By Cyrus A. Natividad

3rd Elected President of Guimaras State College Dr. Lilian Diana Buston Parreño.

Central Philippine University congratulates its alumna, Lilian Diana Buston Parreño, after being elected as 3rd President of Guimaras State College (GSC), Guimaras effective February 19, 2021. She was Vice President for Research and Extension before her election as President of the GSC.

Parreño is a CPU graduate of Bachelor of Science in Agriculture major In Agronomy in 1986. She finished her Master in Agricultural Economics and Master of Arts in English in 2003 and 2006, respectively from CPU. She finished her Doctor of Philosophy major in Educational Management in 2020 from Guimaras State College.

The 55-year old President of GSC who was born on January 4, 1965 in Bugasong, Antique had an enviable journey thru her vast social, scientific and academic career. She looks back to her dear alma mater, Central Philippine University as she begins to lead a young academic institution in Guimaras.

Parreño had fond moments in her beloved Central. She recalls how she worked her way up to become what she is today, she said, “I started my college years at Central Philippine University (CPU) in 1982. I was so overwhelmed and fearful when I entered its gate. It was so different from the school where I came from. But my stay in CPU was the most memorable, happy, and challenging times of my life; I belonged to the cream of the crop of the University at the time,” she said.

There were three of them – siblings who were enrolled at Central Philippine University at that time. She recalled that “money was so scarce; we were allowed to work in the Experimental Field of CPU (now the area of Henry Luce III Library and other buildings). We were paid by the College of Agriculture at the rate of P4.00 per hour and more or less we rendered 4 hours of work per day. That income was helping me until I graduated in 1986. We helped in data gathering, planting of vegetables, weeding and harvesting,” she said.

She added that “we also sold the produce from the field. We have to get orders from CPU employees in the morning and after harvesting, we deliver the goods to them. Income from vegetables and other products sustained the operation of the farm.”

“Those experiences instilled in me the value of loving my work despite the hardships. I cannot forget Mr. Cromwel Denila, CPU staff, who supervises the experimental field for helping augment our day-to-day needs, by sharing to us vegetables from the field,” she recalled.
“My experience as a work student at the CPU Experimental Field developed in me the love in doing Research. It paved the way for my employment. The CPU College of Agriculture has contributed much to my development as an individual. After that, Parreño was employed as a Researcher of Atlas Fertilizer Corporation, and later on by the National Mango Research Center (NMRDC).

The influence of CPU in Parreno’s work ethics especially in the field of Research made her who she is today. She thanked her alma mater and wished that “CPU will continue to be one of the best universities in the country.”