FORMER UST College of Commerce and Business Administration Dean Prof. Helena Cabrera passed away on Jan. 28. She was 72.
Cabrera was found unconscious on her bedroom floor with blood on her head by her helper on the evening of Jan. 28, Asst. Prof. Riaz Benjamin, Cabrera’s colleague, told the Varsitarian.
Benjamin said Cabrera was declared dead on arrival when she was brought to the Providence Hospital in Quezon City.
Cabrera served as assistant dean (1996 to 2003) and dean (2006 to 2010) of the then College of Commerce. She also worked as executive assistant to the vice rector for academic affairs from 2003 to 2006.
She retired from the University in 2015, after which she served as president of the Entrepreneurship Educators Association of the Philippines until 2017.
She authored “Organization and Management,” a book for senior high school students under the accountancy, business and management strand, with Benjamin and Assoc. Prof. Anthony Altarejos in 2016.
Cabrera obtained her doctorates in development education and business administration at UST and the Colegio de San Juan de Letran, respectively.
“As a dean, she was very firm and she was very particular about the policies of the college and university. No compromise on that. She was so particular about it,” Benjamin said.
Ma. Carmen Diaz, an office clerk in the College of Commerce under Cabrera’s deanship, said the former dean was a “workaholic”—a punctual and meticulous person who was also thoughtful and loving.
“I can’t remember the times when [Cabrera] was absent… [She was] very particular and meticulous with details and information. She has her own copy of files,” Diaz told the Varsitarian.
Cabrera oversaw big changes in the College of Commerce during her deanship.
In 2007, she led the revamp of the Bachelor of Science in Commerce program into the Bachelor of Science in Business Administration program, which offered more courses including business economics, human resource development management, financial management and marketing management. That year, the College of Commerce was renamed the College of Commerce and Business Administration.
It was also during Cabrera’s term when the College of Commerce switched to new yellow uniforms.
“Until now, I could still recall her voice and distinct intonation during our graded recitations. She was one of those professors who never reprimanded us. She made me feel how she loved what she was doing, which was imparting her knowledge to us,” Maria Mishae, a former student of Cabrera, told the Varsitarian.
Cabrera’s remains will be brought to the La Funenaria Paz in Araneta Avenue, Quezon City on Feb. 9. She will be interred on Feb. 11.
