Puraperla dela Cruz Sumangil (born 1941), better known as Pura Sumangil, is a Filipino Catholic nun, educator, and social activist. She is a co-founder of Concerned Citizens of Abra for Good Governance, a non-governmental organization focused on participatory monitoring of infrastructure projects in the Cordillera Administrative Region in northern Philippines. [1]
In 2022, she received the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice award from the Holy See. [2] She was also nominated for the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize. [1]
Sumangil was born in 1941 in Nueva Ecija province, and moved to Bangued, Abra province in 1970 to become an Auxiliary under the local Bishop, where she has since remained.
She obtained her bachelor's degree in education at Divine Word College of Bangued as well as a master's degree in development management from the Asian Institute of Management. [3] She was also nominated for the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize. [1]
A Catholic nun, she belongs to the Auxiliaries of the Apostolate. [2]
Her work has been recognized through numerous accolades, including the following:
Bangued, officially the Municipality of Bangued, is a 1st class municipality and capital of the province of Abra, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 50,382 people making it the most populous in the province.
Abra, officially the Province of Abra, is a province in the Cordillera Administrative Region of the Philippines. Its capital is the municipality of Bangued, the most populous in the province. It is bordered by Ilocos Norte on the northwest, Apayao on the northeast, Kalinga on the mid-east, Mountain Province on the southeast, and Ilocos Sur on the southwest.
Maria Angelita Ressa is a Filipino and American journalist. She is the co-founder and CEO of Rappler. She previously spent nearly two decades working as a lead investigative reporter in Southeast Asia for CNN. She is a Professor of Professional Practice in the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University and has been a Distinguished Fellow at Columbia's new Institute of Global Politics since fall of 2023.
The Divine Word College of Bangued is a private, Catholic higher education institution run by the Philippine Northern Province of the Society of the Divine Word in Bangued, Abra, Philippines. It was founded by a Divine Word Missionary priest in 1920 and given the name Colegio del Sagrado Corazon. In 1964 it was renamed the Divine Word College of Bangued. The college is the most famous in the province.
Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice is a decoration of the Holy See. It is currently conferred for distinguished service to the Catholic Church by lay people and clergy.
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