NOTE: THIS STORY WAS FIRST PUBLISHED IN THE BOHOL CHRONICLE’S SUNDAY PRINT EDITION.
A Boholano priest who was a former president of the University of San Carlos (USC) in Cebu City has died at the age of 91, the institution said Saturday, Dec. 5.
In a Facebook post, USC said Fr. Margarito “Mar” Alingasa, SVD passed away on Saturday morning at the St. Arnold Janssen Home in Tagbilaran City.
Alingasa, a native of Tagbilaran City, was the second Filipino president of the University of San Carlos (1975-1979).
He was ordained priest at the Divine Word Seminary in Tagaytay City in 1957. He obtained his Master of Arts degree in Audio-Visual Communication from Indiana University.
Alingasa oversaw the “Filipinization” of USC, as mandated by Presidential Decree No. 176, which covered all private corporations and educational institutions.
It was also during his terms that the pioneering research institutions in the country, the USC Cebuano Studies Center and the Office of Population Studies, were established.
The College of Nursing (now under the School of Health Professions) was also established during Alingasa’s presidency, side by side with the development of the Instructional Media Center.
After his presidency, Alingasa remained active in advocacies and was instrumental in the establishment of the Cebu Uniting for Sustainable Water (CUSW).
He was a member of the Cebu Archdiocesan Commission on Family and Life.