law, where he taught for twenty years, and then also serving in the Board of Trustees for fifteen years. His service to Silliman was capped with his election as its Seventh President. During his term he came to the rescue of the University which was heavily indebted during the Martial Law years.

He was elected to the City Council of Dumaguete for four consecutive terms, after which he was appointed to the Judiciary as Presiding Judge of the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court of Dumaguete and Negros Oriental, then as Regional Trial Court Judge of the National Capital Region in Quezon City, and finally as Associate Justice of the Court of Appeals, the first ever from Negros Oriental. He retired from service at the age of 65.

Beyond the practice of law, however, Justice Aldecoa lived a full life. During World War II, he joined the Resistance Movement at the age of 17, and was assigned to the Intelligence Section of the 75th Infantry Regiment. He participated in the mopping up operations against the Japanese who had retreated to the mountains when the American Liberation Forces landed in the island.

After retiring from the Judiciary, he took an active part in veterans affairs. He also organized the Dumaguete Chapter of the Knights of Rizal, and served as its First Chapter Commander. He likewise organized the Young Men’s Christian Association of the province, and became its first Charter President.

With wife Nelly and their four children, they formed the Aldecoa Family Singers, which won First Place in a prestigious national competition at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, and have since then been designated as Philippine Ambassadors of Goodwill in concerts both here and abroad.

Justice Aldecoa’s sense of service has been widely recognized. In 1998, he received the Outstanding Dumagueteño Award for Public Service. In 2004, he was given the Outstanding Oriental Negrense Award in the field of Law in the First Buglasan Awards Ceremonies. And in 2005, he was given the Presidential Trophy for Meritorious Government Service by Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

Dr. Victor B. Amoroso (Botany)

Dr. Victor B. Amoroso was born on January 1, 1953 in Bayawan City, Negros Oriental, and graduated with a degree of Bachelor of Science in Biology from Silliman University in 1973. He earned his masters and his doctorate in botany, specifically in the field of morphology and taxonomy, from the University of the Philippines in Diliman in 1977 and 1983, respectively.

Dr. Amoroso is a career scientist and is currently the Director of Research and Professor at Central Mindanao University, but started as a humble instructor in 1974. He began to make a name for himself while pursuing his post-graduate degrees at U.P. under the tutelage of Dr. Precillano Zamora, who introduced him to the world of ferns. With his wife Cecilia, what followed then was a succession of achievements that immensely contributed to the field of Philippine pteridology and biodiversity conservation. Their most important paper was a collaborative effort titled “Spore Culture and Plantlet Production of the Endangered Giant Staghorn Fern (Platycerium grande).” This paper established the couple as authorities in spore culture technology as a method of propagation and conservation of endangered fern species.

He soon gained further prominence in his field, and became a much-sought-after speaker, teacher, lecturer, and writer due to his far-reaching research activities to make the planet greener and a much better place to live in. He was soon nominated for the prestigious PCARRD Pantas Award, and has since accumulated 37 awards, has published 52 scientific papers, handbooks, and manuals, and completed 19 researches.

He was named Outstanding Young Scientist of the Philippines by the National Academy of Science and Technology in 1991, and Achiever in Science and Technology by the Department of Science and Technology in 1991. He was also accorded the Hamiling Bayawanon Award in 2003, and was given the Outstanding Negrense Award in the field of Science and Technology.

Dr. Juan Q. Bartolo Jr. (Community Health Service)

Dr. Juan Q. Bartolo was born on March 18, 1935 in Pontevedra, Negros Occidental, and graduated with an Associate of Arts degree from Silliman University in 1957. He earned his medical degree from the Cebu Institute of Medicine in 1962, after which he became an instructor of physiology, pharmacology, and therapeutics in the same school until 1964.

In 1967, after a brief stint in private medical practice, he became a missionary physician for the Highland Medical Dispensary in Lubuagan, Kalinga, and has since then developed an expertise in community health service by dedicating his life’s work to serving the needs of the local communities in the Kalinga-Apayao area in the Cordilleras.

He initially served as a Municipal Health Officer of Rizal, Kalinga-Apayao from 1972 to 1976, and then became the Assistant Provincial Health Officer of the province from 1976 to 1978. Later, he became Chief of Hospital of the Apayao District Hospital from 1978 to 1985, and of Labuagan District Hospital from 1985 to 1986, and then the Provincial Health Officer. Thereafter, he was named Assistant Regional Health Director for the Cordillera Autonomous Region from 1986 to 1998.

In those capacities, he was awarded by various bodies, including the Philippine Public Health Association and the Kalinga Medical Society for meritorious service.

Mr. Winglip K. Chang (Business)

Businessman Winglip Chang was born on December 21, 1952 in Cebu City, and graduated with a degree in Electrical Engineering from Silliman University in 1975. That engineering degree has since been transformed into a capacity for business, and now Mr. Chang’s business empire in Cebu includes the Grand Convention Center, which is popular not only as a favorite venue for various functions and events, but also as the locality of the Grand Majestic Restaurant, which is known in the metropolis for its great food. The Grand Majestic is one of five Majestic Restaurants in Cebu, and while Mr. Chang has business partners, he remains the common denominator in all the restaurants. His non-restaurant business includes six branches of Tita Gwapa Supertinda, a newly-established retail establishment, and the Sto. Niño de Cebu Finance Corporation. He also has interests in Asian Cuisine Corporation, Senryu Japanese Restaurant, and Tongs Restaurant.

In all these, Mr. Chang manages a workforce of almost 500 people, and plans for the expansion of his business with the possibility of going into the real estate.

After he graduated from Silliman, he worked as a sales engineer for 3M Corporation, and later moved to a Filinivest subsidiary called the Family Bank. When the bank was acquired by the Bank of the Philippine Islands, he decided to go into his own business, and entered the restaurant scene. The rest, as they say, is history.

As a businessman, he distinguishes himself by a refusal to compromise his principles, and can proudly claim that none of his employees is paid below the minimum wage as is the common practice. For the last 17 years, he has also been actively involved in the charity works of the Cebu First Royal Charity Foundation, which grants medical aid and scholarships.

He has also been voted by leaders in the civic and government sectors in two prestigious Cebuano institutions: as Director of the Cebu City Sports Club, and recently as Director of the Mactan Cebu International Airport Authority, which is an important economic adjunct to the air transportation in the country.

Dr. Perla Rizalina M. Tayko (Organizational Development)

Dr. Perla Rizalina M. Tayko was born on December 17, 1943 in Hinunangan, Southern Leyte, and graduated magna cum laude with a degree in Elementary Education from Silliman University in 1965. She obtained her Masters in Science Education from the University of Hawaii in Manoa in 1969, and her doctorate in Organization Development and Planning from the Southeast Asia Interdisciplinary Development Institute in Manila in 1989. Since then, in a career that spans over 25 years, she has become known for her vast experience as a process consultant, coach, facilitator, and trainer in curriculum, instruction, and human and organization development and transformation.

She has extensive experience teaching at all levels, from kindergarten to graduate school, and in both formal institutions and non-formal settings, and has engaged in teaching, training, or learning situations and consulting services with groups and organizations from various sectors in the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Pakistan, Indonesia, Brunei Darussalam, and Uzbekistan.

She has also designed masters and doctorate programs using an approach she calls “Humanology,” which processes by enabling individuals to integrate self within self, with groups and organizations. This approach has been integrated by the Assumption University Graduate School of Business, the St. Joseph Institute of Technology, and Cebu Doctors University.

She has also worked with the Asian Development Bank, the World Health Organization, the Department of Health, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Press Foundation for Asia, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, among others.

She is the first recipient of the Richard Beckhard Outstanding International Organization Development Association Award in 2002, and the Outstanding Civilian Award given by the Office of Ethical Standards of Accountability from the AFP in 1995.

She is presently part of the Graduate Faculty and is the International Associate Program Director of the Graduate School of Business of the Assumption University in Bangkok, Thailand.

Mrs. Olivia V. Yanson (Entrepreneurship)

Olivia Villaflores Yanson was born on January 23, 1934 in Bayawan City, Negros Oriental, and graduated from Silliman University with a degree in Nursing in 1956. Upon her graduation, she was employed as a staff nurse at the Silliman Mission Hospital for more than a year, after which she relocated to Bacolod following her marriage to Dr. Ricardo Yanson Sr.

Together with her husband—and starting with the purchase from their savings of a single jeepney—she continues to be the heart and soul of the three major transit companies that they started together: the Vallacar Transit Corporation known nationwide as the Ceres Liner, the Rural Transit Company of Mindanao, and the Bachelor Express Corporation.

At the start, the jeepney assembly business they started was threatened by a market suddenly flooded with Ford Fieras, and so the couple decided to branch out into a small bus line which plied the Bacolod-Valladolid route. By 1980, Ceres Liner covered the whole province, and in 1981, they ventured into Mindanao and bought out Fortune Express in 1985, and became the dominant transit company in the island.

Today, they preside over a transportation business with 7,500 direct and active employees, and 2,000 buses serving the island of Negros, Panay, Cebu, and Mindanao, as well as parts of Luzon.

As a two-term President of the Lioness Club of Bacolod City, Mrs. Yanson initiated and self-funded many community service projects, foremost of which are medical missions for poor urban communities which are underserved in terms of access to basic health services. She is also a strong supporter of the Bahay Pag-asa Youth Center at the University of Saint La Salle Granada Campus, which serves the reformative and rehabilitation needs of children in conflict with the law.

Coming from humble beginnings, Mrs. Yanson’s values system and achievements demonstrate the truth of the tenet that through serious study, hard work, honest business dealings, abiding faith, and a compassionate and generous heart, one can not only attain great success in life, but also contribute significantly to the growth and progress of the community and nation.