Councilors finish master’s degree

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- Five city councilors here recently finished their studies under the Master in Development Management and Government graduate program at the University of Makati recently.

In a statement sent to Sun.Star Pampanga by the City Information Office (CIO), councilors Rosemary Calimlim, Ralph Daniel Henson, Jaime Lazatin, Alex Patio, Noel Tulabut, Arnel Sicat joined some 259 graduates of the program.

“We heeded to the call of our time, we stepped outside of our comfort zone, decided to equip our legislators with higher education and change the system towards good and moral governance,” City Vice Mayor Edwin “EdSa” Santiago, quoted by the CIO, said.

Present during the graduation ceremonies were the members of the academic community of the university headed by the school president, Professor Tomas B. Lopez, Prof. Ederson Delos Triño Tapia, the dean of the College of Governance and Public Policy.

Special guests at the program were former Senator Aquilino Q. Pimentel Jr. and Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez Jr.

In his commencement address, Secretary Jimenez congratulated the graduates for their undertaking, saying it was the “most important investment that the local government executive can make in order to understand the fundamentals of good governance.”

The school, formerly the Pamantasan ng Makati, is considered one of the best locally funded universities of the country.