By Sheila Covarrubias
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Apr. 29, (PIA) - -
Three graduating tertiary students bested
numerous other nominees in the Search for 2012 Maria Clara L. Lobregat Awards
of Excellence (MCLLAE), a recognition given to Zamboangueno students who
reflect outstanding academic accomplishments, service and leadership.
The
awardees were feted and honoured during the commemorative program marking the
91st birth anniversary of the late Mayor Maria Clara “Ma’am Caling”
Lobregat, April 26 at the Jardin Maria Clara Lobregat.
Mayor
Celso Lobregat personally handed over the plaques and cash incentives to the
awardees: Jay Saavedra Calumpon of the College of Education at the Western
Mindanao State University (WMSU), Ralph Jorline Chua (Bachelor of Science in
Accountancy) of the Ateneo de Zamboanga University (ADZU) and Michael Vincent
Diaz (Bachelor of Science in Computer Education) of the AMA Computer College.
Aside
from trophy, each awardee received a cash prize of P5,000.
The
MCLLAE is regarded as a valid indicator that the students will succeed in life.
The MCLLAE is willing to use his or her talents and skills for the improvement
of the society. It believes that it can make a positive difference in the lives
of individuals and in the spirit of the community and school.
This
is the second year that the city government held the MCLL Award of Excellence
which is aimed to continue Mrs. Lobregat’s legacy for the youth. Among many
other things, Mrs. Lobregat, in her lifetime was a champion of youth
empowerment, a frontrunner in initiating programs intended to improve the
plight of the youth sector, empowering them to reach their full potential, make
informed decisions and to assert their rights.
The program commemorating
Dia de Ma’am Caling kicked off with a mass followed by the blessing of the City
Museum located inside the Jardin Maria Clara. The wreath laying rite was participated by the
different national and local government agencies, police and military agencies,
NGOs, civic groups and institutions and other sectors like the barangays, urban
poor and numerous other sectors. Mayor Lobregat together with House Deputy
Speaker Beng Climaco and Vice Mayor Cesar Iturralde and the majority members of
the City Council.
City
Police OIC Director PCSupt. Mario Yanga, concurrent Assistant Regional Director
for Administration, who was the invited guest speaker refreshed people’s
recollections of Ma’am Caling.
In
a message read for him by his better half Dr. Ruth Yanga, the police officer
said the best gift that people can give the late mayor and her memory “is to
care for and love Zamboanga as she did. Let her vision of peace in our city
that she wanted us to embrace to always guide us so that we may do justice to
the years of care and service she gave us in life”.
Gen. Yanga failed to make
it to the program due to the anti-drug operations being done at the time of the
program in barangay Recodo.
For
his part, Mayor Celso Lobregat thanked all those who took part in the different
activities commemorating Dia de Ma’am Caling. He urged people to always adhere
to Ma’am Caling’s call “Man junto-junto kita”, meaning, to stay united amidst
the emergence of “dark forces, dark clouds and stormy weathers”.
The
musical tribute rendered by the Ateneo de Zamboanga Concert Band and the
participation of the Zamboanga Hermosa Chorale liven up the program which was
capped by the release of the sky lanterns. (JPA/SC/CIO/PIA
9-ZBST)
