Showcasing its legacy as the pioneer innovative educational institution in the field of Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement, Philippine College of Criminology (PCCR) recently celebrated its 68th Foundation Anniversary. With the theme “Reaching Greater Heights through Transformational Education”, PCCR pulled out all the stops in its weeklong festivities to highlight innovative ways of delivering quality education and overall student experience.

Beginning the pre-event celebration on Valentine’s Day, the celebrations started with a Catholic Mass online celebrated by Fr. Miguel Condes, O. Carm., Assistant Parish Priest of St. Nicholas of Tolentine Parish Cathedral. The Pre-event Celebration on the Day of Hearts also featured two online radio programs: Love Radio by the High School Department (HSC), and 641 Heartline featuring some of PCCR’s resident campus jocks. Hosted by HSC’s Reana Maclang and Jerry Lazaro, Love Radio was an hour-long program where the hosts would read love letters and stories from anonymous senders. Not to be outdone, 641 Heartline was a similar show catering to the College Community, hosted by Rhea Dagatan, Kyla Katrina Pino, and Ken Polidario.

The first of the three days of celebration set the excitement bar for the week. Day 1 started with a Christian Service given by Victory Ubelt’s Pastor CJ Nunag, which was immediately followed by the Kick-off celebration to complete the morning. 

The afternoon was filled with learning opportunities, first among which was the College of Criminal Justice Webinars with Professional Criminologists Association of the Philippines (PCAP) President Dr. Gerry Cano, who gave talks on Criminology Education as a whole, and the Licensure Examination for Criminologists. The Alumni Leadership Series then followed, featuring talks by Bureau of Corrections Superintendent Robert Veneracion and Bureau of Jail Management and Penology’s Col. Flory Sanchez, both proud Batang 641.

Alongside the afternoon’s webinars were various contests to showcase the skills of the PCCR community. PCCRFlix, running on its 5th season, put our students’ filmmaking knowledge and skills to the test. Students’ general knowledge and intelligence were also tested with the Battle of the Brains.

Day two was a whole day of contests and competitions, beginning with the exciting Tampok sa Tiktok, where entrants would set to video the songs of the previous winners of our Rap Songwriting Competition. This was immediately followed by the Spoken Word Poetry Contest and the Virtual Rap Battle. The morning ended with the contestants of the Talentadong Batang 641 competition taking the Cyberstage against one another. In the afternoon, The PCCR Community participated in The Mobile Legends Tournament Finals, The Debate Competition, and the HSC’s Online Quiz Bee.

The Alumni Leadership Series continued for the rest of the week. On the afternoon of Day 2, the series featured proud PCCR alumni Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency’s Mary Ann Mahilom and Police Colonel Eduardo Abaday. The afternoon of Day 3 was lined with three of our distinguished alumni and Law Enforcement Professionals, Bureau of Fire Protection’s Superintendent Romeo Pepito, Jr., Parole and Probation Administration’s Director Janette Padua, and the National Bureau of Investigation’s Agent Dr. Romer John Venturillo. 

Following the Mental Health and Heart Health webinars, The Dean’s Listers’ Recognition Day highlighted the last day of the weeklong celebration. Proud academic achievers, with their parents in attendance, met with PCCR President Ma. Angelica Lei G. Bautista for some words of inspiration and encouragement.

To cap off the festivities, the HSC held a Time Capsule event online to enshrine the contributions of its students. The big bang, however, came at the very end, with the Talentadong 641 Grand Finals and Concert. The top winners of the contest the day before took to the virtual stage once again to determine the overall champion. Other non-contestants also took to the stage, highlighting the overflow of performance talent of the renowned community known as Batang 641.