Dagupan City vice mayor conferred honorary degree

DAGUPAN CITY, Philippines – In recognition of her business acumen and philanthropy, this city’s vice mayor was conferred a Doctor of Humanities in Public Administration honoris causa by the University of Luzon (UL) during its 95th commencement exercises last Thursday.

Vice Mayor Belen Fernandez said the distinction was more meaningful as it was given by her alma mater, formerly known as Luzon Colleges, where she got a degree on Bachelor of Science in Commerce.

UL gave the same distinction to Vice President Jejomar Binay during its commencement exercises last April.

In receiving the honorary degree, Fernandez paid tribute to her late father, Jimmy Fernandez, who built the first grocery store in the city and who trained her, as a young student, how to run the family business. Now she successfully leads the family-owned CSI Group of Companies that has, through the years, built a chain of malls in Pangasinan and neighboring provinces.

While busy attending to the family business, playing Good Samaritan has become an integral part of her daily life, too. Thus, prior to entering the political arena initially as a councilor, she had already established a good name in public service through her feeding programs in different schools and barangays and care for senior citizens, among other projects.