Top 100 Cebuano Personalities - Josefina Rivera-Gullas

CEBU, Philippines — Known to many as Inday Pining, Josefina Rivera-Gullas was always supportive of her husband, Atty. Vicente Gullas, in starting and nurturing the school that eventually became the University of the Visayas (UV). She was the “mother” to the students of the school, doing the many little things that mothers naturally do for their children, including having big baskets of bread brought to the classrooms for the students to enjoy during school celebrations.

As she took the presidency of the university following the death of her co-founder husband in 1970, Inday Pining would be frequently seen in the school lobby talking to students. She’d be directly approached by students having a hard time paying their tuition fees. Also, like a real mother, she would readily call the attention of anyone, students and employees alike, who dressed up or acted inappropriately.

When the UV basketball team was formed, she saw to it that each player got his daily supply of multivitamins. Upon hearing that some players sometimes missed taking the pill, she started having the whole team line up at her residence nearby, and she herself would put the pill in their mouths. She’d tell them that “no one should be too busy so as to forget taking care of their bodies.”

Like the typical mother of old, Inday Pining was also so involved in the church, perhaps her way to encourage the growth of faith in the family, including her bigger family that was UV. The UV Boys Choir sang at Masses at the Cebu Cathedral. UV students joined religious processions in full force.

Inday Pining had sent young boys to the seminary and worked very closely with the local church leadership. She was given the “Medal of the Cross Papal Award” for her exemplary life as a Catholic and mother, a woman of good values and wisdom.

To this day, people who knew Inday Pining, especially those whose lives had been touched by her, share memories of her humble traits and generosity. She was a mother to all – stern at times, but very affectionate all the time.