UP Diliman (UPD) bids goodbye to five of its faculty members, three of whom passed away on the same day.
The University mourns the loss of Henry J. Ramos, PhD who passed away on March 11, Romulo G. Pizaña, PhD who passed away on March 13, and Salvador T. Carlota, Monaliza Adviento-Maghanoy, and Evelina Asuncion Pangalangan, who passed away on March 15.
Ramos and Pizaña were former faculty members of the UPD College of Science (CS), Carlota was a member of the UP College of Law faculty, Adviento-Maghanoy belonged to the UPD College of Human Kinetics (CHK) faculty, and Pangalangan, from the UPD College of Social Work and Community Development (CSWCD).
A professor emeritus at the UPD National Institute of Physics (NIP), Ramos was known for pioneering plasma physics in the Philippines. He developed the plasma physics program in the early 1980s in UPD. For over 20 years, Ramos and his team built about 10 plasma machines doing industrial applications. In 2014, his invention on coating technology was officially deployed to the market under the Technology Transfer Program of the UPD Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Development (OVCRD).
According to the CS Facebook page, Ramos was the NIP director from 1993 to 2000, the CS Science and Society Program (SSP) coordinator from 2000 to 2003, and the OVCRD Project Management and Research Generation Office (now Research Management Office) director from 2011 to 2014.
Meanwhile, Pizaña was a professor at the UPD Institute of Mathematics (IM) and the UPD Extension Programs in Pampanga and Olongapo deputy director from 2000 to 2010. The July 2013 issue of the UP Gazette showed that he was appointed as a professorial lecturer at the CS from June 2013 to May 2014. Pizaña was the SSP coordinator from 1994 to 2000.
According to a post on the IM Facebook page, “He held various positions in the IM and the CS: as assistant to the chairman for administration, as assistant college secretary, and as coordinator of the SSP.”
Carlota and Pangalangan were both former UPD deans. Carlota was dean from October 2005 to October 2008, while Pangalangan was dean from 1994 to 2000.
Carlota was UPD vice chancellor for student affairs from 1986 to 1989. He was also the UP College of Law secretary from 1973 to 1975. He handled courses on administrative law, supervised legal research, problems in administrative law, among others.
The college held a memorial service at the Malcolm Hall lobby in his honor last March 19.
Meanwhile, the passing away of Pangalangan deeply saddened the CSWCD community.
In a correspondence with UPDate Online, Ana Maria Theresa P. Labrador, former director of the Jorge Vargas Museum and Filipiniana Research Center (2001-2007), said her mother “was the CSWCD dean who raised funds for their building.”
“I remember hardly seeing her at the family home for five years before construction began as she approached various legislators to help fund the CSWCD building and my father teasing her that our home was just her pit stop,” said Labrador.
In a Facebook post, the CSWCD revealed that Pangalangan was a “well-respected faculty and mentor to countless social work graduates, a caring mother and wife to her family, a compassionate leader, and a well-loved colleague.”
In the same post, the CSWCD said that she “served as president of the National Association of Social Work Education, Inc.” which is “the standard bearer of social work education in the country.”
Meanwhile, Adviento-Maghanoy was an assistant professor at the CHK. She began teaching at the college in 2008 where she taught sports science and physiology classes.
The tributes include a post on the Kolehiyo ng Kinetikang Pantao Facebook page. The post described her as a “counsel to many UP student-athletes.”
In the same post, Adviento-Maghanoy was referred to as “a devoted mother, loving daughter and caring sister, a dear friend and colleague, a generous mentor and counselor.”
The post also detailed that an interim memorial was held for Adviento-Maghanoy at the UPD Varsity Training Center lobby on March 17.
