FOR ITS outstanding achievements in licensure examinations, The Ilocos Times, the oldest community newspaper in Northern Philippines, has included the College of Health Sciences in its roster of 10 Outstanding Ilocanos for 2016. The list is drawn by the newspapers editors and staff based on nominations forwarded by readers.

Other honorees this year are: Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales; Supreme Court Associate Justice Diosdado Peralta; P/Chief Superintendent Moro Virgilio M. Lazo, chief of the Special Action Force (SAF); Mhage Gerriahlou Sebastian, a nine year old who won gold in the 16th ASEAN +Age Group Chess Championship.; SPO1 Aurora Joy Manuela, one of the Country’s Outstanding Police Officer in the Service (COPS); Dr. Maria Lourdes Otayza, medical center chief of the Mariano Marcos Memorial Hospital and Medical Center; Antonio Casimiro, manager of Bombo Radyo Laoag; Charito Cariaga, board chair of the Nagbacalan Loomweavers Multi-purpose Cooperative; and Handy Lao, owner of a telecom retail chain. Rosalina ‘Nana Rosa’ Abrojena, proprietor of a popular chichacorn brand, was named as this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

Past awardees from MMSU are: PESSDO (now the Center for Human Movement Studies), led by Director Arsenio Gallego and Cultural Affairs Chief Victoria Domingo, in 2012; and Dr. Miriam E. Pascua, 6th president of MMSU, in 2014.

Informed of the achievement, Dr. Manolita Crisostomo, CHS dean, said they are humbled to be recognized along with eminent personalities known not only in Ilocos, but in the entire country. “It will inspire us further not only to continue doing well in board examinations, but also in improving and strengthening our services to the public,” she enthused. (By Herdy La. Yumul)