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Central Luzon State University

Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija, Philippines 3120

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PRESIDENT AND COO OF FIRST PHILIPPINE HOLDINGS CORPORATION ADDRESSES MID-YEAR GRADUATES

Dec. 10, 2021

PAO | PAO

Mr. Francis Giles B. Puno, president and chief operating officer (COO) of the First Philippine Holdings Corporation (FPH), one of the largest industrial conglomerates in the Philippines focused on power, real estate, construction services, and manufacturing and is part of the Lopez Group of Companies, is the guest of honor and speaker on the 26th Mid-year Commencement Exercises of CLSU on February 10, 2017. He addresses 444 graduating students. Mr. Puno is also concurrently the president and COO of First Gen Corporation (First Gen), one of the country’s largest independent electric power producers, that focuses entirely on clean and renewable sources of electricity. First Gen is the power generation subsidiary of FPH. President and COO Puno or simply “Giles” to his colleagues and friends was unanimously chosen to address the mid-year graduates by the CLSU Academic Council chaired by Dr. Tereso A. Abella, CLSU President. Mr. Puno is looked up to by the graduates as a source of inspiration as he is expected to share with them his and his corporation’s work and management-related practices and ethics, endeavours, advocacies, and successes that relate to the theme of the Commencement Exercises, “Enhancing Education Through Quality Management Systems.” Mr. Puno sits as a board director of FPH, First Gen and Energy Development Corporation (EDC). He joined FPH in 1997 and was assigned to First Gen as its Chief Financial Officer to lead its $1.4 billion fund raising of the 1,500 MW Santa Rita and San Lorenzo gas-fired power plants. He also advised and arranged the financing of First Gen’s P58.5 billion acquisition of a controlling stake in geothermal operator Energy Development Corporation (EDC) in 2007. Giles previously worked as the Vice President for the Global Power Group in Singapore and Hongkong of the Chase Manhattan Bank from 1990 to 1997. COO Puno completed his Master of Management degree from Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management in 1990 and his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management from the Ateneo de Manila University in 1985. Meanwhile, the speaker in the Baccalaureate Services held last February 9 was Fr. Cesar C. Vergara, Parish Priest, St. John the Evangelist Parish, Guimba, Nueva Ecija.

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President Abella Speaks at 11th PAA Nat’l Congress and 2024 PH Agriculturists’ Summit

Dr. Evaristo A. Abella, University President addressed the country’s agriculturists as plenary speaker during the 11th Philippine Association of Agriculturists (PAA) National Congress and 2024 Philippine Agriculturists’ Summit today, July 3, held at Royce Hotel, Clark, Angeles City, Pampanga. Under the session on partnerships with industry for sustainable future-proof transformation of the Philippine higher education agriculture curriculum, Dr. Abella presented the best practices of Central Luzon State University (CLSU) in terms of creating impactful collaborations with the industry. He emphasized that collaboration between academic institutions is vital in preparing the students for the challenges of the modern workforce, hence the initiative of CLSU to have industry partners that will amplify the capacity of the university in providing facilities for experiential learning of the students. “The collaboration between academia and industry is a powerful catalyst for innovation, economic growth, and educational excellence. At CLSU, we are committed to building and strengthening these partnerships to create a brighter future for our students, our community, and our country,” President Abella concluded. Dr. Glenn B. Gregorio, Director of the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), Ms. Ruby Samonte, Research Operations Manager at East-West Seed Group, and Dr. Weerapon Thongma, President of Maejo University in Thailand, presented on various topics. These included current and proposed revisions in the Philippine higher education institution curriculum, perspectives from the agriculture industry, and the agri-industry model in higher education in Thailand. Following the plenary session, an open forum was moderated by Dr. Jose DV. Camacho, Jr., Chancellor of the University of the Philippines Los Baños. During the forum, the speakers addressed questions from their peers and the participants. The congress attracted over 1,500 agriculturists from various regions of the country, as well as international guests.

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CLSU Inks MOU with UPLB to Develop Academic and Educational Cooperation

To develop an academic and educational cooperation, CLSU President, Dr. Evaristo A. Abella, formally signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) headed by its Chancellor, Dr. Jose V. Camacho, Jr., today, July 2, 2024 at the Office of the Chancellor, UPLB, Laguna. Collaborative activities such as exchange of faculty, researchers and students, conduct of R&D projects, symposia and capacity-building programs and other academic cooperation as mutually agreed will be covered under the MOU. In his message, Dr. Abella underscored the importance of this partnership to further amplify the efforts of CLSU in creating impact to the local and international community. He also added that as the representative of the State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) in Region 3, this partnership will surely open more opportunities to sustain and improve the stature of Central Luzon for having some of the leading higher education institutions in the country. “The initiative of UPLB to open its gates to us is very much appreciated, because this act of being a “big brother” to other SUCs is also one of our best practices where we assist other institutions to make sure that all of us will grow, improve and so that no SUC will be left behind,” Dr. Abella added. On the other hand, Dr. Camacho recognized the commitment of CLSU to this partnership to co-create knowledge and come up with activities which are mutually beneficial to our institutions and our fellow SUCs. “This ceremony marks the signing of the 99th partnership of UPLB with SUCs in support to our various initiatives like the Higher Education Leadership Mentoring Seminar (HELMS) fellowship to host faculty and staff from other higher education institutions, among other projects and initiatives UPLB has prepared, to respond to the call of the Commissioner of Higher Education to expand the reach of our services and expertise to other SUCs in the country,” said Dr. Camacho. Present as witnesses during the ceremony are Dr. Franz Marielle N. Garcia, Faculty Researcher and International Coordinator for Research of CLSU, along with Dr. Jenielyn T. Padrones, Director, Office for Institutional Development in Higher Education and Dr. Nathaniel C. Bantayan, Vice Chancellor for Research and Extension of UPLB. The following SUC Presidents were also in attendance to sign their respective MOU with UPLB: Dr. Amabel S Liao, Western Philippines University; Dr. Victor C. Cañezo, Jr., Biliran Province State University; and Dr. Patrick Alain T. Azanza, Catanduanes State University. Representatives from the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and Korea International Cooperation Agency as collaborators of the for the three-year collaboration also graced the event.

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CLSU Successfully Holds Earthquake Drill

The University Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (UDRRMC) spearheaded the participation of CLSU in the Nationwide Simultaneous Earthquake Drill (NSED) today, June 28, 2024, to adequately prepare the faculty, staff and students in handling emergency situations and disaster preparedness. Dr. Ariel G. Mactal, VP for Administration and UDRRMC Chair, supervised the drill as the Incidence Commander, along with Dr. Gella Patria L. Abella, Head, Institute for Climate Change and Environmental Management (ICCEM), who received the reports from various units of the university at the College of Agriculture as the identified Command Center. Meanwhile, University President, Dr. Evaristo A. Abella actively participated in the drill at the administration building before proceeding to the College of Agriculture to assess the situation and the response of the assigned personnel.

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