UAP Past Presidents

NORBERTO M. NUKE, FUAP

CHARTER PRESIDENT
 
The Charter President
 
DURING A MEETING OF THE UAP Interim Board and Incoming President Norberto M. Nuke was
presented with a well-deserved plaque of achievement in recognition of his “dynamic and
enlightened leadership.” He would be honored with, among other distinctions, the UAP
Presidential Award and the Philippine Federation of Professional Associations’ Professional
of the Year Award. He would continue to be active in UAP in various positions of
responsibility, especially in the field of continuing professional education as Executive
trustees of the Professional Development Center which was institutionalized in 1988.
 
Bert, as he called, has always been a self-made man, having worked his way through
college, partially by being a dance instructor long, long before the fad for ballroom dancing swept
the country. With nimble legs and graceful carriage, he dance a mean, jaw-dropping tango on
many a Fellowship Hour of the UAP.
 
His dedication to the young organization, as well as that of his team’s was fully recognized when,
in a resolution, the next Board changed the term “Interim” to “harter” thus recognized him for
posterity as UAP’s Charter President and his Board as UAP’s Charter Board.
 
 
JOSE V. HERRERA, FUAP
1ST UAP NATIONAL PRESIDENT
 
A dapper, old-school gentleman
 
THE FIRST PRESIDENT of UAP will henceforth be remembered for his parliamentary skills, formal
and by-the-book demeanor which was always evident in the board meetings. Always
dapper in Italian suits and ties, JV Herrera was an old-school gentleman who showed
genuine concern for his colleagues. In Behalf of the organization, he attended the1975 UIA
Congress in Madrid on his own expense. In 1984, for his accomplishments in architecture,
which include the Philippine Veterans Memorial Hospital, Philippine National Bank,
Philippine Bank of Communications, he was posthumously named by the Professional
Regulation Commission as Outstanding Professional in the Field of Architecture. Aside from
the singular distinction of having been the first elected President of the UAP, he was also
the first president of the former League of Philippine Architects.
 
Many of the concerns of UAP at present were initially identified and acted on by JV Herrera and
his administration. At a time when there were no ready answers for first-time questions, he
responded with energy, commitment, and adherence to the Constitution and Bylaws. It was a
time for ground-breaking policies, a time when an imperfect policy was better than none at all,
which the leadership developed by consultation and always leaving the door open for other
welcome ideas. And for JV Herrera, it took a considerable amount of foresight, discipline, courage
and, when occasions called for it, flexibility to stand in front of a fledgling membership and say to
them, “This way, fellow architects.”
 
 
RUPERTO C. GAITE, FUAP
2ND UAP NATIONAL PRESIDENT
 
A naturally gregarious individual
 
The second president of United Architects of the Philippines is an exceptionally multifaceted
professional who has excelled in the design of commercial and institutional buildings, such as the
Century Park Sheraton Hotel, the Rizal Provincial Capitol Complex, the Rodriguez Sports Center,
and the Quezon City Hall. His obligations while he was dean of the College of Architecture of far
Eastern University were not even enough to constrain him within the secluded confines of an
academic’s ivory tower; he actively involved himself in construction and development projects that
took him right there in the field.
 
He was conferred the title Patnubay ng Kalinangan by the City of Manila, and was the recipient of
both the Philippine Federation of Professional Associations and Professional Regulation
Commission award for Outstanding Professional of the Year in the Field of Architecture in 1993.
 
Colleagues especially remember him by the many stories he would recount from his colorful
experiences. Although by nature a naturally gregarious and outgoing individual, he takes quiet
pride in his own accomplishments; from the time he supported himself financially in his young age
while working alternately as a bootblack and a newspaper delivery boy up to the stage where he
attained excellence in the profession of his choice. A quick thinker and a complete diplomat in his
dealings with others, he believed in entrusting responsibilities to his fellow officers.
 
 
FELIPE M. MENDOZA, FUAP, LIKHA
3ND UAP NATIONAL PRESIDENT
 
The First among his equals
 
THE THIRD PRESIDENT OF UAP IS THE first recipient of Likha Award, the highest distinction that
could be conferred by UAP upon a Fellow. In the organization’s two and a half decades of
existence, it has been awarded only six times. In the same year that FM Mendoza received
the Likha Award, the PRC also recognized him as the Outstanding Professional in the Field
of Architecture in 1982. he has also been honored with the City of Manila’s Patnubay ng
Kalinangan Award, the Mapua Institute of Technology’s Most Outstanding Alumnus Award,
and the PFPA’s Professional of the Year Award.
 
Some of his notable works consist of Batasang Pambansa Complex, the Ministry of
Education and Culture Building, the Development Academy of the Philippines Building in Pasig, the
Ministry of Foreign affairs Complex, Philippine Veterans Bank Building in Bonifacio Drive, Manila,
the IRRI Laboratory Complex, and Institutional buildings for Bicol University in Legazpi City the
Palawan Agricultural College, the Mariano State University in Batac, Ilocos Norte, the central
Mindanao University in Bukidnon, the UAP Los Baños, and the College of the Holy Spirit.
 
Fondly known to many as, he is acclaimed by his colleagues and co-workers as a driven,
systematic and meticulous individual, who has skillfully used paper and the printed word as a
formidable tool in his interpersonal dealings with colleagues.
 
 
OTILIO A. ARELLANO, FUAP
4TH UAP NATIONAL PRESIDENT
 
An Architect with an instinct for form and function
 
NOBODY WHO WAS SOMEBODY IN THE architectural profession in the Philippines was the least
surprised when Otilio A. Arellano, known to his friends as Oti, was proclaimed by the
Professional Regulatory Commissions in 1977 as Outstanding Architect of the Year, the first
to receive this prestigious award.
 
One of his notable works was the Philippine Pavilion for the 1964 World’s Fair in New York.
Conceptualized according to the inspiration provided by the graceful lines distinct contours
of the native salakot, the pavilion served notice to the rest of the world that architecture
was vibrantly alive and well in hands of the Filipino. Oti used prestressed laminated timber,
an invention by a Filipino engineer, for the structure, the result, he said, was “a solution which to
me united native form and function, the search for which unity has been an overriding motivation
in my many years of architectural practice.”
 
 
LEANDRO V. LOCSIN, FUAP, LIKHA
5TH UAP NATIONAL PRESIDENT
 
The looming landmarks of Lindy Locsin
 
Known as Lindy to his friends, Leandro V. Locsin stood head and shoulders above the rest; no
other Filipino architect has perhaps left an indelible in the Filipino consciousness than he did with
the monolithic structures-the buildings at the Cultural Center Complex, particularly-that
have become enduring testimonials to his craft. His contributions and influence on Filipino
architecture have been acclaimed to have been “phenomenal and unparalleled by any
Filipino architect, a practice that brought new impetus and vigor to the Filipino architect’s
ingenuity, originality, sensitivity, audacity and style.”
 
In 1959, he received the prestigious Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Philippines award
for architecture, the only recipient ever to have received this award in 20 years. He was
Outstanding Architect of the year for 1978, and in 1987 became one of the six recipients to date
of the prestigious Likha Award of the UAP.
 
Among his notable works are the magnificent Palace for the Sultan of Brunei, Antipolo Church, St.
Andrew’s church and several hotels. Notwithstanding the fact that he took architecture in the
Philippines, LV Locsin gained international recognition through sheer talent and the quality of his
work. He exemplified the “noble spirit of true Renaissance man, as manifested by his affinity with the
other Arts, such as music, painting, sculpture, dance… the stage.” His artistic hands were equally nimble
on the keyboard as well as on the drawing board and the chopping board: he was a gifted pianist; he
designed the ceremonial toga of the UAP College of Fellows, and many of those he had asked to dinner
remember the superb pot roast he used to serve in house. Many remember him as a gentleman with a
spontaneous sense of humor.
 
 
MANUEL T. MAÑOSA, FUAP, LIKHA
6TH UAP NATIONAL PRESIDENT
 
UAP’s strong and silent President                 
 
HIS COLLEAGUES AND FRIENDS HAVE ALWAYS known Manuel T. Mañosa, whom they fondly address
“Manny,” as a soft-spoken and devout family man. Many of them consider him to be a
perfect gentleman, a thinker and a professional of the highest integrity. They have seen his
superb skills as a planner, as reflected in his leadership in UAP, in the efficient methodology
by which he obtained-and imparted-information, and in the firm way he stood is principles
and defended those of UAP. He spoke his truths softly, led by quiet example, and
commanded respect from is peers and colleagues.
 
It was the fortune of the UAP to have had Manny as National President at a period referred
to with Oriental inscrutability as “interesting times.” As a leader, he moved in contrast with the times-calm
in the sea of turmoil, composed in the cacophony of chaos, focused in a storm of changing loyalties. In
the crisis at the time, the UAP found inner strength in itself, in its membership and, ultimately, in its
National President, Manuel T. Mañosa, Jr.
 
Manny is one of the six awardees to date of Likha Award, an honor bestowed to him in 1996 by the
organization that he has served admirably and well.
 
 
CESAR V. CANCHELA, FUAP, LIKHA
7TH UAP NATIONAL PRESIDENT
 
Whatever he does, he plays it forceful and strong
 
AS A PRIVATE PRACTITIONER SINCE 1954, Cesar V. Canchela had been designing institutional and
commercial buildings, among them a couple of modern hospitals, the fifteen-storey building
that made innovative use of structural steel frames, and a university in the Bicol Region.
This guitar-playing architect would often be called Attorney Canchela even after his terms
of office as UAP President had expired. He always argued his points forcefully under legal
parameters, which he knew fully well. He would often be consulted by many of his
successors on delicate matters that might have legal repercussions. Even after he had
bowed out of the national presidency, he continued to be active in UAP as chair of
committees dealing with professional practice, ethics and standards. During his incumbency
as chairman of the Board of Architecture and as national President of UAP, he himself passionately fought
to define the matters and bounds of architecture.
 
 
FROILAN L. HONG, FUAP, APEC ARCHITECT
8TH UAP NATIONAL PRESIDENT
 
A well-loved-and loving-man
 
FROILAN L. HONG IS A WELL-loved man- by his colleagues in the profession, by his students in the
University of the Philippines, where he is a member of the faculty of the College of Architecture, and by
people he deals with.
 
He has a self-effacing kind of humor and makes fun of his own family name. when one
time nominated to be chair of the Kanlungan Foundation, he declined, reasoning out that a
Chinese man could not be a good chair of a foundation that worked for Filipino
architecture.
 
Froilan is man gifted with ease in the use of words. When some UAP members were asked
what they remember about him the most, they said, “He was good with words.” FL Hong
plays with words and letters-putting them together, scrambling them, fashioning and re-
expressing them-to explain a point, to lighten the air, to disarm an opponent, to end a debate.
 
But as an architect, he is fluent in yet another language-the graphic language, which he uses to explain,
with a pencil and a few strokes, otherwise complicated ideas. His is the enviable talent to dissect and
simplify problems.
 
It has always been said that the initials FLH meant faith, love, and hope, the man being involved deeply in
the propagation of faith, love, and hope in the charismatic group called the Lord’s Flock. In 1991, his
efforts at parenting were acknowledge when he was chosen recipient of the Ulirang Ama award.
 
 
ANGEL R. LAZARO, JR., FUAP, LIKHA, APEC ARCHITECT
9TH UAP NATIONAL PRESIDENT
 
It pays to have in (high) places when you travel solo
 
Before his Election to the highest position in UAP, AR Lazaro were a low-profile UAP worker and avid
traveler. Not until ten years later did he divulge that he had been the sole UAP member who witnessed a
momentous event in its history in 1987. His story in his own words:
 
DURING THE THREE YEARS BEFORE 1984, THE UIA steering committee went back and forth to Manila,
always very excited because the 1984 UIA International Convention might not be staged in
Manila as originally approved. That period was the peak of the UAP-PIA controversy. PIA
was the recognized Philippine national architectural organization by UIA, and UAP was the
other very aggressive claimant. Lindy Locsin and Manny Mañosa, led by Ipe Mendoza, also
did a lot of traveling to Europe to meet UIA President De Hors of Spain. I was in the UAP
National board at the time, 1979-1980-1981, 1984-1985, 1987-1988-1989.
 
UIA finally decided to transfer the 1984 convention from Manila to Cairo alone without any
credentials, and tried to fraternize with some UIA directors. PIA sent three official delegates and enjoyed
full UIA recognition and the right to vote at the Council meeting held afterwards in Alexandria. I did not
go to Alexandria. UAP had only me as a lone observer who did not say a single word except when drinking
coffee with some UIA directors. I stayed at Holiday Inn, next door to Giza pyramid, went to Luxor and
Valley of the Kings, and made a side trip to Israel.
 
In the next three years, I attend ARCASIA conventions and got better acquainted with architects from
Indonesia, Hong Kong and Australia. Then came the 1987 UIA Convention at Brighton, England. I came
alone, stayed at the Old Ship Hotel with the most complicated corridors on the world.
 
As usual, first, the three-day general convention for everybody at Brighton, followed by the two-day
Council business meeting at Dublin, Ireland. Again, I was alone, without any UAP credentials, but this
time, I had Australian, Hong Kong and Indonesian Friends. The UIA President was from Russia.
In Dublin, PIA had three delegates; one of them was Imelda Cancio. They never spoke, but I was granted
about ten minutes to talk to the entire convened council (through the help of my Australian and Hon Kong
friends.) what I said was probably recorded in UIA. After my talk, the three PIA delegates and I were
invited to the center of the stage (where I even gave Imelda a friendly kiss) and the entire UIA Council
loudly applauded and appeared happy in welcoming UAP as the new member of the UAI in lieu of PIA.
 
When ballots were distributed, the three ballots for the Philippines were given to me and not to the PIA
delegation. I voted for the English architects as the new UIA President.
 
To me, that occasion was the clearest transfer of UIA membership from PIA to UAP.
  
 
RICHETO C. ALCORDO, FUAP
10TH UAP NATIONAL PRESIDENT
 
He also served who stood and waited
 
AT THE END OF his two terms of office, Richeto C. Alcordo wrote about leadership styles and the
ideal type fit to lead an organization like UAP. On the one hand, he described a leader who would never
antagonize volunteer worker members and could cause people to work by smiling often-the Goody-goody
Nice Guy; and on the other, he described the well-prepared, performance-oriented leader with a vision
but who was sometimes aggressive or abrasive-the Task-master. The ideal kind, he said, would be one
between these two extremes.
 
What he had strived to be as the leader of UAP for two consecutive years would be difficult to scale and
measure between these two extremes. He had trained well for his profession, reinforcing his basic
education with a Master in Architecture degree from the Graduate School of Design of Harvard University
in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His earlier work in the hierarchy of the UAP system, and his commendable
patience in waiting by the wings until the opportune time presented itself for him to be able to serve,
manifested a genuine inner resolve to successfully scale the leadership ladder. And on the way to the top,
the pleasant smile behind his beard never failed to win people over to his side.
 
Before vanishing from the limelight of the national presidency of UAP, he made sure that the turnover of
responsibilities to his successor, Jaime C. Marquez, would be easy. On December 12, 1991, he made a
graceful exit from the scene as the incoming members of the National Board of Directors were inducted
into office.
 
 
 
JAIME C. MARQUEZ, FUAP
11TH UAP NATIONAL PRESIDENT
 
An Organization of vibrant members and protective of a profession respected and trusted by
society
 
I AM SURE THAT OUR PAST NATIONAL PRESIDENT joins me in this sentiment: that being the
national president of UAP is no easy task. We continually ride on a pendulum of approval
and disapproval for the decisions we have made. Thus, alternately, we bask in the sun of a
popular or feel terribly alone and repulsed for an unpopular one. We can not at all time
please everyone. But one thing is important in leadership: the sense of responsibility for
strong decision made, whether popular or unpopular. We are after all, in the end, the
ultimate responsibilities and liable person for the national administration we lead and
propel.
 
Like a grid in a system, the road traversed by UAP is dotted with many cross-roads-major ones-all
decision-making points. One and a half years ago, we came along upon a major crossroads. And today,
we are at another, challenged once again. I can only make one promise as your national president: that
at crossroads, I will have the interest of UAP foremost in my mind in my decision making. I hope that
whether my actions had been popular or unpopular, my efforts would eventually join the flow of the many
efforts before me by previous national presidents, in making the UAP a professional organization worthy
of vibrant membership and protective of a profession respected and trusted by our society.
  
 
NESTOR S. MANGIO, FUAP, APEC ARCHITECT
12TH UAP NATIONAL PRESIDENT
 
This President has come a long way
 
AFTER HISTORY HAS been written and recorded for prosperity, it can be truly be said that Nestor S.
Mangio has come a long way from the architect who founded and was part of the chartering of the
Angeles City Chapter. The chapter, by its innovative activities and camaraderie, caught the
attention of the members of the National Board, who invited him to head a convention
committee. His significant contacts with people of consequence in the profession and allied
industries proved valuable in his work as convention director, and enabled his chapter to
successfully host two regional conferences in Angeles City. He recalls a memorable
Fellowship Night when the architects, enjoying the afterglow of an enriching conference,
laughed and exchanged stories over drinks and roast calf.
 
His performance in the chapter and dedication to the organization inevitably landed him the position of
Regional Director for Region 3, and from there was no way he could go but up the organizational ladder.
He became part of the National Board, initially as National Treasurer, then Vice President for programs, VP
for Operations, and finally as National President.
 
In his unique brand of service, he showed that indeed that Filipino professional could rise to the occasion
and meet the demands of the times. He reached out to UAP members in far-flung areas and aligned
himself with their dreams and aspiration for a better, stronger UAP. He did this all and, in turn, UAP has
changed the course of his life in the same reciprocal way that he had changed people’s lives at UAP. His
dedication to his work and UAP matches the intensity of his devotion to his family and his God.
 
 
EMMANUEL P. CUNTAPAY, FUAP
13TH UAP NATIONAL PRESIDENT
 
When in distress, you can always count on Manny     
 
IN 1991, DURING THE MOUNT PINATUBO eruption, UAP members who attended the regional
Conference of Architects in Bacolod suddenly found themselves stranded. The eruption caused many PAL
flights to be cancelled. Thus, many architects from Luzon found themselves cooling their heels in Bacolod.
Many Cuntapay rose to the occasion by calling up his pilot friends in Manila to fly to Bacolod to bring the
80 stranded architects to Cebu, where connecting flights to Luzon were available. It was a high moment
where Manny earned the praise and administration of his colleagues.
 
There is little that Manny Cuntapay isn’t up to. In 1981, while he was with the government he would
always take on the position of a vanguard in public works projects. To his fellow architects, he has been
of great assistance by providing correct interpretations of building-related laws and provisions.
 
For all his accomplishments at UAP, he still has a few more dreams for the association. For one, he would
like to see the day when the UAP National headquarters is finally completed. He also hopes that the
organization would maintain an upgrading of the UAP Long-Range Plan every year. He eagerly awaits the
eventual implementation of the Architectural Code of the Philippines. And on a defining note, he hopes
“that urban renewal and zoning regulations be enforced all over the country, with Filipino architecture
being redefined to include our intrinsic design influences.”
 
Looking back, he says that having been a National President was a turning point-not only in his personal
life but also for the association. It is a legacy he has left to UAP that continues to inspire ordinary
members that for as long as one is equipped with the necessary skills, one can be President of UAP- even
if one feels uncomfortable in formal clothes during formal occasions.
 
 
YOLANDA DAVID-REYES, FUAP, APEC ARCHITECT
14TH UAP NATIONAL PRESIDENT
 
A hard act to follow
 
MAKING HER ENTRY INTO UAP National Board as the Centennial President and bowing out of it as the
Millennium President, UAP’s first female National President, is by all counts a hard act to follow. Under her
term, the efforts and dreams of many past leaders have come to fruition: A stable organization that has
come of age and has reached out across the Pacific to embrace the Filipino architects
abroad even as, at home, it tried to win back those who have opted to remain on their
own; a UAP Headquarters that is well on its way to completion; the review of the UAP
Long-Range Plan 1992-2002; a comprehensively written history of the organization-all
these are major accomplishments of a most memorable term.
 
Even as she assiduously applied herself to the development of the organization, YD Reyes
never lost sight of her academic persona. As dean of College of Architecture and Fine Arts
of the University of Santo Tomas, she successfully helped UAP achieve its corporate objective of making
higher education more through the UST Graduate School’s Distance-learning Program for Masteral Studies
in Architecture.
 
This same dual role as academic and professional enabled YD Reyes to convene an international
conference on the theme Sustainable and Humane Cities in April, which featured lectures, presentations
and workshops conducted by acknowledge authorities on architecture and planning, environment, urban
housing and conversation of socio-cultural heritage. Among the guests and presentors was the UIA
President Vassilis Sgoutas, represented by the Union’ Vice President for Region IV, Dato Dr. Hisham
Albakri; the Hungarian and Mexican secretaries fro environment; officers of ARCASIA; representatives of
WHO, UNICEF and the Japanese Foreign Ministry; urban and planning agencies of other ASEAN countries;
cabinet members and key officials of the Philippine government. The conference led to the adoption of the
Humane Cities Agenda 2000 and the establishments of the Center for Humane Cities-based in Manila at
the University of Santo Tomas-which will be the executor of follow-up actions to implement the protocols
of the conference.
 
 
PROSPERIDAD C. LUIS, FUAP, APEC ARCHITECT
15TH UAP NATL PRESIDENT
 
During the term of Architect Prosperidad C. Luis, fuap, UAP was awarded  the Professional Regulation
Commission (PRC) 's Most Outstanding Accredited Professional Organization (APO).
 
 
ROBERT S. SAC, FUAP
16TH UAP NATIONAL PRESIDENT
 
During the term of Architect Robert S. Sac, fuap, the Republic Act of 2004 otherwise known as the
Architecture Act of 2004 was signed into law. The Annual UAP Golf Cup Tournament was instituted while
the payables for the completion of the UAP National Headquarters were fully paid.
 
 

ENRIQUE O. OLONAN, FUAP

17TH UAP NATIONAL PRESIDENT
During the term of Architect Enrique O. Olonan, fuap, the following projects were implemented: Creation
of Task Force R.A. 9266, approval of the 10-Year Long Range Plan, the approval of the UAP Foundation
Inc. by the Securities and Exchange Commission of a secondary license to sell membership shares of the
Ionic Club, and the establishment of the UAP Library and Archives, among others.

EDRIC MARCO C. FLORENTINO, FUAP, APEC ARCHITECT

18TH UAP NATIONAL PRESIDENT

During the term of Architect Edric Marco C. Florentino, fuap, the UAP was awarded the Most Outstanding
Accredited Professional Organization for the second time. Also, UAP was cited as Most Oustanding
Volunteer by the PNVSCA. The Revision of Architects National Code, creation of the 10-Year Long Range
Plan Monitoring Committee, publication of the UAP Keeping You Posted, among others were initiated.

(note: texts for PC Luis, RS Sac, EO Olonan and EMC Florentino are currently in progress.)