STAR president is model Xavierian
Philippine STAR president and CEO Miguel Belmonte, a graduate of Xavier School Class 1981, will be among four outstanding alumni to be honored this year with the elite Xavier-Kuangchi Award.
Given to exemplary alumni of Xavier School deemed as worthy role models for excellence, leadership and service, the Xavier-Kuangchi Award is a distinction bestowed on alumni that embody, to an outstanding degree, the school’s ideal as “men fully alive, endowed with a passion for justice and the skills for development”.
In the last seven years, only 23 Xavierians, most of whom are doctors, have been conferred the prestigious award.
Also to be honored in awarding ceremonies to be held on Mar. 14, 2014 at the Xavier School Angelo King Multi-Purpose Center are Dr. Roland Stephen Cua, and posthumous awardees Lawrence Ong and Willy Co.
Belmonte, the youngest awardee this year, assumed the task of managing The Philippine STAR to continue the commitment of his mother for a free and independent press. Equally important, he preserved his mother’s philanthropic legacy as chair of Operation Damayan, the only newspaper social arm that is active throughout the year.
Initially a channel for relief operations and medical assistance, Operation Damayan widened its scope under his leadership by advancing other advocacies, notably in education and environment protection.
Among these initiatives are the adopt- aschool program, which has been raising funds for new school buildings since 2003; AbakaDamayan, which offers free bridging education, including materials and food and transportation allowance; the patient assistance program for sick children; the annual blood donation for the Philippine Red Cross; and, of course, fund- raising for calamity victims that has been conducted every year since the onslaught of Typhoon Unsing in 1988.
Dr. Roland Stephen Cua (’ 78), on the other hand, joined the Mary the Queen Parish Neocatechumenal Communities in 1979 and there began a life- long involvement in adult Catholic formation. He maintained and expanded this commitment through missionary work all over the Philippines, from Laoag to Davao Oriental. He is presently a catechist in Paco and in MTQ, where he has been taking care of the Confirmation Instructions to the youth for the past 10 years. After graduating from the University of the Philippines- Philippine General Hospital, he banded with other physicians to organize and incorporate the Community Medicine Foundation.
Instead of seeking a rewarding career as private physicians, they chose to go to the barrios to teach mothers and rural folk primary health care to help prevent common infectious diseases that cause high mortality in the provinces.
He later completed his training in Industrial Medicine and is presently medical director of Pioneer Life Inc. and president of the Philippine Society of Insurance Medicine, an organization of medical directors/ consultants of the Insurance Companies of the Philippines.
One of two posthumous awardees, Willy Co (’73) was one of the prime movers in the country’s quest for food sufficiency through his company, Allied Botanical Corp. Through extensive research and development, his company provided the Filipino farmer with better quality and higher yielding seeds as well as improved farming technology.
He served as president of the Philippine Seed Industry Association and was also part of the study group of businessmen and congress leaders whose findings led to the eventual promulgation in 2002 of the Philippine Plant Variety Protection Law. For his numerous contributions to the advancement of agriculture, he was honored with the Gurdev Khush Award by the Department of Agriculture.
His wide- ranging philanthropy included scholarships for agriculture degrees, donations for school buildings, adoption of the endangered Philippine eagle, and support for various causes of Tanggol Kalikasan. He passed away on Aug. 31, 2013 after a brave battle with lung cancer.
Like the other awardees who were “men for others”, Lawrence Ong (‘ 74) devoted his entire professional life in the service of the marginalized.
He was a volunteer for the Sapak Experimental Farm, an NGO that provided training for out-of-school youths. He worked as counselor and teacher with refugees at the Vietnamese Refugee Center/ Philippine First Asylum Camp in Palawan and at the Philippine Refugee Processing Center in Bataan. For Kaisa Para sa Kaunlaran, an NGO dedicated to the integration of Chinese Filipinos into mainstream Philippine society, he took on multiple roles – building administrator, Bahay Tsinoy tour guide, contributor for the newsletter, and point man for the disbursement of funds for the group’s Alay Medisina and Alay Puso programs and poverty alleviation schemes for the urban and rural poor. He also worked for the Kanawan Negritos Reservation Area in Bataan, helping establish a primary school for the Aeta children and organizing various community-building activities. He passed away on July 13, 2001.
In 2002, he was also honored posthumously with the Xavier School Luceat Lux Award, the Outstanding Chinese-Filipinos in the Philippines Award, and the Dr. Jose Rizal Award of Excellence.
Past recipients of the Xavier- Kuangchi Award are John Burtkenley Ong (‘86), Atty. Richard Alianan (‘ 83), Atty. Ted Bonpin (‘82), Dr. Harvey Uy (‘82), Dr. Willie Ong (‘ 81), Dr. Ricardo Quintos (‘81), Col. Ernesto Ravina Jr. (‘ 79), Joaquin Yap Jr., SW, DPhil (‘79), Dr. Kelly Salvador (‘78), Vicente Perez Jr. (‘75), Dr. Edward Wang (‘75), Atty. William Chua (‘72), Gilbert Son (‘72), Enrico Emmanuel Angtuaco (‘ 68), Francis Chua (‘67), John de Guzman, DBA, PhD (‘67), Harry Chua (‘65), Lawrence Que, Jr., PhD (‘65), Dr. Reynaldo Joson (‘ 66), Miguel Tan (‘ 66), Wellington Tong (‘ 66), Paulino Tan, PhD (‘62) and Wellington Yu (‘60).