The Department of History鈥檚 Assoc. Prof. Maria Eloisa P. de Castro, PhD and the Graduate School鈥檚 Prof. Regalado T. Jose have been named Regular Members representing the Private Sector of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines, a body under the National Commission for Culture and the Arts. Their appointments were announced by the country鈥檚 Presidential Communications Office on May 7, 2024 (Tuesday).
De Castro is an expert in ecclesiastical and education history. Her graduate studies focused on the Philippine secondary education from 1865-1898 and the role the Church and UST played in it, as well as the Dominican accounts of imprisonment during the Philippine Revolution of 1898-1900. A decorated academic, she received a 2019 Individual Research Award from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts for her doctoral dissertation. She also won the Best Book in History plum from the National Book Awards in 2007 for her work entitled La Naval: Triumph of a People鈥檚 Faith. She sits in the board of the Philippine National Historical Society, Inc. and the Manila Studies Association, Inc.
Meanwhile, Jose is UST鈥檚 immediate past Archivist (2010-2021) and a professor of the University鈥檚 MA in Cultural Heritage Studies. An expert in church heritage, he was named a Centennial Awardee for the Arts in 1999. He was involved in the recommendation and eventual declaration of twenty-six churches as National Cultural Treasures in 2001. A respected scholar, he publishes and presents studies in international conferences, such as those held in Spain. During his time in the Archives, the Baybayin documents became UST鈥檚 fifth National Cultural Treasure.
