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| Mrs. Sison with businessman Fidel “Totoy” Cu and well wishers. |
She was as usual radiant and aglow, regal and dazzling in her orange gown Monday afternoon, March 10 as the UNC community and friends, of which she has legion, trooped to the UNC campus to celebrate a milestone: her 60th year in the service of the first university in Luzon outside of Metro Manila. And all throughout the rituals dubbed
“A Celebration of Love for President D.H. Sison”, she endlessly flashed her fabled charm, belying that she was four scores and eight and defying doctors who in 1992 shook their heads and held up their hands in abject surrender saying the end was near.
16 years later she is there still, vibrant as ever, completing 60 years of dedicated service for the UNC where at 28 years old she started as UNC treasurer, rose to executive vice president and upon the death of his famous father, Finance Secretary Jaime Hernandez, in 1986 assumed as university president.
The celebration, coinciding with the Diamond Jubilee of the UNC, was an opportune moment for Mrs. Sison to receive a testimonial of gratitude and appreciation from the UNC community she dearly love.
Embodying their boundless adoration of their matriarch and friend, the UNC community testimonial follows;
“For her unparalleled, selfless dedication to the pursuit of the commitment of the University of Nueva Caceres to provide quality education to Bicolanos, a historic, record-setting feat spanning 60 years unmatched in duration in any field of human endeavour;
For having served as the indestructible pillar of strength and the eternal fountain of hope and inspiration to all those associated in one way or another in the remarkable growth and ascent to the pinnacle of honor and distinction of this great institution;
For having been a towering symbol of uprightness and judiciousness, highlighted by her tenacious adherence to cherished virtues and her unwavering faith in the Lord Almighty; and
For having been the unshakable epitome of grace and composure under pressure and for having radiated such priceless traits and attributes even beyond the spheres of the University campus thereby serving as beacon light to the whole Bicol community.
This, too, is a testimonial of our enduring love and gratitude as well as our consummate admiration and respect.”
Signatories included Engr. Manuel L. Balaquiao, president, Federation of Faculty Clubs; Judge Lore V. Bagalacsa, president PTA; Engr. Ramon R. Albeus, president, Elementary PTA; Shiena M. Barrameda, president, University Student Governmanet; Gemma I. Bongon, president, High School Supreme Student Government; Catherine Bena T. Ollete, president, Elementary Pupil Government; and Divinagracia L. David, representative, non-teaching personnel.
