UPCM’s Values of Honor, Excellence, and Service Sets Benchmark for Pangasinan State University’s New College of Medicine

February 18, 2026

Text by: Jericho Paolo L. Mabansag
Photos by: Sarah Hazel Moces S. Pulumbarit

UP College of Medicine Dean, Dr. Charlotte M. Chiong, and the Dean management team are joined by Pangasinan State University (PSU) officials, including their university president, Dr. Elbert M. Galas, and Vice Presidents, during their benchmarking visit at the Henry Sy Sr. Medical Sciences Building on Feb 12, 2026.

Pangasinan State University (PSU) officials turned to the University of the Philippines College of Medicine (UPCM) as their model in establishing a new medical school, gathering valuable insights on the planning, implementation, and management of a College of Medicine. The officials toured the Henry Sy Sr. Medical Sciences Building and engaged with UPCM leaders during a benchmarking visit on Feb. 12, 2026.

Having spent nearly half a century in the halls of UPCM, Dr. Abner L. Chan, College Secretary, embodies what defines the University of the Philippines: honor that endures, excellence that inspires, and service that transforms.

PSU President Dr. Elbert M. Galas expresses his gratitude to Dean Chiong and her management team, adding that he is confident in UPCM’s medical education system, which is the nation’s leading medical school.

Dr. Abner L. Chan, UPCM College Secretary, distilled the university’s ethos into three words: honor, excellence, service. “Always do the right thing, the right way, for the right reason,” he said, his guidance underscoring values that have shaped generations of UP physicians.

The benchmarking visit on Feb. 12 was more than just a gathering of comprehensive insights and best practices in the establishment and management of a college of medicine. It was a study of systems and traditions that have made UPCM a national model. PSU officials walked through simulation and skills training centers, lecture halls, research laboratories, faculty offices, and conference rooms, each space reflecting UP’s relentless pursuit of academic rigor and service to the nation.

PSU President Dr. Elbert M. Galas praised UP’s stature. “We know UP as the leading and the best university in the Philippines, representing our country in the educational landscape, our model, our national university for all programs,” he said. That conviction guided PSU’s decision to benchmark its planned College of Medicine against UP’s century‑old institution.

Dean Charlotte M. Chiong and her management team presented the pillars of UPCM’s success. Chiong discussed funding and resource allocation. Associate Dean for Planning and Development Dr. Jose Joven V. Cruz outlined infrastructure and equipment requirements, highlighting the record‑time construction of the Henry Sy Sr. Medical Sciences Building. Associate Dean for Faculty and Students Dr. Anna Lisa Ong‑Lim explained faculty recruitment, while Associate Dean for Academic Development Dr. Cecilia A. Jimeno addressed admissions, retention, and student requirements. Dr. Ces Alinea, Jimeno, and Dr. Anthony Geronimo H. Cordero presented curriculum development and academic policies. UPCM Librarian Carla G. Demabildo discussed library and learning resource development.

Behind UPCM’s infrastructure and academic system lies what Dr. Jimeno highlighted: its alumni. “Dapat mahalin talaga yung alumni kasi silang-sila ang tumutulong sa college,” she said. Nearly 90 percent of the faculty are alumni, whose generosity underwrites infrastructure, operations, and scholarships. It is a cycle of giving that binds generations and sustains the college’s mission.

UPCM officials went further, offering PSU connections to the National Teacher Training Center for the Health Professions for faculty development, and even to alumni who might help seed their new medical school. These gestures underscored UP Manila’s enduring role, not merely as an institution of learning, but as a national conscience, committed to shaping education that serves the Filipino people.

For PSU, the visit was not just about facilities or frameworks. It was about a tradition that insists honor must guide excellence, and excellence must serve. In benchmarking against UP, PSU saw not only a model of medical education, but a vision of what it means to build a college rooted in values that have long defined the University of the Philippines.