TWO UST alumni were named “Outstanding Manilans” during rites at the Metropolitan Theater on June 23, the eve of the city’s 451st founding anniversary.
The Gat Andres Bonifacio Award, the highest recognition the City of Manila can give a citizen, was awarded to Thomasian glass sculptor Ramon Orlina.
Orlina was the artist behind Quattromondial, the 10-meter-high monument erected at the UST Quadricentennial Park in 2011 for the school’s 400th anniversary.
He finished architecture at UST and began venturing into molding glass sculptures in the 1970s after leaving his job as an architect.
His first glass sculpture, “Arcanum Paradise Gained,” which he made in 1976, is displayed at the National Museum of Natural History.
In 2014, he opened “Museo Orlina” in Tagaytay City to house various Philippine visual art pieces including his works.
Thomasian pole vaulter EJ Obiena was awarded the Outstanding Manilan for Sports.
Obiena, a participant in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, holds the Asian pole vault record of 5.93 meters.
Recently, the 25-year-old won the gold medal in the 2022 Southeast Asian Games in Hanoi, Vietnam with a record-setting 5.46-meter vault.
TV host and weather anchor Alejandro “Kuya Kim” Atienza received the Outstanding Manilan Award for Mass Media. Atienza studied education at UST for a year.
Other awardees include Dr. Edgar Santos II (Rajah Sulayman Award), Angeline Quinto (Entertainment), “Barbara’s Heritage Restaurant” owner Barbara Gordon-de los Reyes (Culture and the Arts), Michi Regalado-Castro (Barangay Affairs), Trinidad Galang (Education), Sheryll Dolendo (Judiciary), Robert Morigo (Prosecution Service), Lt. Col. Rosalino Ibay Jr. (Law Enforcement), Dr. Nerissa Sescon (Public Health) and the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Inc. (Socio-Civic).
Outgoing Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso was also recognized for his service to the city.
