ICONS of education and its ‘internationalization’

Before we speak of awards, rankings, or global stages, we must pause.

Just days after the CHED ICONS Awards 2025, the higher education community mourned the passing of Atty. Lily Freida Milla, former head of the Commission on Higher Education’s International Affairs Service (CHED-IAS). For close to a decade, Atty. Lily led CHED-IAS — the unit in charge of ICONS—and together with then CHED Chairperson Dr. Prospero “Popoy” de Vera III, conceptualized what would become the country’s premier platform for measuring and advancing the internationalization of Philippine higher education.

At a time when our country longs for honest, humble, and committed public servants, Atty. Lily exemplified quiet excellence — deeply principled, hardworking, and unfailingly kind. She believed that Philippine higher education institutions could compete globally, and that internationalization should be inclusive, reaching state universities and colleges, even in the most far-flung areas.

Under her stewardship, CHED-IAS pushed initiatives that allowed local institutions to engage the world while remaining rooted in community and culture — proof that global relevance and local impact need not be at odds.

(L-R) The author with Atty. Joselito C. Alisuag (Exec. Vice-President, University of Cagayan Valley), and Atty. Lily Freida Milla (Former Director, CHED-IAS)

That vision, however, is not frozen in time.

It has been carried forward—and intensified—under the leadership of CHED Chairperson Dr. Shirley C. Agrupis.

Held at the Philippine International Convention Center, the CHED ICONS Awards 2025 reflect Agrupis’ firm belief that internationalization is no longer optional, aspirational, or symbolic. 

“ICONS is not simply a recognition ceremony,” Agrupis said, “but a mechanism for measuring progress, sustaining international momentum, and normalizing a culture of global engagement across our higher education system.”

In a country often obsessed with pageantry, ICONS is deliberately restrained. It is focused. It is evidence-based. It measures what many used to treat as peripheral. As Chair Agrupis put it bluntly, “internationalization is no longer peripheral. It is an operational requirement for relevance, competitiveness, and long-term national development.”

Coming from a leader who has seen higher education from every angle – former university president, CHED commissioner, and now chairperson -- that statement carries weight. ICONS, she explained, establishes benchmarks, surfaces best practices, and shows which institutions are moving forward, and which still need support.

Mariano Marcos State University won the Sustainability Award and the Global Citizenship Award at the Icons Awards 2025, and was named 1st Runner-up for the Outstanding International Education Program Award, highlighting its dedication to impactful and sustainable initiatives.

This year, 173 Philippine HEIs were recognized in major global ranking systems. That is an 82 percent increase from the previous year. According to Agrupis, this growth reflects “not only international reach, but systems readiness, academic quality, and global competitiveness.”

What is refreshing is how CHED frames rankings, not as trophies, but as tools. Particularly telling was the emphasis on the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings, which measure universities’ contributions to the Sustainable Development Goals. These rankings, Agrupis stressed, show that Philippine institutions are making real-world impact through instruction, research, and extension.

Her most important line, for me, was this: “internationalization is not a competition; it is a measure of impact – impact on our students’ opportunities, on our communities’ development, and on our country’s standing in the global knowledge economy.”

That philosophy runs through the entire ICONS framework, from global citizenship to sustainability, from ASEAN awareness to leadership awards. It is the same philosophy Atty. Lily Milla lived by -- internationalization that is inclusive, ethical, and rooted in communities.

The Cordillera Association of International Relations Officers (CAIRO) was recognized as the Most Promising IRO Community.

The right policies in place

The policy groundwork is also falling into place.  Agrupis confirmed the ratification of the Tokyo Convention, which standardizes the recognition of academic qualifications across the Asia-Pacific. An essential step for student and professional mobility. She also announced that in 2026, the Philippines will assume the ASEAN Chairship for Higher Education, with Artificial Intelligence as the regional theme.

“This gives the country a unique platform,” she said, “to guide ASEAN’s collective response to the transformative role of AI in teaching, learning, research, and workforce development.”

In other words, ICONS is not about the past. It is about readiness for what comes next.

Toward the end of her speech, Agrupis issued a challenge for our HEIs to “fully harness instruction, research, and extension to deepen global engagement and translate internationalization into meaningful impact for their learners and communities.”

CHED Chairperson Dr. Shirley C. Agrupis called on HEIs to fully harness instruction, research, and extension during her address at the ICONS Awards 2025.

That challenge is not just for universities. It is for all of us who believe that quality education is the great equalizer, and that government, when done right, can quietly but powerfully change lives.

This is the future Atty. Lily believed in. A future where students from remote communities learn alongside the world, where local culture earns global respect, and where public service is driven not by ego, but by purpose.
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