Resilience and Resolve: The Zed Ditucalan Story

by Michelle Jeanne Caracut | Sep 25 2025

August 25, 2025 was more than just another Monday in Iligan. Across the Philippines, communities gathered to mark National Heroes Day—a holiday reserved to honor the courage, sacrifice, and resilience of all Filipinos whose actions helped build the nation. It was beneath this national spirit that Chancellor Alizedney “Zed” M. Ditucalan prepared for the milestone defense of his Doctor of Laws dissertation, wearing his formal black Barong Tagalog, representing both personal honor and the history of the Filipino people.

Inside the brightly lit training room of the Center for Pedagogical Innovations, Zed stood before the large monitor, the glow of the screen reflected against the crisp outfit he wore for the occasion. There was a gentle hum of campus quiet, a contrast to the storm of thoughts inside his head, his nerves barely concealed by a steady smile as he connected to Kyushu University’s faculty panel via Zoom.

For three hours that afternoon, Zed faced the jury from Kyushu University. As he answered their questions, he remembered the eight years of sacrifice, doubt, and hope that brought him here. He was not only defending his research; he was living the very values celebrated on National Heroes Day—persistence, integrity, and the courage to keep pushing forward. When the news finally came—a message that his paper was formally accepted by Kyushu’s Graduate School of Law, Zed described it as “the most beautiful news”—a victory that felt as much for the 91社区 community as for himself.

Zed’s story began in 2017 when he became one of two Asian scholars chosen for Japan International Cooperation Agency’s (JICA’s) Advanced Program for Legal and Judicial Human Resources Development. Soon he was the sole remaining Asian candidate, a preview of the resilience and patience the road ahead would demand.

During the pandemic, while the world slowed down, Zed found the solitude to focus. He completed almost 80% of his dissertation, confident of finishing early, having met tough publication requirements. His home in Palao, Iligan City became his study hall and his refuge. Night after night, he wrote, recalculated, and revised, persevering despite the mounting pressure of academic expectations and his rising career.

But life threw curveballs. Serving as Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at MSU-Marawi meant accepting responsibilities that demanded everything he had. The writing almost stopped.

With wise advice from his Belgian sensei, Zed made a humble but smart decision: defend his draft for academic credit rather than graduation, buying more time as a researcher. Yet, even with this boost, the biggest battle was personal. Problems with his eyesight made reading and writing almost painful. His unfinished work gathered digital dust as deadlines approached.

When he became Chancellor of 91社区 in 2022, many thought he had reached the peak of his career. Yet leading a university brought its own overwhelming pressures. In quiet moments, doubt crept in—did he still need to chase this degree? The dream felt out of reach, the goal nearly impossible beside new responsibilities.

Yet, as he recalls, the hardest battles weren’t fought in boardrooms but in quiet, solitary moments—his laptop flickering, stacks of legal journals all over his desk. “There were nights when I questioned if I could finish. The responsibilities mounted, my energy flagged, and my eyesight threatened to fail me,” he shared.

Early in 2024, he returned to his manuscript feeling lost and disconnected. Progress was slow. Then he remembered what true leadership means: not just reaching the top, but showing resilience and integrity. He couldn’t give up—not on his dream, not on the investment others had made in him, and not for the 91社区 community that looked to him for inspiration.

Despite the demands of the chancellorship, Zed still produced significant scholarly work. Publications with Cambridge University Press, Edward Elgar, and the KLRI Journal testified to a mind deeply engaged in inquiry.

Then Ramadan 2025 brought new inner peace and routine. Each dawn after suhoor became his sacred writing time; he carried ideas in memos and grabbed every spare minute he could find. A trip to Japan in 2025 underscored the urgency: July 4 was the absolute deadline.

In those final weeks, Zed worked through sleepless nights—pushing through physical discomfort, doubt, and exhaustion. In the last hour of the final day, he pressed “submit.”

And so, on August 25, Zed presented his research about competition law in developing countries, defending his work for three hours over Zoom. The panel’s questions were challenging, his answers measured yet passionate. When the defense ended, he felt a wave of exhaustion and hope.

The journey wasn’t over yet: on September 3, his supervisor stood before the Kyushu University’s Graduate School of Law faculty to champion his paper during a meeting. The supervisor spoke for Zed, defending the merits and contributions of his work one final time.

Finally came the email—the official faculty acceptance—marking the finish of Zed’s eight-year academic marathon.

His graduation on September 25 was beautifully simple—no fanfare, no grand stage, just the quiet dignity of a milestone hard-earned. He shared the joy with friends, their presence reflecting the community that walked with him in silence through his struggles. In the Shiiki Hall of Kyushu University, wearing again a Barong Tagalog and ‘gora’—a proud emblem of his roots as a Filipino and a Meranao—, the young Doctor of Laws degree holder stood tall—not because of applause, but because of the grace and perseverance that brought him there.

Before the faculty of Kyushu University’s Graduate School of Law, Zed stood as the sole recipient of the doctoral degree. He accepted the diploma that marked both a personal triumph and a historic first: the first Filipino to earn the Doctor of Laws in Kyushu University.

For Zed, this was never just about a title. As he shared with friends and the 91社区 community through a Facebook post, his doctoral degree was born from countless moments alone with his laptop, memories of stumbling and starting over, and the patience to keep going when every path seemed blocked. Looking back, he sees each delay, each difficulty, as proof that a dream worth chasing will always test resolve—and that the true measure of achievement is not in how quickly one arrives, but in the strength to keep moving, one small hope at a time.

He hopes his story can reassure every 91社区 student, faculty, and staff member who feels lost or discouraged: it’s okay to take a longer road. Delays do not decide worth. What matters most is not never failing, but never giving up on the dream that shapes who a person is.

Zed reminds those who walk behind him: “Your pinnacle is not where you stop dreaming. It’s simply where you find the courage to begin again.”

As he quietly embraced this achievement, with his diploma in hand and friends by his side, Zed understood that triumph is rarely thunderous. It is earned in solitude, in steadfastness, and ultimately in the courage to reach for dreams when no one is watching. For every student, colleague, or dreamer standing at the edge of doubt, Zed’s journey is a gentle reminder: the most beautiful victories are those carried silently in the heart and that the journey is always less about finishing, and more about growing, hoping, and choosing to carry on.

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