PROFILES MEN AND WOMEN OF UPLB Edited by PAZ EULALIA L. SAPLALA • TERESITA C. VIVAS • PAUL B. ZAFARALLA

A UPLB DIAMOND JUBILEE PUBLICATION

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Paz Eulalia L. Saplala Teresita C. Vivas Paul B. Zafaralla

Rogelio V. Cuyno

Mary Edel S. Guzman

Ma. Christina Abad Remedios Z. Miciano Juan Eugenio Y. Arcellana Antonio G. Moran Thelma S. Cruz Marina Omaois Pacifico D. Espanto Ma. Lulu Rodriguez Leonora M. Fajutagana Paz Eulalia L. Saplala Rodolfo A. Fernandez Aurora F. Simpliciano Priscilla A. Juliano Noel K. Torreta Edelwina C. Legaspi Teresita C. Vivas Mona Lisa Manalo Pacita F. Yaptenco

Paul B. Zafaralla

1984 by the University of the Philippines at Los Banos

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the Office of the Chancellor, UPLB, except for brief passages for inclusion in releases for the media or in reviews.

University of the Philippines at Los Banos, College, Laguna

Bustamante Press, Inc. Quezon City, Philippines

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

1000

For purposes of bibliography and literature citation, this volume should be entered as Saplala, Vivas and Zafaralla, eds.

Paul B. Zafaralla

THE EDITORS SPEAK THE men and women whose profiles are kept between the covers are UPLB alumni, scientists, administrators, teachers and researchers. Regardless of present or past affiliation with UPLB, the ties still remain unbreakable. Such is the strength of the institution.

The profiles emerge as seen through the mind's eye of the writers. We have respected individual views and styles of the authors, intervening only when necessary for the sake of correct, clear and concise writing.

Under the overall coordination of Dr. Rogelio V. Cuyno, this project took off the ground with the help provided by Tony Moran, who kept the lines of support from the Chancellor's Office. Mimi Ocampo gathered the list of UPLB people to be written about.

After the initial stage, other minds, hearts, hands and feet were utilized to give this project shape and substance until it was ready to be put to bed.

The individual writers and us would be fess grateful were we to forget acknowledging the help extended to us by several pe,op/e in the conduct of this project. Primarily we thank the subjects themselves for allowing us to pry open their past for . scrutiny,- their relatives, colleagues, friends and even casual acquaintances for providing us with information that proved to be significant in pointing out the humanity of the scientists.

The manuscripts were typed and retyped by Myrna Davac and Evelyn Bite. Mabel Hera/do and Mila Revilleza in some instances, gathered and followed-up some data. Reggie Gonzalez took some of the pictures while Lorey Cervantes did the /iason work. Josie Casas and Daisy Biglete kept the channels of communication flowing among those involved in the project,- and Resty Rami/a ran errands on campus.

Utmost care went in the preparation of this volume. But human fraility might have crept in the form of errors, typographical or otherwise. All this is our responsibility.

-PELS* TCV * PBZ

PREFACE

ROGELIO V. WYNO rectived the Ph.D. deg· ree in administration and higher education with cmph<~Sis on com· munic;ltion from Michl· gan Sute University. Director of the Re· search Management Center and Director of Extension, UPLB.

THIS particular project is dedicated to the University of the Philippines at Los Banos in celebration of its Diamond Jubilee. V,e have set the release of this project on October 10 to mark UPLB's "Loyalty Day" which has become an institution in itself.

The Diamond Jubilee celebration is a symbol of institutional long range stability and productivity while the Loyalty Day celebration stands for the emotional bond that anchors the identity of the alumni to the institution.

We feel that the most fitting way to honor an institution is to salute its very own and adopted alumni who have served the institution with distinction and loyalty. It is often said that people make the institution. But the people we are saluting in this volume will admit that it was partly the institution that molded them with distinctive qualities. By honoring these outstanding personalities we are inseparably honoring the institution which produced them.

To select and write about these great personalities was a hard task. It was hard for there were several to select from. It is a great credit to the institution to have produced so many people who have excelled in their respective lines of endeavor. The process of selection was like getting a winner in the Olympics from among the very best. Yes, indeed, it was an Olympic of total career performance and service.

To somehow ease up our task of narrowing down the list we developed the following set of criteria: sustained or consistent outstanding perform· ance and service to UPLB over a substantial period of time; significant contribution to science, education and public service and value as model or inspiration to the young. \'.'hen we considered this sieving mecha:1ism, the decision·making process became lighter, but it was still difficult. The committee decided to limit the project to those who have stayed and served the UPLB with excellence from the inside or at close range. Somehow we were influenced by these very Pilipino values of "malasakit", "tapat na paglilingkod sa magulang" and "pag-ako ng tungkulin."

Those who have done exceedingly well in the other worlds of farming, business, science, government or even foreign lands probably deserve to be listed in a separate volume. Already, these people had been publicly recognized by numerous awartls of distinction in the past.

To date, the plan is to have two volumes. The second we hope to put out during the UPLB Foundation Day, on March 6, 1985. The reason for the split is simple: to make the project manageable and for funding conside· ration. We hope to fund the next volume from the proceeds of this first one.

CONTENTS The Editors Speak Preface

Chapter 1 Dioscoro L. Umali The Poor Man's Friend

Chapter 2 Emil 0. Javier Leader and Visionary in Science and the Academe 6

Chapter 3 Francisco M. Fronda Father of the Poultry Industry in the Philippines 31

Chapter 4 Florencio Tamesis Father of Philippine Forestry 40

Chapter 5 Gregorio T. Zamuco A Forest Stalwart 49

Chapter 6 Amando M. Dalisay A Stoic of the Old World 60

Chapter 7 Julian A. Banzon Grand Old Man of Chemistry 69

Chapter 8 leopoldo S. Castillo Portrait of An Animal Science Scholar 77

Chapter 9 Pedro B. Escuro Behind C4 and Beyond 86

Chapter 10 Amado C. Campos A Campus Builder 95

Chapter 11 Nelia T. Gonzalez The Total Woman 107

Chapter 12 Gelia T. Castillo Rural Sociologist Par Excellence 118

Chapter 13 Marcos R. Vega A Man of Principle 127

Chapter 14 Fernando A. Bernardo Builder of An Academic Acropolis 136

Chapter 15 Joseph C. Madamba Entrepreneur for Agricultural Development 142

Chapter 16 Ramon V. Valmayor The Sugar Baron as Research Manager 159

Chapter 17 Juan V. Pancho In A Class by Himself 169

Chapter 18 Emerita V. de Guzman Her World is the laboratory 177

12

Rural Sociologist Par Excellence Priscilla A. Juliano

Castillo, G.

Reprinted with permission and updated from The Philippine Agriculturist.

119

WHEN such questions as these are asked: Will the true Filipina please stand up? Who is the Filipino farmer? Where is the family in family planning? Has bayanihan gone out of style? or even -How do we go about feeling felt needs?, one name crops up for the answers: Gelia Tagumpay Castillo, Filipino rural sociologist par excellence.

Mrs. ("I never call myself Dr.") Castillo is a rural sociologist who is very rural. She was born in Pagsanjan, Laguna to very non-affluent parents. She tells stories of how she used to accompany her r11other, a very good cook, to deliver dishes to the affluent in her town. "I remember a house," she told us once, "where my mother and I used to take a flight of stairs used only by people like us. The big house had two flights of stairs, one used by the family and their rich visitors, and the other, by people like us." Perhaps, even then, Mrs. Castillo was already envisioning equity and distribution between the haves and the have-nots.

Even as a child she tried her best in things she did, and never for a moment did she forget that her hard-earned education was the fruit of honest sweat. She came out valedictorian at the Pagsanjan Elementary School, valedicto­rian at the Laguna High School, and magna cum laude (A.B. Psychology) at the College of Liberal Arts, University of the Philippines. She holds an M.S. in rural sociology from the Pennsylvania State University and a Ph.D. from Cornel University, major in rural sociology and cognates in social psychology and community development.

Mrs. Castillo is a person who believes that one should out to practice what one learns in books. Although she believes much in theory, she puts equal credence to practice. Her work experience has ranged from being a teacher and research assistant to supervisor of women students. She once served as a Trustee of the Board of Maquili ng School ( 1969-70), was a member of two International Labor Organization (I LO) comprehensive employment strategy missions (to Sri Lanka in 1971 and to the Philippines in 1973); has reviewed or evaluated rural development programs (the family planning communication project of the Univer­sity of the Phil ipPines Institute of Mass Communications in 1973, the Philippine national population program in 1978, the Bicol Riv.er Basin Development program in 1979. Her latest involvement in rural development includes membership in the micro advisory group, Economic and Social Impact

120 Castillo, G.

Castillo, G. 121

;:>:;· ...

122 Castillo, G.

Analysis Project, 1979-1983 ; as reviewer, rural and agri­cultural development projects, International Fund for Agri­cultural Development (IFAD), Rome, Italy, 1980; member­ship in the Filipino-American evaluation team, Integrated Agricultural Production and Marketing Projects (I APM P), 1981; research adviser, ASEAN population project on women in development, 1980-83 ;membership in the scientific and technical reviewer committee for social and economic research , Special Program for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases, WHO, Geneva, 1982; and as consultant to the United Nations University evaluation of the UNU fellowship programme, August 1982-March 1983.

Mrs. Castillo is a much-awarded scientist. In 1968, she was the recipient of an award i'.S one of the ten outstanding women of the Philippines chosen for her contribution in the field of rural sociology. In 1975 she was the recipient of the University of the Philippines distinguished alumnus award for professional achievement in rural sociology. On October 14, 1976 on the occasion of the diamond jubilee celebration of the Ministry of Agriculture, she was one of the recipients of the jose P. Rizal Pro Patria Presidential Award for out­standing agricultural scientists and was cited for : "Her numerous revealing studies on the Filipino farmers, rural women, agricultural extension and community development, which, together have provided policy makers a better understanding of the social factors affecting agricultural and rural development in the Philippines and for presenting the social and economic implications of the new rice technology in her book All in a Grain of Rice. " In 1978 she received the annual University of the Philippines Research Award for the book Beyond Manila: Philippine Rural Problems in Perspective; in 1980 she was given the Society for the Advancement of Research (SAR) Award of Merit as social scientist "in appreciation of outstanding achievements in scientific research and exemplary contribution to the deve­lopment and prestige of the society as a scientific and honorary organization."

At the international level, she was the recipient of a research award from Ford Foundation from 1972 to 1973, a senior research fellow under the International Development Research Center, Ottawa, Canada in 1976-1977, and a resident scholar of the Rockefeller Foundation Study and Conference Center in Bellagio, Italy in 1977.

Castillo, G. 123

As much a writer as a thinker, Mrs. Castillo has written more than 70 articles in magazines, journals and other scientific publications. Her subject matter areas range from extension homemakers to occupational sex roles of Filipino adolescents; from agricultural school administration to the team approach in community development; from the miracle rice to social science and the new constitution; from an analysis of the changing social images in a developing society to the protein gap.

But her colleagues and students will remember her best for three outstanding books she has written about develop­ment in her own country : (1) All in a Grain of Rice: a Review of Philippine Studies on the Social and Economic Implications of the New Rice Technology; (2) Beyond Manila: Philippine Rural Problems in Perspective; and (3) Changing Rural Institutions and Participatory Development: A Review of the Philippine Experience.

Her non-hesitancy to add her two cents' worth to workshops, seminars, and meetings both here and abroad are attested to, by about a hundred gatherings of these sort, where she was a principal speaker, discussant, resource person, professorial lecturer or an organizer. She has spoken to both affluent and non-affluent audiences, both in English and in Pilipino (though mostly in English), both at the national and international levels.

Mrs. Castillo, professor of r•Jral sociology, Department of Agricultural Education , College of Agriculture, was elected recently as chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Centro International dela Papa (International Potato Center) . Located in Lima, Peru, the CIP is one of the 13 international agricultural research centers that compose the World Bank-supported Consultative Group for International Agri­cultural Research. Mrs. Castillo has been participating in previous activities of the CIP board. She presides over the CIP board for the term 1983-1984. As board chairman, she will lead the Center's Week in Washington in November this year and preside over the ·executive committee meeting in Cairo and Tunis and the board meeting next year.

But benath all this litany is a warm human being who is a composite picture of a high-pitched voice used on erring graduate advisees; a loud ringing laughter over development

124 Castillo, G.

anecdotes, "affluent" stories and police blotters; and a loving twinkle in her eyes at the mention of a little replica called "Leni".

As a housewife, one of whose roles is that of a co-decision maker, Mrs. Castillo says that her husband is so generous to the point that he never consults her or asks her opinion when it comes to his "giving a helping hand." "My husband," she says with pride, "is the source of all good things when it comes to needy relatives, out-of-job neighbors, or grieving relatives of his staff." And one who knows the "Chancellor" cannot help but agree.

Blanda R. Sumayao, former student and currently a staff member of the Agricultural Education Department remi­nisces:

"As teacher in three of my graduate courses I find Dr. Castillo erring on two counts: First, she is so hard to please, but when you hit her where it pleases, she is 'numero uno' in playing favorites. She could be your talent scout in the academic community. I remember when I took Ag. Ed. 285 (Sociology of Development) under her. For our term paper we were asked to write case studies of actors in rural development. My study case was the late Barangay Captain Andrea Esquerra of Barangay Tagumpay, Bay, Laguna. After reading my work in class I saw the satisfaction on Dr. Castillo's face. But that was not all. She instructed me to give my work unabridged to Miss Yniguez for stenciling with instruction for Miss Yniguez to get the needed supplies from one of her research projects. Of course that was not the end of the good work. One day she had visitors from outside the University and I heard her telling them (my room hapoens to be adjacent to hers hence I can't help but eavesdrop) about this bright girl in the class who did a very good study on a barangay captain. Then she called me (over our partition) to give them copies of my mimeographed case study.

"Second, unlike other university professors who miss their class when they have important appointments outside the university, Dr. Castillo kept us coming over on Saturdays so she won't shortchange the students in terms of the three-hour-per-week in a 17-week semester. She's so honest in doing what the university is paying her to do, to the poir.t of making the not-so-very-honest ones embarrassed."

Castillo, G. 125

Freddie Cruz, a current advisee and colleague says this : "Mrs. Castillo challenges the student to be conscientious,

responsive and analytical in dealing with problems of social reali ty ... she will point out exactly what things should be explained critically and their implications on what is existing.

"To be under her tutorship gives one an excellent opportunity towards competence and self-confidence in doing social research work."

At the peer group level, she never forgets to bring us yearly a part of the harvest of their santo! trees; pay in kind, token or money any service done in her behalf, like filling in for her in her classes; give blow-outs whenever she gets a raise, a bonus or an honorarium.

126

PRISCILLA A. JULIANO is an English major by training and practice, but has been involved in community de· velopment for several years now.

Castillo, G.

In the words of Dr. Jaime B. Valera, chairman of the Department of Agricultural Education, during Mrs. Castillo's Carnation Philippines, Inc. inaugural professorial chair lecture:

"In a competitive academic setting such as ours, several negative things may be said of Dr. Castillo. Among others I would fault her for her being professionally consistent:

1) She does not accept administrative positions even if these may hint of the development of the field where she is an expert.

2) She has this uncanny narrow sense of focusing on significant issues about rural societies in developing countries. This narrow sense is really a definitive and well-considered acute perception of rural develop­ment issues.

3) She admits not keeping up with the conventional western literature but instead creates a substantive part of the literature in Philippine rural sociology.

4) As I see it, she believes that sociology should not throw the baby (the substance) of social science in place of the bath water (the hard data or quantitative analysis which seemingly is more scientific). This is because there are many unexamined features of social life. One person can only do so much especially if it is performed in an outstanding manner.

5) Dr. Castillo is a nagger of sorts. She pushes people to do competent work. This is also reflected in her ability to stimulate the asking of important socio­logical questions about things we take for granted.

6) I fault her for such academic or intellectual indepen· dence; her consistent ability to do exceptional academic pieces. Probably, this must be due to the fact that (as she usually claims) she can be supported by her competent husband who is an outstanding animal scientist."