Allizah Keziah Manulat, MindaNews writer, is UP Mindanao’s valedictorian, summa cum laude
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 2 July 2026) — MindaNews writer Allizah Keziah M. Manulat is the class of 2026 valedictorian of the University of the Philippines Mindanao (UP Mindanao) with a general weighted average of 1.111.
The Davao City resident graduates with a degree in BA Communication and Media Arts, which graduates its second summa cum laude in a row.
Manulat joins 273 other graduates during the 28th commencement exercises starting 7 a.m. on July 7 at the UP Mindanao atrium in the university’s Mintal campus here.
The UP Mindanao official Facebook Page made the official announcement last June 30.
Aside from these accolades, Manulat will also receive the Chancellor’s Award for Academic Excellence, Dean’s Special Award for Academic Excellence, and an award for Best Thesis in Production Research.
Her undergraduate thesis, “Stories That Unfold: Developing a Child-Focused Pop-Up Book on Child Marriage in BARMM Through the Insights and Lived Experiences of Women-Friendly Space Facilitators,” reimagines the way child marriage is communicated to minors through tactile and age-appropriate methods.
A book she wrote — “Si Ina, Si Bituin, at Ako” — is in the middle of a publication contract process, Manulat said.
Manulat joined MindaNews first as an intern in 2025 and eventually as a writer and marketing contact, as she was finishing her degree.
Her content has helped MindaNews gain a viral traction across platforms, through Gen-Z friendly content matched with credible journalism.
As a MindaNews intern, Manulat and fellow interns Zoe Hontiveros and Marithe Lalican wrote a fact-check about the veracity of photos of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. taken during an aftermath of a fire in Metro Manila.
Manulat is the only summa cum laude this year, according to the UP Mindanao registrar, Prof. Karen Joyce Cayamanda.
The Office of the Registrar said the university graduates 159 students from the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, 92 students from the College of Sciences and Mathematics, and 23 from the School of Management.
Throughout her college years, Manulat has balanced academics and personal relationships with healthy extra-curriculars, such as sports, organization work, and journalism.
She has received congratulations from course-based organization Communicators’ Guild and the UP Mindanao Legal Studies Society, where she once led as the student organization’s head or Chief Justice. (Yas D. Ocampo / MindaNews)
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