Perpetual at 50: Character Building is Nation Building

From the classroom to public service, Perpetualites carry a legacy beyond the campus

Fifty years is more than a milestone for an educational institution. It is a measure of the lives touched, careers shaped and communities influenced along the way.

For the University of Perpetual Help System JONELTA (UPHS JONELTA), that five-decade journey is anchored on a simple but enduring principle: “Character Building is Nation Building.”

The words go beyond being a school motto. They speak to the idea that education is not measured solely by diplomas earned or professions entered, but also by the character of the people an institution sends into society.

Over the years, the Perpetual community has produced graduates and members of its academic community who have taken on different roles in their communities—including public service.

Among those associated with Perpetual are Biñan City Mayor Gel Alonte, Cabuyao City Mayor Dennis “Denha” Hain, and Pagsanjan Mayor Januario Garcia, whose paths eventually led them to local leadership.

Biñan City Representative Arman Dimaguila, meanwhile, was once part of the institution’s academic community as a faculty member before pursuing his own path in public service.

Their stories provide a glimpse into how an educational institution’s influence can extend beyond its classrooms.

A university can teach theories, develop skills and prepare students for careers. But its deeper contribution may be seen in what its graduates choose to do with what they have learned—how they serve, lead, build communities and respond to the needs of others.

This is where “Character Building is Nation Building” becomes particularly meaningful.

The nation is not built only in government offices, corporate boardrooms or institutions. It is also built in classrooms, laboratories, training rooms and communities—through young people being prepared not only to earn a living, but also to become responsible members of society.

At its 50th anniversary celebration, Senior Executive Vice President Mark Carlo Tamayo said UPHS JONELTA intends to build on its legacy by expanding its academic programs, upgrading its facilities and reaching more students, particularly those in the provinces.

The direction points to a future in which access to education continues to expand while the institution remains grounded in the values that have defined its journey.

For five decades, generations of Perpetualites have walked through its doors and eventually found their own paths—some in professional fields, others in public service, and many in roles that allow them to contribute to their families and communities.

Their individual journeys may be different, but together they form part of the institution’s larger story.

Fifty years of Perpetual is therefore not simply a story of an institution that survived and grew. It is a story of people.

People who were once students.

People who became professionals.

People who became educators.

People who became public servants.

And people who carried with them lessons that extended beyond the four walls of a classroom.

As UPHS JONELTA looks toward the next 50 years, its greatest legacy may ultimately be found not in its buildings, programs or institutional milestones, but in the character of the people it continues to shape.

Because if education helps build the individual, and character guides that individual in serving others, then the institution’s founding principle remains as relevant today as it was five decades ago:

Character Building is Nation Building.