OSA 2022: Up Close and Personal

The Outstanding Sillimanian Awards (OSA) has always been the highlight of every Founders Day celebration. It is a testament that the seed that the founders of the university planted has grown and borne fruits. It is a harvest of the university’s graduates who have demonstrated excellence in their respective fields, displayed exemplary character, and delivered distinguished service to their communities.

This year, four alumni – all from the medical field – will be awarded the highest honor in the university. What makes them worthy of the golden medal? Let’s get to know each one of them.

Awardee for Community Health and Social Services

Born to devout Methodist parents who had a zest for community work, Alicia B. Dumlao had an early exposure to selfless service and Christian ministry. Growing up in Nueva Vizcaya, she witnessed how her parents served the marginalized in the community and often helped send poor but deserving individuals to school. 

Alicia’s story in Silliman happened by chance. Her parents had graduated from the University of the Philippines, so she too planned to graduate from the premier state university. Eventually she found her way to Silliman when her parents, who happened to be good friends with the university president at the time, decided for her to get a Christian education of the highest quality. She finished her Bachelor of Science degree in Pre-Medicine in 1969. She later earned her Doctor of Medicine from Southwestern University.

After she passed the board examination for physicians, she joined the Armed Forces Medical Corps – Philippine Air Force at Nichols Air General Hospital. Fresh from finishing her residency in Pediatrics and earning the rank of First Lieutenant, she was assigned as officer-in-charge of the Outpatient Department. Despite her busy schedule, she initiated various health projects for military dependents. She had a long successful career in the Philippines juggling many administrative, medical, and humanitarian roles.

In 1994, Alice moved to Sydney, Australia with her daughters. Continuing her ministry in the Land Down Under, she started as a Residential Care Medical Staff, tasked to treat and provide follow-up care to young people with physical disabilities in four Residential Care Homes. Alice is a long-time volunteer of Wesley Mission in its many community projects, e.g. the homeless adults and street kids.

Faithful to her calling, Alice has been actively involved in the healing ministry in the Philippines despite being in Australia. She organized and participated in the Aloha Medical Mission, surgical missions in Bohol and Silay City. She is involved with a non-government organization covering mostly Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino, and Cagayan. She participates in medical missions in the United Methodist Church, supports pastors in Nueva Vizcaya and, a church in Leyte.

Alice is an active member of the Silliman University Alumni Association Sydney Australia Chapter, Inc. She personally visits the Talay Rehabilitation and Psychiatric Center and Silliman University Marina Mission Clinic and ensures regular support from the Sydney Alumni chapter.

Aside from her community work, Alicia is devoted to her family. As a working mother, she raised two daughters: Dianne, who is a community mental health nurse; and Donna, who works for the Heart Research Institute in Australia. Alicia also dotes on two grandsons.

Awardee for Nursing Education and Community Leadership 

Laura Garcia’s love for learning is evident in her pursuit to better herself academically. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing from Silliman University. A few years later, she pursued a completely different degree at Kean University in New Jersey, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication, summa cum laude. Passionate about the nursing profession, she earned two master’s degrees in 2006: Master of Arts in Nursing from Southwestern University, Philippines, and Master of Science in Nursing – Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner from Seton Hall University in New Jersey. She completed her Doctor of Nursing Practice in 2017 at Farleigh Dickinson University.

Because Laura comes from a family that valued education and health careers, it seems natural for her to follow the same career path. Upon her arrival in the United States of America in 1985, she practiced nursing and then became a nursing instructor. She had a flourishing career as a nurse clinician, specializing in Labor and Delivery; however, she had to put it on hold when she was diagnosed with Spasmodic Torticollis, a debilitating condition that causes the involuntary contraction of neck muscles, resulting in the head to uncontrollably tilt forward or backward.

After nine years of battling the disorder, she recovered, sparking a newfound resolve to achieve personal and professional goals, among which were developing expertise in the field, providing quality nursing care, and contributing more to society. She resumed her career as a nurse clinician and went pursued again her passion for teaching. Since then, she has been a nursing professor in different institutions including Long Island College Hospital School of Nursing, Trinitas School of Nursing, New York University Rory Meyers College of Nursing, and College of Mount Saint Vincent.

Laura is equally exemplary in her community work. She served two terms as state chair for the National Federation of Filipino-American Associations of New York, implementing initiatives and projects beneficial to her community. During the pandemic, she reached out to two US senators to lobby for the release of Covid-19 vaccines to the Philippines, collaborated with the Office of the New York Mayor to provide help to the Filipino-American community, and linked with several organizations to conduct health forums, etc. Aside from these, she continues to initiate drives to be able to send books and medical supplies to the Philippines.

While Laura considers her career an important aspect of her life, she recognizes the value of her family. She said, “Without family relationships, life is an aimless journey, lacking in positive direction and full of hollow achievement.” She takes pride in her two adult children and five grandchildren, whom she considers her “happy source of unending inspiration.”

Awardee for Pediatric Health Service to Marginalized Population

There are many gifted pediatricians. There are not many godly ones. Romeo R. Moriles happens to be both gifted and godly. It is not hard to back up this claim. One only needs to look at his clinic’s motto to understand what kind of value he subscribes to as a physician: “To answer a Higher Calling by compassionately and lovingly caring for the patients who come to us and their families.”

Hailing from Ormoc City, Romeo entered Silliman in 1971 and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Medical Technology in 1975. A few years after, he pursued a Doctor of Medicine degree at the Cebu Institute of Medicine. He had residency training in pediatrics from Iloilo Doctors’ Hospital, Harlem Hospital Center in New York, and Emory University School of Medicine in Georgia.

Having a soft heart for the marginalized, he chose to join a private pediatric clinic in suburb Jonesboro, Georgia. He has been with the clinic for about three decades now, catering to predominantly African-American patients.

Because of his continuing American Board of Pediatrics certification and his professionalism, he helped his clinic earn some Pediatric awards. Among these are commendations for their vaccination programs and their asthma care for children.

In 2004, he was appointed as the chairperson of the Department of Pediatrics at Southern Regional Medical Center. This appointment was a validation of his admirable performance as a community and medical leader as well as his excellent pediatric practice.

Romeo is also socially active in the community. He has been a member of the Philippine American Medical Association of Georgia (PAMAG) and currently serves as its president. Considered the number one organization of Filipino-American physicians in Georgia, PAMAG has had numerous medical missions to the Philippines. 

Despite his many medical and social obligations, Romeo is a faithful member of the Morrow Presbyterian Church. He serves as an Elder on the governing board of the church.

Romeo is married to Mary Ann, a nurse. Together, they raised three children who, by their example, have cultivated a vocation in health care. Their eldest son, Kevin, is doing his residency in Internal Medicine; Kimberly, their second daughter, is in the final year of her Physician Assistant Program; and their youngest, Kathlyn, is a graduate of Doctor in Physical Therapy.

Awardee for Mental Health and Substance Abuse Management

Salvador Benjamin D. Vista is not just any true-blue Sillimanian. He is also someone who practically grew up inside the beautiful Silliman campus since he and his siblings, Eugene and Sue, grew up in their family’s home that’s just a stone’s throw away from the university gymnasium. The eldest son of prominent Silliman professors Salvador Vista and Isabel Dimaya-Vista, Boyben seemed to have been predestined to study in the same university from basic to higher education and then find gainful employment in the environment he knew best.

True enough, after graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in Medical Technology, cum laude, he started to establish himself in Silliman, taking dual roles as college instructor at the Department of Biology and as a research assistant at the Department of Research, Extension, and Development Division.  However, he altered the course of his life when he decided to become a medical doctor.

He enrolled  at the West Visayas State University College of Medicine, where he proved himself a competent medical student. In fact, he was awarded Most Outstanding Medical Graduate by the Professional Regulation Commission. His internship stint at Riverside Medical Center in Bacolod revealed an adeptness in many medical departments: not only did he bag the Most Outstanding Intern of the Year award, he also earned the titles Best Intern in Internal Medicine and Best Intern in Obstetrics and Gynecology. This foreshadowed a promising career in the medical field.

He could have chosen any area of specialization, but he picked one that he is passionate about. When he first started his residency at the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH), he chose Neurology but later on switched to Adult Psychiatry. Dr. Anslemo Tronco, a colleague at the UP-PGH noted, “What was Neurology’s loss is Psychiatry’s gain.” Indeed, what a gain it is for Psychiatry, especially that Ben has devoted himself to furthering his knowledge and skills in the discipline.

What is inspiring about Boyben is his willingness to share his expertise. He has served as a consultant in many programs run by the World Health Organization and the Department of Health (DOH). He was instrumental in the development of Client Flow I, the original algorithm used by the national government in dealing with clients suffering from many levels of addiction. He then led the team to develop Client Flow II, a revision of the algorithm in assessing and managing drug dependence, which has been recognized by the DOH and adopted as a core content by the Dangerous Drugs Board. Cognizant of the role of the community, Ben has partnered with government and non-government organizations in creating the curriculum for the implementation of Community-Based Drug Rehabilitation Program in the Philippines.

Currently, Boyben is an educator, a medical director, a scholar, a staunch advocate for mental health, and a family man. As an associate professor of the University of the Philippines College of Medicine, he is beloved by his students and respected by his colleagues. As a medical director of The One Algon Place Foundation, Inc., he manages a mental health and drug rehabilitation facility and behavioral resource center that operates on a social fee. As a scholar, he is considered an authority in the field of Addiction Science, for he has published numerous articles on training programs for physicians and rehabilitation practitioners in medical peer-reviewed journals. As an advocate of mental health, he continues to conceptualize and implement training programs, accrediting physicians and rehabilitation workers in drug rehabilitation and treatment. More importantly, he continues to offer his expertise on many projects that aim to fight against substance abuse. However, even with his many professional and social engagements, Boyben devotes time for family. He and his wife, Celeste, have raised two daughters, Selena Monique and Santina Maxine, and they lavish their affection on their grandson, Lucas Alexander.

OSA Awards 2022

The OSA Awards will be held at the Claire McGill Luce Auditorium on August 28, 2022. This is the first in-person OSA awarding since the Covid-19 outbreak in 2019. The ceremonies for the past two years were done online.

(Story by Warlito S. Caturay Jr.)