Former vice president Leni Robredo is set to receive an honorary doctorate of economics from the Ateneo de Manila University (AdMU), where will also deliver a commencement speech at the 2022 graduation rites on August 27.
After a special board meeting last July 11, the AdMU Board of Trustees announced it will confer the former vice president with a degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Economics.
Robredo served a six-year term as vice president, where her office earned an unqualified opinion from the Commission on Audit for four straight years. She ran as an independent candidate in the 2022 presidential race, but placed a far second with around 14 million votes.
In the memorandum, AdMU commended Robredo for “remarkable contributions towards poverty alleviation, in spite of limited government budget.” The Office of the Vice President under Robredo’s watch was allotted less than P1 million budget each year.
“Her responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, natural and man-made disasters, and violations against human rights and the Philippines’ national sovereignty, demonstrate a leadership that is both strategic and compassionate, qualities which we hope to form in our students, graduates, and employees,” the memorandum read.
Honorary degrees are given to individuals who are recognized for “advancing social justice and development, as well as compassionate action and humanitarian service,” according to the memo.
In 1986, Robredo graduated with an economics degree from the University of the Philippines Diliman. She completed her juris doctor degree at the University of Nueva Caceres in 1992 and passed the bar in 1997.
