1.
Taft Avenue
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Taft Avenue is a major road thoroughfare in Metro Manila. It crosses through three cities of the capital region, Manila, Pasay and Parañaque. The road was named after the former Governor-General of the Philippines and U. S President, the Philippines was a former commonwealth territory of the United States in the first half of the twentieth century. Construction of this avenue, originally called Calle Rizal, was completed in 1899, with Padre Burgos Street as its northern terminus, engineers Manny Aquino and Robin Santos led its extension in 1911, and the avenue was renamed Manila Road. However, a map of Manila produced in 1915 by the Office of Department Engineer, Philippine Department and it was extended to Ocampo Street (formerly Vito Cruz Street in 1940, at the height of World War II, during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines. It was renamed Taft Avenue in 1984 and it also reclaimed Mexico Road, the Manila LRT Line 1, the first elevated rail track in the Philippines, was built over it and opened in that same year. If Bold had a Street Crossings, the avenue straight ahead would be later known as Padre Burgos Avenue and spurs into three bridges then streets, Quezon Boulevard, Rizal Avenue, and Quintin Paredes Street. The office of the World Health Organization Western Pacific Region is located on Taft Avenue, Taft Avenue forms a part of the University Belt. The College of Saint Benilde, Santa Isabel College Manila, Emilio Aguinaldo College, Araullo High School, the National Cathedral of the Holy Child of the Philippine Independent Church is located on Taft Avenue. Taft Avenue is accessed through jeepneys, taxis, the Manila LRT Line 1, the avenue houses some stations of the LRT-1 namely, EDSA, Libertad, Gil Puyat, Vito Cruz, Quirino Avenue, Pedro Gil, United Nations
2.
Philippines
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The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is a sovereign island country in Southeast Asia situated in the western Pacific Ocean. It consists of about 7,641 islands that are categorized broadly under three main geographical divisions from north to south, Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, the capital city of the Philippines is Manila and the most populous city is Quezon City, both part of Metro Manila. The Philippines has an area of 300,000 square kilometers, and it is the eighth-most populated country in Asia and the 12th most populated country in the world. As of 2013, approximately 10 million additional Filipinos lived overseas, multiple ethnicities and cultures are found throughout the islands. In prehistoric times, Negritos were some of the archipelagos earliest inhabitants and they were followed by successive waves of Austronesian peoples. Exchanges with Chinese, Malay, Indian, and Islamic nations occurred, then, various competing maritime states were established under the rule of Datus, Rajahs, Sultans or Lakans. The arrival of Ferdinand Magellan in Homonhon, Eastern Samar in 1521 marked the beginning of Hispanic colonization, in 1543, Spanish explorer Ruy López de Villalobos named the archipelago Las Islas Filipinas in honor of Philip II of Spain. With the arrival of Miguel López de Legazpi from Mexico City, in 1565, the Philippines became part of the Spanish Empire for more than 300 years. This resulted in Roman Catholicism becoming the dominant religion, during this time, Manila became the western hub of the trans-Pacific trade connecting Asia with Acapulco in the Americas using Manila galleons. Aside from the period of Japanese occupation, the United States retained sovereignty over the islands until after World War II, since then, the Philippines has often had a tumultuous experience with democracy, which included the overthrow of a dictatorship by a non-violent revolution. It is a member of the United Nations, World Trade Organization, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. It also hosts the headquarters of the Asian Development Bank, the Philippines was named in honor of King Philip II of Spain. Spanish explorer Ruy López de Villalobos, during his expedition in 1542, named the islands of Leyte, eventually the name Las Islas Filipinas would be used to cover all the islands of the archipelago. Before that became commonplace, other such as Islas del Poniente. The official name of the Philippines has changed several times in the course of its history, during the Philippine Revolution, the Malolos Congress proclaimed the establishment of the República Filipina or the Philippine Republic. From the 1898 Treaty of Paris, the name Philippines began to appear, since the end of World War II, the official name of the country has been the Republic of the Philippines. The metatarsal of the Callao Man, reliably dated by uranium-series dating to 67,000 years ago is the oldest human remnant found in the archipelago to date and this distinction previously belonged to the Tabon Man of Palawan, carbon-dated to around 26,500 years ago. Negritos were also among the archipelagos earliest inhabitants, but their first settlement in the Philippines has not been reliably dated, there are several opposing theories regarding the origins of ancient Filipinos
3.
Manuel L. Quezon
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Manuel Luis Quezón y Molina was a Filipino statesman, soldier, and politician who served as president of the Commonwealth of the Philippines from 1935 to 1944. He was the first Filipino to head a government of the entire Philippines, Quezon was a Spanish Filipino, with both his parents being Filipino mestizos. Quezon was the first Senate president elected to the presidency, the first president elected through an election. During his presidency, Quezon tackled the problem of landless peasants in the countryside and he established a government-in-exile in the U. S. with the outbreak of the war and the threat of Japanese invasion. It was during his exile in the U. S. that he died of tuberculosis at Saranac Lake and he was buried in the Arlington National Cemetery until the end of World War II, when his remains were moved to Manila. His final resting place is the Quezon Memorial Circle, President Benigno Aquino III, and María Zeneida Quezon Avanceña, who is 94 years old and the daughter of the former President, were duly informed about this recognition. Quezon, was born in Baler in the district of El Príncipe and his parents were Lucio Quezon and María Dolores Molina, both of whom were Spanish-Mestizos with distant ethnic Tagalog origins. His father was a grade school teacher from Paco, Manila. Quezon started life in a province of the Philippines as the son of a rice farmer. He went from governor of his local Tayabas region to president of the country in 10 years and he was influential in revising a key law that gave Filipinos a majority in the Philippine Commission and negotiated the Jones Act that allowed Filipinos to be self-legislating. He later boarded at the Colegio de San Juan de Letran where he completed secondary school, in 1899, Quezon cut short his law studies at the University of Santo Tomás in Manila to participate in the struggle for independence against the United States, led by Emilio Aguinaldo. During the Philippine–American War he was an Aide-de-camp to Emilio Aguinaldo and he rose to the rank of Major and fought in the Bataan sector. However, after surrendering in 1900 wherein he made his first break in the American press, Quezon returned to the university and passed the bar examinations in 1903, achieving fourth place. He worked for a time as a clerk and surveyor, entering government service as an appointed fiscal for Mindoro and he became a councilor and was elected governor of Tayabas in 1906 after a hard-fought election. Manuel Quezon was a personality who dominated the political scene. His active involvement in the destiny of his country was felt both in the Philippines and the United States. From 1909 to 1916, he served as one of the Philippines two resident commissioners to the U. S. House of Representatives, lobbying for the passage of the Philippine Autonomy Act or Jones Law. He headed the first Independent Mission to the U. S. Congress in 1919, building a long-term friendship with American Lieutenant Douglas MacArthur was vital to many of his achievements
4.
Supreme Court of the Philippines
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The Supreme Court of the Philippines, is the highest court in the Philippines. It is presided over by a Chief Justice and is composed of fifteen Justices, pursuant to the Constitution, the Supreme Court has administrative supervision over all courts and the personnel thereof. Until 1945, the Court met in Cavite, an additional constitutional requirement, though less precise in nature, is that a judge must be a person of proven competence, integrity, probity, and independence. Beginning with the 1935 Constitution, Supreme Court Justices are obliged to retire upon reaching the retirement age of 70. Some Justices had opted to retire before reaching the age of 70, such as Florentino Feliciano, Alicia Austria-Martinez who retired at 68 due to health reasons. The 1987 Constitution of the Philippines provides that, Section 11, the Members of the Supreme Court xxx shall hold office during good behavior until they reach the age of seventy years or become incapacitated to discharge the duties of their office. Since,1901, it was only incumbent Associate Justice Alicia Austria-Martinez who resigned for health reasons, in the October 1 Judicial and Bar Councils en banc deliberations, Reynato Puno ruled, “The court merely noted it. We don’t have to approve it, during the JBC hearing, a JBC member said Austria-Martinez had wanted to retire earlier because of health reasons. We were told she had problems even when she was in the CA. ”Retired Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines Artemio Panganiban stated. Alicia Austria-Martinez has opted to retire early from the Supreme Court due to health reasons, neither is she physically or mentally incapacitated, but she has chosen to retire on April 30,2009 because she felt she could no longer cope with the heavy caseload. This was followed in 2016 however, by Justice Martin Villarama, the powers of the Supreme Court are defined in Article VIII of the 1987 Constitution. These functions may be divided into two – judicial functions and administrative functions. The administrative functions of the Court pertain to the supervision and control over the Philippine judiciary and its employees, as well as over members of the Philippine bar. Pursuant to these functions, the Court is empowered to order a change of venue of trial in order to avoid a miscarriage of justice and to appoint all officials and employees of the judiciary. The Court is further authorized to promulgate the rules for admission to the practice of law, for assistance to the underprivileged. The more prominent role of the Court is located in the exercise of its judicial functions, Section 1 of Article VIII contains definition of judicial power that had not been found in previous constitutions. The judicial power is vested in “one Supreme Court and in lower courts as may be established by law. ”The definition reaffirms the power of the Supreme Court to engage in judicial review. As a result, the existence of “grave abuse of discretion” on the part of any branch or instrumentality of the government is sufficient basis to state action
5.
Santa Isabel College Manila
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The Santa Isabel College, is a Private, Roman Catholic College located in Ermita, Manila, in the Philippines. Santa Isabel College is one of the oldest college in the Philippines and it is owned and operated by the nuns of the Daughters of Charity. In later years its doors were opened to Spanish Filipina girls as well, in 1733, by a royal decree the name of the college was changed to “Real Colegio de Santa Isabel. The records of its establishment can be found at the Archive of the Indies in Seville, on July 22,1862, fifteen Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul arrived in the Philippines from Spain. Two years after, the Daughters of Charity took over the administration of the Real Colegio de Santa Isabel, the College was then in Intramuros until it was totally destroyed by shelling and fire during the liberation of Manila. After losing the Colegio, the Sisters sought refuge at St. Rita’s College which was spared from the ravages of war. The Sisters taught in St. Rita’s College to support themselves, the zealous Sisters left no stone unturned until they found a temporary home for its students. Some time after the war the name was changed to, Santa Isabel College, since 1968 four buildings were added to Santa Isabel. The school auditorium, built in 1953, was modernized, the Sister Catalina Ledesma Mini Recital Hall was constructed from the funds provided by the Sister Catalina Scholarship Foundation. In 1982, Santa Isabel College celebrated its 350th Foundation Anniversary, after three and a half centuries, Santa Isabel College has expanded its educational programs. Teacher Certificate Program for Professionals was opened, the Music Program, likewise, has expanded and now gives short term courses. The Bachelor of Science in Public Relations was given government recognition in 1981, Santa Isabel College then is the only school in the Philippines offering Bachelor of Science in Public Relations. Aside from the offerings, the school’s four courses were given recognition by the government. They are, Bachelor of Science in Information Technology, Bachelor of Science in Information Management, Bachelor of Science in Office Administration, Santa Isabel College continuously re-invented itself to address the challenges of the times. Intensive curriculum revision, realigning and mapping for more cohesive and relevant offerings were undertaken in order to answer current needs, thus, new programs were conceived, two-year Associate in Computer Technology, two-year Certificate in Hotel and Restaurant Management, and two-year Certificate in Accountancy. The school year 2005-2006 ushered in new programs, Bachelor of Science in Hotel and Restaurant Management, in 2004, the Bachelor of Science in Hotel and Restaurant Management was offered. To comply with the requirements of the course, the Chateau Santa Isabel Practicum Center was built. The practicum center serves as the training ground of the Hotel
6.
Iloilo City
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Iloilo City, officially the City of Iloilo, is a highly urbanized city on southeastern tip of Panay island in the Philippines. It is the city of the province of Iloilo where it is geographically situated but, in terms of government and administration. In addition, it is the center of the Iloilo-Guimaras Metropolitan Area, in the 2015 census, Iloilo City had a population of 447,992, with a 1. 02% population annual growth rate. For the metropolitan area, the population is 946,146. Iloilo City is bordered by the towns of Oton in the west, Pavia in the north, Leganes in the northeast and the Iloilo Strait in its eastern and southern coastline. The city was a conglomeration of towns, which are now the geographical districts consisting of, Jaro, Molo, La Paz, Mandurriao. The district of Lapuz, a part of La Paz, was declared a separate district in 2008. According to ancient legends, some of the inhabitants of Panay island were originally from other islands, including Borneo, Sulawesi, Panay might be named after the kingdom of Pannai which is located in Sumatra, since i and y are interchangeable in Spanish. Proof for this is corroborated by linguistic evidence, local tradition refers to the name as a shortening of the Ati word, Ananipay. Probably, it was what the Atis had come to use for the name given by the Malay settlers to their newly found home, one of these ethnic groups was subjugated there and they were unable to flee for various circumstances. Someone speaking pampango found out that they were not speaking pampango among themselves, but they donned the old pampango ethnic costume. And when he addressed an old man among them, the replied, You are descendants of the lost, that in times past left this place to settle in other lands and this resonates the local Panay tradition regarding the arrival of ten Datus from Borneo. The kingdom of Pannai was a militant-nation allied under the Srivijaya Mandala that defended the conflict-ridden Strait of Malacca, the Visayan lore says that in the 13th century, ten Bornean datus came to the island which they named Panay, Pani or Panae. This, after they dissented from the unjust rule of a certain Rajah Makatunao and it was said that it was also a way of the ten Bornean datus to barter the flat lands of Panay from the Ati. One datu, named Paiburong, was given the territory of Irong-Irong. In Panay, according to Friar Gaspar de San Agustín, O. S. A. in the ancient times, there was a trading center and a court of the most illustrious nobility in the whole island. By the 14th century, under Datu Padojinog, this state had grown so powerful militarily and economically, so much so, that the Chuan-chou gazeeter specifically reported that the Pisheya/Bisaya consistently made devastating raids against the Empires commerce. In 1566, as the Spanish conquest of the Philippines was underway and moving north toward Manila, the people then fervently accepted Christianity as they supplied the bulk of the mercenaries used in the conquest of partially islamized Manila, whose rulers were related to the Sultan of Brunei
7.
Cebu City
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Cebu City, officially the City of Cebu, is the capital city of the province of Cebu in Central Visayas and is the second city of the Philippines after Manila. In the 2016 electoral roll, it had 630,003 registered voters, Cebu City is a significant center of commerce, trade and education in the Visayas. The city is located on the side of Cebu island. It is the first Spanish settlement, the countrys oldest city, and it is considered as the Fount of Christianity in the Far East. Cebu is the Philippines main domestic shipping port and is home to about 80% of the countrys shipping companies. Across Mactan Strait to the east is Mactan Island, Metro Cebu has a total population of 2,849,213 as of 2015, making it the second most-populous metropolitan area of the nation after Metro Manila in Luzon. The name Cebu came from the old Cebuano word sibu or sibo and it was originally applied to the harbors of the town of Sugbu, the ancient name for Cebu City. Sugbu, in turn, was derived from the Old Cebuano term for scorched earth or great fire, before the arrival of the Spaniards, Cebu city was part of the island-rajahnate and trade center of Pulua Kang Dayang or Kangdaya, now better known as the Rajahnate of Cebu. It was founded by a prince of the Hindu Chola dynasty of Sumatra, the name Sugbu refers to Sri Lumays scorched earth tactics against Muslim Moro raiders. On 7 April 1521, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan landed in Cebu and he was welcomed by Rajah Humabon, the grandson of Sri Lumay, together with his wife and about 700 native islanders. Magellan, however, was killed in the Battle of Mactan, the last ruler of Sugbu, prior to Spanish colonization, was Rajah Humabons nephew, Rajah Tupas. They Christianized some natives and Spanish remnants in Cebu, the Spanish arrived in Cebu on 15 April 1565. They then attempted to parley with the ruler, Rajah Tupas, but found that he. Rajah Tupas presented himself at their camp on 8 May, feast of the Apparition of Saint Michael the Archangel, the Treaty of Cebu was formalized on 3 July 1565. López de Legazpis party named the new city Villa de San Miguel de Cebú, in 1567 the Cebu garrison was reinforced with the arrival of 2,100 soldiers from New Spain. The growing colony was then fortified by Fort San Pedro, by 1569 the Spanish settlement in Cebu had become important as a safe port for ships from Mexico and as a jumping-off point for further exploration of the archipelago. Small expeditions led by Juan de Salcedo went to Mindoro and Luzon, one year later, López de Legazpi departed Cebu to discuss a peace pact with the defeated Rajahs. On 14 August 1595, Pope Clement VIII created the diocese of Cebu as a suffragan to the Archdiocese of Manila
8.
Joseph Estrada
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Joseph Erap Ejercito Estrada is a Filipino politician who served as the 13th President of the Philippines from 1998 to 2001 and as the 9th Vice President of the Philippines from 1992 to 1998. He has been Mayor of the City of Manila, the countrys capital, Estrada was elected President in 1998 with a wide margin of votes separating him from the other challengers, and was sworn into the presidency on June 30,1998. In 2000 he declared an all-out-war against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and captured its headquarters and he ran for president again in the 2010 presidential election, but placed second behind Senator Benigno Aquino III. José Marcelo Ejército Sr. was born at 8,25 PM on April 19,1937 at Manuguit Maternity Hospital in Tondo and his family later moved to the wealthy suburb of San Juan. He belonged to a family, and was the eighth of ten children of Emilio Ejercito Sr. and his wife. Emilio Ejercito Sr. later transferred to Central Colleges of the Philippines, in his twenties, he began a career as a drama actor. He adopted the stage name Joseph Estrada, as his mother objected to his chosen career and his decision to quit schooling. Estrada is married to former First Lady-turned-senator Dr. Jorge Ejercito, brother, actor E. R. Ejercito, son of George Estregan and nephew, actor, Mayor of Pagsanjan, Laguna, gary Ejercito, nephew, actor and Board Member of Quezon province. Gherome Ejercito, nephew, basketball player Estrada played the role in more than 100 movies. He was the first FAMAS Hall of Fame recipient for Best Actor and he often played heroes of the lower classes, making him popular among several impoverished citizens. This proved advantageous to his political career and he also founded, together with Guillermo de Vega, the first Metro Manila Film Festival in 1975. His administration was marked by unequaled accomplishments in infrastructure development and he relocated some 1,800 squatter families out of San Juan to Taytay, Rizal, at no cost. He was also the first mayor to computerize assessment of the Real Estate Tax in the Municipal Assessor’s Office, when Corazon Aquino assumed the presidency in 1986, all elected officials of the local government were forcibly removed and replaced by appointed officers-in-charge, including Estrada. The following year, Estrada won a seat in the Senate under the Grand Alliance for Democracy placing 16th in the elections, in 1987, he set his sights on a Senate run and handily garnered a seat. He was appointed Chairman of the Committee on Public Works and he was Vice-Chairman of the Committees on Health, Natural Resources and Ecology and Urban Planning. In 1989, the Free Press cited him as one of the Three Outstanding Senators of the Year and he was conferred the degree of Doctor of Humanities, Honoris Causa by the Bicol University in April 1997, and the University of Pangasinan in 1990. Though Cojuangco lost to former National Defense Secretary Fidel Ramos, Estrada won the vice-presidency garnering more votes than his closest opponent, Ramon Mitra, Jr. s running mate, as Vice-President, Estrada was the chairman of President Ramos Presidential Anti-Crime Commission. Estrada arrested criminal warlords and kidnapping syndicates and he resigned as chairman in 1997
9.
Manila
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Manila, officially City of Manila, is the capital of the Philippines. Founded on June 24,1571, by Spanish conquistador Miguel López de Legazpi and it is situated on the eastern shore of Manila Bay and is home to many landmarks, some of which date back to the 16th century. In 2012, the Globalization and World Cities Research Network listed Manila as a global city, the city proper is home to 1,780,148 people in 2015, forming the historic core of Metro Manila, the capital region of the Philippines. The metropolitan area, which includes the much larger Quezon City, Manila is also the most densely populated city proper in the world, with 41,515 people per square kilometer. The term Manila is commonly used to refer to either the whole area or the city proper. Manila is located on the shore of the Manila Bay on one of the finest harbors in the country. The city has six districts for the lower house of the Philippine Congress. Manila was once ruled by the Kingdom of Tondo before it became a province of the Majapahit Empire. During the Bruneian invasion of the Philippines, Sultan Bolkiah of Brunei captured Seludong and renamed it Maynilà, Maynilà became a vassal state of the Sultanate of Brunei, established to overpower Tondo. In 1571, conquistadors arrived from Mexico, across the Pacific Ocean, Spanish missionaries soon Christianized the city, incorporated Tondo and built some of the oldest churches in the country, including San Agustin Church. The conquistadors renamed the area Nuevo Reino de Castilla, Manila became the center of Spanish activity in the Far East and one end of the Manila–Acapulco galleon trade route linking Spanish America with Asia, one of the earliest examples of globalization. Because of its location on Pacific trade routes, Manila received the moniker Pearl of the Orient. Spanish rule of the Philippine archipelago lasted for more than three centuries, until 1898, order was usually quickly restored and the city returned to the business of trade. In the 19th century, Manila was one of the most modern cities in Asia, before the Spanish–American War, it saw the rise of the Philippine Revolution. After the war, the United States took control, switched the official language from Spanish to English, near the end of World War II, during the Battle of Manila, most of the city was flattened by intensive aerial bombardment by the United States Air Force. As a result, relatively little remains of Manilas prewar and colonial architecture, although there are ongoing projects, especially within the old walled city. Maynilà, the Filipino name for the city, originated from the word nilà, referring to a mangrove tree that grew on the delta of the Pasig River. The flowers were made into garlands that, according to folklore, were offered to statues on religious altars or in churches
10.
Davao City
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Davao City is the largest city in the Philippines in terms of land area and the most populous city in the country outside of Metro Manila and Luzon. A 1st class city on Mindanao Island with a land area of 2,444 square kilometers. This figure also makes it the city in the Philippines. It is the center of Metro Davao, the third most populous area in the Philippines. The city serves as the trade, commerce, and industry hub of Mindanao. Davao is home to Mount Apo, the highest mountain in the Philippines, the city is also nicknamed as the Durian Capital of the Philippines. For geographical and statistical purposes, Davao City is grouped with the province of Davao del Sur but is governed independently from it, the city is divided into three congressional districts, which are subdivided into 11 administrative districts with a total of 182 barangays. Davao City is constantly described by its residents and the media as arguably among one of the safest cities in the Philippines. The regions name is derived from its Bagobo origins, the Bagobo were indigenous to the Philippines. The word davao came from the blending of three Bagobo subgroups names for the Davao River, a major waterway emptying into the Davao Gulf near the city. The aboriginal Obos, who inhabit the hinterlands of the region, called the river Davah, the Clatta called it Dawaw, to the Obos, davah also means a place beyond the high grounds. When asked where they were going, the reply was davah. Davao was then ruled by a chieftain, Bago, who had a settlement on the banks of the Davao River. After Cruz de Oyanguren defeated Bago, he renamed the region Nueva Guipúzcoa, founding the town of Nueva Vergara on 29 June 1848 to honor of his home in Spain and these groups generally refer to themselves today as Kalagans. The development of large-scale plantations faced a shortage, and workers were contracted from Luzon. Many Japanese became landowners, acquiring lands by government lease or buying American plantations, the bill called for the appointment of local officials by the president. Davao was inaugurated as a city on October 16,1936 by President Manuel L. Quezon. The City of Davao became provincial capital of a united Davao Province and it was one of the first two towns in Mindanao to be converted into a city
11.
West Visayas State University
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West Visayas State University is a public normal research university located in Western Visayas region and the Negros Island Region of the Philippines with its main campus in La Paz, Iloilo City. It later became West Visayas State College in 1965 and became a university, the West Visayas State University is a university system where there are different separate campuses while the main campus is composed of nine schools and colleges and one institute. West Visayas State University was founded on June 16,1902, in 1916, it was a secondary school complete with elementary and training departments. In 1924, with the completion of its building and laboratory school building. It was also when a normal school program, which eventually became a four-year normal college course, was established. In 1954, the Bachelor of Science in Education major in Elementary Education was offered and it was named a Center of Excellence by the late Sen. Blas P. Ople and Center of Excellence for Teacher Education by the Commission on Higher Education. Also established were the Graduate School and the College of Arts and Sciences, the doctoral program of the Graduate School was also founded in 1977. The B. S. in Biological Science, AB in Mass Communications, on January 27,1986, the College became the West Visayas State University, integrating the Iloilo National College of Agriculture into its system. In 1987, the University acquired the Don Benito V. Lopez Memorial Hospital which became the WVSU Hospital, the University further established in 1993, the Sports, Athletics, and Cultural Arts Center which later became the degree-granting PESCAR Institute and later PESCAR College in 2000. In 1993, the Department of Mass Communications became the degree-granting Institute of Mass Communications, in 2001, the Board of Regents and the Department of Health approved the conversion of the WVSU Hospital to WVSU Medical Center that it is now. The enactment of the Higher Education Modernization Act brought more developments in the University, in 2000, four CHED-supervised schools in Calinog, Janiuay, Lambunao, and Pototan were integrated into the WVSU System. The University Distance Education program through the Diploma in Teaching course began in Summer 2003, by 2005, The Local Government Unit of Himamaylan entered into a Memorandum of Agreement with the WVSU for the establishment of the WVSU Himamaylan Campus. In February 2008, the university hosted a research conference in Iloilo City. WVSU College of Nursing posted a 100% passing rate in the June 2016 Nurse Licensure Examination with five topnotchers, with the hundred percent passing rate, WVSU retains its record, for the fourth consecutive year, as Number 1 performing school in the NLE in the country. Also at present, WVSU is one of the top performing schools in the Philippines for the Physician Licensure Examinations and its courses in Information Science and Technology, Cooperatives Management, and Mass Communications are also producing graduates who are sought after in the region. In 2010 the university was authorized to offer a program in Hospitality Management in the College of Business. Level 4 qualified status was awarded to Nursing, Teacher Education, Arts and Social Sciences, over the years, the University has etched a mark in professional licensure examinations. In 2004, WVSU was recognized by the Professional Regulation Commission as among the Top 5 Performing Schools in the Philippines in the National Board Examinations
