OSA 2023: A Harvest of God’s Workers

A graduate of Silliman from early childhood school to college, she demonstrated a strong inclination for academic work. All throughout her school life, she was a consistent honor student. In college, she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in mass communication, magna cum laude, in 1994.

When she left the halls of Silliman, she embarked on a purposive life in foreign service. Since then, she has devoted her life to serving fellow Filipinos abroad and advancing the interests of the Philippines in international engagements and dialogues, shaping policies and forging sustainable international relations.

When she was Deputy Consul General in Hong Kong and in Rome, she championed the welfare of thousands of overseas foreign workers. Her office was always welcoming of Filipinos whose situations ranged from disheartening to tragic. However, regardless the intensity, she always addressed problems with a sense of urgency and delicacy, reflective of her strong faith in action. Thus, in her capacity, she was able to rescue Filipinos in distress abroad and reunite them with their families, to attend to those falsely accused and advocated for their freedom, and to bring back home safely Filipinos stranded overseas.

From 2018 to 2020, Ambassador Azucena was designated as Charge d’ Affaires to the United Nations’ headquarters in New York. There, she distinguished herself and earned her peers’ approval by masterfully articulating the Philippines’ position on any issue discussed at the UN. Through her leadership as coordinator of ASEAN Summit in 2017, she was able to steer the UN General Assembly to draft a resolution to maintain the Southeast Asia Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty. She helped advance the Philippines’ strong position on international peace and security by tirelessly speaking about and proposing actions against illicit trade of small and light weapons, as well as nuclear weapons.  Aside from these, she was instrumental in UN’s development of concrete actions to support middle-income countries become economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable. Using her diplomatic skills and excellent communication skills, she was also able to engage in meaningful dialogues about justice and international law and to partake in bilateral negotiations delving into special political, decolonization, and plenary issues.

Currently, she serves as Chief of Mission, Class I Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to New Zealand, with concurrent jurisdiction over the Republic of Fiji, the Kingdom of Tonga, the Independent State of Samoa, and the Cook Islands. Prior to her confirmation by the Commission on Appointments last February 22, 2023, she served as the Chief of Staff at the Office of Secretary, Department of Foreign Affairs as well as the Assistant Secretary at the Office of the United Nations and International Organizations

Despite the demands and nature of her work, she spends quality time with her loved ones. She and her husband, Michael, raise three children, Alessandra, Michael Edouard, and Sebastien Cornelius.

Excellence in Entrepreneurship and Finance

People who know Mr. Sandeep Gopichand Chandiramani easily note his business acumen. They comment about his fluency in numbers, his incisiveness, and inquisitiveness, making him the ideal businessman. More than his competence, however, many admire him for making it his business to help people; thereby, making him the epitome of a businessman with integrity and heart.

He is academically well-rounded. His foundation was set in Silliman, where he obtained his basic education in 1985. After graduation, he enrolled in the University of the Philippines, where he distinguished himself an exceptional student, finishing a degree in business administration and accountancy with honors (cum laude). When he took the 1990 Certified Public Accountant board examination, notoriously among the most difficult professional examinations in the country, his score landed him in 12^th place. In 1997, he went to the United States of America for further studies. He earned his master’s degree in business administration with concentration in finance from East Carolina University. He also passed the US CPA exam but later on opted not to obtain the license. All these academic training prepared him for future endeavors.

For eight years, he was affiliated with Red Hat, Inc., a US-based IT company that revolutionized the Enterprise Linux operating system. He and his partner introduced an innovative channel sales infrastructure; thereby, commercializing the subscription services of open source software (OSS) and paving the way for mass adoption of OSS that benefitted thriving companies today like Google, Amazon, Facebook, among others.

While in the US, he volunteered for “One Laptop per Child,” a brainchild of MIT professor Nicholas Negroponte. The initiative aims to provide computers to underprivileged elementary school students from developing countries, so they may easily access knowledge and be acquainted with technology. His experience inspired him to establish eKindling in 2009 with cohorts. This project was first implemented in Mindoro in coordination with the local government units and support of the Department of Education. Then Education Secretary Armin Luistro welcomed the project because he found merit in technology-abled but socially aware education.

He also saw in the US an opportunity to fund companies. He founded iGlobal, LLC, a company dedicated to aid talented individuals realize their potential in business. Its success made him think of replicating it in his country.

When he arrived in the Philippines, he observed that small and medium enterprises were the backbone of the economy; yet they were the most vulnerable because the financial resources available to them are limited. Using his knowledge and expertise, he joined Esquire Financing, Inc. and helped the company help small businesses actualize their dreams through their non-collateral loans.

By establishing iGlobal Financial Services, Inc., Sandeep has competently provided an appropriate financial platform and professional advisory services to small industries, allowing them to expand and become large businesses. Until now, iGlobal Financial Services, Inc. continues to grow as a business.

In spite of his success as a business whiz, he remains unassuming, humble, and unpretentious. He keeps his feet on the ground by sharing his blessing. He partnered with InvestED, which provides educational financing to highly driven but cash-strapped youth.

Mr. Chandiramani lives wholistically. He works hard, serves the community, engages in sports, and spends quality time with his wife, Gilarne, and their nephews and nieces.

Excellence in Wildlife Conservation and Management

Raised in a devout Catholic household, Dr. Louella L. Dolar-Perrin found a deeper connection to her faith when she decided to devote her life being a good and responsible steward of God’s creation. All throughout her academic and professional life, she has endeavored to advocate for wildlife conservation and management by engaging in teaching, research, and community work.

She hails from a small town in Moises Padilla, Negros Occidental. Second of four children, she was raised by a schoolteacher mother and a small-time sugarcane farmer father who believed in Silliman’s quality Christian education and wished for their children to be educated in the university.

After graduating valedictorian in high school, she enrolled in Silliman and earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology degree, cum laude, in 1980. Thereafter, she was recruited to teach at the Biology Department, where she met world-class mentors including Dr. Angel Alcala and Prof. Rodolfo Gonzales and had the opportunity to network with visiting research scientists. It was her interactions with these renowned scholars that stoked her interest, making her resolute in establishing a career that’s firmly grounded on nature conservation and community involvement. Thus, she began participating in conservation projects, lecturing in fishing villages on coral reef preservation, establishing marine protected areas, and advocating for environmental protection.

Through Silliman’s Faculty Development Program, she bagged a full scholarship that allowed her to obtain a master’s degree from James Cook University, where she specialized in fish biology and ecology. Upon her return, she was appointed chairperson of the Biology Department and the following year, Assistant Director at Silliman University Marine Laboratory (SUML). As chairperson of the Biology Department, she helped establish the Center for Tropical Studies (Centrop), which pioneered the captive breeding of the Visayan spotted deer, a species at the brink of extinction. The center continues to thrive today and expanded its conservation of other species endemic to Visayas. As assistant director of SUML, she was engaged in numerous research, notably the fish surveys in the mangroves and seagrass beds in Bais Bay, which significantly showed the important role of mangroves and seagrasses as nursery grounds for coastal and oceanic fishes.

Through Silliman’s linkage, she had an opportunity to intern at Smithsonian Institution in 1980, where she learned the necessary skills to start cetacean research in the Philippines. Cetaceans had long fascinated her because they are mammals with lungs comparable to humans’ but live in the water. Although cetacean research is costly, she employed innovative means to collect data, making do with whatever resources available to her. She was able to document dozens of species and found out they were being hunted in large numbers. When she presented these findings at the Gillnet Meeting Workshop in La Jolla, California, conservation groups’ attention was piqued, opening up funding opportunities. More importantly, a journalist and a member of the Philippine congress got wind of the dolphin kills, leading to the issuance of the Fisheries Administrative Order 185, which protects dolphins throughout Philippine waters. The law has since been expanded to include whales.

Eventually, she enrolled in a PhD program at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in 1992. Her dissertation delved into the distribution, abundance, and feeding ecology of cetaceans in the Eastern Sulu Sea and Tañon Strait. Data collection would have been expensive; however, she developed a study design that would allow her to collect data at a low cost without compromising the scientific quality of her results.

She ended up living in the United States to raise a family with Bill, a marine mammologist. Together, they raised their only son, Joey. This move, however, did not stop her from continuing her advocacies.

Excellence in Medicine and Community Service

Someone once said that Dr. Maria Salud F. Kho is an institution. Such declaration is telling of the level of respect and admiration she has from both patients and fellow medical doctors. With over 50 years of clinical practice, she is regarded as a highly skilled physician, a woman of science and faith.

Born to a Chinese-Mongolian father and a Portuguese-Filipino mother, Maria Salud or Mayang to close friends calls Valencia, Negros Oriental home. Growing up, she looked up to Dr. Jose Rizal, so even at a very young age, she knew what career path she was going to take. She took her pre-med course at Silliman, taking an Associate Arts degree and graduating with honors in 1961. She would have wanted to take her medicine course at the University of Sto. Tomas like her idol, but for practical reasons enrolled at the University of the Philippines College of Medicine, a decision she later appreciated because it is the premier university for medical students.

After taking the medical board examination, she was anxious about the results and decided to fly to the United States to escape the shame should she flunk it. However, her self-doubt was not warranted: she successfully passed the boards. While in the US, she did her internship training in New York, eventually becoming a resident in Obstetrics-Gynecology (Ob-Gyn) at the Cleveland Metropolitan General Hospital. Soon after, she attended Louisiana State University School of Medicine for her fellowship training in High Risk Obstetrics.

Dr. Kho’s reputation as a skilled doctor precedes her in the Province of Negros Oriental. Thus, she has delivered thousands of babies and taken care of innumerable mothers. Couples having difficulty conceiving approach her for advice. Mothers with delicate pregnancies, especially those diagnosed with antiphospholipid syndrome (APS), prefer to be managed by her.

However, aside from her hospital experience, she also had an illustrious run as lecturer in medical classrooms. She was always enthusiastic to share her gift of knowledge and experience, which benefited a number of medical students in the US including Brookdale University and Medical Center, New York College of Osteopathic Medicine, Louisiana State University School of Medicine, among others. She has also published academic articles in reputable journals.

Dr. Kho leads a life of service. Aside from her medical practice, her selfless service to the church and to the community is also noteworthy. In her dealings with patients and others, she always stresses the importance of having a relationship with God, reminding everyone that God is the greatest physician of all. She also devotes time to attend to Carmelite sisters with medical problems. In her Valencia community, she pioneered health advocacy programs such as information drives on cervical cancer, breast cancer, reproductive health, prostate cancer, among others.

Excellence in Agriculture Extension

Dr. Asterio P. Saliot embodies the adage, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” For him, preparation is the key to success. That is why he has cultivated a career capacitating and empowering people in the agriculture sector.

He grew up in a small barrio in Dapitan City. Although he came from humble beginnings, he experienced richly the beauty of nature: pristine waters and lush greenery. At a very young age, he was aware of their family’s hardship, strengthening his resolve to work hard and better their situation. He knew that education could be his ticket.

Having a strong connection to nature, he enrolled at Silliman and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture in 1978. After graduation, he realized that he could contribute immensely should he be in government service. However, he also knew that should he embark on a career in government, he needed to be thoroughly prepared. This thinking led him to finish not only one but four master’s degrees, two of which were on a full scholarship. His graduate degrees are in business administration from Andres Bonifacio College; development studies, majoring in agriculture and rural development from the Institute of Social Studies, The Hague, The Netherlands; public administration from Andres Bonifacio College; and national security administration from the National Defense College of the Philippines. He received his PhD in Extension Education from the University of the Philippines, Los Baños, Laguna. He also finished a law degree but was not able to take the bar examination due to professional engagements.

Immune to hard work, he rose from the ranks. During President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s presidency, he was assigned to be the director of the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI), a position clothed with responsibility because the office is primarily mandated by law to train and empower the country’s farmers.

As the new director of ATI, he had to overhaul the structure of the office by clearly defining the functions of personnel and streamlining the office’s organization based on the requirements of the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act of the Local Government Code. After doing so, he had to lead in the crafting of programs that would capacitate and empower farmers, enabling them to have stable income. Not only that, but he also had to establish linkages with different organizations and institutions to generate funds for the office.

Through his able leadership, he has implemented innovative programs, elevating ATI from merely conducting trainings to its stakeholders. He capacitated farmers by introducing the ladderized approach to extension. He elevated learning sites to School for Practical Agriculture, allowing farmers to become trainers because he believes that they are the most competent teachers in agriculture. He assisted in converting farms to farm tourism sites, making farmers agri-preneurs. These sites also became venues for other farmers and youths to avail of ATI’s ladderized courses on agri-entrepreneurship.

Having a strong position on modernizing the delivery of agriculture extension, he pushed for the Electronic-Extension Program (e-Extension) for Agriculture and Fisheries. This enabled farmers to easily access information through the e-Extension portal.

Aside from these, he also introduced initiatives that offer scholarship programs. Among these are the Academic and Technology Integration-Educational Program, designed for out-of-school-children; and From Arms to Farms Program, a program assisting both active and rebel returnees to go into farming.

He and his wife, Minaflor, have three successful children: Inna Joyce, a physician; Riona Vince, a lawyer; and Aster Chesney, an engineer.