Outstanding citizens cited on Baguio Day

By Julie G. Fianza

BAGUIO CITY -- Three outstanding citizens in the field of business, professional and community service received honors during the Baguio day program on Sept. 1 at the Baguio Convention and Cultural Center. 
    Society of the Outstanding Citizens of Baguio (SOCOB) committee member Art Tibaldo bared the honorees earlier during the city hall flag raising ceremony Tuesday morning, August 22. 
    General Manager of the Manor and The Forest Lodge in John Hay Ramoncito Cabrera was awarded for business category, Jail Superintendent May Ann Ollaging-Tresmanio for professional category and Professor Wilfredo Bautista Mina for community service.  
    Cabrera, with 50 years of experience in the hotel and restaurant industry, started as a part-time waiter at the Intercontinental Hotel in Makati to support his education, as he was studying to be an engineer.
    His stint with the food and beverage industry however became a lifetime passion. His work experience included those in exclusive hotels and restaurants both local and overseas. In Baguio, he worked with then Hyatt Terraces hotel. 
    With grants, scholarships and sponsorship, he studied food and beverage, hospitality and condominium management at Cornell University with Hyatt International and Asian Institute of Management (AIM).
    Among other honors, Cabrera received the Philippine Tourism Industry and Asean Green Hotel awards in 2017 and 2018, one of the top ten taxpayers of Baguio, Best Hotel, lifetime achievement, gold circle, traveller review awards for his workplace. 
    Cabrera advocated business stability through labor management and industrial peace; and environmental sustainability through segregation, recycling, participation in the annual earth hour program, composting and change of halogen to LED lights in the hotel. Similar programs and partnership with world wide fund (WWF) for nature brought for the Camp John Hay hotel the well-deserved Excellence in Ecology and Economy award.
    He headed donations with beneficiaries among employees needing financial and medical assistance. 
    During the Covid-19 pandemic, Cabrera led community and school programs, support to local entertainers, craftsmen and artists, blood donations, and even Fashion Arts Autism benefit, and other programs.
    At present, he is a board of trustee for the Baguio Flower Festival Foundation (BFFFI) and an officer of The Hotel and Restaurant Association of Baguio (HRAB).
    Tinglayan,Kalinga-born Jail Superintendent Mary Ann Ollaging Tresmanio received the professional service award.
Educated as a dentist, she applied at the Jail and Penology department as one, but was employed and progressed on as a jail officer and now undergoing the last leg of highest mandatory schooling. 
    Before the award, she was adjudged as one of the outstanding women leaders (OWLs) of Baguio.
She was affiliated with the Baguio everlasting club, Sacred Heart Community, Kalipunan Ng Liping Pilipino, among others. 
She has received numerous awards and recognition as she worked in various branches of the Bureau of Jail Management Penology (BJMP).

Under the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), the BJMP is mandated to direct, supervise and control the administration and operation of all jails nationwide with tasks of human safekeeping and   jail, with Tresmanio embodying the core values of the organization: Makatao (with respect for humanity), May integridad (with integrity) and Matatag (resilient).

She has, with other jail personnel, provided opportunities for PDLs’ rehabilitation and reformation, drug and alcohol treatment, education, moral, spiritual, social and health services, livelihood and skills training for reintegration to the mainstream society, as law-abiding and self-supporting citizens.

Tresmanio has headed donations, goodwill and outreach activities to the community, and during the Covid-19, exerted efforts to ensure protection and health of the PDLs. 

Under her watch, environmental protection is included in the BJMP’s daily flow of activities, as with dry runs for emergencies and disciplinary action to avoid the entry of contrabands and illegal paraphernalia. 

With her at the helm, the Baguio jail was pronounced as tobacco and drug free, through the Department of Health (DOH) and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA). And under her supervision, except for minor verbal tussles, there were no reports of uncontained incidents or of escape attempts from the jail.

For Professor Wilfredo Bautista Mina, retirement in 2013 after working with the Benguet State University (BSU) proved to be a refreshing way to serve on a wider scale. He shares more knowledge as a teacher and a guidance counselor, as he is licensed in both fields. 
He has written a handbook on guidance and counseling, which serves as a review material, along with printed materials on BSU’s core values; which he uses as a lecturer in various offices including the Philippine National Police, Boy Scouts of the Philippines, the city’s seminaries and other agencies.

He has also extended his expertise in the promotion of mental and emotional wellness, values education through community service facilitation, theory and practice teaching approaches and strategies in transformative education and enhancement seminars. Career guidance and public safety senior leadership, moral issues and concerns in contemporary living, multi-disciplinary discourse are among his expertise.

The Covid-19 pandemic did not stop him as he gamely resorted to online meetings, and resumed face-to-face lectures, as requested. He simply does his best daily; being involved as the salt and light for the family and community, addressing psychological program needs of individuals, groups or institutions. 

The awardees underwent stringent screening, comprehensive interviews and final judging from the SOCOB committee before final announcements were done.