Saturday photo

The Miag-ao Church of St. Thomas of Villanueva in Iloilo, Philippines,
a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Blending work with play, my colleagues and I at the Philippine Association of Engineering Schools (PAES), Inc. (formerly, Philippine Association for Technological Education, Inc. or PATE, Inc.) held our monthly Board meeting in Iloilo City in the Visayas.  While in Iloilo, we also held information dissemination and forum with colleagues in various Universities

"Work + play" is a winning formula for a balanced life.

in the region on the implementation of K-12, and how this will affect the operations of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), particularly Engineering Schools, in 2016 when the first cohort of K-12 students attend Senior High School rather than the University.  

The weekend - well, this weekend - was spent educating ourselves on Iloilo.  Among many others, what caught my attention was the Miag-ao Church of St. Thomas of Villanueva.  The Church with Baroque-Romanesque architecture was declared as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1993.  The massive structure earned it the "alias" of "church fortress" in the old days when there was still war between Christians and Muslims in the region, and the church was used to protect the region from Muslims/Moros who attacked it.

Sometimes, we go out and search for impressive stuff... and yet, right at our "backyard", we have "treasures", like the Miag-ao church.  Overall, it was a weekend well-spent.

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ChemE Education in the ASEAN region...

...linking up and about to consolidate progress.
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by PAM


Eversince the Heads of State of the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) linked arms to vow to open one another's doors to accommodate and cater to one another's needs in a collaborative manner via "One ASEAN 2015", also known as "ASEAN Intergration 2015", or "ASEAN Economic Zone 2015", to achieve regional progress, citizens of ASEAN countries have started to view things differently.  They started opening their "windows" and begin to pay attention to what is going on

2014 AUChEEdS... first, historic, relevant.

outside their own "four walls", and begin to imagine themselves as a true member of a community - the ASEAN community.

The Higher Education sector of the Philippines is not an exception to this "look-out-the-window-and-observe" paradigm shift.  Over the past how many years, members of this sector are not just merely looking out the window and observing, they have been adopting good practices by their close and distant neighbors.  And now, Filipino educators have opened their doors as they reached out to invite their ASEAN counterparts to the Philippines in dialogues and shared experiences to forge a strong relationship, partnership, cooperation that they hope would help usher in "One ASEAN" in 2015 on positive note.    

The Chemical Engineering Education sector of the Philippines, represented partly by the Philippine Institute of Chemical Engineers (PIChE) College of Fellows and the PIChE- Metro Manila Academe Chapter (MMAC) have been doing the 'observing', 'sharing' and the 'adopting' for years now.  This year, they (or, should I say "we"?) went on to organize the 2014 ASEAN Undergraduate Chemical Engineering Education Summit (2014 AUChEEdS) dubbed, "Educating the new generation of ASEAN Chemical Engineers".  In the first AUChEEdS, Chemical Engineering students and faculty members from ASEAN countries met to learn together, to establish camaraderie as they learn from each other, and just to get to know one another.  Colleagues from non-ASEAN countries (the United States of America, Australia and Japan) also participated by sharing their own experiences and good practices, some via webinar. And, it was a wonderful event!

I believe that now, more than  ever before, members of the Chemical Engineering Education Sector of ASEAN realize that, indeed, they have many things in common, and share many values.  Therefore, it is easy to collaborate in a way that will consolidate the thrusts and achievements of the Chemical Engineering Education sector in the region for greater, more lasting, and more meaningful progress.  

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Glendarriffic!

Our "unwelcome visitor".

I hope Typhoon Glenda does not have a twin sister, or cousin, or something.

I hope that she's an orphan... but no, we're not open for adoption!

While the world worried about the Philippines, we surprisingly endured Glenda's passage with relatively little casualty, thank God!  I think we are learning to respect lives by being more prepared during typhoons, and the vulnerable ones have become more cooperative in heeding safety advisories from concerned government agencies, too.  Good.

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Picture of the day...

2014 Discurso de Apertura

University of Santo Tomas, AY 2014 - 2015 Opening Day

...I guess because I just want a little something to remember this day by.  So, before I collapse from exhaustion - from lack of sleep for the past three days - let me post this here.

After delivering the Discurso de Apertura today, and after the adrenaline rush subsided, I felt like crawling under the table during lunch with the VIPs of the University, and doze off there for the next, uhm, 24 hours!  Noticing my silence and the signs of exhaustion showing around my eyes, one person, who obviously wanted to cheer me up, said, "oh, wow!  So now you are already in the history books of the University... so young, and already in the history books!  How does it feel?"  I stared at him, not fully comprehending, to be honest... and I said, "I'm really sleepy... seriously!  Where can I get coffee?"

I had to stay awake for another five hours or so, and had to survive the General Faculty Meeting, which is traditionally held in the UST Faculty of Engineering after the Misa de Apertura, after which the Academic Year (AY) is officially opened, and followed by the Discurso de Apertura.  Considering the huge endeavors that we need to pursue this AY, I didn't just have to stay awake during the Meeting... I needed to pay close attention to details... and preside the Meeting!  Oh, dear.  Anyway, I think I survived... but, I'm collapsing soon.  So, let me stop here.

I'm not sure what the relevance of this event is in my life (and I'm not sure I'll ever have the luxury of time to ponder it)... 'cause I did it not for myself but for the Faculty of Engineering.  But, I thank God sincerely just the same... 'cause my friends in the Faculty didn't gag at the Discurso. :)  If only for that, I say this day is one of the very best days of my life! :)  And yet, I claim none of the glory.  

To God be the glory!

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Image credit:  Thanks, Varsitarian, for the photo.

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Hi, July...

...you're back.  And, I see that you're better than ever - good!
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by PAM


Yep, July is my favorite month... and for a very good reason, too: it's my birth month! :)  As many of my close friends would know, I dislike 'celebrating' my birthday with all that

They call me by a different name these days, so weird.

stressful fun fare, me being a 'mild anti-social' who prefer a quiet gathering with family and very close friends... just being ourselves, enjoying a quiet meal, laughing at our really shallow jokes.  This year, I spent the day... uhm, working - from home!  Nevertheless, a few people insisted on making sure that I felt how special the day was... they sent very nice text messages, e-mails... and some left little mementos on my desk in the Office.  But I had a tough mission on my birthday, that I had to work very hard not to be distracted (translation: emotional) by all the very warm greetings, and go all sappy and sentimental about the whole birthday 'celebration' thing, and how my current circumstance was not allowing me to have a celebration... and I wasn't fighting to have one either!  

Nah, I'm not training to be a heartless hermit or something.  I just feel like I am in that situation where I feel there is so much blessings coming my way that I honestly feel I don't

Now, that's a nice wish that I appreciate.

deserve... just because I didn't pray for any of them!  Therefore, while I try very hard to make the most of all the blessings, turning them to an offering to God, I can't help but feel all paranoid, and asking, "dear Lord, what's the catch?" :)  And then, I remember, it's God... there's no catch.  There never is a catch when He is concerned.  And so, I decided to spend some hours on my birthday... just enjoying the beauty of never having to worry about 'the catch' in quiet contemplation. And, as always, it feels indescribably great... I won't trade it for fancy gifts - ever!

Anyway, on my birthday, in my quiet contemplation, I can't help but think about "Too much Happiness", a compilation of short stories by the great Alice Munro - the latest recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature.  There was a passage in one of the short stories there that would usually fill my head when I close my eyes to contemplate on something these days:

"Be quiet, be quiet, she wanted to tell them.  It seemed to her that silence was necessary, that everything in  the world outside the boy's body had to concentrate, help it not to lose of its duty to breathe.
"Shy but steady whiffs now, a sweet obedience in the chest.  Keep on, keep on."

It was one of those short stories, where the protagonist, Doree, while on her way to perform a 'routine self-imposed obligation' that effectively rendering her life on unfair stand-still, saw a vehicular accident.  She tried to help the boy in the accident to survive by administering first-aid while they waited for the ambulance.  She didn't realize that

Now, that's a shape and color I prefer. Soon....

the 'distraction' actually took her away from the acceptance of an empty existence - her routine... suddenly realizing the precious gift of life she had all the right to enjoy rather than throw away in favor of an empty routine. 

Sometimes, I feel that way... that I am taking care of "someone" who met an "accident", while we wait for the "real" help, and get the victim regain his health, be back on his feet... and run again.  The only difference is that, in my case, the victim, the accident and the help is one and the same.  The happy thing is it's breathing now, it's helping itself, and it looks as though it will progress steadily to get on its feet soon... and then, I'd be free to disentangle myself from my 'distraction'... and run a 'different race'.  It's only a matter of time now.  :)

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