DR. ROSA MARIA I. LLANES, RGC PASSES AWAY APRIL 24, 2011

Yesterday, after arriving from Taiwan, I got a text message from an IPCAP member if there was truth to the news that Dr. Rose Llanes, RGC has passed away. Immediately, I contacted one of the lifetime PGCA Members who was with us in the organization and development of IPCAP.

Dr. Rosa Maria I. Llanes, RGC passed away last Easter Sunday April 24, 2011 in her home at UP Professors Village. Her remains are now at the Sanctuarium Room 306, the name of the Room is FIR.

Truly a gracious lady whose heart constantly beat for the Guidance and Counseling profession in the Philippines, Dr. Llanes was the President of the Philippine Guidance and Counseling Association when together with her Board they moved for the implementation of Republic Act No. 9258 way back 2005. She was so tireless in moving from one part of the country to the other to help disseminate the new law that was signed way back in 2004. On Feb. 4, 2006, together with the whole PGCA Board, she convened all Guidance-related organizations which eventually led to the formation of the Integrated Professional Counselors Association. We were together in the different Focused Group Discussions (FGDs) on the drafting of the implementing rules and regulations of the law, the Code of Ethics, the Standards of Good Practice in the different schools here in Manila - FEU, Adamson U to name a few. It was also through her service that the first member of the Board of Guidance and Counseling, current Chair of the PRBGC Dr. Luz Guzman was appointed by the President of the Philippines way back 2007 (she took her oath on Nov. 14, 2006). The rest of the first members of the Board of Guidance and Counseling were likewise appointed with her continued and unabated submission of required documents for the appointments. The first Chair of the Board of Guidance and Counseling, Dr. Rhodelia Gabriel, and the second member of the PRBGC Dr. Lily Rosales eventually took their oaths on January 29, 2007.

All of her last years were spent for the profession. She continued with her professorship at the University of the Philippines where she was Chair of the Department when she was first diagnosed with some serious illness. She led the IPCAP in its first 2 National Conventions as well as in the Visayas. It was just unfortunate that the peace and order situation in Mindanao worsened (remember the kidnapping of the teachers in Zamboanga?) when we were about to hold our Convention there.

She even had a stint in TV5 Face to Face, in her effort to bring the services of the Guidance Counselors into the level of the community where many people with problems simply need their attentive and responsive services. A lively lady, she easily fit into the world of the tube. I remember very well when she brought IPCAP to join the community outreach caravan of FACE to FACE in Sta. Mesa where we did actual Guidance and Counseling services for the audience.

In behalf of this lady whose whole being was filled with justice - she only wanted to right the wrong and correct the mistakes of the past - may I ask for your prayers for her peaceful rest. Oh yes, didn't she leave on Easter Sunday, the day the Lord Resurrected from the dead.

Masses have been scheduled since last night, April 25, 2011. Tonight April 26, Fr. Bong Sarabia, CM, RGC will preside the Mass at 7 or 8 PM. I will celebrate the Mass for her on Wednesday, and maybe Thursday. It's a pity that my current post requires my trip to China on the dayn of her funeral, April 30, 2011, my second niece's birthday.

What a way to keep her memory that needs to be kept so as to avoid the mistakes of the past as well as CORRECT them! Ma'am Rose, as she was fondly called by friends and colleagues, I believe would continue to pray for the Guidance and Counseling profession and its practitioners, all in fidelity to what RA 9258 has envisioned.

Ma'am Rose, we will surely miss you. And that sense of grief will bear fruit in the achievement of justice in our midst. Pray indeed for us who still struggle in our profession.