Yes, I am a full-blooded Ilocano (FBI), birthplace Asingan, Pangasinan; Ferdinand “FM” Marcos was an FBI himself, birthplace Sarrat, Ilocos Norte. Yes, I do declare: As President of the Philippines, “Ni FM, awan mangabak” – FM was unbeatable, matchless, supreme.
He didn’t know me from Adam, although he hid from the Japanese once in our hometown during World War 2, as one of his relatives, Angela Valdez got married to one of Asingan’s distinguished gentlemen, Narcisco Ramos, who protected him from the Japanese and/or secret enemies.
Nevertheless, I owe FM much – I owe him my lifetime career as a science writer and an Editor In Chief!
No, he did not know me from Adam, but he created the Forest Research Institute (FORI) out of the research arm of the Bureau of Forest Development (BFD), 19 December 1974 and 4 months later, FORI hired me 16 April 1975, later to become Chief Information Officer (CIO),
I could not have entered the world of science and communication if FM did not create FORI by presidential decree!
Among other things: FM united and masterminded the Asean. He started the Philippines into the geothermal energy circuit. He created our country’s august bodies of science, including the Department of Science & Technology (DoST), and Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquaculture & Natural Resources Research & Development (PCAARRD). Today, DoST & PCAARRD dominate research universe.
In FORI began to blossom my communication career – awan mangabak! As CIO, I fathered and edited the monthly newsletter Canopy, quarterly technical journal Sylvatrop, and quarterly color magazine Habitat. How good was I as writer, editor and publisher? I never missed a deadline – and this was in the Age of Dinosaurs (giant typewriters), with commercial printing presses needing 1 week to print a newsletter. Those publications earned for FORI people a reputation for being scholarly and/or knowledgeable, as well as foresters and agriculturists who cared for the forests and the people.
From 1975 to 1981, I grew in reach and results in Communication for Development (ComDev), the theory of which I fashioned inside FORI and published in the 2ndissue of Habitat, December 1980. I presented ComDev as entirely different from the Theory of Development Communication as expounded by UP College of Agriculture (UPCA) professor Nora C Quebral of the UPCA DevCom Department.
I am a BS Agriculture graduate, major in Ag Edu, Civil Service Professional 1964, graduate of UP '65. I am a self-taught writer, editor and photographer – today, digitally armed to the teeth. And yes, my communication career all began when FM created FORI and FORI took me in, via Technical Services Division Chief Pete Bueno. Salamuch!
FM also created among other bodies UP Los Baños (UPLB) from UP College of Agriculture, and the many first state colleges & universities (SCUs), among others Mindanao State University (1968), Bicol University (1969), Mariano Marcos State University (1978), and Pangasinan State University (1979).
Meanwhile, the many SCUs in the Philippines, awan mangabak – if they wake up from their slumber, they will benefit much from ComDev, including #1 UP Los Baños!@517
No comments:
Post a Comment