Embodying the Institution’s mission, Mabalacat City College (MCC) President Michelle Aguilar-Ong and Vice President for Academic Affairs (VPAA) Melanie Viloria-Briones shared their knowledge to the teachers under the Department of Education (DepEd) City Schools Division of San Fernando, Pampanga.
The MCC executives served as resource persons in the program Sustaining Life-long Learning to Promote Productivity amidst the Pandemic of the DepEd Division on July 28 and 29, 2021, respectively.
Pres Ong delivered a highly engaging lecture workshop titled Emotional Intelligence of Leaders in Challenging Times, which started with a self-awareness activity. The aim is to reveal the traits innate in the participants to become emotionally intelligent leaders. She guided them in processing these traits with a special session on empathy to bring out the best decisions during challenging times. But most importantly, she differentiated the traits in the personal and professional level given the organizational culture in the Philippine setting which leans on valuing personal relationships over institutional goals. The participants appreciated the comparison. They found it enlightening and assuring that being an emotionally intelligent leader is not just about feelings but is in fact a higher intelligence in considering the truths of everyone in a balancing act of maturity, due diligence, and a great deal of care.
VPAA Briones, on the other hand, talked about Increasing Resilience, Improving Effectiveness. She went into a deep dive on resilience and how it matters in the academe. She emphasized that there is a need to balance the drainers and drivers of performance and the key is one’s self that is why we need to keep on refueling our resiliency tank.
DepEd, according to Briones, expressed their gratitude to her and to Pres. Ong but she also remarked that it is her and Dr. Ong who are thankful as their sharing of knowledge is another way of concretizing MCC’s mission of serving its community especially during this time of pandemic.
Dr. Ong holds the degree Doctor of Public Administration and is known to be an innovative and brilliant young leader. At 37, she became the youngest president of local colleges in the Philippines.
Dr. Briones, on the other hand, holds a degree Doctor of Education major in Educational Management. She is a respected mentor both in undergraduate and graduate school.
