UPAAT welcomes new Executive Council Members

By: Gretchen Mangahas

Five new council members join the UPAAT Executive Council as Alice Herrera leaves her post as long-time president (2015-2018; 2018-2021) together with four other exceptional council members.

Joining Alice’s farewell are council members who ended their term (2018-2021): Tess Michelle Montojo, Vice President and Fundraising Committee head; Patth Ramirez, Membership Committee head; Alfredo Natal, Jr., Information and Technology Committee head; and Vanessa Paglicauan, Treasurer.

Agnes Manasan, BS Social Work (1976), Alex Raul Pascua, BS Industrial Engineering, Ernesto Villaroya, BS Administration (1971), Helen Balderama, BA Philosophy (2000), and Marie Masongsong, BS Math (1986) were declared as the new batch of council members during the second virtual Annual General Meeting on April 10 filling in the five open spots for the elections this year.

Passing on the baton to new officers

“It has been a great six-year journey for me being the President of UPAAT. I am only passing the baton to the next President but I have no intention of leaving UPAAT,” said Alice when asked how she felt about leaving her post as the head of the association for six years. She believes that her greatest achievements include the increased member participation in activities, continuous provision of scholarships, and engagement of members in events. Alice added that this couldn’t have been made possible without the support of the council members. She encourages the new council members and new set of officers to “keep the fire burning.”

Agnes Manasan accepts this challenge as the new President following the election of officers held on April 21, 2021. “I am gratified to inherit an alumni association that is vibrant with a strong foundation that has attracted new members mainly due to the hard work of my predecessors,” said Agnes. She added that she intends to continue the projects of the various committees and strategize ways on getting more members engaged.

Recognizing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic to UP alumni, their families in Canada and in the Philippines, Agnes envisions to “establish, with the support of the Council and members, a program that will address some of the challenges caused by the pandemic encountered by the UPAAT community, and, ultimately, extend this to the local Filipino-Canadians and students and faculty of our alma mater.” Agnes furthered that “as UP alumni, we have a humanitarian tradition of serving the people, and we should not forget to give back as the people’s scholars.”

Joining Agnes is the new set of officers:

President – Agnes Manasan

Vice President – Maria Roseni Alvero

Secretary - Marie Zyrna Magno-Masongsong

Treasurer - Anna Florence Rodriguez-Ponce de Leon

Auditor - Ernesto Villarroya

Public Affairs and Communications Officer – Gretchen Mangahas

Council Membership and Term

As per our Constitution Article IV 1.c, "Council members shall be elected annually on a staggered basis and hold office for a term of three years or until their successors have been duly elected and qualified, or unless disqualified from further Council membership due to other provisions of this Constitution"

The Council is composed of fifteen (15) members and have different terms of office and every year we elect five (5) Council Members. The current Council members and their terms of office are as follows:

A council member is elected every year and must serve for three consecutive years, but has the option to serve for a maximum of 6 consecutive. A council member can no longer be re-elected after serving two consecutive 3-year terms.

UPAAT looks ahead as it expects new, innovative and exciting activities outlined in the visions of its new and current executive council.