Prof. Januario M. Cuchapin
Culture and Arts
Former PSU-Bayambang Professor Januario M. Cuchapin has long been the energetic driving force behind the Municipal Council for Culture and the Arts, the first of his kind in Bayambang. He is the man behind such noteworthy projects as Bayambang Ballroom Dance Instructors, “Binasuan Festival,” "Malangsi Fish-tival," and the first-ever Fifth Capital Celebration Program, and the lead adviser for Bayambang Culture-Mapping Book. He was the Overall Director of a local adaptation of the musical, “Beauty and the Beast”; folk dance researcher, particularly of dances in Bayambang, such as the Binasuan, Siwi-Siwi, and the Bayambang version of Sayaw ed Tapew na Bangko and choreographer of Lanceros na Bayambang, the town’s official social dance. A recognized authority on culture and arts, he is a frequent speaker, trainer, adjudicator, organizer, and consultant in various cultural activities at the regional, provincial, and local levels. Lately, he got busy as the curator of the Culture Gallery of the Bayambang Museum of Innovation. Prof. Cuchapin also wrote three publications in his field of expertise. Lastly, he founded the Matalunggaring Dance Troupe in 1986, which has since been promoting the dances and songs of Pangasinan for the past 37 years.
Kenneth Mejia, CPA
Banking and Finance
Kenneth Mejia is the son of Raquel Puzon Mejia of Brgy. Telbang. He made history by being elected as the controller or chief accountant of the City of Los Angeles in the United States. For this, he had to beat a veteran City of Los Angeles insider.
Kenneth is in his 30s, with a progressive, visionary platform. His advocacies include financial transparency in city government and solving homelessness.
He makes us proud, Bayambangueños and fellow Filipinos alike, by being the first LA City Controller who is a Certified Public Accountant and the first Filipino and Asian-American to be an elected official in the City of Los Angeles, California, USA.
Fr. Joseph Anacleto Mananzan, SVD
Spiritual Development
Fr. Mananzan was born on July 13, 1951, in Bayambang. He entered Christ the King Mission Seminary in Quezon City. In 1976, he decided to get his M.A. in Philosophy and was honored as a magna cum laude at the Divine Word Seminary in Tagaytay City. He was ordained priest in 1978. His first assignment as a priest is as Director of the High School of the College of Calapan from 1979 to 1980. From 1982 to 1985, he was assigned as the head of the College Department at Christ the King Seminary in Quezon City. From 1985 to 1988 he had his M.A. in Counseling Psychology at Loyola University, Chicago USA. In 2001, he had his Diploma in Pastoral Ministry for Spiritual Direction at the University of Toronto Canada, and from 2002 to 2008, he became a Novice Master at the SVD Holy Spirit Novitiate, Calapan City. In 2010, he was the Rector of the Shrine of the Divine Word, and from 2014 to 2017 he was the Assistant Parish Priest of Sto. Rosario at Dampalit, Malabon. Lastly, he is a Spiritual Director of SVD Postulants and Program Director of those preparing for perpetual vows and ordination. Nowadays he is actively giving retreats to priests, nuns, laypeople and seminarians, and professors at Divine World School in Tagaytay City.
Dr. Liza Lanuza Quimson
Education
Dr. Liza Lanuza Quimson of Brgy. Buenlag 1st is a woman of tenacity and leadership, two qualities that made her excel in her field as educator. As Professor 1 in Pangasinan State University, she steadily rose from the ranks to become Executive Director in PSU-Bayambang Campus and currently holds the same position in San Carlos City Campus.
She finished her Bachelor of Elementary Education, Cum Laude, from PSU Bayambang in 1997, Master of Arts in Education major in Guidance Counseling in 2010, and Doctor of Education major in Educational Management in 2010, both from PSU Graduate School, Urdaneta City.
Her rich learning and teaching experience and love for growth made her aim for higher grounds. She is one of the university’s Internal Quality Auditors, among other positions as accreditor.
Among the most notable awards she received here and abroad is when she was hailed as Outstanding Educator, Outstanding Educator in the Field of Research, and Outstanding School Leader during the 2021 International Awards for Outstanding Educators and Research.
She was also certified by an international research journal as an esteemed Peer Reviewer.
Her contributions to Bayambang include having a crucial role in the establishment PSU’s Erasmus Building, the Bayambang Central Terminal, PSU-LGU ICT Konek Project to benefit poor students, and other projects too many to mention.
Emiliano Reyes Santos Sr.
Public Service
Emiliano Santos Sr. or Don Miling was a man of many things. He was a Bayambangueño writer of note, being a former editor of the “Philippines Free Press” and “Manila Times.”
A resident of Brgy. Cadre Site, he studied primary education in Colegio de San Juan de Letran and finished Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service, then took up law up to 4th year, both in University of Manila, but was unable to finish because of World War II.
Mr. Santos once attempted to write the history of Bayambang, but unfortunately lost his work due to flood, together with all his writings.
Apart from being a writer of note, he became a widely admired orator and a well-loved Municipal Councilor for three terms. Among his many accomplishments as public servant were: soliciting support from President Ferdinand Marcos for seeds and fertilizers for our onion farmers; serving as Liaison Officer of Vice-Governor Porfirio Sison and Liaison Officer of Vice-President Fernando Lopez; inviting over Ms. Philippines Cynthia Ugalde and Miss International Gemma Cruz-Araneta as beauty pageant crowning guests; and soliciting funds for the establishment of the Bayambang National High School Home Economics Bldg.
When he passed on in 1972, thousands of mourners attended his wake and funeral. His funeral led by then Mayor Jaime Junio was the longest in town.
Guadalupe Germono Zoller
Community Service
Guadalupe Germono Zoller, together with her husband Christian Zoller, established Alalay Foundation in 2008 in Switzerland, to assist needy children and women in the poor barrios of Bayambang and beyond. Since 2010, her foundation has continuously sent over truckloads of top-quality school equipment and educational supplies to selected local schools as well countless high-grade medical equipment and supplies to local public hospitals. Among the Foundation’s biggest projects are the construction of the smore than P5-million two-story Multi-Purpose Conference Hall cum school building in Idong-Inanlorenza Elementary School plus a 3-classroom building there. Other beneficiaries include Maigpa Elementary School, Bayambang District Hospital, Mangatarem District Hospital, and Pangasinan Provincial Hospital.
The daughter of Inocencio Germono and Catalina Agbuya and a product of Sanlibo Elementary School, Ms. Guada Zoller is a daughter of Bayambang who never forgot her roots and actually did something to help it prosper in whatever way she could.
Gerenerio Rosales
Public Service/Education
As Action Desk Officer on Local Employment and Migrant Worker Concerns from 2016 to 2019 or even before, Mr. Gerenerio Rosales supervised a multitude of tasks in the Municipal Public Employment Services Office passion, hard work, efficiency. And integrity. With only a skeletal force, he was able to help countless unemployed and under-employed applicants and assist distressed OFWs. He routinely worked beyond expectations just to finish the tasks at hand and, at times, using his own resources too. He has great communication skills, and so he is known to be often invited as guest speaker. A long-time public servant, he conducted his affairs with zero incidence of graft and corruption.
Unsurprisingly, his office has received many recognitions through the years from award-giving bodies on various levels. Despite it all, he was always unassuming, always working quietly behind the scenes.
He was also very active as a church worker, a devoted husband to his wife, and a father who successfully raised his four sons as a public school teacher until each one made it as a successful medical doctor, engineer, and human behaviorist.
In all these, he was always outstanding and yet always humble and approachable.
These qualities make Mr. Rosales worthy of admiration and emulation.
Atty. Onofre P. Guevara, Labor Secretary
Law
Atty. Onofre Posadas Guevara was born on March 25, 1914 to Vivencio Guevara and Leonarda dela Cruz Posadas of Poblacion area.
According to several accounts, Guevara had a very outspoken and straightforward personality. He was a good orator in English and Spanish. He initially joined the seminary in nearby Binmaley town, but eventually opted to become a lawyer.
He reached the height of his career when he served as Undersecretary of Labor and then Secretary of Labor during the presidency of Diosdado Macapagal.
Prior to this, he became president of the Malacañang Press Corps under the term of then President Manuel Roxas.
Guevara took up law in Manuel L. Quezon University. He became a court interpreter when he first started practicing law. He was a labor lawyer, thus ushering a long-time friendship with Cipriano Cid, founder of Philippine Association of Free Labor Unions or PAFLU. When Mr. Cid died, Guevara then took over the reins of one of the most formidable labor unions at that time.
Commodore Luzviminda A. Camacho, AFP
Military Service
Ms. Luzviminda A. Camacho of the Armed Forces of the Philippines became one of the Philippine Navy`s first female Skippers and Contingent Commanders.
When she was promoted as Commodore in January 28, 2020, Camacho made history by being the first female Commodore of the Philippine Navy, which is equivalent to Brigadier General or one-star rank in the Army, Air Force, and Marines.
Before her promotion, she had the rank of a Captain and served as chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Office of Legislative Affairs.
Aside from being the first woman to get the rank, Camacho is the first female chief of her office, the first woman to command a Philippine Navy ship and the first female commander of peacekeepers sent by the Philippines to Haiti.
The eldest of retired military service personnel, Ensign Francisco DC. Camacho and Mrs. Alejandra A. Camacho of Brgy. Cadre Site, Camacho was born and bred in Bayambang, an alumna of Pangasinan State University Laboratory High School.
Her shining example inspires our women to strive and excel in wherever field they wish, even in a field traditionally held by men.
Hubert H. Fernandez, MD
Medicine and Healthcare
Dr. Hubert H. Fernandez is an internationally recognized expert in movement disorders who has been voted one of the Best Doctors in America by his peers. After completing his medical training, he joined the faculty of Brown University School of Medicine as Assistant Professor in the Department of Clinical Neurosciences. In 2003, Dr. Fernandez relocated to the University of Florida, where he eventually became Director of the Clinical Research Unit for Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders and Professor of Neurology.
Dr. Hubert H. Fernandez is currently Professor of Neurology at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University; Chair/Director of the Center for Neurological Restoration at Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio. He is a holder of the James and Constance Brown Family Endowed Chair in Movement Disorders.
The son of Dr. Henry and Ms. Julie Fernandez, Dr. Fernandez received both his BS in Biology and MD degree from the Philippines. He completed his internship in Internal Medicine at University of Pennsylvania/Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; his residency in Neurology at Boston University Medical Center in Massachusetts; and his fellowship in Movement Disorders at Brown University in Rhode Island.
An active and productive researcher, he has initiated or participated in over 100 clinical trials and has published his findings in over 300 articles and abstracts on Parkinson’s disease, and other movement disorders. He has written a dozen books and 50 book chapters. He is currently the Editor-In-Chief of Parkinsonism and Related Disorders, and has served on the editorial board of Movement Disorders and is currently an editorial board member of the American Journal of Clinical Neurology, European Neurological Journal, Journal of Clinical Movement Disorders, and Clinical Neuropharmacology.
Asteria Perez-Wilhelm
Humanitarian Service
Asteria Perez-Wilhelm of Brgy. Buenlag was a registered company nurse in the Philippines, a product of Arellano University.
She then went to the USA as a nurse in Illinois, and she rose to become a charge nurse and a part-time supervisor in another nursing facility.
She worked as an RN at the Walther Memorial Hospital, Chicago, in 1982 to ’84, and was trained as an ICU nurse at that hospital. She then transferred to the number one trauma hospital in San Francisco, California, the San Francisco General Hospital, and was an ICU nurse there from 1984 to 1990. Then she moved to the Recovery Room as a charge nurse. She was the manager at one center of the hospital in September 2013, until she retired and returned home.
In America, she served as the President of Bayambang Association of Northern California for seven years, and as Board Member Secretary of the United Pangasinenses of America. Her educational achievements include holding a Masters of Arts in Business Administration from University of California, San Francisco.
As President of the Rotary Club of Bayambang in 2018 to ’19, she initiated the application for a Global Grant from Rotary International for the construction of a three-classroom building in Bascos-Manambong Parte Elementary School which was finished in 2022. Since 2010, she has also been supporting 10 PSU scholars.
Engr./Lt.Cdr Rudolfo Martinez Ferrer, PN, AFP
Military Service
Engr./Lt.Cdr. Rudolfo Martinez Ferrer belonged to class 1948 of the Bayambang High School (now the Bayambang National High School), the first batch to complete the 4-year secondary curriculum after WWII, and pursued his B.S. in Aeronautical Engineering at FEATI Institute of Technology.
In 1950, after a competitive examination and rigorous physical and mental agility evaluation, he was one of the 3rd group of 20 Filipinos appointed to complete a 4-year scholarship for cadetship at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA) in New York, under the RP-US Rehabilitation Act of 1946, to train as naval officer and marine engineer. He ranked sixth among hundreds of examinees, and maybe he is the first Bayambangueño to enter a U.S. Service Academy.
As a U.S. pensionado, he became a successful naval officer and licensed professional marine engineer, then he went back home and worked at Caltex, where he handled various responsibilities for 31 years.
In 1989, he completed his Master in Business Administration at De La Salle University, and for some time, he taught part-time in the same university graduate school.
Ferrer's active participation in various organizations bespeaks of his leadership, and his multifaceted talents led him to pursue different concerns that benefited not just himself and his family but also many others in his community.
BGen Jovencio F. Gonzales, PA
Military Service
As Brigade Commander of the 602nd Infantry Brigade, 6th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army from 2021 to 2022, Brigadier General Jovencio F. Gonzales rendered eminently meritorious and invaluable services in a position of major responsibility.
Imbued with a high sense of responsibility, professionalism and dedication to duty, BGen Gonzales achieved various accomplishments in the field of Operations, Intelligence, Civil Military Operations and Unit Administration.
In Central Mindanao Operations, he ably implemented intelligence driven and focused military operations, resulting in the capture, surrender, and demise of terrorists, among many other successful outcomes.
BGen Gonzales headed many civilian military operations including medical and dental missions that benefited thousands of individuals as well as massive tree-planting activities.
In the area of Administration, BGen Gonzales introduced dynamic innovations and new concepts in personnel and materiel management which greatly contributed to the improvement of the unit's readiness, efficiency and effectiveness. He was able to mold his unit as exemplars in various fields.
By these remarkable achievements, BGen Gonzales earned distinct credit not only for himself and his unit but for the Armed Forces of the Philippines as a whole.
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