By School of Graduate Studies
Dr. Althea Denuevo, acting dean of CPU School of Graduate Studies receives the plaque of appreciation as guest speaker from Dr. Wendel Marcelo, Provincial Health Officer I and Ms. Leni Disin, District Nutrition Program Coordinator during the 2nd Punong Barangay Nutrition Congress. Photo courtesy of Provincial Health Office of Iloilo.
Dr. Althea U. Denuevo, Acting Dean of the CPU School of Graduate Studies, was among the six guest speakers during the 2nd Punong Barangay Nutrition Congress held at the Grand Xing Imperial Hotel, Iloilo City on April 27-28, 2026. The congress was anchored on the theme “Good Governance in Action: Strong Barangay Leadership for Food Security and Nutrition for All Towards a MoRProGRes Iloilo.”
Her topic was “Empowering Leaders at the Grassroots: Lessons in Accountability and Responsibility.” As a certified public accountant, Dr. Denuevo shared the importance of effective budgeting on barangay expenditures and programs including health and nutrition. As a researcher, she emphasized that the allocation of resources on projects and initiatives should be based on the needs of the community — that problem identification is necessary. “When a problem is not clearly identified, it leads to inefficient and ineffective attempts to finding a solution”.
She further engaged with the participants and addressed to the punong barangays the creation of opportunities where others can showcase their potentials and develop their leadership skills. Dr. Denuevo values the importance of mentoring in an organization. For her “the true measure of a leader is when one develops more leaders.”
Government leaders, guest speakers and participants of the 2nd Punong Barangay Nutrition Congress. Photo courtesy: Balita Halin sa Kapitolyo FB page.
She acknowledged the challenging role of barangay captains in ensuring transparency in governance. As they lead by example, accountability should always be exercised. She said that integrity matters because those who walk in integrity, walk securely, and further emphasized that, “when integrity is gone, everything crashes.” After sharing some questions on self-reflection, she ended her talk with the verse from Romans 14:12, each of us will give an account of himself to God.
Dr. Denuevo was grateful to those dedicated people behind the success of the nutrition congress.
The event was organized by the Federation of Provincial Nutrition Volunteers of Iloilo, Inc., in partnership with the Provincial Nutrition Committee of Iloilo Provincial Government. It was attended by more than 1,200 punong barangays, councilors, nutrition scholars, health workers and other leaders of the Province of Iloilo. Also present during the event were Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor and leaders from DILG, DOH, Liga ng mga Barangay, Provincial Health Office, National Nutrition Council and League of Municipalities in the Philippines.