STI College honored 11 remarkable graduates at the STI Distinguished Alumni Awards, held on May 22, 2026, at the Solaire Resort in Parañaque City. The annual event celebrated not only the alumni’s professional milestones but also the inspiring stories behind their success and the meaningful impact they have made in their respective communities.
This year’s lineup of awardees is composed of individuals from various industries, including tech, business, creatives, and public service, who all share a common foundation—that is STI’s signature brand of education for real life.
“STI is not just a school, it’s a place that gave me a chance to change my life and eventually, change the life of other people,” said Wilfred Mogado, an alumnus awardee from STI College Novaliches. Before becoming the Chief of the Department of Agriculture’s Network Operations & Management Division, Mogado was a working student in the early 2000s who considered the school’s computer laboratory as his sanctuary.
A nod to his family’s farming background, Mogado is one of the key figures behind the development of the Registry System for Basic Sector in Agriculture (RSBSA), a database of farmers, fisherfolks, and farm laborers in the country that serves as a primary targeting mechanism to identify beneficiaries for government subsidies and intervention systems. “Education became my passport to achieve something that contributes to the nation,” he said.
STI College Koronadal alumna awardee Mayette Bagaforo shares the same commitment of channeling her achievements toward a bigger purpose. The brain and heart behind Samgyupsaab Korean BBQ restaurant in Mindanao, Bagaforo was able to not just overcome the challenges of sustaining a new venture during the pandemic but also scale her business to seven branches. Through this, she has provided employment to over 150 individuals and extended support to charities dedicated to PWDs and senior citizens.
“Everything I learned at STI helped shape me into the entrepreneur that I am today,” she said. “It taught me discipline, confidence, and communication skills that are vital to lead a successful business.”
Across the globe, STI graduates are also representing the excellence of Filipinos and displaying the institution’s 4Cs: Character, Critical Thinking, Communication, and Change-Adeptness in the international stage.
Erica Beatrece De Leon, the first national level alumna awardee from STI College Las Piñas, has taken her talents and passion for the culinary arts to top hotels in the country, the United States, and now Australia as a Chef de Partie at Shangri-La Hotel Sydney. And while pursuing her dreams and building a career far from her loved ones is no easy task, De Leon said her STI education has equipped her with what she needs to stay resilient.
“I worked long hours in the kitchen and experienced moments where I questioned if I was good enough. But every difficult moment reminded me of what STI taught me: to keep showing up, to work hard with humility, and to believe in my abilities, even when things get difficult,” she said.
For Leiser Bautista, an alumnus awardee and the founder of Filmstrip Pictures, his mentors at STI College Novaliches played a pivotal role in shaping his creative career that led him to serve as Director of Photography for a Netflix documentary series set in Malaysia. He fondly recalled how a professor cast him at the last minute for the lead role in a campus-wide theater production, sharing that the sudden trust placed in him helped bring direction to his life.
“Yung dating papasok lang, lalabas, nagkaroon ng kumpiyansa para makipag tagisan ng galing at sinikap na makapagtapos ng kolehiyo,” Bautista said. “Sa mga estudyante at kapwa alumni, sa bawat litrato at video ay may kwento. At ang pinakamagandang kwento ay yung hindi tayo sumuko sa mga pangarap natin.”
Capping off the momentous evening, STI Alumni Association President Hernan Alar highlighted how success today is about contributing something positive to the world. “As alumni, we have a responsibility to open doors for the next generation, because somehow, somewhere right now, there is a student who is worried if they can succeed in a world that feels very uncertain. But tonight, through your stories and achievements, we are telling them, ‘Kaya niyo rin,’” he said.
STI College deems its alumni body as part of its ever-growing legacy. “STI’s progress is not measured solely by the years that have passed; we are better measured by the lives that our alumni have shaped, the careers they have built, and the impact they continue to create. In many ways, the distance STI has traveled is reflected in the heights they all have reached,” said Vice President for Academics Karen Tabije.
The STI Distinguished Alumni Awards is organized by the STI Alumni Association.