UP Mindanao Valedictorian Wrote Her Thesis on Child Marriage in BARMM

Quick Answer

Allizah Keziah Manulat graduates as UP Mindanao's sole summa cum laude and class valedictorian on July 7, with a general weighted average of 1.111, the Communication and Media Arts program's second summa cum laude finish in a row.

A Record Weighted Average

Manulat graduates with a general weighted average of 1.111, the highest in her class and, according to university registrar Karen Joyce Cayamanda, the only summa cum laude standing for 2026 across the entire campus. She earned her degree in Communication and Media Arts, a program now on its second consecutive summa cum laude graduate.

Beyond the valedictory title, she will also receive the Chancellor's Award for Academic Excellence, the Dean's Special Award for Academic Excellence, and a Best Thesis award in Production Research, a sweep that reflects both classroom performance and original creative work.

Summa cum laude honors remain uncommon at UP Mindanao. The campus produced its first ever summa cum laude only in 2019, when BS Food Technology graduate Pete Maverick Nicole Estudillo finished with a general weighted average of 1.1971 at the 22nd commencement exercises. Manulat's 1.111 average sits well below that mark, underscoring how tight the standard has become since.

Turning Child Marriage Into a Picture Book

Her thesis, titled Stories That Unfold, developed a child focused pop up book explaining child marriage in BARMM to young readers. Rather than approaching the subject through statistics or policy language, Manulat built the material around the insights and lived experiences of women friendly space facilitators, the community workers who support women and girls in the region.

The format was a deliberate choice. A pop up book lets a difficult, often taboo subject reach the age group most affected by it, using tactile, age appropriate storytelling instead of the dense reports the topic usually generates.

A Journalist Before She Was a Graduate

Manulat's byline was already familiar to MindaNews readers well before graduation. She joined the outlet as an intern in 2025 while still completing her degree, then moved into a staff writer and marketing role producing content that reached far beyond the outlet's usual audience.

Part of that work involved verification, not just storytelling. She fact checked photos that were circulating online and falsely claimed to show President Marcos at the site of a fire in Metro Manila, tracing the images back to their real origin. She has also written a book, Si Ina, Si Bituon, at Ako, which she is currently trying to place with a publisher.

Leadership on Campus

Manulat's activity outside the classroom followed a similar pattern of taking on responsibility early. She previously served as chief justice of the UP Mindanao Legal Studies Society, a role built around student governance and campus policy debate rather than her own communication major.

Her home program's organization, the Communicators' Guild, publicly credited her among its own after the valedictory announcement, a recognition that carried extra weight given how much of her recent output, the MindaNews bylines and the unpublished manuscript alike, grew out of that same program.

The Commencement Lineup

Manulat is one of 273 graduates receiving degrees at UP Mindanao's 28th commencement exercises, set for 7 a.m. on July 7 at the university atrium on its Mintal campus in Davao City. The graduating class is split across three units: 159 from the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, 92 from the College of Sciences and Mathematics, and 23 from the School of Management.

UP Mindanao's official Facebook page announced her as valedictorian on June 30, ahead of the ceremony itself.

The role has changed hands quickly in recent years. Last year's valedictorian, computer science graduate Anakin Skywalker Pactores, led the 27th commencement on July 10, 2025 with a general weighted average of 1.1711 among 312 graduates, a cohort roughly 40 students larger than this year's batch.

Manulat's ceremony also lands in a year the campus has already had reason to celebrate. Architecture graduate Eloisa Marie Tan Plana topped the June licensure exam for architects nationwide, giving UP Mindanao two distinct academic headlines within weeks of each other heading into July.