Lyceum-Batangas is most awarded tourism school

MANILA, Philippines - “We’re the most awarded tourism school in the Philippines,” says Peter Laurel, president of the Lyceum of the Philippines University (LPU) Batangas.

The College of International Tourism and Hospitality Management of Lyceum-Batangas had won 21 national titles from 2001 to 2009, including the Philippine National Skills Competition Meat Processing in 2001, Pinoy Bartending Competition-Last Call 2 in 2003, Chefs on Parade and the Dream Team Challenge Culinary Grand Prix in 2004, the Philippine National Skills Competition in 2004 and 2006, the National Bartending Warriors in 2008, and the Manila Open Flair in 2009, among others.

Lyceum-Batangas was the Grand National Champion and recipient of the Presidential Trophy and Golden Plate award at the National Food Showdown in 2009 and the Most Awarded Tourism School in the Philippines by the Philippine Tour Operators Association in the 20th Philippine Travel Mart Tourism Skills Competition 2009.

Lyceum-Batangas is also the recipient of four international awards. It won in both student and professional divisions at the Monin International Flairtending Competition in 2008, and the Diploma of Excellence in the 5th and 6th ASEAN Skills Competition-Restaurant Service held in Hanoi, Vietnam and Brunei Darussalam, respectively.

“We have an industry-based curriculum that prepares our students with the skills and knowledge they will need for future employment,” Laurel says.

Laurel cites the university’s tie-up with Dusit Thani, a member of the Dusit International hotel chain. The agreement allows Dusit Thani College, one of Thailand’s leading hospitality institutions, to share its international curriculum and academic resource materials for its Bachelor of Science in International Hospitality Administration specializing in Hotel and Restaurant Management (HRM), Culinary Arts and Restaurant Management, Tourism Management and other intensive courses in hotel management such as its celebrated Professional Chef and Culinary Arts program.

With the growing number of jobs in the fields of HRM and international tourism, specifically the cruise line industry, Lyceum-Batangas is introducing three new courses under the B.S. International Hospitality Management — Culinary Arts and Kitchen Operations, Cruise Line Operations in Hotel Services, and Cruise Lines Operations in Culinary Arts.

“We also take pride in our physical facilities, particularly the new Sotero H. Laurel building,” Laurel says. The six-story state-of-the-art building houses several classrooms, the HRM laboratories, and a 700-seater auditorium equipped with high-end computer facilities.

A training hotel, the Bayleaf, is being built within the Lyceum-Batangas campus overlooking Batangas Bay.

“Our students are required internship of 1,200 to 1,500 hours, much more than the usual 600 practicum hours in other schools,” Laurel says.

“We are in the forefront of developing new disciplines such as Resort Management and Spa Management,” he says. A Masters in HRM program will also be offered starting June.

Faculty members are also given continuing professional training. “Some members of our faculty will be leaving soon for advanced training and exposure abroad,” Laurel says.

“We are continuously striving to provide our students the best education which will help them possess the Lyceum core values of global competitiveness, God-centeredness, environmental consciousness, self-reliance, social justice, love for truth and assertive nationalism,” says Laurel, whose father, the late Senator Sotero Laurel, founded what started as a small provincial school in Batangas City in 1966.

In 2009, the Commission on Higher Education granted Lyceum-Batangas an autonomous status, a recognition of the high quality of education that it provides.

Like his father, former Philippine President Jose P. Laurel, who founded the Lyceum of the Philippines in Manila, the late Senator Laurel shared the same commitment to nationalism, with most of his legislative proposals focused on elevating national awareness through education.

“It is embedded in our curriculum, particularly in the three-unit course on Jose P. Laurel’s philosophy,” the young Laurel says.

Lyceum-Batangas now has a total student population of more than 10,000. “Where before, students would still go to Manila to pursue higher education, now they don’t have to leave the province and even those from other nearby provinces come here to study,” says Laurel.

“At the start, our goal was to be the center of academic excellence in the Southern Tagalog region. Now, our goal is to be the leading school in the Asia-Pacific region,” he adds.