PUP-PCC First Global Alumni Reunion USA 2016

2016 Outstanding PUP Alumni
Monette Santillan Rivera
Monette ?? Santillan Rivera graduated from PUP in 1973 with a
Bachelor’s Degree major in Accounting and became a Certified
Public Accountant. She joined Philippine Airlines as an Internal
Auditor. She enjoyed her work with the airline in spite of the
long hours of work because she had a chance to travel to many
interesting places. She also had a chance to teach Accounting
and Airline Management at Pats School of Aeronautics before
migrating to the U.S. That was a very fulfilling experience for
her, because in some way or another she was able to impart the
importance of education to her students and inspire them to
reach for their dream. She used to take students to tour the
airline facilities and let them get inside the airplanes which gave
her students much delight especially those who had never
travelled by plane. She teaches after her work at Philippines
Airlines and would drive to PATS in traffic to catch her classes.
What makes her going is that she believes that teaching is a
noble profession, because you don’t only teach about the subject
or what was in the books, but you impart to your students
values, hard work, patience and perseverance.
In the U.S., she worked in different companies in various
capacities from Accountant to Controller. After retiring from the
corporate world, she is now a successful entrepreneur. She is
the President and Broker of RE Partners Inc.; a real estate,
mortgage, and investment company. She is also the owner and
administrator of Desert Springs Assisted Living Home, LLC.
Her busy schedule does not stop her from giving back to her
community. She is very much involved with civic and religious
organizations.
Monette is the Past President of Philippine American Society of
Certified Public Accountants, she is the Chairperson of the
Scholarship Committee and currently the Vice-President for
Community Services. She is very active with this organization
ever since she became a member and her passion is raising funds
for scholarships for deserving students. She believes that
education is the stepping stone to get out of poverty. PASCPA
was able to give scholarships to over fifty (50) PUP students
majoring in Accounting. It was indeed a very fulfilling feeling
to her especially when she visited the PUP scholars in 2004 and
had the opportunity to also meet some professors and former
classmates. During her presidency, she was able to raise funds
to send books for a library in a barrio in Mindanao. This was
done thru the Books for the Barrios program. With her
leadership and commitment, she earned recognitions and one of
them is the prestigious Life Time Achievement Award from the
National Council of Philippine American and Canadian
Accountants.
Monette is also the Charter First Vice-President and Past
President of L.A. Cosmopolitan Lions Club and the Club’s Lion
of the Year in 2012. She is currently the Zone Chair of Northern
Region A and Chairperson of the Budget and Finance
Committee of the Lions District 4L-3. She is a Melvin Jones
Fellow of Lions Club International. Her Club is very active in
community services; like feeding the homeless, adopting
families during Christmas, donating backpacks and school
supplies to under- privilege children, hosting exchange students
from Japan, donates eye glasses and also does fund raising to
donate to Lions Club International Foundation for its calamity
fund which the Philippines is always a recipient. She is also the
Charter President of Toastmaster International’s Achiever Circle
Club and earned a designation of Competent Communicator and
Competent Leader.
Monette is very involved in her church and with the Filipino
Ministry of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. She was the
Chairperson of the Finance Committee of the First National
Assembly of Filipino Priests held here in Los Angeles in 2011.
It was a very successful convention, attended by over 600
priests. She also became the Hermana Mayor of the Santacruzan
at Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral a few years back and also
an active committee chairperson and member of Simbang Gabi
Celebration at the Cathedral during Christmas season.
When calamities happen in the Philippines, she is always there
to help especially during typhoon Sendong and Yolanda. Just
few days after Sendong, she flew to Mindanao and gave
monetary help thru the church and distributed food to the
victims. She saw the devastation first hand. She said that such
experience made her more humble and now has a better
understanding of what is really important in life. She is
currently helping repair two churches in Mindanao. Her family
said that her altruism inspires not only them but other people.
Her favorite quotation is “Go to the poor; you will see God”.
She is married to Vladi Rivera, a graduate of Mechanical
Engineering from Adamson University.
20 PUP/PCC ALUMNI USA 1ST GLOBAL REUNION