DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/17 April) – Two Iliganons are among 21 Summa Cum Laude graduates in Sunday’s 100th General Commencement Exercises of the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City: Katerina Raisa Roxas Timonera, BA European Languages and Jhud Mikhail O. Aberilla , BS Chemical Engineering.
Timonera, daughter of MindaNews’ managing editor, Bobby Timonera and cardiologist Miriam Roxas, is the lone Summa Cum Laude from the College of Arts and Letters.
The cumulative weighted average grade (CWAG) for a Summa Cum Laude is 1.20 or better.
Leading this year’s 4,000 graduates is John Gabriel P. Pelias, BS in Mathematics, Summa Cum Laude, with a CWAG of 1.016.
Timonera earned a CWAG of 1.192 while Aberilla’s CWAG is 1.
198. Both finished their elementary at La Salle Academy in Iligan. Timonera finished high school at the Mindanao State Unviersity-Iligan Institute of Technology while Aberilla, son of Michael and Jojo Aberilla, graduated from the Philippine Science High School in Diliman.
The commencement speaker in the April 17 graduation is President Benigno Aquino III who will also receive an honorary Doctor of Laws degree “for providing leadership in rallying the people to stamp out corruption, campaigning for institutional reforms, and creating an environment for agencies, including the Armed Forces of the Philippines, to act with dispatch on malfeasance in government, promote the rule of law, and respect people’s constitutional rights,” among others.
According to the UP Diliman website, 21 summa cum laude will lead more than 4,000 candidates for graduation of which more than 3,000 will receive their undergraduate degrees, 557 their Master’s degrees and 70 will be hooded onstage for obtaining their doctoral degrees.
Of the 21 summa cum laude, six are from the College of Science, six from the College of Engineering, four from the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy, one each from the College of Arts and Letters, College of Business Administration, School of Economics, National College of Public Administration and Governance and School of Statistics.
The summa cum laude and their respective CWAG are: John Gabriel P. Pelias, BS in Mathematics (1.016); Laurence Anthony L. Go, BS Business Economics (1.033); Joanna Jane C. Tan, BS Mathematics (1.053); Carla Nicole S. Sia, BS Business Administration (1.060); Corrina P. Azarcon, BS Chemistry (1.115); Ralph Christian C. Mancenido, BA Public Administration (1.120); Jayson C. Aguilar, BA Political Science (1.121); Nicole Andrea SA. Yazon, BS Chemical Engineering (1.124); Nino Joseph I. Paz, BS Statistics (1.134); Stanley Jordan G. Siahetiong, BS Mechanical Engineering (1.139); José Paolo O. Mirasol IV, BA Philosophy (1.147); Marlon Jesspher B. De Vera, BS Chemical Engineering (1.155); Paula Veronica SJ. Reyes, BS Psychology (1.171); Justin L. Sy, BS Materials Engineering (1.171); John Andreau V. Hernandez, BS Computer Science (1.182); Lucky Merriam T. Villegas, BA Linguistics (1.183); Michelle Grace T. Acoba, BS Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (1.188); Dennis Ivan W. Diaz, BS Applied Physics (1.189); Katerina Raisa R. Timonera, BA European Languages (1.
192); Herdeline Ann M. Ardona, BS Chemistry (1.195) and Jhud Mikhail O. Aberilla, BS Chemical Engineering (1.198).
The UP website also said that in addition to the top 21 honors, UP Diliman “produced 215 magna cum laude and 794 cum laude. The magna cum laude is awarded to a graduate with a GWA 1.45 and the cum laude for a GWA of 1.75.” (MindaNews)
