MANILA -- Former Vice President Leni Robredo was awarded on Saturday as the "2023 Most Distinguished Alumna" of the University of the Philippines Alumni Association (UPAA).

Photos of the former vice president accepting the award was posted on her official Facebook page.

"The UPAA commended Atty. Leni for her continuing work of uplifting fellow Filipinos, as a lawyer, development worker, and government official," the post's caption read.

Meanwhile, National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan received the "2023 Most Distinguished Alumnus" award during the same event.

"Lifetime Distinguished Achievement Awards" were awarded to Lourdes Cruz (BSChem'62), Nathaniel Von Einsiedel (BSArch'68), Gisela Padilla-Concepcion (BSChem'75 cl; MS'82; PhD'95), and Rene Santiago (BSCEC'70 cl).

The UPAA also granted distinguished alumni awards to the following "individuals with outstanding achievements in their fields of endeavor":

• Robert Alejandro - Art as Advocacy
• Peter Nery - Championing Hiligaynon Literature and Regional Culture
• Bryan Jayson Borja - Community Empowerment
• Jose Edgardo Sunico - Corporate Social Responsibility
• Raul Villanueva - Court Administration/Public Service
• Regalado Jose Jr. - Cultural Heritage Work and Advocacy
• Filomena Magno-Cantoria - Education and Societal Development
• Manuel Peter Paul Jorge II - Empowerment Through Health Education
• Francisco Delfin Jr. - Energy Geosciences
• Manuel Logroño - Enterprise Development and Corporate Governance
• Chan Huan Chyang - Entrepreneurship
• Zaldy Patron - Foreign Service
• Sylvia Estrada-Claudio - Gender Equality or Women Empowerment
• El Cid Butuyan - Good Governance and Anti-Corruption
• Lilia Catris-Guillermo - Good Governance and Public Service
• Remedios Calma-Cruz - Human Resource Development and Empowerment
• Giselle Lourdes Manalo - Innovation in Public Health Education
• Alex Brillantes Jr. - Innovative Public Administration Education
• Floro Francisco - International Labor Relations
• Alexis Reyes - Medicine (Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics)
• Imelda Degay - Nutrition Education
• Celia Carlos - Public Service
• Raul Pagdanganan - Public Health Promotion
• Maria Asuncion Silvestre - Public Health Promotion (Newborn Care)
• Gerry Camer - Science and Technology
• Juan Carlos Gonzalez - Science and Technology
• Milagrosa Martinez-Goss - Science and Technology (Phycology)
• Lulu Carandang-Bravo - Science and Technology (Vaccine Research)
• Victor Ella - Soil & Water Resources Management

The UP Epsilon Chi Fraternity Alumni Inc. received the UPAA's "Distinguished Service Award for and Alumni Chapter" while Rico Domingo, Norberto Mendoza, and Bienvenido Somera Jr were the recipients of the UPAA Presidential Awards.

Meanwhile, the awarding body also gave a "Multigenerational Alumni Family Award" to a Ramirez family for having four consecutive generations of UP alumni.

UPAA announced the awardees last July 28 and held the ceremony on August 19 at the "Ang Bahay ng Alumni" in UP Diliman.

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