New Sorsogon Bishop graces SSC anniversary

SORSOGON CITY --- His Excellency Most Reverend Jose Allan Dialogo, D.D., newly-appointed Bishop of Sorsogon, celebrated the Mass for the 112th Foundation Anniversary of the Sorsogon State College (SSC) last Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2019 at the Social Hall of its Sorsogon City campus.

It was the Bishop Dialogo’s first time to set foot on the SSC campus and he was thrilled to celebrate Mass and join “SSC in Mission: Resilient, Unified and Empowered,” the theme of the Foundation Anniversary celebration.

The Bishop shared that soon after his formal installation as the new Bishop of Sorsogon last Dec. 12, his immediate predecessor, Most Rev. Arturo Bastes, D.D. formally turned over the Diocese of Sorsogon to him last Monday, Dec. 16, 2019.

He was challenged to take on this new task, given the more than twenty-plus parishes and sixty active priests under his supervision. It was a very different assignment from his most previous one—managing the retirement home of elderly priests of the Archdiocese of Manila.

The SSC Community led by its president, Dr. Helen R. Lara and more than two hundred faculty and non-teaching personnel from its four campuses—Sorsogon City, Bulan, Castilla and Magallanes, warmly welcomed the new bishop, were grateful for his blessing and eagerly posed for souvenir photographs with him.

After the bishop’s departure, the celebration continued with a message from the college president, lauding the community for their hard work for the entire year and promising that the corresponding financial benefits will be released before the year’s end. The Recognition and Awarding of Retirees and Loyalty Service Awardees followed. The winners of the recent SSC Research, Development and Extension Conference (SORDECON) last Oct. 29-30, 2019 were also awarded their certificates.

A cultural show followed featuring the SSC Dance Troupe, Rondalla Club, Chorale and Band with their lively and energetic numbers. The celebration ended with the closing remarks from the Vice-President for Academic Affairs (VPAA) Dr. Ritzelda A. Deri, who commended the community for their ability to bounce back from the devastating damages wrought by Typhoon Tisoy and to come together for a simple celebration.

Last Oct. 11, 2018, by virtue of Republic Act No. 11088 signed by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, the SSC was converted into a university. Now on its 26th year as the Sorsogon State College (1993), after having been known as the Sorsogon School of Arts and Trades (SSAT), the SSC now strives to meet the requirements of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) for it to be formally elevated to university status. It is a shared dream of the SSC community that it will happen by next year 2020.