Corporate lawyer Atty. Santiago T. Gabionza Jr., a proud son of Bato, Catanduanes, was recently given a special award by the Ateneo de Manila Law Alumni Association, Inc. (ALAAI).
The current member of the Catanduanes State University Board of Regents received the 2025 Special Recognition Award as Alumnus Dean of Ateneo Law School for being the dean of the CatSU College of Law since 2024.
“The ALAAI recognizes the gargantuan task of being a law school dean and the challenge of bringing his law school to the next level,” it stated during the awarding ceremonies held on the occasion of its grand alumni homecoming last October 23, 2025.
It emphasized that the association takes pride in Gabionza’s representing their alma mater, Ateneo de Manila University, through his deanship.
The veteran lawyer was also elected as 2025 Life Fellows of the ADMU along with 19 others, by the Institute of Corporate Directors.
An advocate of good corporate governance, the Institute consists of a pool of individuals who can serve as independent directors for both listed and non-listed corporations.
A founding partner of the Villanueva Gabionza & Dy law firm, he once served as consultant to the House of Representatives, the National Irrigation Administration and the Department of Public Works and Highways.
In 2012, he was the Centennial Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the Philippines.
Atty. Gabionza obtained his Bachelor of Arts-Economics degree from the Colegio de San Juan de Letran (Summa Cum Laude) in 1977 and his Bachelor of Laws Degree from Ateneo de Manila Law School (Second Honors, Silver Medal) in 1981.
He sat for the Philippine Bar Examinations in November, 1981 and was admitted to the Bar in 1982.