Groups and institutions from UP Diliman (UPD) did well at the 2025 UP Gawad Pangulo, with eight winners recognized across four categories. The awards were announced during the UP Gawad Pangulo ceremony on June 20 at the UPD Atencio-Libunao Hall.
The Electrical and Electronics Engineering Institute (EEEI) of the UPD College of Engineering (COE) and the Marine Science Institute (MSI) of the UPD College of Science received the Gawad Pangulo para sa Natatanging Akademikong Institusyon.
The award recognizes both institutions for their “embodiment of the University’s principles of karangalan at kahusayan sa paglilingkod para sa bayan.”
The EEEI continues to advance electrical, electronics, and computer engineering through its academic programs, research, and extension work. Its flagship programs include the UP Center for Air Research in Urban Environments, the Electromobility Research and Development Group, and the Microsatellite and Space Engineering Research program.
The MSI is one of the leading marine science institutes in the country. Its programs—such as the Resource Inventory, Valuation, and Policy in Ecosystem Services under Threat: The Case of the West Philippine Sea, and the Discovery and Development of Health Products Program—help address national issues in fisheries, food security, and coastal resource management.
UPD technology products BuddyBetes, Lungsod Solutions, and Watch! Tap! Shop! (a collaboration with the UP Open University [UPOU]) were awarded the Gawad Pangulo para sa Natatanging Inobasyon.
The award highlights the various contributions of the UP community to innovation and the pursuit of knowledge and excellence through research, creative works, and meaningful community engagement.
BuddyBetes, developed by UPD students Princess Angel Ventures and Jason Pechardo, is “a digital health website application platform designed to transform the way patients and caretakers manage lifestyle diseases, with a particular focus on diabetes” according to their profile on the website Social Business Creation.
Lungsod Solutions, by Czar Jakiri Sarmiento of the COE Department of Geodetic Engineering, is an integrated command center and mobile application system that local government units can use to enable real-time urban management and improve citizen-client engagement.
Watch! Tap! Shop!, a collaboration between UPD and UPOU students Rajan Joaquin Llaguno, Erickson Llaguno, Anna Porsche Gutierrez, and Jordan Rae Costanilla, is a project that “revolutionizes product placement by enabling seamless, clickable, and consumer-empowered interactions in digital content. With its novel approach to merging technology and consumer behavior, the project stands out as a model of socially-conscious design and creative excellence”, according to the UPOU website.
The UP Resilience Institute – Youthmappers (UPRI-YM) received the Gawad Pangulo para sa Natatanging Organisasyong Pangmag-aaral.
The UPRI-YM is the UPD chapter of YouthMappers, which, according to their website, is a global community of academics that “use public geospatial technologies to highlight and directly address development and environmental challenges worldwide.”
One of the UPRI-YM’s flagship programs is BATAlert, which develops community-based educational modules to develop disaster risk reduction and management skills among the youth.
Alumni groups NOWHERE TO GO BUT UP Foundation, Inc. (NTGBUP) and UP Epsilon Chi Fraternity Alumni, Inc. (UPECF) bagged the Gawad Pangulo sa Natatanging Alumni.
The award honors alumni “who have demonstrated remarkable achievements in their profession, community, or society, embodying UP’s values and ideals beyond their time at the university.”
NTGBUP is a volunteer non-profit organization dedicated to supporting all of UP’s varsity sports teams participating in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) sports tournaments. UPECF has contributed several infrastructure projects, including the Epsilon Chi Center, currently one of the training hubs for the UP Fighting Maroons.
Each award came with a commemorative sculptural memento and a corresponding cash prize.