It is rare to find someone who has contributed to the advancement of chemistry in the Philippines to all of the sectors and through intangible dimensions. The PFCS wishes to honor such a rare person and now has the privilege to confer the Award of Service to the Profession to Ms. Edna Callejas-Mijares, RCh.

Edna has contributed significantly to the industry, government, and academe sectors. As president and chief operating officer of Jefcor Laboratories Inc., she has nurtured and developed one of the leading chemical analytical laboratories in the country, assisting the agricultural sector to meet the stringent requirements of pesticide residue analysis. For her work in this area, two key societies in this area recognized her achievements: the Philippine Association of Entomologists recognized her twice with the Most Outstanding Entomologist in Entrepreneurship Award in 2002 and the F.B. Calora Award for Outstanding Entomologist in 2015, while the Pest Management Council of the Philippines gave her the Achievement Award in Pest Management in 2004. Edna has been a sought-after consultant for many major agribusiness enterprises in the country. Clearly, Edna knows how to handle pests!

With her considerable experience in business and chemical analysis, Edna has been a key member in the numerous government regulatory, standards and law enforcement agencies, such as the Philippine Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority, the Department of Health, Bureau of Product Standards, Environmental Management Bureau, and the Philippine National Police, among others. She has also generously contributed her time, knowledge, and financial resources to help students at all levels, from elementary school to undergraduate and graduate levels, including review sessions for the Chemistry licensure examinations and OJT opportunities at Jefcor.

Edna stands out through many intangibles that have truly strengthened the profession. This is exemplified by the award that her beloved alma mater, Silliman University, conferred upon her in 2011: the Outstanding Silliman Alumni Awardee in Entrepreneurship in Chemistry. 

And, of course, we cannot fail to mention Edna’s 20 years of dedicated and transformative service to the Integrated Chemists of the Philippines (ICP). Edna gave her invaluable support for the passage of the Chemistry Profession Law (now Republic Act 10657) in 2015 after a 15-year effort. As ICP’s Vice-President for External Affairs, Edna worked tirelessly for the implementation of RA 10657, assisting the Board of Chemistry, and helped the various ICP chapters become stronger.

Last, but certainly not the least, this is an award that recognizes Edna’s generosity. One of her awards which may seem less prestigious but is very meaningful is the Bagonhon Gawad Award in Philanthropy which was given during the Bago City 50^th Charter Anniversary in February 2016. The Callejas-Mijares Scholarship Foundation Inc., which she and her equally generous husband Jeff established, has been providing scholarships for poor but deserving students from their hometown.

For these and many more contributions that have not been mentioned, the PFCS is proud to confer the 2021 Service to the Profession Award to Ms. Edna Callejas-Mijares!

Dr. Mario A. Tan obtained his B.Sc. (2000) and M.Sc. (2004) in Chemistry at the University of Santo Tomas (UST), and Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences from Chiba University (Japan) in 2010. He is currently a Professor at the Department of Chemistry, College of Science, UST.

Dr. Tan is a natural product chemist, engaging in the isolation, identification, and total synthesis of medicinal plant metabolites of biological importance. He is a productive researcher, having published more than 40 scientific papers in high impact indexed journals.

Foremost in his accomplishments are the significant studies on endemic Pandanus plants demonstrating the rich potential of this plant family as new source of therapeutics. He reported structures of novel alkaloids, some of which were isolated for the first time from some Pandan species. Furthermore, he is also exploring the identification of biologically-active plant metabolites from the endemic Philippine species of the family Rubiaceae. These chemical studies paved the way for the pharmacological understanding of the importance of these new Philippine endemic species which are just awaiting to be explored.

His works on asymmetric total synthesis allowed him to unambiguously determine the absolute stereochemistry of some of novel Pandanus alkaloids. This merited an invitation to write a book chapter from The Alkaloids: Chemistry and Biology (Elsevier), on the progress in the chemistry of Pandanus alkaloids (Tan and Takayama, 2019).

Dr. Tan has shown effective mentoring skills in motivating and guiding his undergraduate and graduate students to do good science in their research work. His students co-authored some of his publications in peer-reviewed indexed journals, both local and international. He has inspired several of his mentees to pursue higher studies and follow his footsteps as a natural product and synthetic chemist.

Dr. Tan further strengthen his research endeavors when he was awarded the Visiting Research Fellowship by the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD) in 2013, the 2017 Novartis Next Generation Scientist (Basel, Switzerland), and a fellowship grant at the Bionano Research Institute in Gachon University (Republic of Korea). He was also awarded the 2018 Outstanding Young Scientist in Pharmaceutical Sciences and the 2012 Talent Search for Young Scientists (First Prize) by the National Academy of Science and Technology. Currently, Dr. Tan focuses on the identification of compounds with neuroprotective effects on the aggregation and fibrillization of amyloid-beta as potential inhibitors against Alzheimer’s disease.

Geraldine “Dina” A. Estacio is a board-certified chemist who graduated from the University of Santo Tomas. She took up Applied Management in Business Administration (AMBA) from the Executive Development Academy. She is the current President of the Chamber of Cosmetics Industry of the Philippines (CCIP) and also served as one of the past presidents of the Philippine Society for Cosmetic Science (PSCS). During her term, she spearheaded the first Cosmetic Scientific Convention in the Philippines back-to-back with the exhibit of the Personal Care Ingredients Asia (PCIA). At present, she is one of the Board of Trustees as Treasurer in the ASEAN Cosmetics Association (ACA). She actively participates as industry observer in the ASEAN Cosmetic Committee (ACC) & ASEAN Cosmetic Scientific Body (ACSB) meetings to keep herself abreast with the latest on the ASEAN regulations. She was also featured as one of the beneficiaries of the DOST SET-UP program by the Philippine News Agency (PNA). Recently, she was awarded the National SETUP PRAISE award by the DOST as her company, DJM Grandeur Corporation, continued to excel in terms of Productivity, Resilience, Agility, Innovation, Sustainability and Excellence despite the challenges brought about by the Covid-19 Pandemic.

Her four decades of experience in the cosmetic industry has expanded her expertise in product formulation of cosmetics and drug-home remedies. Dina currently manages their family-owned company, DJM Grandeur Corporation, which provides toll manufacturing services or OEM/ODM services. They also offer assistance on Regulatory Compliance especially on Licensing and Product Notification/Registration to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), GMP Training, Preparation of Product Information File (PIF), Safety Assessment and Halal Certification.