De La Salle University officially inaugurated the Evelyn D. Ang Hall on August 8 at its Laguna Campus, marking a major leap forward in the country’s capacity for biomedical research, health technology development, and interdisciplinary education.

The state-of-the-art facility serves as the permanent home of the Evelyn D. Ang Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Health Technologies. Designed to bridge academia, government, and industry, the Institute focuses on developing safe, accessible, and affordable medical devices tailored to the needs of the Filipino people.

Lessons Beyond the Classroom

Long before he became a finance professor at Illinois State University, Dr. Domingo Castelo Joaquin (“Deedo”) was a young high school graduate determined to study at De La Salle College. His years at La Salle in the 1970s coincided with one of the most transformative periods in Philippine history. Campuses across the country became centers of student activism, and La Salle was no exception. When the student council declared a boycott, students marched from Taft Avenue to Plaza Miranda to join demonstrations against social injustice.

One encounter has stayed with him for more than five decades. During one protest, a jeepney driver waved him over and quietly handed him some money. When Joaquin asked what it was for, the driver replied, “Salamat sa pagprotesta ninyo. Gusto ko ring sumali, pero kailangan kong magpasada.” The amount was only enough for merienda, but for Joaquin, it represented something far greater—it affirmed that their efforts mattered to ordinary Filipinos.