DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/ 26 Feb) — The Philippine Federation of Professional Associations (PFPA) has conferred on Dr. Gail Tan–Ilagan, chair of the Psychology Department of the Ateneo de Davao University (ADDU) the Distinction Award for Psychology Profession in the category of Academe/Research and Development.
The awarding was held during the 10th recognition rites of the PFPA at the Bahay ng Alumni at the University of the Philippines in Diliman on February 24.
The PFPA Distinction Award recognizes the achievements and exemplary contributions of Filipino professionals to the practice of their respective professions locally and internationally.
Prof. Hadji Balajadia of the ADDU said the PFPA Distinction Award for Academe/Research and Development category is given to members of the professions who devote time and effort in designing, developing and implementing innovative and effective strategies and methodologies in teaching and learning, research and development, faculty development and groundbreaking educational policy development whose outcomes greatly benefited the profession, the professional organization, the educational leadership, the community and the country.
He said Ilagan has shown outstanding leadership among social scientists and scholars in Mindanao and has put the Ateneo de Davao University as the leading higher educational institution for Psychology education, research, advocacy and engagement in Mindanao.
Ilagan is also ADDU’s Coordinator of the Graduate Programs in Psychology (2011-2015, 2018 to present), was Officer-in-Charge of the Undergraduate Programs in Psychology from 2001 to 2004.
Under her leadership, the Department of Psychology has achieved exemplary results in the board examinations for psychologists and psychometricians. It produced the Top 1 passer of the 1st Licensure Examinations for Psychometricians in 2014 and consistently ranks among the top performing schools for the Board Licensure Examination for Psychologists and Psychometricians ( BLEPP).
She is an Assessor for the CHEDRO-XI RQAT for Psychology responsible for inspecting the compliance of Region XI universities with the standards, policies, and guidelines for offering graduate and undergraduate programs in Psychology.
As Director of the Center of Psychological Extension and Research Services (COPERS) from 2011 to 2018, she spearheaded capacity-building of local resources in Mindanao for emergency mental health and psychosocial support services through empirically-driven, peace-centered, participative, and culturally sensitive needs assessment and interventions. She has developed training programs and materials and served as the Lead of the Psychological Association of the Philippines (PAP) Emergency Response Hub in Mindanao. She was the founding president of the PAP-Davao Chapter.
Ilagan partners with human rights NGOs in Mindanao to address issues of human trafficking, gender-based violence and child abuse, torture and illegal detention, terrorism, and war trauma.
She is also a consultant of the Davao Prison and Penal Farm providing psychological assessment and psychoeducational interventions to Persons Deprived of Liberty. In 2016, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines awarded her the Gawad Paglilingkod medal for her prison ministry.
She has also supported improvements in the mental health support services to the armed services sector and responds to the needs of the Philippine Army for on-site trauma risk assessment and psychological first aid to ground troops after lethal encounter events and has received several awards for these.
Writing from Mindanao, Ilagan hopes for a view of Mindanao through the eyes of the Mindanawon to be mainstreamed in the national consciousness in an effort to sustain the gains of the peace processes. Ilagan has authored, edited, and contributed articles in textbooks, teachers’ manuals, and reference materials for use in Psychology and Mindanao Studies courses.
Ilagan is currently the president of the Board of Directors of the Mindanao Institute of Journalism, the organization that runs MindaNews. (MindaNews)
