Microfinance whiz Dr. Jaime Aristotle Alip (BSA ’78; MPS ’83) was one of three who received the UP Alumni Association (UPAA) Most Distinguished Alumnus Award in ceremonies held at the Ang Bahay ng Alumni, UP Diliman on June 23.

Dr. Alip was recognized for having helped poor women get access to microcredit when he set up the Center for Agriculture and Rural Development Mutually Reinforcing Institutions (CARD-MRI), made up of five institutions that complement and reinforce one another to provide a holistic approach to development through a wide range of financial and non-financial services.

Following the mold of Grameen banking in Bangladesh, CARD has presence all over the country through its 307 offices and total assets of US $30 M. As of December 2006, it has served almost half a million clients and recorded a repayment rate of 98.5% from its borrowers. Dr. Alip proudly says that CARD has transformed borrowers into business owners/employers. Last year, he was voted the Ernst & Young Social Entrepreneur of the Year,

Dr. Alip obtained his Ph.D. in Organizational Development from the SEA Interdisciplinary Development Institute (SAIDI), Manila, in 2002. He is currently taking the OPM Management Program of the Harvard Business School where he received the Excellence Award for his CARD-MRI strategy.

The other two who share the UPAA award with Dr. Alip are UP Diliman alumnae Dr. Gelia Tagumpay-Castillo and Justice Ameurfina Melencio-Herrera.

Dr. Castillo, a renowned sociologist, is an adopted daughter of UPLB, having built her career as a professor of rural sociology in UPLB and accumulating what the UPAA has referred to as “breathtaking life’s work: books, publications, speeches, involvement in national and international policy-making bodies, and the promotion of social science and its use in addressing the problems of rural society.”

Dr. Felix Librero, BSA ’69, MS ’74, former chancellor of the UP Open University and professor at the College of Development Communication, was also given the Outstanding Professional Award (education). Dr. Librero was credited for “pouring the greater part of his energies into development communication, tinkering with the concept, putting bone and muscle into its practice, teaching it, and molding it into a discipline that is distinctly unique in the Philippines and in the world.” He was recognized as one of the pioneers of broadcast education whose contributions to research in development communication gave new perspectives and produced policy recommendations on agricultural development.

CAS Dean Asuncion Raymundo, BSA ’66, recipient of the Outstanding Professional Award in the natural sciences-biology (microbiology), was recognized as one of the country’s foremost scientists, having pioneered in the use of microbial genetics in agriculture. Dr. Raymundo headed the research team that solved a decades-old problem on banana rot, a problem that had a tremendous impact on the country’s banana industry. As an educator, Dr. Raymundo has championed microbiology education, helping produce a large number of microbiologists both here and abroad. She has resisted the lure of juicy job offers abroad, preferring to build the foundation of microbial genetics and molecular biology in the Philippines.

Mr. Michael Gamalinda, BS Biology ’07, summa cum laude, was chosen one of two outstanding graduates for 2007. Michael registered a general weighted average of 1.147, the highest in the entire UP System among students taking up biological sciences. According to IBS Director Cleofas Cervancia, Michael’s grades were the products of a well-rounded, value-laden personality as well as high creativity and leadership. Michael was a recipient of the UP Varrons Thesis scholarship and the UP Presidential scholarship. He finished at the top of UPLB’s graduating class in April 2007.

The UPAA conferred the awards during the 94th UP General Alumni-Faculty Homecoming and Reunion. UP President Emerlinda R. Roman and UPAA president Ponciano Rivera led the awarding rites.#