Four graduate school students of Cor Jesu College taking up Master in Public Administration (MPA) received commendations from experts after their research presentations during the 2018 KAPA International Conference held in KEPCO Academy, Seoul Korea, last June 21-23, 2018.
The theme of the conference was “Competing Public Values and Paradigm Shift in Public Administration.” There were 104 paper presenters, excluding moderators, discussants and conference organizers and staff. Countries that were represented were USA, France, Japan, China, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Mongolia, Vietnam, Taiwan, Philippines, and South Korea.
The conference was sponsored by the Korean Association for Public Administration (KAPA) was founded in 1956 and is now the largest and most active organization in Korea in the field of public administration. The thrusts of the association are in the field of “research, teaching, and practice in the field of public policy and public management.”
In the presentation of research papers, each parallel session had three (3) paper presentations. There was a moderator and each paper had an assigned expert or discussant who was responsible for reviewing the paper, giving comments and suggestions, and asking questions.
The first to present, under Public Value and Leadership sub-theme, were Eugene J. Macotin and his co-researcher Excelcis Ann G. Salvado with their paper entitled “Duterte Leadership from the Perspective of Local Officials in the Philippines.” The moderator and discussant both commented it was an excellent presentation.
“Your study is very interesting because what we heard about your president is only from the media,” the discussant added referring to the findings of the study.
Another pair of MPA students, Ma. Teresita N. Davidon and Bon Cyrell V. Plazos, had their presentation on the last day of the conference under sub-theme Policy Analysis and Public Values.
“Your presentation is very impressive. Maybe you can show your PowerPoint to other participants. How many days did you prepare that?” the moderator commented after the presentation.
The discussant echoed the same observation. “Very impressive, well organized, well-written paper” were his first comments before he gave his suggestions to improve the paper. The title of the paper was “The new face of martial law in the Philippines from the standpoints of village officials.”
After their presentation, some participants approached them and also shared their admiration. In fact, some even invited them to participate in a conference to be held in their respective countries.
“I was elated and honored to be invited by a professor from Utah, USA, to present our paper there,” shared Ms. Davidon.
“I was not expecting that those considered experts in public administration were appreciative of our humble research. In fact, a president of an association in public administration in Taiwan even invited us to join in an international conference his association will hold early next year,” shared Ms. Salvado. When asked about their experience about the conference, Mr. Macotin said, “I would say it was a memorable and inspiring experience considering that the conference was very relevant to my job in the local government unit. Personally, I was humbled how an ordinary student and employee like me would be given a rare opportunity to present a paper in an international conference with the help of my co-researchers- Joey Mabaga, Jeneatte Divinagracia, and Excelcis Ann Salvado. Truly, I am grateful to have enrolled in the MPA program of Cor Jesu College for it paved the way for my personal and professional development.”
They were also grateful for the school for sending them to the conference. “It was a great privilege and honor for me to present our research findings during the conference. All thanks to my co-researchers Maria Teresita Davidon, Kamille Ayn Sa-Ao, and Nezar Joy Bongcawel who also worked hard for our paper. Thanks also to Dr. Randy A. Tudy, our professor, for believing in us. I hope we made you and Cor Jesu College proud. Ametur Cor Jesu,” Mr Plazos shared.
The students were accompanied by their mentor- Dr. Randy A. Tudy who also presented a paper on the said conference.
That was the second time Cor Jesu College students joined the KAPA conference. The first one was in 2014 when three students also presented their papers in a conference held in Kohi City, Korea.
