In the female individual category, Lady Jin Chelsea Tacay was named the Most Valuable Player after scoring 8.000. She and team captain Vincent Rodriguez dominated the mixed pair category, garnering 8.167 points.

In the male individual category, Tiger Jin Nash Alcairo chipped in a bronze medal with his 8.034 score. Alcairo, Dane Subaste, and Jeus Yape, tallied 8.100 points to bag the silver medal in the male team category.

Lastly, Stella Yape, Allyson Serapio, and Aidaine Laxa snagged the silver medal with their 8.117 points in the female team category. Laxa is a SEA Games gold medalist.

First in the Varsitarian.

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Jeanne Arnibal, who is this season’s Rookie of the Year, dashed for the bronze in the 100m hurdles event. Moreover, Arnibal dominated the heptathlon and triple jump events, snagging the silver medal in the women’s high jump event.

Their male counterparts placed 6th with 106 points, reaping a 3-1-1 medal haul. In the men’s 4×400-meter relay, Hokett de los Santos, Jasper Obanon, Gerald Casimiro, and John Romero won the silver medal for their 3:18.89 finish.

First in the Varsitarian.

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Melito Ocsan Jr. bagged the Most Valuable Player award after winning 8 of the 10 games in Board 2. Meanwhile, Chester Reyes was crowned Rookie of the Year with his nine wins in Board 3.

The team is composed of Ocsan, Reyes, Julius Gonzales, and brothers Mark and Carl Daluz. Mr. Ronald Dableo is the coach of the chess team.

First reported in the Varsitarian.

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The award is conferred upon students who win in national or international competitions, demonstrating the commitment to pursue Thomasian excellence. “[The Pope John Paul II award] means a lot to me and I have been looking at it, it is beautiful. I never really thought that UST would recognize me and the things I have done. I have always been a part of the University even if I was away,” Obiena said.

In his message, Vice-Rector the Rev. fr. Isaias D. Tiongco, O.P., JCD lauded Obiena’s medal rush, as well as his “self-discipline, confidence, determination, and rigorous training that are bearing much fruit”.

Moreover, while reminding the world-class athlete to prioritize his well-being above everything else, the Vice-Rector gave his blessings to Obiena in preparation for the 2024 Paris Olympics. “It is the hope not only of your fellow Thomasians but, more so, to our Filipino countrymen that you come back home victorious and make us all prouder not only as a Thomasian Olympian but more prestigiously, a Thomasian Olympic Champion,” fr. Tiongco said.

Obiena, whose rise to international prominence is due to consecutive victories in various competitions, recently bagged the gold medal for soaring past 5.91 meters in the Brussels Diamond League, held in Belgium on September 2, 2022.

The renowned athlete has so far brought home 17 medals–12 of which were gold– in 2022.

He also represented the country in the Summer Olympics 2020 held in Tokyo. Obiena also snagged a bronze in the�� World Athletics Championships, making him the sole Filipino to have snagged an award in the feat.

Photos by Hans Lawrence V. Malgapu

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Our Thomasian Athletes dominated in half of the eight events this season, clawing gold in Poomsae, Men’s 3×3 Basketball, Men’s Beach Volleyball, and Men’s Chess tourney.

Rancel Varga was named the “Most Valuable Player” in Men’s Beach Volleyball feat while Sherwin Concepcion was named the MVP in the Men’s 3×3 Basketball. In the Poomsae division, Lady Jin Aidaine Laxa was named the “Rookie of the Year” and the MVP in the campaign; she also bagged the silver medal in the women’s individual event.

������Ƶ also bagged silver in Women’s 3×3 Basketball, clinched on the fourth place in Women’s Volleyball, and settled for seventh place in both Men’s 5-on-5 Basketball and Women’s Chess.

The UAAP tallying system is as follows: 15 points for gold finish, 12 for silver, and 10 for bronze. The fourth placer gets eight points, six for fifth placers, four for sixth placers, two for seventh placers, and one for the eighth placer.

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Thanks to the stellar performances of Rancel Varga, Efraem Dimaculangan, and Jaron Requinton, the team brought home to España its sixth gold in the UAAP Beach Volleyball tourney, gaining the reputation as the winningest team.

Varga was likewise crowned this year’s Most Valuable Player.

Photo by UAAP Season 84 Media Group

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The Tigress tandem of Gen Eslapor and Babylove Barbon defeated La Salle Green Archers with 21-14, 20-22, 15-12, and 27-25, 21-18. Meanwhile, the duo of Jaron Requinton and Rancel P. Varga beat the FEU Tamaraws and garnered 21-10, 21-11, and 21-19, 21-15, to end the skirmish.

The Tigers team that dominated this season was composed of Efraem P. Dimaculangan, Requinton, and Varga; while the Tigresses team that kept the crown was composed of Mary Jolyn J. Ebro, Barbon, and Eslapor. The coaches of the Espana-based team were Paul Jan Doloiras (Head Coach) and Romnick Rico (Assistant Coach).

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Feted with the sole Project of the Year Award and one of the two Best in Innovation Awards, Nieles received trophies and cash prizes of PhP 25,000 and PhP 20,000, respectively.

With the theme, “Moving the Nation towards Sustainable Development through Science and Innovation,” the BPI-DOST Science awards recognized 30 students for generating scientific research projects and innovations in applied science, health and allied science, physical science, and other related fields. Nieles’ study aimed to enable communication with locked-in syndrome patients to increase their quality of life. Locked-in Syndrome, a form of severe paralysis results in total loss of motor ability including speech and is usually obtained due to traumatic brain injury, neural damage, or most commonly, stroke. 

As Nieles’ project brief video explains, stroke is the second leading cause of death in the Philippines, with 15 million adults affected worldwide, and 5 million permanently disabled. At present, there is no specific medical treatment for it and those affected with the syndrome are limited to blinks and vertical eye movement for basic communication. His research proposed a solution: patients could think of a command and express words displayed on screen, or what Nieles calls in the same video, “typing by thinking.”

The project entry, titled “Electroencephalogram (EEG)-based Brain Computer Typing Interface Using Imagined Characters for Locked-In Syndrome Patients,” involved a brain-computer typing interface using visual imagination of basic shapes and letters. Brain signals were recorded and machine learning was used to classify the aforementioned signals.

Originally titled “Characterization of EEG Signal Patterns During Visual Imageries of Basic Structures for the Development of Brain-Computer Typing Interface for Locked-In Syndrome Patients,” the study was originally published as part of the conference proceedings of the 2018 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 10th International Conference on Humanoid, Nanotechnology, Information Technology, Communication and Control, Environment and Management (HNICEM). UST mentor and neuroengineer Seigfred Prado served as Nieles’ research adviser.��

A top student and a track and field athlete of the University of Santo Tomas in the UAAP, Nieles graduated Magna cum Laude in June 2019.

Two Thomasians who were also part of the 30 BPI-DOST Science Awardees for 2019 were: student Hazel Anne Pullan, who developed biodegradable plant grow bags and student Marielle Go, who developed a diagnostic method for Tilapia Lake Virus.

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In his welcome remarks, UST Rector congratulated the student achievers, saying that, “Excellence is not an act, but a habit… You have achieved a level of competence that only few can achieve, because you have devoted your time, energy, and talent to accomplish your goals. You have prevailed over the tempting desire to settle for less and are dauntless in your quest for something you consider worth undertaking… You have endured and your perseverance has paid off.”

Learning to Lead

Engr. Rolando “Don” J. Paulino, Jr., Managing Director and General Manager of Shell Philippines Exploration BV, Upstream Operated, Shell Upstream International, delivered the inspirational address.

Paulino advised Thomasian students that, “The things that you learn cannot stay in your notebooks, laptops, and phones. As leaders, we all need to know how we can leverage our God-given talents, so we can know how to nurture it, and freely share it with others.”

Also emphasized in Paulino’s speech was, “[By keeping the core values of] competence, humility, and integrity, leadership is not about personal glory, but about making others successful.”

To conclude his speech, Paulino left the students with a challenge: “Our talents are not for us; they are meant to be shared for the good of others. Let the recognitions, the medals, plaques you receive today not remain as something you put on the wall, but instead use it as a reminder to be of service, and to act. Thomasian leaders are action-oriented: we make things happen.”

Paulino received his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering degree from the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Santo Tomas in 1994, cum Laude, and his Master in Business Administration (Leadership and Change) from the Ateneo Graduate School of Business-Regis University in 2004. He also completed the Shell Group Business Leadership Programme, INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France in 2009. He has over two decades of international senior leadership experience in the oil and gas industry.

Recognitions

Each of the top academic achievers from the 18 Faculties, Colleges, and Institutes received the Rector’s Academic Award, conferred by the Father Rector Very Rev. Fr. Herminio V. Dagohoy, O.P. Seminarian John Alfred F. Rabena from the emerged as the valedictorian of Batch 2019, with a general weighted average of 1.126.

Sixteen exemplary officers of recognized organizations received the Quezon Leadership Award for their service, including Carl Lexter Tan from the for spearheading the first National Medical Student’s Conference.

Another award, the Pope Leo XIII Community Development Award, was given to six students and 15 organizations for their outstanding involvement in community development. Among the individual recipients was Kaye Angeline Jimenez from the for being the project head of “Alaga: A Seminar and Workshop on Mental Health for Sitio Galileo.”

The St. Dominic de Guzman Award was given to ten organizations that held activities of significance to the entire University, among them, the Becarios de Santo Tomas that was cited particularly for their organized tutorial program called ‘Bestutor 2018’ where they offer tutorial assistance primarily to UST athletes, although the program was also open to other UST students who were in need of free tutorial services.

Ten individuals and eight groups received the St. Albertus Magnus Award for excelling in research. Among them were Angela Nicole Morabe, Rhoan Irish Dimakiling, and Lovella Kate Sabile of the for winning the Excellent Paper award during the 7th Joint Conference on Renewable Energy and Nanotechnology in Japan. Their winning paper was on the “Conversion of Citronella Oil to Carbon Nanotubes using Co-Pyrolysis with Ferrocene.”

The Benavides Outstanding Achievement Award is given to students who have academic or scientific accomplishments of national or international significance. It was granted to 17 individuals and 17 groups, including Ean Dominique Castro from the Faculty of Arts and Letters for having been a delegate of the Harvard Project for Asian and International Relations.

For students who excelled in sports and the arts, the Pope John Paul II Outstanding Achievement Award was given. UAAP Season 81 Women’s Volleyball MVP Cherry Ann “Sisi” Q. Rondina was among the recipients of this award.  

The Tradition of Excellence Award is given to student organizations that have shown sustained exemplary performance by having received the same award for five consecutive years. The Becarios de Santo Tomas was the lone recipient of this award, for consistently receiving the St. Dominic de Guzman Award from 2015 to 2019.

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