Manila, Philippines - Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. was conferred the “Tanglaw ng Bayan” Award by the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) during its commencement rites on Friday at the World Trade Center.
The award was conferred by Emanuel de Guzman during the afternoon ceremonies where the Speaker addressed more than 4,000 graduates.
Yearly, the PUP holds its graduation rites in two batches, morning and afternoon clusters, because of its large number of graduates.
The PUP Board of Regents as well as university officials joined de Guzman in honoring Belmonte.
The Tanglaw ng Bayan (Light of the Nation) is the highest award of recognition bestowed by the PUP on individuals who have outstanding achievements and significant contributions to society.
“Speaker Belmonte is one of the few who clearly meets the criteria,” de Guzman said.
Belmonte served as Speaker in 2001 and was three-term representative of the 4th district of Quezon City before he became city mayor.
He earlier promised that the House of Representatives would work hard to pass socioeconomic measures to help the poor and boost investments.
The PUP is known to be the largest state university in the country with its more than 63,000 student population spread across 22 campuses in Luzon. It started as a business school in 1904.