DR. GISELA D.A. LUNA SALUBONG 2025 OPENING REMARKS

Magandang umaga/hapon po sa inyong lahat.

To our dear freshmen and transferees, welcome to Salubong 2025, and welcome to Trinity University of Asia.
Before anything else, let me say this: salamat. Salamat sa tiwala. Salamat sa pagpili sa TUA.

We know this wasn’t always an easy decision. Marami kayong pinagpilian. We know that TUA isn’t always at the top of people’s lists, or known for grand buildings or big headlines. But I hope that as you begin your journey here, you’ll come to see what truly sets this place apart.

TUA was founded more than 60 years ago by two bishops who asked a bold question: Do we really need more schools in the Philippines, or do we need schools that stand for something? Their answer was clear. This country did not need more institutions with impressive names. It needed places where academic excellence and Christian purpose would go hand in hand. Places where students are taught what they need to know and who they’re called to be.

TUA was built with this mission: to nurture students in both knowledge and responsibility. That truth should matter, and that truth must lead to action. That learning should not stop in the classroom, but should be seen in how we live, how we serve, and how we stand for what is right.

Mission school po ang TUA. We are grounded in faith, but we are not here to preach. We are here to form people, students like you, who will go out into the world with enough conviction to do good, even when no one else is watching.

You came here to study. That’s good. But beyond knowledge, this university will ask you to grow in something more diffi cult and more necessary: to become a person who cares.

Someone who can think clearly, yes, but also someone who can listen.
Someone who can speak up, but also hold space for others.
Someone who works hard for their own future and remains grounded in service to others, to country, and to the calling that goes beyond the self.

This won’t always be easy. You will be challenged by the work, by the people around you, and sometimes by the questions you’ll start asking yourself. But you won’t be alone. You will fi nd people here who will walk with you, faculty, staff, classmates, who believe that your growth is worth investing in.

You do not need to have everything fi gured out right now. The important thing is that you’re here. That you’ve said yes to the process. And that you’re willing to begin.

We look forward to the day you’ll come to understand why you were brought here. And when that day comes, we hope you’ll be proud to be a Trinitian and ready to live a life that makes others proud to know you.

That’s what education is for.
That’s what faith looks like in motion.
And that’s what TUA is here to help you become.

Maraming salamat, at muli, magandang umaga.