25/05/2026
๐๐๐ ๐๐ซ๐๐๐ฆ๐ฌ, ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฌ๐: ๐๐๐๐
๐ ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐๐ก๐๐ฌ ๐
๐จ๐ซ๐ฐ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐
๐๐ข๐ญ๐ก, ๐๐ก๐๐ซ๐๐๐ญ๐๐ซ, ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ง๐๐
At JMCFIโs 24th Commencement Exercises, the Class of 2026 crossed the stage carrying more than diplomasโthey carried sacrifices, silent struggles, and a renewed calling to lead with competence, character, and purpose.
For many of them, the diploma carried more than a name.
It carried sleepless nights and whispered prayers. It carried unfinished meals, financial struggles, quiet tears, and promises made in moments when giving up felt easier than continuing. For some, it carried the weight of being a working student. For others, the hopes of entire families who sacrificed so they could remain in school.
And on May 22, 2026, inside a hall filled with applause, tears, and thanksgiving, 298 graduates of Jose Maria College Foundation, Inc. (JMCFI) crossed the stage during the institutionโs 24th Commencement Exercises, proving that resilience, when guided by faith and purpose, can become triumph.
Yet beyond medals, honors, and formal rites, the ceremony became something deeper: a testimony of lives transformed.
This yearโs commencement carried the theme, โResilient and Future-Ready Graduates: Leading with Competence, Character, and Purpose,โ a message that echoed throughout the institutionโs Baccalaureate Service and Investiture Ceremony and graduation exercisesโa challenge not merely to become professionals, but people of integrity prepared to serve a rapidly changing world.
๐ ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐
๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ก๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก ๐๐ก๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐ ๐
The Batch 2025โ2026 reflected the diversity of JMCFIโs academic mission, producing graduates from the fields of health sciences, education, social work, business, criminology, information technology, and engineering.
The graduating class included 115 graduates in Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering Major in Structural Engineering, the institutionโs largest cohort, followed by 39 graduates in Civil Engineering Major in Construction Engineering and Management, 24 in Social Work, 21 in Psychology, 19 in Marketing Management, and 17 in Financial Management, alongside graduates in Medical Technology, Radiologic Technology, Accountancy, Information Technology, Teacher Education, and other programs.
But while statistics measured academic completion, the stories behind them told something far more profound.
For many graduates, college was never simply about lectures and examinationsโit was about survival.
In her Thanksgiving Address, Rodelyn May C. Escovidal, BSED-English, Magna Cum Laude, gave voice to the struggles many graduates silently carried.
โBehind every diploma is a story,โ she reminded fellow graduates, speaking not only of success but of sacrifices, sleepless nights, prayers, and unseen battles. She acknowledged working students, family breadwinners, and students who quietly bore responsibilities at home while pursuing education.
Speaking candidly from her own experience as a working student, Escovidal expressed gratitude to faculty members who extended understanding during difficult seasons of balancing work and academic life.
Her speech shifted effortlessly between humor and sincerityโcelebrating classmates who became โreview buddies, coffee buddies, and emotional support systems,โ while also drawing laughter from fellow graduates over a familiar student mantra: enduring hardship as long as one does not fail.
Yet perhaps the most moving moment came when she turned attention to parents and loved ones.
โThis success is not mine alone,โ Escovidal said, dedicating the milestone to her mother, siblings, and all families whose sacrifices often remained unseen. She reminded the graduating class that many walked the stage carrying not only their own dreams, but the dreams of those who believed in them.
๐๐๐ฒ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐๐ญ๐๐ง๐๐: ๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ก๐๐ซ๐๐๐ญ๐๐ซ
If graduation celebrated achievement, the dayโs messages reminded graduates that success without integrity is incomplete.
Delivering the Exhortation of the Word of God during the Baccalaureate Service, Bro. Eljaben I. Dandan, President of the ACQ College of Ministries, challenged graduates to view their education not as an endpoint, but as a sacred responsibility.
โThe Almighty Father is not glorified by mediocrity,โ Dandan emphasized as he urged graduates to pursue excellence in their chosen professions, reminding them that competence demands discipline, humility, and continuous growth. Whether in hospitals, classrooms, laboratories, fields, offices, or boardrooms, he challenged graduates to see work as an expression of purpose and service.
But competence alone, he warned, would never be enough.
โThe world will test your character long before it celebrates your competence,โ Dandan told the graduating class, emphasizing integrity as the foundation of meaningful success in a world increasingly shaped by rapid technological change, uncertainty, and moral challenges. He reminded graduates that honesty and principle remain powerful differentiators in a culture where compromise is often normalized.
Framing adversity not as punishment but preparation, Dandan described academic struggles, failed exams, sleepless nights, and moments of fear as part of the Almighty Fatherโs process of shaping resilience.
โYour trials were not punishmentโthey were preparation,โ he said, encouraging graduates to move forward with competence, character, and purpose as resilient and future-ready professionals.
๐ ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐๐ฒ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ข๐ฉ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฆ๐
The values-centered message continued through the words of Founding President Rev. Pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy, whose message to the graduating class was read.
Speaking from reflections on his own humble beginnings, Pastor Quiboloy reminded graduates that people are not defined by where they begin, but by the purpose they choose to live for. He described the founding of JMCFI as a response to a visionโto uplift lives, expand opportunities, and provide education capable of transforming futures.
โJose Maria College Foundation, Inc. exists not only to educate minds, but to transform lives,โ his message declared, underscoring the institutionโs commitment to forming graduates not merely as professionals, but individuals of character and purpose.
Yet his challenge to the Class of 2026 moved beyond academic success.
โOur nation does not lack intelligent people,โ the message stated. โIt does not lack talent, skill, or potential.โ The deeper challenge, he emphasized, lies in characterโwarning that intelligence without integrity risks becoming empty achievement. Graduates were urged to become a generation that seeks truth, serves with compassion, and leads with honor.
โLead with competence,โ the message urged. โBut above allโlead with character and purpose anchored in God.โ
๐๐จ๐ง๐จ๐ซ๐ฌ ๐๐๐ซ๐ง๐๐, ๐๐๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐ข๐๐๐ฌ ๐๐ก๐๐ซ๐๐
The commencement exercises also celebrated academic distinction.
Leading the graduating class as Magna Cum Laude awardees were Rodelyn May C. Escovidal (BSED-English) and Michael C. Adarna (BS Psychology), recognized for exemplary academic achievement.
Several graduates likewise earned Cum Laude honors across disciplines including Psychology, Information Technology, Education, Business Administration, and Social Work, reflecting academic excellence across the institutionโs programs.
The ceremony also recognized leadership and loyalty, with Gioanna Eirene F. Angelitud receiving recognition as Outstanding Student Leader and, alongside Christian Leonard E. Campaรฑa, honored with the Loyalty Award for steadfast commitment to the institution.
Yet if the day offered one enduring reminder, it was this: no graduate arrived at the finish line alone.
Repeatedly, speakers returned to the sacrifices of parents, guardians, teachers, and mentors.
In his message during the Baccalaureate service, Dandan honored parents who sacrificed meals, sleep, and comfort so their children could remain in school, reminding graduates that every diploma bore unseen fingerprints of love and labor. Faculty members and administrators were likewise recognized as โunsung architectsโ whose patient instruction and quiet belief helped shape futures.
โ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ญโ
As tassels shifted and photographs captured fleeting moments of pride, joy lingered not merely because an academic chapter had ended, but because something larger had been affirmed.
Against uncertainty, students endured.
Against exhaustion, they persisted.
Against setbacks, they remained.
And as the JMCFI Class of 2026 stepped forward into new beginnings, they carried with them not merely credentials, but convictionsโformed through sacrifice, anchored in faith, and strengthened by purpose.
In the words of Rodelyn May C. Escovidal, speaking on behalf of her fellow graduates:
โThis victory is not ours aloneโit belongs to every person who believed in us, prayed for us, and stood beside us through the difficult days.โ
For Batch 2026, graduation was not only the closing of a chapter.
It was the beginning of a calling.
