Completing the 7th, Beginning the 8th

 

It’s Been a Great Journey

Yesterday, May 30^th, was conceptually 24 hours of continuous flow of mental, emotional, and physical activities to complete the last day of my seventh decade.  Today, I’m beginning my first day of the eighth.  In actuality, though, I have always considered my birthday like any other day of the year, as I have all other special days of the year, but yesterday was really mostly reminiscing, and telling one’s self, “I should have done this,” or “I shouldn’t have done this, at all,” or “I’m elated I did that!”, or “I could have done this” and that.   Whew! What 70 years these past have been.  In all candidness, it has been an exhilarating journey from very humble beginnings with Spartan upbringing remaining to be so until today. Financially I’ve been running to stay in place, but I haven’t complained much.  I have considered each year as a year of fulfillment and pleasant memories.  There are no reasons to complain.  I deserve what I got, and I’m not now claiming I should have gotten what could’ve not been mine.

The last three decades of my professional life I have devoted, together with esteemed colleagues, to the birth, growth, and development of distance education in the Philippines, including doing work that hopefully contributed to the firm existence the U.P. Open University.  To say the least, I have enjoyed my association with the UPOU.  It was at UPOU that I had real opportunities to spread wings that have mostly been kept within permissible bounds in previous years.   Of course, not all went with precise absoluteness according to my ideas but I feel I was able to contribute even little things that made some difference in the growth of the institution and the people that made it work.

The other day, 28^th May, when UPOU gave me a testimonial (a sure sign that I’m really retired), I had mixed feelings; I was pleased but with a tinge of frustration.  Pleased, because I was able to get members of the organization to work as a team and did some splendid work during the most difficult times of the institution.  And frustrated because I feel I hadn’t done quite enough to quicken the pace at which the UPOU could have developed both physically and substantially.  I am pleased, however, that the UPOU Family has continued to work magnificently as a team, not to my credit but to the credit of Chancellor Gigi Alfonso who took over the reigns of governance immediately after my second term ended on February 28, 2007.  I’m pleased to note, too, that under the very able leadership of Chancellor Gigi, the cadence at which UPOU has expanded, grown, and developed has continually quicken.  Now, as a retired member of the organization, I’m probably unnecessarily, even unprofessionally, partaking of the successes of others in the life of the UPOU.

 

Dr. Prime Garcia and Thennie Mariano hosted the program.  Good pair.

It was a great and pleasant surprise that my son, Al, or King, as he is known in the family, performed in the Testimonial.  He has very greatly improved one of his crafts.   Thank you, son.

Dr. Pat Arinto, Dean of the Faculty of Education.  She was my dean, but I did not serve FEd well.  Sorry about that, folks.  I liked the poem from FEd. 

Amy Perez and Ethel Sibal exchanging pleasantries at my expense.

Thanks, OVCAA, for the cake.

I’m Still Game for Certain Interests

Obviously, it’s a bit difficult to dwell on things that have transpired as I won’t be able to rectify those that need to be rectified, but let’s see what we might still be able to do.   One of the things that I really want to do the remaining years of my life is do some kind of a diversity census of my province – Batanes, particularly my town of Itbayat, which has not seen the simplest of scientific exploration.  As I’m neither a botanist nor a zoologist, I certainly need assistance from the experts.  My problem is that I have no idea how to get this kind of activity funded and I haven’t the means to do this on my own.  Are there souls out there of pure intentions about the generation of new scientific knowledge willing to look into this idea? 

There are other things that I’d like to do, such as doing a national study of the state of DE in this country.  Part of this could be the establishment of a benchmark on the real state of knowledge about distance education and e-learning among “experts” and practitioners in the country.  I think there are far too many “pretenders” in this industry today.  Simply because they have some knowledge of some gadgetry they think they’re experts in e-learning.  These are the charlatans of DE and e-learning.  I feel they are a big insult to those who really are trying hard to raise the level of understanding and discourse about distance education and e-learning in the Philippines. 

Chancellor Gigi Alfonso and her team at UPOU need others to do the simple, administrative kind of work so that they may be able to continue focusing deeper into the conceptual and theoretical aspects of DE and e-Learning in the Philippines and continue building the body of knowledge of ODeL that remains thin, particularly in this country.   

Then, there’s this lecture circuit.  Old folks love to talk.  I’m no exception.  Hence, I’d love to go to the “lecture circuit” disseminating information on distance education, development communication, graduate research and thesis writing, and the like. 

How about writing a book?  Well, it’s a good idea.  That depends on the topic and the environment, I suppose.  To put things into proper perspective, I’d say I’ve done some blunder in this department.  For example, the book that my friend Dr. Gino Ables and I started work on years back – history of development communication in the Philippines -- remains unfinished largely because I’ve been unable to deliver.  Frankly, I’ve become uncomfortable writing about the topic in recent years.  Too much has gotten into the way.  Now, I believe Gino has given up on me on this one.  Sorry about that Gino.  Get some one more reliable as partner on this particular project.  Unlike in the past when we started out in the field, I’m no longer game for this specific project for personal reasons due precisely to the topic itself and the environment that surrounds it now.  People will, of course, understand that I’m more into ODeL today.

In all Candidness

During the testimonial on my behalf,  there were many pleasant words expressed, some with profuse and some with veiled sincerity.  Just the same, I appreciate all that were said.  I feel profound happiness that I heard those accolades, if one could call them that, while I could still appreciate them and not when I would have been unable to hear them myself.  Others would probably not feel similarly as those I have had direct working contact with over the years of my professional life, but that’s their problem.

Let me take this opportunity to thank all those souls who’ve touched my life in the past.  There are far too many to mention, but I suppose it’s all right to say that my former teachers and former students have a special place in my heart.  My interaction with them have enriched my professional life to the fullest.

Of course, on the top of my list are those of my immediate family who have never given up on me.  Their importance to me is so unfathomable

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Trivia Updates From UPOU

Hanceana Palms at UPOU Oblation Park

On the small 20 hectare campus near the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), along the National Highway cutting through the boundary of Los Baños and Bay in Laguna, stand the UPOU Headquarters (Los Baños, Laguna).  Within the UPOU Oblation Park, between the UPOU Administration Bldg. and the National Highway, are 28 fully grown hanceana palms, scientifically called Phoenix loureirii var. hanceana, a palm endogenous to Batanes.  In Batanes, this palm is called voyavoy, which the Ivatans use to make the Ivatan headgear called suot, used by women as protection against the sun and the rain. 

These voyavoy plants were grown from seeds that I pocketed when I was in Itbayat as Graduation Speaker in the agricultural high school there in 2004.  I recall that, while waiting at the airfield in Itbayat for the aircraft from Basco to pick us up, I felt a little hungry and looked around for voyavoy that had ripen fruits.  The fruit of voyavoy is green when young, orange when matured, and black-purple when ripened.   I spotted nearby one that had plenty of ripened fruits.  Eating some of the fruit, I also pocketed many ripened fruits.  In Los Baños, I dutifully germinated them and l;et them be for about a couple of years.   I donated all the seedlings to the UPOU (I was still UPOU Chancellor, then).  Today, There are 28 plants, of fruiting age, around the UPOU Oblation Park.  Strangely, those plants at the UPOU Oblation Park do not bear the right fruit that is edible.

Normally, the edible voyavoy fruit is single-seeded.  Of the 28, only one has this characteristic.   The rest have two-seeded fruits, which do not mature, much less ripen; they just dry up.  But the plants at the UPOU Oblation Park are healthy.

Those who wish to see a real voyavoy or hanceana palm are welcome to visit the UPOU Oblation Park where grown-up palms may be inspected and enjoyed.   The Oblation Park, by the way, is ideal for photo-ops.  You’ll never see a more beautiful UP Oblation compared to the UPOU Oblation, standing majestically at the center of a four-hectare open space along the National Highway between Los Baños and Bay in Laguna, with a legendary mountain range comprised of Mt. Makiling and Mt. Banahaw and the small mountains between them as panoramic background.

 

Recycled Ceramics for Park Benches

While talking about the UPOU, you’ll find some interesting pieces of work behind the Administration Building.  This is part of the “greening of UPOU.”  What may be found at the back of the building is a landscaped area planted to different ornamental palms and flowering trees.   Under these palms and trees are concrete benches with very interesting posts or stands or legs, which are ceramics that used to be toilet bowls and urinals.  Printed grey, they look like concrete that match the benches.  They actually look beautiful.  Come to think of it: the UPOU has recycled all the toilet bowls and urinals that were replaced.

Come around and see for yourselves.  You might learn a thing or two from the UPOU. 

These are discarded urinals, in case you are unable to decipher what they are.

 LED Tubes Now Light UPOU Offices and Hallways

The UPOU has also installed new light fixtures.  The old ones were large tandems of fluorescent tubes (40 watts each).  What were installed were fixtures with only single, thinner LED tubes rated 28 watts each, naturally consuming much less electricity.  They’re brighter, too.  Heard this is a project of the Department of Energy, and we got it free.  Well, they’re doing something right there.

The light fixture inside UPOU Library was changed.  Ity is now brighter inside, but the lamps consume less energy.  UPOU could save on electrical expenses, and such savings are expected to be huge amounts.

They'll be changing the light fixtures in my office shortly.  I have been informed.

DComm Orientation Program

16-17 May are the dates for the Orientation Program of the Doctor of Communication Program.  This year, the DComm Program admitted 28 new students.  Previously admitted applicants number 57, so right now the total number of admitted applicants to the Doctor of Communication Program at UPOU stands at 85.  For a four-year old program, 85 seems like a large student population, which it is considering that this is a doctorate program.

We expect to be able to graduate three or four this year, which means we shall have our first DComm graduates join UPOU Graduation Ceremonies in May 2014.  Let’s just cross our fingers on this. 

Entrants to the DComm Program keep on increasing.  There’s also an increasing number of inquiries from foreigners.  We do have on-going DComm students who are foreign nationals.

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