“Pillarican education is a lifelong journey towards total human transformation through integral evangelization in order that everyone becomes a pillar of peace, justice, love of humanity with preferential option for the p[or and deep concern for the environment”.

For more than 60 years, this has been the philosophy of the Pillarican community and for more than seven years, our school president, Exuperio V. Flores, Jr. Ph. D., continuously transforms our humble catholic institution into something worth emulating for.

And his efforts and great achievements earned him a spot in the Catholic Educational Associations of the Philippines (CEAP) after being elected as the First Regional Trustee. Together with the other officers, he took oath on August 30, 2018 as officiated by Fr. Carlito Sarte at Our Lady of the Pillar Parish Pastoral Center, Cauayan City.

“I feel honored and humbled to be elected. First, because most if not all, the presidents and the directors of the CEAP schools in the region are priests and religious. They elected a lay person for such a position and this is truly a very humbling experience. Secondly, OLPC is a relatively small school as compared to the Catholic Universities in Region 02 comprising of the provinces of Batanes, Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya and Quirino. And on the national level, it is only Region 02 that a trustee is a Layman.” he said.

The Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (CEAP) is the national association of Catholic Educational Institutions in the Philippines founded in 1941. It now has more than 1,484 member-schools and more than 120 superintendents of Catholic Schools. It is a voluntary organization which operates through regional educational associations located in the 17 regions of the country.

It represents the interests of Catholic educational institutions in national and international fora; fosters unity of action with other organizations in educational matters; and assists members, particularly those in mission areas to achieve common and specific aims.

It is commissioned to advance and promote the teaching function of the Catholic Church. It contributes towards the attainment of the objective “the total development of the human person,” through a Catholic orientation in accordance with the norms of the Church, consistent with national development goals as expressed in the Philippine Constitution.

The Pillarican community rejoiced with this great sweet blessing of being headed by Sir Junn (as he is fondly called), a man who had proved himself not just in the hearts of his subordinates but also in the hearts of the CEAP members. He will serve for one term and that is three school years (from 2018-2021). Although one re-election is allowed under the CEAP Region 02 by-laws.

After being elected, he immediately proved his innate act of kindness and leadership to the victims of the typhoon Ompong after visiting the Lyceum of Appari, Cagayan. He  also went to Naguilian together with Fr. Adalbert Barut to monitor the damage caused by the typhoon Rosita.

“At present, we are taking off from where the previous Regional Council under Fr. Neil Sta Ana, now president of the University of S. Louis-Tuguegarao (USLT) have left. There is an existing strategic plan and I continue to implement it as I am part of the plan being the Vice Trustee then. These are all programs of the CEAP which comprises programs of the National Basic Education (NBEC), the National Higher Education Commission (NHEC), the advocacy commission that works for the interests of catholic education as a whole, the JEEPGY Pillar Programs, cultures and sports and others. We hope to unite and make all the CEAP schools in the region more cohesive and collaborative so we can advance better the cause of Catholic Education”.

He said that being in catholic education, our Mission and Vision as a catholic school speak of what we want our school to be, our students, teachers and also the parents of our students. That should be our guiding principle that must be cascaded in all our activities and even in our lessons in the classroom; to transform our students to become a truly transformed individual.

This humble man offers his achievement firstly, to God, his best example of a servant-leader, and to his Pillarican family, his pillar of strength.

“To all Pillaricans, I share with you the joy and honor of being elected as a CEAP Region 02 Trustee. This is an added work with no financial renumeration. It is pure and simple service to lead Catholic Education in Region 02. The fact that our school is now recognized and acknowledged as a premiere college in Region 02 and in the national level is already an achievement itself. But there is more to it because it gives us an advantage to position our school on the level with other catholic schools nationwide. Your support would be very vital in every CEAP activity that would bring us more benefits and active participation in the local and national level”, he shared.

We are looking forward to bigger doors of great opportunities that will open for our school president. Knowing that serving other people is the best way of being a leader, we know that he will be great in fulfilling his duties as a regional trustee of the CEAP Region 02. Our beloved school’s father is now a servant-leader to wider scopes and with this good news, we are proud to be headed by the first elected layman regional trustee, our very own school president, Exuperio V. Flores, Jr. Ph.D. Congratulations and we are very proud of you!