Charo Santos is now Dr. Charo Santos-Concio
MANILA -- Former ABS-CBN president, actress and TV host Charo Santos-Concio has been granted a Doctor of Humanities (Honoris Causa) by her alma mater St. Paul University Manila.
This honorary doctorate was given to Santos-Concio for her exemplary leadership in Philippine media and communication.
The certificate handed to Santos-Concio cited her "pioneering role as president and CEO of the media network, and enduring contribution to value-based storytelling in cinema and television."
"A distinguished alumna and a true Paulinian, she embodies the university's core values of Christ-centeredness, charity, integrity, humility, excellence and truth," it added.
In an interview with ABS-CBN News, Santos-Concio said this is a surreal moment in her life. She is the first alumna that has been granted by this honorary doctorate degree.
"Overwhelmed, humbled and grateful. My gosh, I'm still having my firsts at this stage of my life," she said.
She added, "I carried the values that I learned from my school years here and of course from my childhood I carry those values as I go through life."
Santos-Concio dedicated this milestone to her late husband.
"He has given me, shown me, unconditional love, a lot of support, I honor him with this. And, of course, to my parents, 'cause all the values started from home," she said.
After her conferment, Santos-Concio delivered an inspiring speech encouraging fresh graduates who attended the commencement exercise, to have grit and grace to achieve growth in life.
"I hope I was able to inspire a lot of our young students to pursue their goals, to stay focused on their goals, to just dream on. But never, never forget that there is no substitute for hardwork, for commitment and dedication. To stay true to themselves. There's nothing like being authentic in this noisy world," she said.
Santos-Concio is booked and busy with promotional activities, left and right, for her upcoming movie "Only We Know" and she extends her thanks to the rave reviews and positive reactions that her drama anthology "Maalaala Mo Kaya" has been receiving from its first four episodes.