The Mass of the Holy Spirit was held at the Manila Cathedral, presided by Rev. Fr. Filemon Dela Cruz Jr., OP. This was closely followed after by the annual Arriba Address with a talk from Ms. Jhennie Caldito-Villar, DBA. The historic day then ended with the Collegiate Recognition which recognized the notable achievers of the institution from the previous academic year. Photos courtesy of Vince Allen Atienza & Calvin Kiefher Manalili of The LANCE & Davy Chioa of Letran-Manila.
Colegio de San Juan de Letran welcomes its new academic year with three annual events: the Mass of the Holy Spirit, the Arriba Address, and the Collegiate Recognition held on August 7, 2023.
Mass of the Holy Spirit
The Mass of the Holy Spirit is the first event on the agenda at the opening of classes, with students massing from elementary to the collegiate level alongside their respective faculty members in attendance. Classes and Office hours were canceled at 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Rev. Fr. Filemon I. Dela Cruz Jr., OP, led the festivities of The Mass of the Holy Spirit at the Manila Cathedral. The Homily expounded the significance of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the Letranites in the new school year.
The Mass is followed by the Arriba Address at the SC auditorium with all the teaching and non-teaching personnel, and the presence of representatives from Recognized Students’ Organizations (RSOs) and Cultural & Performing Arts Groups (CPAGs).
Arriba Address 2023
This year's Arriba Address with speaker Ms. Jhennie Caldito-Villar, DBA, Directress of the Alumni and Public Relations Department (APRD), presented her paper titled Integrating Social Media Strategy with Customer Relationship Management: Basis for Relationship Marketing Strategies for Dominican Province of the Philippines Schools.
It emphasizes the opportunity of social media strategies in the customer relationship to help the institution. The study also highlighted the opportunities given by social media platforms for the development of Dominican institutions.
Ms. Caldito-Villar proposed the ‘relationship marketing’ approach of integrating customer relationship management with social media for educational institutions under the Dominican Province.
She also expounded on how adapting Social-media Customer Relationship Models (SCRM) could attract customers and increase the number of enrollees as their needs are met through online transactions, which is efficient nowadays.
The directress further explained how students are most exposed to social media and engage themselves with posts where they can relate. Institutions creating and posting social media accounts will increase the level of satisfaction and trust of their customers, as mentioned in the study. Technological advancement was also prioritized, as it will improve school facilities and increase their performance.
Ms. Caldito-Villar concluded her address with a statement “The success of our school lies in concerted effort in providing the best to our clients, customers will not always be right but deserve to be treated right.”
Collegiate Recognition
Several Letranites were recognized with distinguished awards during the collegiate recognition conducted on the same day. Non-academic awards ranged from athletic awards, leadership awards, best student organization, and service awards.
Academic excellence awards also known as the prestigious San Vicente Liem de la Paz, O.P. Awards were also granted to the top three first and second-year students as well as the top student per program among the third year level of their respective colleges.
The Colegio continues with its traditional welcoming rites for the new academic year as they resume the second day of Binyag Arriba 2023 celebration on August 9 for the College of Business Administration & Accountancy (CBAA).