Walk for excellence

While Manilans seem obsessed, or rather, are made to suffer from the endless tirades and maneuverings of politicians and power grabbers on television and in print media, the provincial folk go about the increasingly difficult business of staying alive. Yes Virginia, there are those who quietly hope that things will make a turn for the better.

The sight of marchers walking for a cause last Monday – not for putting down government officials but for building up homes one day, was refreshing. The seven-kilometer walk took place in Midsayap, Cotabato, with the entire academic community of Southern Christian College walking seven kilometers to the Ilbocean farm where four hectares of land will be converted to the SCC Ecology Village for faculty and staff without any home lots.

The marchers did not complain about marching under a scorching sun. They were singing and doing a jig or two along the way. The students contributed P10 each, and the faculty and staff P50 each to start the campaign to raise funds for SCC’s Great Pioneers Hall. Those amounts are not small in the rural area, mind you, especially during these hard times.

The march was an activity marking the 56th foundation anniversary of SCC (August 1-7). Highlight of the celebration will be the inauguration tomorrow of the Great Pioneers’ Hall, a structure intended for the advancement of science education and liberal arts. It is dedicated to the founders and members of the original board of trustees, missionaries, and administrators of the college after whom speech labs, classrooms and several offices will be named after.

SCC was established in 1949 in Midsayap, once made up of lonely rawlands. Founders of the school included Bishop Proculo A. Rodriguez, Atty. Florentino L. Martinez, Bibiano B. Quinones, officers of the Christian Women’s Auxilliary (named Dorcas Society in the earlier days), and Prof. Guillermo Trinidad Magdamo.

Their selfless dedication to the growth of the Protestant school entitles the people who had helped build the college a mention in this column. Many of them had been friends of my parents, who contributed their own time to the work of the Lord in other places in Mindanao. These pioneers were :Prof. Guy and Elizabeth Thelin, Rev. William and Lucy Olson, Alice E. Cary, Dick V. Fagan, Dr. Samuel A. Royola, Apolinario Corpuz, Rev. Benjamin M. Cabras, Rev. Angel J. Alvaro, Rev. Diosdado G. Magdamo, Capt. Isabelo F. Lagmay, Emilio L. Abarico, Elton Brown, Juan Cruzado, Josefina Dasig, Fernando de la Cerna, Clemente Demafeliz, Rev. Claudio F. Fajardo, Rev. Crispin F. Faune, Rev. Filomeno Honorario, Rev. Apolonio Salanga, Rev. Manuel J. Villanueva Sr., and Eleuteria C. Rodriguez.

The first activity in the Hall is the first sustainable agriculture farmers’ summit being held at the Bishop Proculo and Eleuteria Rodriguez Room which can accommodate 150 persons. At the hall is a mural depicting the life of the early pioneers of Mindanao, the Manobo and the Maguindanaoan Bangsamoro Peoples receiving the early Christian migrant settlers from Luzon and Visayas.

The hall is far from finished. SCC President Erlinda N. Senturias, says a hollow block campaign ranging from P10 up has just been started, and she calls on the kind-hearted to make donations towards the completion of the building and furnishing it with state-of-the-art science equipment.

During the first day of festivities, Dr. Senturias, president of SCC for nine years already, gave a convocation address revolving around the founder’s day theme, "United for Excellent Service to the People." She drew on lessons from the book of Nehemiah. Let me mention one of the five points she addressed:

"Excellence in serving the people begins with an honest conversation with God of the crisis we are facing. When Nehemiah heard about the assault on the wall and gates of his ancestral land, Jerusalem and the troubled state of the people, he wept and was very sorrowful. He turned to God and confessed his sin and that of his family and people. He knew that it was only God who can redeem a penitent people. He prayed that he would be given the authorization to return to his homeland."

Dr. Senturias said that Nehemiah actually returned to help rebuild the wall of Jerusalem and "to restore the honor and dignity of his people. He did not escape at a time of crisis. He actually went in the midst of the crisis situation."

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This afternoon, the coffee table book "Nandaragupan: The Story of a Coastal City and Dagupan Bangus," will be launched at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

The book traces the origin of the now prosperous city of Dagupan from its humble beginnings of Bagnotan. I have not read nor seen the book, but it has been heralded as capturing Dagupan’s early rustic life and transformation into a cosmopolitan metropolis of the north. It is published by the Dagupan City Heritage Commission (DCHC) and is a collaborative endeavor of Dagupeno writers and photographers.

DCHC chair Carmen Melecio-Prieto says the book launch is designed as a mechanism to raise funds for heritage conservation. A special edition of the book in a silver box, with a certificate of donation, will be released ruing the launch, she says.

Dagupan City Mayor Benjamin S. Lim disclosed that the city government envisions a heritage conservation program which includes the restoration of some heritage sites such as the West Central Elementary School Main Building, West Central Home Economics Building, the City Hall and the Philippine National Railways Dagupan Station. The mayor is grateful that the project is being endorsed by the CCP.

Several sons of the province of Pangasinan have become famous. One of them is Speaker Jose de Venecia. Then there are Bureau of Immigration and Deportation chief Alipio Fernandez, Gov. Victor Agbayani and Vice Gov. Oscar Duran – all of whom are expected to attend the book launch. Expected to attend, too, are Trade and Industry Secretary Peter Favila and Tourism Secretary Ace Durano.

Dagupan’s famous fish, bangus, will take center stage as Dagupan artists perform Gilon! Gilon ed Dalan (bangus harvest street dancing competition). Dagupan-based restaurants such as Bangus Fiesta, Café du Marc, Jam Sweet Jam, Dagupena and plato wraps will be served to give the audience samplings of 101 Ways to Cook Bangus. An audio-visual presentation of the Bangus Festival 2005 will be shown this afternoon.

The book editor, Maria Carmen Melecio-Prieto, Dagupan-born, of course, took up retail management at the San Francisco Institute of Design and Merchandising, and upon her return to the Philippines, studied export development at the Asian Institute of Management. She then set up Shells in Bloom, a business exporting shells made into flowers. She won for the company the Department of Trade’s Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM) award for Best Product Line in 1990.

She has studied decorative arts in San Francisco and Paris, and she now pursues a career in painting and teaches a short course on decorative arts at the Ayala Museum in Makati.

Ms. Prieto sits as chair of the Dagupan City Heritage Commission and as director for museums of the Metro Dagupan Culture and Arts Council.

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Some really funny stuff is being circulated by text messages re the goings-on around us. Here’s one: "Hindi totoo na si Louie Zuce was separated at birth sa kanyang kambal, Jinggoy Estrada."

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My e-mail:[email protected]