11 Pinoys receive UK Chevening scholarships this year

The British government recently awarded the prestigious Chevening Scholarship to  11 Filipinos who will pursue studies in finance and economics, environment and sustainability, trade, health and law in the United Kingdom. The 2013 Chevening Scholars are: Christine Antonio, Grace Ayson, Naealla Bainto, Ryan Edward Chua, Anna Victoria Lu, Jan Christopher Ocampo, Maria Isabel Plaza, Ira Paulo Pozon, Joyce Tan, Andrea Teran and Donn Mc Angelo Valdez. In a news release, the British Embassy said the scholars were honored at a reception hosted by Stephen Lillie, who recently ended his tour as British Ambassador to the Philippines.   “I’m delighted to award Chevening Scholarships to 11 promising Filipinos this year. They continue the trend of excellent scholars coming from the Philippines. Our scholarship programme highlights the importance that we attach to dynamic links with the Philippines and a shared interest in nurturing young leaders who can make a positive difference to the future growth and prosperity of the country” Lillie said.  “The UK is home to many of the world’s very best universities. While based in Britain you will also study with many thousands of the brightest minds from all over the world as the UK is proud to be a global center of academic excellence," he said. "I’m sure your Chevening experience will help you develop your future leadership vision and plans and allow them to be put into effect when you return to the Philippines.” The scholarships were named after the Chevening House, the British Foreign Secretary's official country residence.   11 scholars The 11 Chevening scholars include:  (1) Christine Antonio Deputy Privatization Officer for Legal at the Privatization and Management Office, an attached agency of the Department of Finance Preferred subject of study: MA in Corporate Law Notable achievements: - Graduated in the top 5 of the 2006 UP Law graduating class - Part of the team that closed the privatization or sale of the 74-hectare Philippine government property in Taguig City, at the price of more than P24 billion; this is one of the biggest privatizations ever done by the government. (2) Grace Ayson Currently working as the licensed Compliance Officer (Vice President level) for the local UBS entities (UBS Securities Philippines, Inc., UBS Investments Philippines, Inc and UBS AG Philippine Representative Office) Preferred subject of study: MA in Corporate Law Notable achievements: - Part of the team of Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago for her re-election as Senator in 2001 - Chair of UBC’s Community Affairs Committee in charge of CSR activities - Head of the Anti-Tuberculosis committee of her Rotary organisation (for which I won the award Club Member of 2005) (3) Naealla Bainto Assistant Secretary Level (Technical Assistant) in the Office of the Executive Secretary, Office of the President of the Philippines Preferred subject of study: Master of Laws Notable achievements: - Placed 10th overall during the 2009 Bar examinations. - After only a few years in government, she was was promoted to the rank of Assistant Secretary and was tasked to head the Strategic Initiatives Management Office (SIMO) of the Office of the Executive Secretary of the President. (4) Ryan Edward Chua A news reporter, writer, producer, and presenter for ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs Preferred subject of study: Mphil in International Relations and Politics Notable achievements: - ABS-CBN sent Ryan to cover the the 21st summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Phnom Penh, Cambodia - Was assigned as one of the few reporters who covered the Impeachment Trial of then Chief Justice Renato Corona (5) Anna Victoria Lu Works as Court Attorney VI with the office of Mr. Justice Jose C. Mendoza at the Supreme Court of the Philippines Preferred subject of study: Master of Laws Notable achievements: - In college, Anna headed a 3-day leadership seminar aimed at developing the leadership skills of first & second year university students. Its success was evidenced by the fact that majority of the participants later occupied important positions in various school organizations, as well as in the university student council. - An Ateneo de Manila University scholar (Freshman Merit Scholar) for which she completed the honours course at the upper 30% of the entire batch. (6) Jan Christopher Ocampo Senior Research Specialist for Department's Economic and Financial Forecasting Group (EFFG) for the Central Bank of the Philippines Preferred subject of study: MSc in Economics and International Financial Economics Notable achievements: - Chris was consistenly in the Dean’s list and was awarded with the Most Outstanding Practicum Research Paper and as the Most Outstanding Practicum Student after his internship with the economics research department of the central bank. - selected by the Centre for Central Banking Studies (CCBS) of the Bank of England to participate in its Econometrics for Central Bankers course from 11-15 March 2013. (7) Maria Isabel Plaza Assistant Manager in the Corporate Finance group of Maybank ATR Kim Eng Capital Partners, Inc. Preferred subject of study: MSc Finance and Economics Notable achievements: - Governor Tetangco has personally offered Isabel a position at the Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) upon completion of her studies to help establish the first Philippine sovereign wealth fund. - Organized a group to prepare a workbook-like program that would be used by the volunteer trainers to teach basic communication skills to out of school youth in Agusan del Sur. (8) Ira Paulo Pozon Served as the Legal Counsel to the Vice President of the Philippines, Jejomar Binay Preferred subject of study: Master of Laws, with specialization in Trade and International Law Notable achievements: - The Vice President appointed Ira to represent him and lead the proceedings on the deployment of Filipino au pairs to Europe (9) Joyce Tan Working as an associate at SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan (SyCipLaw), Preferred subject of study: MSc in Environmental Change and Management Notable achievements: Volunteer for the  Philippine Eagle Conservation Program Foundation and the Philippine Disaster Recovery Foundation (10) Andrea Teran Supervising Legislative Staff Officer at the Congressional Commission on Science and Technology and Engineering (COMSTE) Preferred subject of study: MSc Environmental Sustainability Notable achievements: - Andrea provides technical assistance to Senator Edgardo Angara, in his role as Vice Chair of the Senate Committee on Finance, during budget hearings and Deliberations - Organized an international conference on disaster management entitled Engineering Resilience: Confronting Risk Beyond Adaptation in 2010, gathering disaster science and risk reduction experts from the Philippines, Thailand, India, Japan, Taiwan, and the United States to talk on different approaches to disaster management to an audience of about 250 people. (11) Donn Mc Angelo Valdez Working as the Executive Assistant of the Secretary (Minister) of Health of the Republic of the Philippines Preferred subject of study: MSc Health Policy, Planning and Financing Notable achievements: As a medical student, Donn was elected in various capacities in the student council, such as College of Medicine Representative and University Student Councilor. - Donn has  represented the DoH in the Prince Mahidol Award Conference 2012: Moving towards Universal Health Coverage and the Development Experts Meeting for Better Coordination in Asia’s Health Sector organized by the Japan International Cooperation Agency in 2011. - VVP, GMA News