HON. REXLON “REX” T. GATCHALIAN

District 1 Representative, Valenzuela City

2021 Galing Pook Awardee

DR. CHRISTINE N. FERRER

Dr. Christine Nabor-Ferrer is a faculty of the College of Education of the Tarlac Agricultural University and currently serves as the Director for External Linkages and International Affairs (ELIA). She finished her Bachelor of Secondary Education, Master of Arts in Education and Doctor of Education, Major in Educational Management at the Pangasinan State University in 2003, 2004 and 2009, respectively. She also earned special program certificates on Communication Series Program (2010) at the Ateneo de Manila Graduate School of Business, ASEAN Leaders Program (2016) in Singapore and New York from Common Purpose and ASEAN Foundation, and Internationalization of Higher Education (2017) in Canada from the Canadian Bureau of International Education and the Commission on Higher Education.

She is also chosen as one of the 2021 cohort of Southeast Asian (SEA) Women in Education, an initiative by the Young Southeast Asia Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) Women's Leadership Academy Alumni Network, and backed by the U.S. Mission to ASEAN, Wedu, a women's leadership non-profit in Asia, and Tyne Solutions. Just recently for the 2022-2023 cohort, she was chosen as a fellow in the US-ASEAN University Connections Initiative of the US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

As an internationalization advocate, Dr. Ferrer is also engaged in mentoring other higher education institutions in the the various regions in the country in capacitating their international relations office on the development of their strategic internationalization program, implementation of partnership and mobility activities for institutional development, and integration of the Global Goals (UN SDGs) in university academic, research and community engagement initiatives. She is also the university focal person and overall coordinator for international rankings and assessment such as Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Stars, Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings and Impact Rankings, World Universities with Real Impact (WURI), and UI Greenmetrics World University Rankings, among others.

Her professional engagement has also widened internationally as she has also been invited as keynote speaker or resource person on leadership development, partnership advancement and internationalization experience in various countries from 2017-2019. As the educational landscape has also reshaped its platform, her engagement with TAU’s partner institutions as panelist, lecturer or presenter on academic discussions related to internationalization, sustainable development goals and reimagining higher education in the new normal continues through virtual modality since 2020.

DR. DENMARK L. YONSON

Dr. Denmark L. Yonson is an Assistant Professor IV of the Faculty of Teacher Development. At the age of 34, he serves as the Executive Director and Provost (EDP) of Philippine Normal University Visayas in Cadiz City, Negros Occidental. Before becoming an EDP, he served as the head of the Business Development Office of the Campus for three (3) years and acted as the Officer-In-Charge of the Finance and Administration for four (4) months. Dr. Yonson received his Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematic Education at the University of St. La Salle, Bacolod.

Having a bachelor’s degree in elementary education, his research mainly focused on basic education but is likewise interested in social researches, environment, and inclusive education. He was likewise hired by the Child Fund Philippines as research consultant for the awareness, extent of exposure, and experiences on online sexual abuse and exploitation of children and youth with special needs. A person with a heart for research, he had presented various researches to national and international conferences and published some research articles.

He also served as an officer of the Faculty Association, member of the CHED-IDIG Team who conceptualize the Green Teacher Education Curriculum under the tutelage of the PNU President, Dr. Bert J. Tuga, and a coordinator of the Global Citizenship Education (GCED) Curriculum Development led by PNU. He is also a member of various professional organizations. He had also attended training courses on Global Citizenship Education, Teaching Elementary Mathematics, Creative Pedagogy, and Global Citizenship Education, and DIES International Dean’s Course, and GIS and Big Data Training.

Dr. Yonson likewise received different distinction awards such as: 8th Placer, Board Licensure Examination for Professional Teachers in April 2008; Research Incentive Award given by Philippine Normal University, Outstanding Cadizeños Award, and Negros Occidental Governor’s Conservationist Achievement Award granted by the Province of Negros Occidental.

DR. MARIA THERESA P. PELONES

Maria Theresa P. Pelones, DM, graduated from Notre Dame of Dadiangas University with a doctorate in management. She has a Master of Arts in Educational Management and a Master of Science in Teaching High School Mathematics in addition to her Bachelor of Science in Mathematics. She is an Associate Professor and the Dean of the College of Education (2017-present), as well as the MAED SK program's Graduate School Studies Coordinator (2014-2020). She formerly worked as the School Director for the Senior High School Program (2015-2017), Special Assistant to the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs on K12 Transition (2015-2017), and Special Assistant to the Graduate School (2015-2017). (2015-2017. She formerly held the positions of ICT Coordinator, Human Resource Management Officer, and Project ALERT Coordinator DepEd-General Santos City NHS (1996-2010)

She was a project leader of the General Santos City Division Team in the implementation of Project ALERT (Advancing Learning Using Relevant Technologies) during the Pilpotensyal Building the 21st Century Learning School, which was given a 6 million training grant by Microsoft in 2007. In the same year, she presented her article, "Computer-Aided Cooperative Learning Approach: Its Effect on Academic Performance and Attitude of Students in Calculus with Analytic Geometry," at the Society for Information Technology in Education in San Antonio, Texas, USA. She delivered research papers in national and international ICT conferences in Cebu, Manila, and Davao, Philippines, between 2007 and 2009. In 2010, her research effort and paper were awarded the Microsoft Most Innovative Teacher Leadership Award (ITLA) in the National Microsoft Competition. She was sent to Singapore to participate at the Asia Pacific Microsoft Innovative Teacher Leadership Congress on behalf of the Philippines. Her article was approved and presented at international conferences on educational research in Japan, Khon Kaen, Thailand, and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 2011 and 2012. She was invited as a representative of the Philippines by Malaysia's Minister of Education to share findings on the Philippines' ICT landscape at the 1st ASEAN Higher Education Forum in Selangor, Malaysia, in 2014. She was awarded the Most Outstanding Teacher Educator at the Kabantugan Awards in 2015.

She was awarded as the Most Outstanding UNESCO Teacher Educator in the Philippines in 2018 as a Global Citizenship Education alumna and was sent to the Asia Pacific Training Workshop in Inji and Seoul, South Korea as the country's representative out from the 3o participants from Asia - pacific region. In 2019, another research was presented at Hong Kong's IAFOR Lingnan University. She was also invited to join a UNESCO-UNODC joint commissioned research collaboration on a situational study of PCVE perception and the role of education in the Asia-Pacific region: the implications of deradicalization and disengagement from education sectors in ASEAN countries: the case of Mindanao, Philippines in the same year. In 2020, she has been invited to participate in a sub-regional conversation with Indonesia, Malaysia,Thailand and the Philippines on the prevention of violent extremism via education and law enforcement. She is currently a study leader for two (2) Commission on Higher Education Institutional Development Innovative Grants, titled Spearheading Change through Research and Extension, Capability Building (2018-2019) and Synergizing Peace and Global Citizenship Education Policy Agenda as Trajectory to Realizing Peace University in the Southern Philippines (2021-present)."