Ignatian Festival set on July 20

Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel Jr. and Quezon City Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte are among the politicians who will headline discussions on the Atenean and nation building which mark the start of the annual Ignatian Festival to be held on July 20.

Other speakers on the Ateneans in Politics portion will be Supreme Court justices Arturo Brion and Roberto Abad, Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Francis Tolentino, Albay governor Joey Salceda, , MWSS Administrator Gerry Esquivel and Department of Education (DepEd) Undersecretary Rizalino Rivera.

With the theme “The Atenean in Nation Building,” the two-year old festival will feature talks, workshops, exhibits, campus tours, plays, a celebration of the Eucharist, and an evening concert.
 
President Benigno S. Aquino III will keynote this year’s Ignatian Festival at the Ateneo de Manila University to be held on July 20 in celebration of St. Ignatius of Loyola’s 522nd birth anniversary at month’s end.

Other distinguished Ateneo alumni in the fields of media, music, arts and culture, public service and business will also be at the event to share their thoughts and views in a plenary talk.

The Ignatian Festival was organized under the university’s strategic thrusts of mission-identity, nation building, and environment-development. Last year, the first Ignatian Festival was held to initiate a tradition to deepen the sense of being Ateneans.

In last year’s Ignatian Festival, talks were held on “The Identity and Mission of the Atenean,” “Prayer and Our Busy Lives: The Ignatian Way of Contemplation and Action,” “Jesuit Legacy and Role in the Church: Past, Present, Future,” “The Atenean in Politics, Public Service, and Development,” “The Atenean in Business and Development,” “The Atenean in Media, Music, Arts, and Culture,” and “Ignatian Discernment in a Complex World.”

This year, the speakers for the Ateneans in Social Development are ALAC-SALIGAN head Attorney Arnie de Vera, Anna Marie Karaos of ICSI, Jim Lopa/ Mika Millar of the Ninoy & Cory Aquino Foundation, Dodo Macasaet, CODE – NGO, and Ching Ignacio, administrator of a small school in Bukidnon.

The Ateneans in Business will be headlined by Rapa Lopa of the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP), Ernest Escaler of GOURMET, Mark Ruiz of HAPINOY, Reese Fernandez-Ruiz of Rags2Riches, Me-An Ignacio of Kasagana-Ka Development Center, Inc. and Kirk Chester Damasco of Get Blued.

The Ateneans in Media, Culture and the Arts will feature John Paulo Reyes of HEROES Square, MTRCB’s Atty Toto Villareal, filmmaker Doy del Mundo, Indie Filmmaker Katsky Flores, Cinemalaya, ABS-CBN’s Jing Castaneda, and Philippine Daily Inquirer’s John Nery.

The different fora will also feature Fr. Vic Baltazar, SJ, visiting political science professor Fr. Pierre de Charentanay, SJ, Fr. Albert Alejo, SJ, and Fr. Robert E.N. Rivera, SJ and Fr. Noel Vasquez, SJ.