Consul Cunanan (left) meeting with The Manila Times College President, Professor Isagani Cruz.

On November 7, Consul (a.h.) Thelmo Cunanan will sign as a witness to the Memorandum of Understanding between Caucasus University and The Manila Times College. This will be the FIRST such agreement between Philippine and Georgian journalism schools.

The MOU will cover exchanges of resources, academic papers, students and faculty, collaboration in curriculum development, and the establishment of a Philippine – Georgian online newspaper, to be run by students of each institution.

Located at its main campus in Intramuros Manila, the school is a private tertiaryinstitution and was founded in 2004. The Manila Times College was formerly named The Manila Times School of Journalism and maintains provincial campuses in Olongapo City and Pampanga. It is owned by The Manila Times newspaper (established 1898), the oldest newspaper in the Philippines.

Consul Cunanan earlier met with Dr. Isagani R. Cruz, the president of the college, and discussed possible academic agreements and Memorandums of Understanding (MOU) with journalism schools in Georgia. Dr. Cruz, a veteran multi-awarded print media practitioner and author, recognized the potential of partnerships with Georgia, given the media’s important role in the fast-developing democratic country. Consul  Cunanan, for his part, stressed that budding Georgian journalists could learn a lot from respected Philippine media organizations like The Manila Times, which have plenty of experience in the field.

The Consulate of Georgia, under the leadership of Consul Cunanan, has already established academic MOUs between Caucasus University, which is based in Tbilisi and is the leading educational institution in the region, and two leading Philippine schools—Lyceum of the Philippines University and San Sebastian College Recoletos.