Foreword
Dr. Rebecca “Ma’am Becky” C. Torres is a distinguished educator and leader at Ateneo de Naga University, where she has dedicated nearly four decades to Catholic education. Her career spans a range of pivotal roles, including Academic Vice President (1999–2012), Dean of the Graduate School (1996–1999; 2012–2017), Chairperson of the Social Sciences Department (1987–1992), Executive Assistant to the President (2020–2024), and currently, Special Projects Officer in the President’s Office.
The Ateneo de Naga University announced that the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (CEAP) conferred the 2025 Catholic School Hero award to Dr. Rebecca “Ma’am Becky” Torres on October 3, 2025 during its annual convention. CEAP honors individuals whose long years of service in Catholic education have made a profound impact on students, colleagues, and communities.
In its statement, ADNU added further, “Known for her Ignatian leadership and unwavering commitment to excellence, Dr. Torres has mentored generations of students and colleagues, embodying the values of service, professionalism, and care.”
In her response speech during the CEAP ceremony, Ma’am Becky dedicated the award to teachers, students, and mentors. She also dedicated the award to schools which serve as sanctuaries of hope. She acknowledged her Jesuit mentors, Fr. Raul Bonoan, SJ+, Fr. Jack Phelan, SJ+, and Fr. Joel Tabora, SJ, saying:
“To be called a Catholic School Hero is both an honor and a summons. It is a reminder that our vocation is not merely to instruct minds, but to form hearts.”
At the ADNU, working closely with Fr. Joel Tabora, SJ, then university president, Dr. Torres played a key role in shaping the Senior High School Program during its early implementation. Her academic insight reached national impact when her recommendation to include Philosophy of the Human Person in the curriculum was adopted by the Department of Education. She also championed the quality of college education through her leadership in the Bikol Federation of Higher Education. She led efforts to safeguard the integrity of General Education courses, believing that true higher education forms both intellect and character.
She shared that we live in a time when the soul of education is under siege. She reminded the audience the importance of the humanistic foundations of Catholic Foundation and the liberal arts:
“In the face of massive corruption that continues to plague our society, the poverty that has been with us for centuries, and the impunity of the powerful and the elite — we must be resolute to remain faithful to the Catholic Education that is rooted in the teachings of the Gospel, in the teachings of Christ, in the dignity of the human person, and in the preferential option of the poor. We must protect and promote humanistic education not as a luxury, but as a necessity. It is through the humanities that we cultivate empathy, discernment, and a sense of vocation.”
“Together let us raise graduates who not only dismantle unjust social structures, but also transform them toward an authentic society where the reign of God is incarnate. Primum Regnum Dei.”
Chi Rho Publications, the student publication of Miriam College, wrote about Dr. Torres, “The ADNU community describes her as a religious person who makes decisions through prayerful discernment. She lives by the 4Cs of Ateneo de Naga University: Competence, Compassion, Conscience, and Commitment. She deserves the recognition (as the ADNU community takes pride in) what she has been doing for the formation of God’s kingdom.”
Fr. Bert Boholst, SJ, a former colleague at the Ateneo de Zamboanga University, said this about Dr. Torres:
“Her words strike at the heart of our mission as Catholic educators. When education is reduced to grades, rankings, or mere survival in a competitive world, it risks losing its soul—the deeper call to form persons with conscience, compassion, and commitment.
“As Dr. Torres reminds us, our vocation is to safeguard that soul: to nurture minds and hearts, to accompany our young people in faith, and to keep alive the hope that education can transform lives and society. Let us continue to defend the soul of education, making every classroom a place where truth, love, and service thrive.”
Following is the conferment of the 2024 Catholic School Hero Award to Dr. Rebecca C. Torres by the CEAP. (Content source: CEAP audio-visual award presentation)
The 2025 Catholic School Hero Award
In every Catholic school, there are quiet heroes-individuals whose daily acts of love and service shape not just minds, but hearts.
The Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (CEAP) created the Catholic School Heroes Award to honor such individuals-those whose long years of work, often behind the scenes, have brought a life-changing impact to their communities.
This award is given to individuals who have served in CEAP member schools for at least 10 years and whose contribution to Catholic education has gone beyond expectations.
One such inspiring figure is Rebecca “Ma’am Becky” Torres, who has devoted 44 years of her life to nurturing students, mentoring colleagues, and empowering communities.
Helping Catholic Schools Grow and Thrive
Dr. Rebecca Torres has been a steady force in building and strengthening Catholic education. As a teacher, counselor, researcher, and leader, she ensured that education was not just about academic excellence but also about forming students with deep faith and strong moral grounding.
Her advocacy for the integrity of General Education courses, enshrined in the Bicol Federation of Higher Education’s position paper which she authored, catalyzed the revision of CHED’s 1996 General Education Curriculum, and influencing the current GE curriculum, ensuring that holistic formation remains central to Philippine higher education.
Simple Ways, Life-Changing Impact
Ma’am Becky’s deep commitment to justice and peace traces back to her roots as a student activist during the First Quarter Storm, opposing the Marcos dictatorship. This passion for nation- building grew with her involvement in the Hearts of Peace (HOPE) Naga, a peace advocacy group, and in the establishment of the Naga City People’s Council, which empowered citizens to participate in governance- now a model replicated in many local governments.
Her love for creation is shown through active participation in environmental campaigns, clean-up drives, and speaking out against destructive mining. She also lends spiritual and emotional support at Facenda da Esperança, a faith-based recovery center for people battling addiction (in Masbate and Naga City).
In 2009, she established Hope Day Care Center in Carolina, Naga City, funded largely through her personal resources, to provide free early childhood education to children from the poorest families. There, children are welcomed into a safe space where they receive proper care, nourishment, and the gift of learning.
Ma’am Becky continues to extend her care by helping organize formation sessions, supporting trauma response efforts in schools affected by crises such as the Bicol floods, and serving as a trusted guide to many in her community. She knows of where she speaks, herself a survivor of military persecution. She says her own “trauma was made bearable, and the healing came in due time by the grace of the community of kindred spirits.”
Dr. Rebecca shows us that true greatness in Catholic education isn’t about titles. It’s in the quiet, consistent service of those who lead with love and integrity every day.
For this, CEAP proudly honors her with the Catholic School Hero Award — a well-deserved recognition for a woman who has touched many lives in simple but powerful ways.
The header features an image capture of Ma’am Becky in front of the ADNU Four Pillars (credit: CEAP Channel)
More about Ma’am Becky
Dr. Rebecca C. Torres of Sto. Domingo, Albay and Naga City has a Bachelor’s degree magna cum laude and a Master’s degree from Silliman University, and a doctorate in Psychology from the Ateneo de Manila University. She was a member of the Board of Trustees of Silliman University for two terms, 2003-2011. She served as faculty, chairperson, Graduate School Dean, and Academic Vice-President for 13 years at the Ateneo de Naga University where she also became director of the Social Science Research Center and co-founded the Center for Psychological Services and the Center for Local Governance. She published “The Politics of Abnormal Psychology in the Philippines” in the Bikolnon journal and co-wrote a paper on concerns and proposed remedies on the General Education Curriculum. She did the series of Rapid Field Appraisal for the Associates in Rural Development (ARD), a five-year research project on the process of decentralization. Dr. Torres is presently Executive Assistant to the AdNU President and a volunteer formator at the Ignatian Formation Center and Office of Mission and Identity. She provides free psycho-spiritual services to support the families and graduates of a drug rehabilitation program as they re-enter society. She also helps run a free preschool for indigent children. She is currently with the ongoing Procedural Justice Research project. (source: bio-note from the book Mga Dasô: Stories of Martial law in Bikol. where Dr. Torres was a contributor)