SOSE's Estuar among TOWNS 2019 awardees honored by Philippine Senate

 

Dr Ma Regina Justina "Reena" Estuar, a professor at the Department of Information Systems and Computer Science, School of Science and Engineering, was recently honored by the Philippine Senate, through a long-delayed Senate resolution, recognizing The Outstanding Women in the Nation's Service (TOWNS) awardees for 2019.

TOWNS, held every 3 years, honors Filipino women 21 to 50 years old "who have shown outstanding dedication, exceptional talent, and a history of contributing positively to society."

Senate Resolution 216, introduced by Sen Juan Edgardo "Sonny" Angara last 11 November 2019, was finally adopted by the legislative body last 30 May 2022, after being sidelined by the pandemic.

"The Senate of the Philippines recognize and commend the 2019 The Outstanding Women in the Nation's Service (TOWNS) Awardees for their exceptional contribution to the progress and growth of different sectors of society and their commitment to national development," the resolution read.

The resolution recognizes and commends the 2019 batch of TOWNS awardees "for their positive contribution and dedication in strengthening nation building."

The 2019 TOWNS batch includes 12 outstanding women from diverse fields.

Estuar was cited for her work in the field of computer science and social psychology, particularly her efforts in developing computing platforms for social good. Cited by TOWNS are her work in the Ateneo Center for Computing Competency and Research; BluEHR; tugon.ph; and the Feasibility Analysis on Syndromic Surveillance Using Spatio Temporal Epidemiological ModelleR of FASSSTER. FASSTER, in particular, is the main platform used by the Philippine government for disease surveillance and modeling, as part of the nation's COVID-19 mitigation and response.

FASSSTER was among the efforts also recently recognized by the Department of Health (DOH) during the recognition ceremony for the DOH COVID-19 Health Experts Group last 29 April 2022.

Estuar is among the 2 awardees for Science and Technology, along with Gay Jane Perez. The other awardees are Xyza Bacani (Humanities); Carmina Bayombong (Entrepreneurship); Clarissa Isabelle Delgado (Education); Karla Patricia Gutierrez (Performing Arts); Samira Gutoc (Peace Advocacy); Patricia Ann Prodigalidad (Law); Stephanie Sy (Technology Entrepreneurship); and Rohaniza Usman (Education).