By Niña Christelle Sumintac, Stratcom Correspondent

The Mariano Marcos State University honored the academic achievers of the Class of 2024 on July 9 at the MMSU Covered Court.

MMSU has achieved a historic milestone this year with 538 honorees, marking the largest number of awardees in the university's history. The honorees comprised 37 magna cum laude, 489 cum laude, one with high distinction, and five with distinction. Godofredo D. Bumanglag IV, a BA Communication graduate, leads the Class of 2024 with a general weighted average of 1.2824, magna cum laude. Bumanglag was also awarded the Villar Excellence Award and UniFAST Academic Excellence Award.

Like last year, the College of Teacher Education has the highest number of honorees, with 222 graduates having academic honors, followed by the College of Business, Economics, and Accountancy (170), College of Arts and Sciences (53), College of Health Sciences (41) College of Computing and Information Sciences (20), College of Agriculture, Food and Sustainable Development (11), College of Industrial Technology (11), College of Engineering (7), and the College of Aquatic Sciences and Applied Technology (3).

In her inspirational message, MMSU President Shirley C. Agrupis emphasized the importance of embodying the values of a true stallion honor graduate. “One who embodies excellence, integrity, and social responsibility to the utmost. Hold fast to the lesson you learned and values you imbibed in MMSU and let this further cultivate your character and transform your future. May the awards and recognition you received today challenge, inspire, and move you to achieve more,” she said.

Commodore Marcos Y. Imperio, the Commander of the Communications, Electronics and Information Systems Services, Armed Forces of the Philippines (CEISSAFP) and a distinguished alumnus of the university's BS Electrical Engineering program, was invited as the guest of honor and speaker. He shared his dedicated service to the country, where he was guided by the values of “faith, perseverance, adaptability, commitment, and service.”

Commodore Imperio, who worked as a security guard in the university to finance his studies, underscored the importance of education, saying, “The key to education itself is KEY, as in Keep Educating Yourself. When I was young, I was hungry for knowledge. When I was in the military, I aimed for more, so I grabbed every opportunity to learn. So, never stop learning and try to improve daily, be it through former schooling, reading, or simply by learning from others," he shared.

The MMSU Office of Student Affairs and Services, under the leadership of Prof. Emil James Tanagon, organized the event to recognize the honorees’ efforts in demonstrating academic excellence.