July 1st, 2008, marks the birth of the very first minority-owned Title Company if not in the entire country, definitely in the State of California.  With a management agreement signed between Team Nation Holdings, Inc., a Nevada Corporation and Reliance Logic, Inc., a California Corporation, the Alameda Division of First Southwestern Title was fully conceived.  Mike Macapagal, a Filipino-American, and current President and CEO of First Reliance Escrow will serve as Division President and co-owner with 60% equity interest in his division.  He will be headquartered in Union City, California.  Another escrow branch is operating in Daly City, California.  Several branches in and around the San Francisco Bay Area and Southern California will open very soon.

With a team of highly qualified escrow and title professionals, the Southern-California based First Southwestern Title will see its operations expanding in Northern California for the very first time.  Dennis Duffy, CEO of TEAM Nations, a publicly-traded holding company which owns several title, escrow, mortgage and other real estate companies based in the United States is extremely pleased of this development. “We have long wanted to expand and target the key territories in the SF Bay Area but never had the opportunity to.  Now, with the creation of the Alameda Division, under the able leadership of Mike Macapagal, we believe that we will capture a good portion of that market”.

For his part, Mike Macapagal is excited of being given the chance to own a piece of a title company and build it from scratch in Northern California.  “I am humbled of this opportunity, but I am also confident that we can make a huge difference here.  I have the best and the brightest escrow team operating in the SF Bay Area today.  And that’s always been the key to my success.  We will continue to expand and look for creative ways to stay afloat in this difficult market, while positioning strategically for when the market picks up in a year or two”.

Remembering is the Heart of Direction

The Resident Fellows in UP Diliman will commemorate the 25th anniversary of the assassination of Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. ‘50, martyr and fraternity brother, with a book that focuses on his life and works.

Ninoy joined the oldest student fraternity in the country’s premier institution of scholarship in 1950, and ever since then marked his life with single dedication and depth for what would eventually raise the consciousness of his people and, eventually, take away his life for a noble purpose.

Individual essays as well as collective accounts from respective batches are very much welcome for this project. Photographs of the late brother will also make the book more impressive, and will be duly accredited and returned to the donor after scanning.

For editorial reasons, entries for the personal essay will be limited to 3,000 words, in addition to the bionote in MS Word file. For photographs, kindly contact the editor for arrangements. Financial donations are most welcome for the book printing. Deadline for submission is on 25 July 2008.

The Editorial Board is headed by Jaime Dasca Doble ‘02. In the academic year of 2005-2006, he edited Kadiliman: The Philippine Collegian Anthology of Critical and Creative Writing, a definitive work of 30 writers paving the way for this year’s university centennial. He is also the author of the well-received bilingual poetry collection, Order of the Poets.

Interested parties may submit their essays and photographs to jaimedascadoble@gmail.com.

Edgar Gumabon ‘58 was recently elected as the a member of the Board of Directors of UNICEF Sweden for 2 years starting May 21, 2008. Another toast to a tried and true Upsilonian! Congratulations brod!

Congratulations to the Upsilonians in the UP Medicine Class of 2008 namely Yosef Rizalde R. Laudencia Jr. ‘02 (BS BMS ‘05), former chairperson of the UP Manila USC Albert Francis E. Domingo ‘04 (BS MBB ‘03 and recipient of the Eusebio S. Garcia - Class ‘36 Leadership Award), and former chairperson of the UP Med Student Council Benjo A. Delarmente ‘05 (BS MBS ‘05 cum laude, Outstanding Intern in Pediatrics, UP-PGH 2008 and UP Manila Outstanding Student for 2005).

UP Visayas Cebu College - Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (PGMA) today signed into law Republic Act 9500, entitled “An Act to Strengthen the University of the Philippines as the National University”, also known as the New UP Charter of 2008.

The event marked triumph for UP’s 16-year struggle to have Act 1870 (or the University Charter of 1908) revised in consideration of its being outdated and obsolete in light of today’s developments in the University System.

RA 9500 honors UP with the title “National University”, setting it as, in PGMA’s own words - the Primus Inter Pares among Philippine State Universities. It effectively recognizes UP as a University System, while also democratizing its highest governing body - the Board of Regents (BOR) - by the inclusion of an Administrative Staff Regent among its members.

Furthermore, the New UP Charter effectively exempts UP’s Professors and Staff from the Salary Standardization Law, which will allow the BOR to craft more competitive compensation plans for UP’s underpaid, overworked, but highly dedicated and motivated faculty and personnel. This provision is only one of several new features in the updated law, that seeks to restore the University to its premier place among Asia’s - and even the World’s best academic institutions.

In the photo above are former UP Manila USC Chair Albert Francis E. Domingo ‘04, Senator Francis N. Pangilinan ‘81, and incumbent UP Diliman Centennial USC Chair Herminio C. Bagro III ‘02 at the Signing Ceremonies in UP Visayas Cebu College. They all played significant roles in the passage of RA 9500 - Senator Pangilinan was the then Senate Bill’s primary sponsor and advocate, while Domingo and Bagro consulted student groups in their own campuses and attended Congressional hearings on the matter. Michel Kristian R. Ablan ‘00 also played an active role as chairperson of the UP Diliman USC in AY 2004-2005.

The results of the 2007 Bar Examinations came out last weekend. Congratulations to our new lawyer brods: Alfred “Pet” T. Pagayatan ‘95, Jeffrey Jefferson “Jepri” Y. Coronel ‘01, Avelino “Ave” D. Tolentino III ‘01, Juan Paolo “JP” E. Colet ‘04 and Vibenditho “Viben” J. Piñga ‘04!

Election results are out in Diliman. Herminio “Third” Bagro III ‘02 is the incoming Chairperson of the University Student Council (USC) for UP Centennial Year 2008-2009! This is the fourth time in five years that the frat has produced a USC Chairperson after Chrysanthus “Bojit” Herrera ‘06 and Albert Francis E. Domingo ‘04 in Manila in 2007 and 2005 respectively, and Michel Kristian “Kris” Ablan ‘00 in Diliman in 2004.

Victor Lorenzo “Bikoy” Villanueva ‘07 also finished as the No. 1 USC Councilor! This is the fourth time this decade that the frat has produced a No. 1 USC Councilor after Vincent Patrick “VP” Palafox ‘00 in 2000, Paolo Luis M. Gomez ‘03 in 2004 and Bagro in 2007. To add to the good news, Lester C. Yupingkun ‘07 won as Human Kinetics College Representative to the USC.

In UP Manila, Tristan Jegar P. Catindig ‘06 was elected USC Councilor.

Winning as councilors in their respective college student councils in Diliman were Ramon Miguel “Miggy” Abeleda ‘05 (Engineering), and Mario C. Cerilles, Jr. ‘07 (Social Sciences and Philosophy).

Our heartfelt gratitude to all those who supported us! We will forever be grateful!

Batch ‘68 and ‘78 are sponsoring a kick-off reunion entitled “Samba Nights: Saan Ka Ba Nuong ‘68/’78?” to be held on Saturday, February 23, 2008 at the Bykes Cafe, 2241 La Fuerza Bldg., Pasong Tamo cor. Sabio St., Makati City (b/w Don Bosco and EDSA, and besides Mazda). All brods are invited!

The Parole and Probation Administration (PPA) awarded and recognized Robert August C. Camarillo ‘98 last January 16, 2008 for being among the pioneers who jump-started a volunteer outreach program called the Volunteer Probation Aide that services the reintegration back to society at large of parolees and probationers nationwide.  From a limited number in the lower hundreds in 2004, the volunteers now number more than six thousand nationwide with a network all the way to the basic LGU level. Camarillo was trained on the matter in Japan under a grant from JICA through UNAFEI. He finished Behavioral Studies from UP in 2003 and worked with PPA thereafter. Though he is now with the private sector, he still supports the program as a volunteer lecturer to the ever increasing number of volunteers. Congratulations brod!

Edgar Credo Gumabon ‘58 last month received a privileged award from UNICEF Sweden. He, together with Helene Wikfalk, received the annual Years Volunteer award for their dedicated work in successfully building up one of Sweden’s most active and dedicated UNICEF-groups. Awarded in accordance with International Volunteers Day, UNICEF-Sweden’s Years Volunteer award is an annual recognition given to a group or individuals who have imparted an important contribution for UNICEF in Sweden. Congratulations brod! [Photo to the left shows Gumabon with Khalid Cruz ‘99 during the awarding]

The Commission on Appointments (CA) last month confirmed the appointment of two Upsilonians as ambassadors to Egypt and Jordan. Oscar G. Valenzuela ‘64 is now the Philippine Ambassador to Egypt, while Julius D. Torres ‘72 now heads the Philippine Embassy in Jordan. Congratulations brods! Click here for the news article regarding the CA appointments.