Ateneo honors its outstanding student athletes, researchers, and leaders at PAGHAHANDOG 2024

On 10 July 2024, Ateneo de Manila University celebrated its student leaders for School Year 2023-2024 at the annual "PAGHAHANDOG: A Celebration of Student Leadership and Service" awards, held at the Leong Auditorium.

Every year, the University recognizes the efforts of Ateneo college and graduate students who have exemplified excellence in sports, socio-civic engagements, leadership, and service. These students are recognized for their contribution to nation-building and for ushering in hope through their achievements.

Athletic awards

The awards program began with recognizing Ateneo's exemplary student-athletes, with the Ambrosio Padilla Award and the Guidon-Moro Lorenzo Sportwoman and Sportswoman of the Year Awards.

The Ambrosio Padilla Award gets its name from legendary basketball player and statesman Ambrosio "Bibby" Padilla. Padilla led the Ateneo Blue Eagles to the 1928 NCAA championships and played for the Philippine Basketball Team in the 1930 Far Eastern Olympic Games in Tokyo and the 1936 Berlin Olympics. In addition, Padilla later served as Solicitor General of the Philippines before being elected Senator. The is given to student-athletes who strive towards the same ideals Padilla lived by – mens sana en corpore sano (a sound mind in a sound body).

This year's Ambrosio Padilla Award was given to two outstanding student athletes, Joaquin Lorenzo Casanova from Baseball and Ms Rosanna Andrea Nolido from Judo.

Mr Casanova, who was unable to attend the event, was cited for consistently getting academic honors, including a 99 percentile rank in the National Medical Admission Test (NMAT) while still able to fulfill his duties as part of the Baseball Team. Mr Casanova is set to graduate with Latin honors as summa cum laude.

Ms Nolido, on the other hand, was cited for her academic performance while still contributing to the Women's Judo team's third-place finish in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Judo championship.

Named after legendary Blue Eagle Luis "Moro" Lorenzo, the Guidon-Moro Lorenzo Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year awards recognize those who exemplify Ateneo's ideal of magis, by showing utmost excellence and dedication to their sport.

This year's Moro Lorenzo Sportsman of the Year award was given to Mr Phillip Joaquin Santos from Swimming. Wacky, as he is known to his teammates, was cited for winning the UAAP's Most Valuable Player crown, winning six medals that helped the Men's Swimming Team to its eighth straight championship.

The Moro Lorenzo Sportswoman of the Year award, on the other hand, was given to Ms Mikaela Joy De Guzman from badminton. Ms De Guzman was cited for winning her third UAAP championship as well as being the co-MVP for this season, this is in addition to being part of the national team.

Ateneo Socio-Civic Engagement for National Development (ASCEND) Awards

Following the athletics awards were the Ateneo Socio-Civic Engagement for National Development (ASCEND) Awards. These were presented to undergraduate, senior, and graduate students from the School of Social Sciences, the School of Science and Engineering, the School of Humanities, the John Gokongwei School of Management, and the Gokongwei Brothers School of Education and Learning Design, for outstanding projects and research work that engage with the larger community outside Ateneo and contribute to national development.

The winner of the ASCEND Excellence Award for Undegraduate Research for this year went to "Akay sa Paglakbay: A Participatory Action Research in Strengthening the You and Kapitbahayan Governance of GK St Joseph" by Team Banyuhay.

Team Banyuhay was composed of Ms Geordine Aguilar, Ms Annah Montejoh, Ms Antonella Sampang, Ms Mary Anjannette Santos, Ms Asmitha Devi, Ms Swarna Rajeswari, and Ms Olivia Webb, with guidance from their faculty adviser Dr Mark Abenir. They conducted a two-week immersion in Gawad Kalinga St Joseph in Cabiao, Nueva Ecija, to identify opportunities that can be enhanced and problems that can be solved with the community.

The team identified community governance as a key area for intervention, resulting in the revising of the community's foundational agreement, and the formulation of a mission and vision statement with the community's youth organization.

Meanwhile, the ASCEND Excellence Award for Undergraduate Project went to "Project SigLakas: Empowering Barangay Bagong Silangan parents for Health Resilience and Advocacy."

The team, composed of Mr Paolo Barro, Mr Nica Gabito, Ms Monica Jose, Mr Pio Ramirez, Ms Mary Anjannette Santos, Ms Erri Tan, and Ms Neema Villarin, with advisement from Dr Mark Abenir, cooperated with the Samahan ng mga Magulang sa Bagong Silangan in Quezon City, to conduct four workshops. These aimed to strengthen the local community's health literacy and capacity for self-advocacy in health-related matters.

The ASCEND Excellence Award for Research for the Senior level went to "Angking Galing: Utilizing Ethnographic Methods fo Conduct a Narrative Inquiry on the Indigenous Maternal Practices of the Tagbanua in Aborlan, Palawan," conducted by Mr Cyrus Barrera, Mr Juan Magno, Mr Shawn Ramos, Mr Gio Rañoa, Ms Amanda Roque, Ms Willy Santos, and Ms Lara Tan, with advisement from Dr Ma Henrietta de la Cruz and Dr Genejane Adarlo.

The group, composed of BS Health Sciences students, documented the primary maternal health practices among the Tagbanua Tribe in Aborlan, Palawan. Their research led to the module on primary maternal health services based on locally available nutrition, bringing forth a model for the local health unit to adopt in their programs, in the context of the Tagbanuas.

The ASCEND Excellence Award for a Project in the Senior level went to "Kumusta, Bata?" by Ms Lia Beloy, Ms Jadyne de Jesus, Ms Cai Lim, Ms Bea Luna, Ms Ira Martin, Ms Janna Sanchez, Ms Chiana Santilices, and Mr Jaime Titong, with advisement from Dr Norman Dennis Marquez.

The group partnered with ChildHope Philippines Foundation, Inc, a non-government organization working to promote the welfare of street children in the Philippines. Together with the NGO, they created and implemented module activities designed to help children in street situations identify and manage their emotions properly.

Finally the ASCEND Excellence Award for Research in the Graduate Level went to "Inclusive Geometry Curriculum for the Deaf and Hard-of-hearing Mainstream Classroom: A Curriculum Adaptation Model" by Mr Vitus Paul De Jesus, a PhD candidate in Mathematics Education.

Mr De Jesus' research focused on Grade 7 Geometry curriculum for deaf and hard-of-hearing students of three public high schools in Metro Manila. From this, he created a model to guide educators and curriculum developers in creating mathematics curricula for learners with special needs of unique learning contexts.

Awards for Leadership and Service (ALS)

The final set of awards was the Awards for Leadership and Service (ALS). These awards are given to service-oriented project of an individual student and a student group from Ateneo who are of service to others, especially to those in marginalized sectors and communities, recognizing their contributions to nation-building. The criteria for this are student leadership, living out of Ignatian principles and values, and community impact.

The ALS for Most Outstanding Individual was Mr Ryan Gabriel B Suarez. Mr Suarez was cited for his contributions to campus journalism, being editor-in-chief of the Guidon and Filipino editor of Heights. In addition, in his Junior year, Mr Suarez was part of the team that won the ASCEND Undergraduate Excellence Award for "PROJECT BANYUHAN: A Series of Capacity-building Workshops for the Digital Storytelling of UGNAYIN National Indigenous Youth Network and Indigenous Youth."

Meanwhile, the ALS for Most Outstanding Project was won by "XCHANGE 2024" organized by the Ateneo Consultants for Organization Development and Empowerment (CODE). The project saw representatives from the NCR, Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao to discuss organization development and help raise the level of thinking and student organization leaders engage in, all while championing the message that youth organizations are vehicles for social change.

Finally, the ALS for Most Outstanding Student Group was won by the Ateneo Biological Organization eXplore, eXperience, eXcel (Ateneo BOx). The organization was cited for its three major projects that manifested its main thrusts of biodiversity, animal welfare, and bioeducation, These were the LoveBOx Aurora Amore concert for the benefit of Balyena.org, the Philippine Biology Olympiad, and the marine rehabilitation project in Calatagan, Batangas. This is on top of supporting Ateneo's own thrusts in sustainability, integral ecology, and bridging cultural divides, helping the University achieve its Lux in Domino 2030 goals.