19/07/2026
๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐: ๐๐ซ. ๐๐จ๐ฌ๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐ข๐ โ๐๐จ๐๐ฒโ ๐. ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฆ๐๐๐๐๐
It is with deepest sorrow and a heavy heart that the Philippine Society of Youth Science Clubs (PSYSC) Inc. announces the passing of our beloved Vice Chairperson for Internal Affairs, Dr. Jose Maria P. Balmaceda.
Dr. Joey was not just a brilliant mathematician and educator; he was a pillar of strength, wisdom, and guidance for the entire PSYSC family. Through his dedicated service, he championed the cause of STEM promotion among the Filipino youth, leaving an indelible mark on generations of young scientists, volunteers, and educators. His kindness, humility, and unwavering commitment to nurturing the next generation will forever inspire us in science clubbing advocacy.
During the 54th Anniversary of PSYSC last year, Doc Joey joyously shared to the ECATs (PSYSCโs volunteers) that it will be his last semester at the University of the Philippines (UP). The room erupted in a sorrowful sigh to which Doc Joey responded, giggling, that it is actually something to be happy about because he has finally reached the peak of his formal relationship with UP after 44 years. To be part of such a momentous milestone in Doc Joeyโs career was a privilege to witness for everyone in that hall.
โDoc Joeyโ, as the ECATs fondly called him, was a role model of unwavering presence and support. He consistently showed up, affirmed the efforts of the volunteers, and encouraged everyone to reach out to the Board of Trustees with whatever the volunteers needed. He emphasized that we are one with our aspirations for the organizationโPSYSCโs thrust to advance and promote the public understanding of Science, Technology and the Environment. Outside the organization, ECATs would also always see Doc Joey attend UAAP basketball games in support of UPโa refreshing experience seeing a familiar face in the crowd exemplifying camaraderie in the community.
In his speech during the 54th Anniversary Dinner, he left the attendees with words of wisdom and encouragement that everyone in that room will surely take with them forever. And those words we share to you that it should resonate with us all:
"๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ด๐ถ๐ค๐ค๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ ๐บ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ด ๐ญ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ด๐ต๐ถ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ด ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ค๐ญ๐ข๐ด๐ด๐ฎ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ท๐ข๐ญ๐ถ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ค๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐จ๐ฐ ๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ณโ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ข ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ.โ
And to the PSYSC volunteers, we bring with us his words that should continue to uplift us in our work to advance the science clubbing movement:
โ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ด๐ข๐บ, โ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฅ๐บ ๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ด๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ดโ. ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ตโ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ 54 ๐บ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ด ๐ข๐จ๐ฐ. ๐ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐ถ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ณ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ, ๐ธ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ด.โ
We extend our most heartfelt condolences and prayers to the Balmaceda family, his colleagues, friends, and loved ones during this incredibly difficult time.
Thank you, Dr. Joey, for a life dedicated to service, education, and the pursuit of knowledge. Your legacy will continue to live on in every young mind we touch.
Rest in peace, Sir. You will be dearly missed.
