Text by Jennifer F. Manongdo and Martin R. Racza
Photo by Sarah Hazel Moces S. Pulumbarit

From left: Vice Chancellor for Planning and Development Jose Tecson III, Dr. Cosme Cagas, Chancellor Michael Tee, Dr. Elcee Cagas-Conner, UP Manila SC President Alec Xavier Miranda, and OSA Director Odessa Joson.

The University of the Philippines (UP) Manila received a generous donation from one of its own illustrious alumnus, Dr. Cosme Cagas, founder of Philippine Economic and Cultural Endowment (PEACE) USA, who donated $5,000 to the UP Medical Alumni Society in America – Auxiliary (UPMASA) and $1,000 to Aruga at Kalinga, Alay ng Pamantasan (AKAP), the University’s food program which was launched last December 2024. 

The donation, made on Jan. 22, 2025, is expected to improve the reach of AKAP, increasing the number of beneficiaries. Through the Office of Student Affairs (OSA), recipients of AKAP are entitled to free breakfast and lunch at the Philippine General Hospital dietary hall. 

The other beneficiary, UPMASA, is a league of over 2,500 UPCM Alumni residing and practicing their profession in North America. The group holds medical missions and related medical programs in underserved areas in the Philippines in partnership with the Ugnayan Pahinungod of the Philippine General Hospital. Aside from this, it also provides tuition fee subsidies to medical students in eight state universities and colleges. Dr. Cagas himself is the founder of UPMASA.

PEACE USA is a group of Filipino migrants providing financial assistance, scholarship and food programs in poverty-stricken areas in the country.#