Student leader is 1st summa cum laude of UP Visayas

ILOILO CITY—As a student leader and on his way to getting a degree on Applied Mathematics, Raoul Danniel Manuel has found his greatest challenge in time management. He pursued his studies but still attended discussion meetings, protest rallies and conferences on political and social issues.

Manuel even managed to make history by graduating summa cum laude—the first to achieve such honor from the University of the Philippines Visayas (UPV). He led 690 graduates from UPV campuses in Iloilo City and Miag-ao town in Iloilo province in its 36th commencement exercises at the sprawling Miag-ao campus, 40 kilometers south of Iloilo City, on June 26.

Manuel’s general weighted average of 1.099 is higher than the 1.2 cutoff for the highest academic honor of the university.

The 20-year-old is no stranger to academic awards and excellence. He graduated valedictorian in the elementary from SPED Integrated School for Exceptional Children in 2007 and from UP High School in Iloilo in 2011.

Bonuses

Manuel said he had not been aiming for summa cum laude honors. “Awards and distinctions are bonuses. What is more important are gaining experience and building connections and relationships,” he said.

RAOUL Danniel Manuel CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

What is more lasting is how people would remember him and how he had treated other people, he said.

The eldest of five children, Manuel had to deal with the separation of his parents when he was in elementary and with helping his mother who was selling beauty products to provide for the family.

“Our family’s income was just enough for our basic needs so it was a challenge going to school and being the eldest child,” he said.

In college, he stayed at a boarding house in Miag-ao and went home on weekends in Barangay Sto. Niño Sur in Arevalo District, Iloilo City.

Manuel’s course is not known to be easy. “I have a fascination with numbers, patterns, problem solving, and logic that’s why math is exciting for me,” he said.

Lessons on patience

Besides, his interest in math has been useful to him. “When I encounter problems and difficulties, I don’t easily give up. Math teaches us to be patient,” he said, citing his days as an activist and as student council chair of the College of Arts and Sciences.

“It was unavoidable to be absent in some classes or miss exams because of my responsibilities in the council. But I managed to make up for these,” Manuel said.

Every day, he would list down his work and responsibilities, but made his schedule flexible to have time for a social life.

“I attended parties, especially those on campus, and hang out with friends so we could talk about and share our problems,” he said.

His family is proud of his academic feat. On graduation day, his father, an overseas Filipino worker, came and even used his son’s graduation picture for a Facebook profile picture.

True meaning

Manuel recognized that excelling academically in UP while being a student leader is the essence of being an “Iskolar ng Bayan (People’s Scholar),” as UP students are known.

“True learning is not confined in the classroom. We can and should excel in academics and at the same time be of service to the people and to seek and be part of social change,” he said.

Manuel intends to enroll for a postgraduate course on Applied Mathematics at UP Diliman in Quezon City and to serve his

one-year term as the newly elected national chair of the Katipunan ng mga Sangguniang Mag-aaral sa Unibersidad ng Pilipinas (Kasama Sa UP), an alliance of at least 31 student councils in the UP system.

He could easily land on top-paying jobs, but he said he does not really desire to be rich. He wants to pursue a life of meaning.