With nostalgic tunes that captured the spirit of decades filling the Cordillera Convention Hall of Baguio Country Club (BCC), Saint Louis University (SLU), this year’s host school, welcomed about 120 delegates of the Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (CICM) Philippine Schools Network (PSN) Governance Assembly 2025 on 9 July 2025.
The welcome reception took place with an Open House, featuring a performance by the SLU Center for Culture and the Arts (SLU CCA) Rondalla that set a festive tone for the event. Following this, clad in their costumes, representatives of participating schools took part in a series of social activities, highlighted by the “Dance your Decade” performances featuring the 70s (University of Saint Louis-Tuguegarao), 80s (SLU-Baguio), 90s (Saint Louis College-San Fernando City, La Union), 20s (Saint Louis College – Mandaue City, Cebu & Maryhill School of Theology-Quezon City), and 2010s (Saint Mary’s University-Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya).
Keeping in step with the rhythm of the reception’s curated renditions, the SLU CCA performing groups — SLU Concert Orchestra, SLU Dance Troupe, SLU Glee Club, and Tanghalang SLU — took center stage for the highly anticipated “Mixtape” performance, evoking a wave of melodic nostalgia.
The overture features alluring interpretations of popular singles such as “Eye of the Tiger,” “Everybody Wants to Rule the World,” You Can’t Stop the Beat,” “Take on Me,” “Summer Night,” “Greased Lighting,” and “Don’t Stop Me Now.” The second part delighted the audience with Filipino favorites including “Alapaap,” a VST Medley, an Original Pilipino Music (OPM) Medley-Latin Dance, “Bongga Ka Day,” and “Pinoy Ako,” celebrating Pinoy music lovers across time.
The CICM PSN Governance Assembly
As part of the CICM PSN established activities, the network annually holds its governance assembly to usher in updates and developments, to even set the seal on the schools’ commitment.
The event gathered leaders and representatives from different clusters of the six CICM-affiliated schools across the Philippines. Among these include SLU under the leadership of Rev. Fr. Gilbert B. Sales, CICM, PhD; SMU spearheaded by Sir John Octavious S. Palina, PhD; SLC guided by Rev. Fr. Roderick “Erick” G. Villamar, CICM, PhD; USLT led by Rev. Fr. Macwayne N. Maniwang, CICM, PhD; SLCC headed by Sir Juvelito “Sai” Veliganio, PhD; and MST, under the guidance of Rev. Fr. Rene C. Cabag, CICM.
The clusters represented are:
- President
- Administration
- Finance
- Academics
- Mission and Identity
- Basic Education
- Campus Ministry and Christian Formation
- Campus Planning and Maintenance
- Culture and the Arts
- Community Engagement/ Extension
- Data Protection
- Guidance Center
- Human Resources
- Internationalization
- Information Technology
- Institutional Development and Quality Assurance
- Libraries
- Registrars
- Research and Development
- Sports Development
- Student Affairs and Services
This year, anchored on the theme “CICM-PSN: Sustaining A Beautiful Mission Through Innovation, Collaboration, and Synergy,” the Governance Assembly is anticipated to be an avenue of furthered knowledge, stronger partnership, and enriched aspiration for our respective schools and for our dear Congregation.
In the succeeding days, 10 to 11 July, the assembly will get to the grindstone for the core events: the governance assembly proceedings, cluster reports, a plenary session, and a series of plannings and discussions.
The CICM PSN Governance Assembly 2025 reception set a tone of unity and forward-looking collaboration as the network continues to embody its motto, “One Family, One Heart, One Soul.”
