Leaving a legacy of quality education in Bicol

BICOL University president, Fay Lea Patria Lauraya, tells a story in the Inquirer Read-Along activity on Cagraray Island in Bacacay, Albay, in 2011. JOANNA LOS BAÑOS

When Fay Lea Patria Lauraya ends her term as the seventh president of Bicol University (BU) next month, she will be leaving a legacy of bringing the premier state university in the region closer to the community.

Her wish is for her successor to continue her programs to achieve excellence and provide the highest quality education to the nearly 25,000 students of the university.

Established in 1969, BU has 16 academic units and colleges in Legazpi and Tabaco cities, and in the towns of Daraga, Guinobatan and Polangui in Albay province, and in Gubat town in Sorsogon province.

Lauraya takes pride in graduates of the university during her seven-year stint. BU became “the home of topnotchers, especially in the licensure examinations in the field of engineering, nursing, accountancy and education,” she says.

Sixty-one of the 63 university graduates hurdled the national board examinations for certified public accountants in 2012, or a passing rate of 96.83 percent. Ivan Rhett Macabeo topped the exams in October 2009, while in 2013, Alex Cargullo Carinan placed seventh.

In licensure board exams for civil engineers given in 2014, Erickneil Dejucos Realuyo was second (96 percent). Also in that year, Rho Vince Caño Malagueño was seventh (84.4 percent) in the nursing board exams, and Michelle Villar Malapo was ninth (87.60 percent) in the board tests for teachers.

New programs, activities and strategies must be put in place so the university could “rise higher in the challenge of Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and educational reform,” Lauraya says.

The university’s board of regents (BOR) will select Lauraya’s successor from among four aspirants in a voting tentatively set in March.

They are Domingo Angeles, dean of the College of Agriculture in the University of the Philippines Los Baños; Amelia Dorosan, BU vice president for administration; Helen Llenaresas, BU vice president for academic affairs; and Arnulfo Mascariñas, director of BU Research and Development Center.

They made public their plans for the state university during a forum at BU Amphitheater in the College of Arts and Letters on Jan. 26.

To be university president, the aspirant must get two-thirds of the votes of the 10-member BOR. The position carries a fixed term of four years and a maximum of two terms.

Lauraya was chosen BU president in 2008 and reappointed for a second term. She sits in the BOR.

The other regents are Patricia Licuanan, chairperson of the Commission on Higher Education; Sen. Pia Cayetano, chair of the Senate committee on education; Rep. Roman Romulo, chair of the House technical and higher education committee; Luis Banua, acting regional head of the National Economic and Development Authority.

Joseph Esplana, president of the BU General Alumni Association; Abelardo Bragas, regional director of the Department of Agriculture; Tomas Briñas, regional director of the Department of Science and Technology; Noel Rafer, president of the BU Union of Faculty Association Inc.; and Adelaine Bautista, president of the University Student Council.