ANGELES CITY – The Pampanga Press Club expressed elation over the recognition given to its former president Peter C. Alagos by the Angeles University Foundation, where he graduated and initially served as coordinator of the Office of the University Publications and Alumni Affairs and eventually as a full-time faculty member of the College of Arts and Sciences.
The AUF, on the occasion of its 60th anniversary on May 25, conferred “The Outstanding Alumni (TOA) 2022” to Alagos, who served as PPC president from 2013 to 2015. During his incumbency, the PPC conducted a series of journalism trainings for students, government information officers and corporate communications officers.
“A colleague amongst us and a mentor to many, Peter has always exemplified professionalism and dedication to work. This, not only in media practice but also in other endeavors. This is a much-deserved honor where he brings pride to PPC. Thanks to AUF for honoring a media colleague,” Noel Tulabut, current president of the PPC, said.
Alagos said his education and work experience at AUF laid the foundation for his professions in journalism, the academe, and the corporate world.
“I share the gratitude of my fellow TOA awardees; thank you, AUF, for bestowing this recognition. I would also like to thank my college professors and former university colleagues for their kindness, patience, and guidance,” Alagos said.
He said that because of the university’s role in his personal and professional life, he was blessed with the opportunity to not only share his skills and impart knowledge, but also to help people.
“Thus, my journey beyond the university’s walls remained aligned with its mission: the ‘Total Development of Man for God and Humanity’. For this, I am eternally grateful,” Alagos said.
As part of the anniversary celebration, AUF also launched the second volume of “Witnessing of the Alumni,” a compilation of stories on the university’s role in shaping the lives and professional careers of its graduates, according to Alagos.
“Twenty years ago, I was part of the editorial team of ‘Witnessing the Alumni’. And for its 2022 edition, I have come full circle by being part of this book series again,” he said.
Carmela G. Salunga-Dizon, Ph.D., editor-in-chief of the book, said the essays shared by the alumni detailed how their AUF education and experience contributed to the improvement of their lives and career.
“The alumni of any institution of higher learning serve as testament to its legacy and excellent performance. They also serve as role models so that just like them, the current and future students may aspire and dream bigger not only for themselves but also for the community where they belong,” Dizon said in the book’s foreword.
According to Alagos, the website of Qatar’s leading English newspaper sums up his career in 57 words: “Peter Alagos reports on business and general news for Gulf Times. He is a Kapampangan journalist with a writing career of almost 30 years. His photographs have been published in several books, including one on the 1991 Mt. Pinatubo eruption launched by former Philippine President Fidel V. Ramos. Peter has also taught journalism in two universities.”
He entered the journalism scene in 1992 as cartoonist and photographer of The Pioneer, AUF’s official campus newspaper and in 1994, while working at AUF’s Multi-Media Center he was assigned as photographer of The Angeles Observer – established by then AUF president, Dr. Emmanuel Y. Angeles. A year later, Peter worked for Sun.Star Clark (now Sun.Star Pampanga).
Alagos joined the PPC in 1996 and is also a member of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines and the Capampangan in Media Inc. Between 1996 and 2010, he wrote stories and took pictures for mainstream dailies, such as Manila Standard and the Philippine Daily Inquirer, and for provincial newspapers like The Voice, Central Plains Sentinel, and K Magazine. He was also editor of Central Luzon Business Week and executive editor of Pampanga PEP, a lifestyle and leisure magazine.
He received a certificate of merit as one of the 36 finalists in the ‘On the Spot Photo Contest’ of the Federation of Philippine Photographers Foundation, Inc. during “PHOTOWORLD Manila ’96 National Congress” held at Fort Santiago, Intramuros. He also won the 1st and 2nd place awards in the “Mt. Pinatubo Eruption Photo Contest” organized by the Pampanga Provincial Government in 1999.
Alagos returned to Sun.Star Pampanga as news editor in 2000 and subsequently as editor-in-chief. Shortly after, he took a break from journalism to work as director of AUF’s ETMC, and afterward as a full-time faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences until 2004.
He held his first photo exhibit titled “A Decade of Photojournalism” in 2004, followed by “Eca Cucurap,” “Mahogany Farm of Sta. Rita town,” “Naked Art,” “2006 Hot Air Balloon Fiesta,” “NASI” in 2008, and the three-man exhibit “Visita Iglesia: Edifices of the Kapampangan Faith Revisited” held in 2012 and 2013.
His photographs were also published in books like “Off the Press,” which chronicles the history of the PPC, one of the oldest and most prestigious media organizations in the Philippines.
Biographies of veteran politicians also featured Alagos’ visual work: “About Oca: A Story of Struggle,” is a proto-bio of former Pampanga 3rd District representative and City of San Fernando Mayor Oscar S. Rodriguez, while “Cong Tarzan Lazatin: A Public Life” tells of the political career of the former Pampanga 1st District congressman and Angeles City mayor.
Alagos was also photo editor of “Pinatubo: The Triumph of the Kapampangan Spirit” launched by President Fidel V. Ramos in 2008, and “Agyu Tamu: Turning Tragedy into Triumph” published in 2011.
From 2007 to 2013, Peter worked as a writer for the public relations department of the Clark Development Corp. In 2014, he left for Qatar where he currently lives with his family.
