by College of Arts and Sciences

Olipendo graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mass Communication from CPU in 2017.

School of Graduate Studies student and the current Vice President of Sangguniang Kabataan Federation of Passi City Irene Olipendo was selected as one of the delegates of Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) in Good Governance and Civil Society.

Olipendo was among the 100 delegates chosen to join the program out of 700 applicants from Southeast Asia.

All the delegates were scheduled to travel to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in March 2021. However, due to rising cases of Covid-19, the organizers opted for virtual meetings for the safety of the participants.

Aside from online meetings, part of the program is the selection of the Pitching Competition Winner and Digital Tech Award. The winners of the Pitching Competition will win a USD 2500 project grant while the Digital Tech Award will win USD 500. Olipendo and her team bagged both awards in the competition. The amount will be used to implement their project in Malaysia and Philippines.
The project aims to engage young people on gender-responsive budgeting through capacity building, open dialogue, and knowledge-sharing. The team is composed of Arriane Bucar, Joedie Boliver, Justin Gatuslao and Irene Olipendo from the Philippines while the Malaysian members were Tam Xueh Wei and Nicholas Yap. The project will be implemented in May 2021.

Olipendo is the former CPU-College of Arts in Sciences Vice Governor and Governor in the year 2016-2017. She graduated her AB Mass Communication degree at CPU as Cum Laude in the same year. She is currently a Master of Arts in English Language and Literature student. As the SK Chairperson in her Barangay, she has been focusing on issues involving the youth in her community.

The event was sponsored by US Embassy in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia, Techsoup Asia- Pacific and Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI).