Dela Cruz, Renato T. teaches at Ateneo de Manila University. Across 15 comments from students, they hold a rating of 4.1 out of 5. Of those comments, 12 read positive, 2 read mixed and 1 read neutral. They are listed for 3 sections this term.
Dela Cruz, Renato T.
Ateneo de Manila University · 15 comments
What students said
positive 12
neutral 1
mixed 2
negative 0
Dela Cruz, Renato T.4.1
Background
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Leans worth takingread from published reviews and public records · medium confidence
Take Dela Cruz for THEO 12 if you want an engaging, discussion-led lecturer who is described as chill, open, and A-able, and you can attend roll call, recite, argue clearly, and sit through quiz wording plus an NSTP-linked group critique. Lean away if you need a no-trick written exam or never speak in class. Sample is two writeups, so this is lean_take rather than take.
Suits
students who want a passionate THEO 12 with light reading
students willing to attend, recite, and argue on subjective work
students who can handle NSTP-linked group presentation critique
Look elsewhere if
students who need purely objective, trick-free quizzes
students who will not attend or never recite
students who cannot invest in the NSTP-linked group paper
MA · Lecturer III
Theology (pastoral ministry, spirituality of connectedness, interfaith dialogue, Catholic social vision)
Education
PhD (units) Organizational Development, Southeast Asia Interdisciplinary Institute
MA Pastoral Ministry, Our Lady of the Holy Angels Seminary
AB Philosophy and Sociology, Our Lady of the Holy Angels Seminary
Career
Lecturer III, Ateneo de Manila University · Department of Theology · current
ok!!
My review:
omg i love sir ato sm...had him for onsite last sem!
Very nice and understanding, makes jokes during the lessons and u will rly learn a lot from him pramis! I wud give up my arm to take sir ato again T◇T
On requirements:
- idk if it will still be the same since wala nang flex, but we had dboard reqs on canvas. they had deadlines and i made sure to always post on time, pero during the last weeks of the sem he urged those who havent posted to answer so he can grade them. he grades them usually before posting a new module.
- typical requirements stuff like writing in the canvas textbox submission thingy, mostly around 500 words, padlets, performance tasks (just asking for ur understanding n learnings!) and other joint reqs with nstp 11 like summative assessments
- one quiz lang. medyo tricky, but if u go over the canvas modules and some of ur onsite notes, kaya naman! online (gform) quiz siya pero like i said idk if ganun pa rin..
- get GOOD GROUPMATES!! it's what made both theo n nstp more fun for me
- final req, u could choose between group reporting, group paper, or group video presentation (my group did a podcast) the guidelines for it r pretty clear naman! again this is shared with nstp
- recite if u can! what prof doesn't love when students answer questions and share thoughts 🫶
On onsite class stuff:
- mabilis makakilala si sir ato, gulat aq he knows our names pretty soon (ig its a given for me since i was nstp 11 beadle n my close friend in that class was theo beadle)
- always attend class! his onsite lessons have valuable knowledge na minsan wala sa canvas
- if u can't attend class tho just tell him! he is v understanding oml
on teaching style:
- not d most religious person pero super naappreciate ko teaching style and ideas ni sir ato. he told us to have a more contemporary take on the bible, and to look at it in a modern lens na. and also to forget the old, traditional, medyo controversial/close-minded things that we could have been taught in CLE classes (as someone na homegrown catholic school girlie)
- always ALWAYS relates or brings into discussion societal issues. he is SO passionate abt societal issues and the philippines. his last canvas notice for us was wishing and praying for a better philippines as it's what we all deserve 🥹🫶
Overall: 100000/10 would take again! definitely A-able and super super nice. haaay if only he taught theo 13 too:(
former beadle can vouch for me! lovelovelove sir ato
P.S. life is a beautiful ride 👁👁 winkwink
's side:
Sir Ato is def just like what said:') very kind and understanding. Even as a beadle, I didn't have much to do aside from collecting index card information from online students and reminding sir about pahabol na announcements for the class. You can contact sir easily and he usually replies right away!!
Workload is really light too. He was the lightest load out of all my classes last sem and it really helped a lot:') Iirc, all of the major tasks (summative assessments) were by group. The group for NSTP and Theo are actually the same!
Sir is lenient too. Even if you pass your outputs late, there's not really much of a consequence for it kasi nga he's super understanding;-;
I loved his discussions and you can really see how passionate he is about the country. You'd really be encouraged and inspired in his class, no lies here. Sir Ato goated!!more
Noble Jay
Most passionate Theo 12 prof, exams from discussion
positive
CourseTHEO 12
Retake?Yes
4.0 attainableYes
WorkloadLight
Took him last year and he’s great!
Pros:
- most passionate Theo 12 prof ever. Converted by a near-death experience and goes out to communities to immerse with them
- hates on Filipino politicians but is not too conservative
- readings are minimal to none: all exams are based on class discussion
- accommodating with modality shift / deadlines
- subjective reqs are scored generously: so long as you argue well you’ll get a high grade (even if the answer is contrarian)
- subjective if this is a pro or a con: curves if he likes / remembers you (so please recite)
- On attendance: roll call at the start of class, if you miss it you can remind him after class so that you get marked as late. If you just came from PE, he will allow you to change as long as you give him a heads up.
- Grade expectation: you need to exert effort to get an A, but it is possible. Min B.
Cons:
- quizzes are quite tricky and often multiple choices seem correct
- if the class goes asynch, the replacement reqs tend to be heavy. Definitely prefer onsite to online for this class
- may deviate from the syllabus at times (suddenly nagkaroon ng group final paper which was not in the syllabus. But he did announce like a month ahead and our group only needed to trim stuff from our presentation, unlike other groups who had to make up new things)
- subjective if this is a pro or a con: beadling is magis, no distinct advantages
Tips:
- Since Theo 12 and NSTP 11 involve lots of groupworks, get good groupmates in your area excursion since they’ll be your groupmates for literally all reqs. You need good chemistry; if you can’t work with someone, fix it
- Speedwrite please (he doesn’t explicitly ban devices but he does implicitly prefer pen-and-paper) since your notes need to be comprehensive to ace the quizzes
- don’t overthink
- Balance theological and sociological concepts in any subjective output. The common mistake is groups tend to forget about the theology and focus on just being cura personalis. Out of all the groups that presented, ours was the one with the deepest theological part, and so he loved our presentation. Of course, you also need the social part, otherwise it completely misses the point of the class. So yes, please balance all pastoral circle elements.
Good luck!more
Quiet Yak
Great, passionate; prefer onsite over async busywork
positive
Long story short, he is a great professor and you will learn a lot from him. In fact, I took him during second semester SY 2024-2025, and he truly is great.
He is one of the most passionate Theology professors I have experienced, though he can dabble on politics when he can. That's not to say that he is conservative though.
Modality-wise, I would say though that he is the type of professor where you would really prefer to have a synchronous (onsite) session rather than an asynchronous one. The main reason is that he will ALMOST CERTAINLY assign an activity during that time which involves writing a reflection paper about an assigned video, and it must be done during the actual class period. His synchronous sessions are more on the discussion side, and there is almost little to no readings involved as he said it himself that he does not assign any.
His quizzes are pretty tricky and more often than not, the multiple-choice questions seem to be ambiguous even if you go off of your notes. Though if you listened to his discussion and took plenty of notes, you will manage. We had both onsite and online quizzes, and an on-site midterm exam AFAIK. I forgot if we had a final exam.
He is also very accommodating with deadlines and shift in modality. Regarding tardiness/attendance, just make sure you inform him ahead of time of any circumstances that will let you be late (i.e. PE class before that, coming from Bel, etc). If he marks you as absent but you are just tardy, just approach him and he will decide. He is considerate in grading even if your answers stray somewhat far away from the actual discussion, just as long as you do not spew BS. So long as you argue your points well, you’ll get a high grade.
I got a B+ as a final grade from him, but an A is possible if you exert some more effort and recite!
I remember our groups are based on what we chose for our sector in NSTP Punla, and I'm thankful for my groupmates. So, just make sure that you coordinate with your groupmates and they do the same since both NSTP and Theo will have assessments which involve groupworks!
I am offering my notes from his class if you want, though I am selling them at a price 🤗more
All comments
Mellow Heron
Easy A with a bit of effort, chill but boring
mixed
4.0 attainableYes
WorkloadLight
sir ato dela cruz is an easy a with a bit of effort. he's super chill and lax, pretty understanding, with no orals at all. but, he's boring— so you won't really learn anything in his class. not a mindblowing class by any means. its like a highschool religion classmore
Noble Kite
Relatively easy A: few quizzes, then a major paper
mixed
Retake?Yes
4.0 attainableYes
WorkloadLight
if you want a (relatively) easy A, go for sir ato dela cruz! iirc, we only had 2 or 3 quizzes (which were super study-able!) then a major paper/presentation tied to our NSTP. con: he’s lowk monotonous at times but then maybe that’s just me having a short attention span at 8 AM (at bel pa!) he’s not a “he changed my life” prof but i still learned a lot :) theo wasn’t a problem for me because of himmore
Brave Quail
60-40 theology and social, and he curves
positive
4.0 attainableYes
LeniencyYes
Took him last year second sem but my thoughts are exactly the same. Just to add, as long as you’re able to balance the theological part and social part (around a 60-40 split), you’ll get a good score on essays. He also curves, though getting a good grade is possible even without it.more
Golden Robin
positive
Best!
Anonymous
He doesn’t curve
He doesn’t curve
Hidden Wolf
Solid prof, easy lectures, light workload, funny
positive
WorkloadLight
taking him rn! he’s a pretty solid prof!! sir’s lectures are pretty easy to follow and he posts the ppts naman. pretty light workload rin, since he paired a lot of reqs with nstp. however, when sessions are asynchronous, he assigns at most 2 activities due the same day. sir’s also very funny so that’s a plus!!more
Happy Heron
Easy B+ to A! Take his class
positive
Retake?Yes
4.0 attainableYes
LeniencyYes
Easy B+ to A!
Take his class! We had a mix of objective and essay-type quizzes. He didn’t record the last quiz, but he gave us the option to use it to replace one of our lowest quiz scores. He sometimes shares conservative views, but it’s not a big deal! HAHAHAmore
Hidden Viper
Manageable load; made the final quiz optional extra credit
positive
WorkloadLight
I got him during the second semester of SY 2023-2024. He sometimes calls on students in class and his workload is manageable. He made what was supposed to be our final online quiz optional; students who chose to take it received additional points.more
Icy Wolf
Best Theo 12 prof, sweet and engaging
positive
CourseTHEO 12
The best Theo 12 Prof! Super sweet and talagang engaging ang discussions 🫶
Got an A for Theo 12 for him.
He has profound insights and I think he's an engaging lecturer.
He's also chill and approachable.
When it comes to theology and beliefs he is also very open.
Iirc we had 2 onsite quizzes, then 2-3 online ones. Despite getting an A I found his quizzes a kind of difficult as there are lots of trick questions and things to remember.
You will have a group paper and presentation tied to your NSTP11. And after watching your presentation he will politely and kindly grill you with his criticism.
He posts his ppt on canvas.more
Anonymous
B+ or A is not difficult if you keep up
neutral
CourseNSTP11
Retake?Yes
4.0 attainableYes
LeniencyYes
WorkloadMedium
Got a B+/which is quite solid.
Attendance policies are very strict but tardiness with a valid reason is considered.
The quiz is conducted onsite once while the rest are all online.
There is a group PPT presentation related to NSTP11.
There are several assignments and discussions.
The lessons are conducted using PPT and the files are later uploaded to Canvas.
If you keep up with the class well, getting a B+ or A is not difficultmore
