Retired colonel, cop named NORSU’s two outstanding alumni awardees
By: Rachelle M. Nessia
DUMAGUETE CITY, Dec. 12 (PIA) --- A retired colonel from the Philippine Army and a police officer in the Negros Oriental Provincial Police Office (NOPPO) have been named this year’s two outstanding alumni awardees of the Negros Oriental State University (NORSU).
Retired Col. Jose M. Valencia bagged the award in the field of Military and Community Service while SPO1 Edilberto Euraoba III in the field of Police and Community Service.
Valencia graduated as 4th honorable mention in the then East Visayas School of Arts and Trades (EVSAT) in 1961.
On the other hand, Euraoba completed his Associate in Industrial Technology in 1987 and Bachelor of Science in Industrial Education in 1991 at what was then Central Visayas Polytechnic College (CVPC).
According to NORSU Information Officer Joy Perez, the awardees were chosen based on their valuable contributions to their chosen field of work and the community.
Valencia was instrumental in the creation of the Negros Oriental Electric Cooperatives (NORECO) when he participated in an electrification project feasibility study in 1972 as the Negros Oriental Provincial Cooperatives Officer under the Cooperatives Administration Office.
He was called to active military service in 1973 where he rose through the ranks to become the Battalion Commander, first of the 7th and then of the 12th Regional Community Defense Group until he was appointed Deputy Commander of the Army Reserve Command, a post he held until his retirement in 2003.
Meanwhile, SPO1 Euraoba topped his class of 430 police cadets before starting his police career as a police officer 1 in 1997 in the intelligence operations of the Regional Mobile Group-7 and became a senior police officer 1 by 2011 and currently, public information officer of NOPPO.
In 2009, he initiated several community outreach activities such as a province-wide, school-based plastic-trash collection program; a barangay-based “Kabataan Para sa Kapayapaan” program; and a scholarship program for poor but deserving students in the barangays.
Euraoba also started a marriage-counseling program for local policemen and their spouses.
His initiatives caught the attention of the Metrobank Foundation Inc. which awarded him one of the Country’s Outstanding Policemen in Service (COPS) award in 2010 and later the Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Medalya ng Katangi-Tanging Gawa.
Before converting into a state university in 2004, NORSU began as Negros Oriental Provincial School in 1902, then the Negros Oriental Trade School in 1927, East Visayan School of of Arts and Trades in 1956 and then CVPC in 1983. (RMN/PIA Negros Oriental)
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Negor educator a resource speaker during international event in Africa
By Rachelle M. Nessia
DUMAGUETE CITY, Dec. 12 (PIA) --- The president of Negros Oriental State University (NORSU) in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental was one of the resource speakers during a five-day international conference in the city of Accra, the capital of Ghana in Africa.
Dr. Henry Sojor was among the line-up of keynote speakers who were invited by the International Organization for Sustainable Development (IOSD) in Nigeria during the Accra conference held December 5 to 10, 2011.
IOSD fosters inter-cultural dialogue and facilitates access to world-class higher education especially in the developing nations of Africa and the Pacific.
Sojor’s message focused on the topic “Leadership: Problems and Prospects; and Issues and Challenges of Africa’s Development” from the point of view of an Asian educational leader, said Joy Perez, NORSU information officer.
During his talk, Sojor shared his vast experience on state university leadership and administration and as professor of higher education, local governance and community development.
In his speech, he encouraged a high level of cooperative reflection on the integration of ecological principles and traditional values in the economic planning and legal framework of developing economies.
Sojor is the longest-running president of NORSU, having been appointed by former Pres. Corazon Aquino on August 1, 1991 as the second president of what was then known as Central Visayas Polytechnic College (CVPC).
CVPC was converted into a state university on June 25, 2004 through Republic Act No. 9299 signed by then Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on June 25, 2004. (RMN/PIA Negros Oriental)