ACCEPTANCE SPEECH MIT MGM “ LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD”
November 13, 2009
Dir. Horace Ramos, officers of the MIT MGM Alumni Group, my fellow miners, ladies and gentlemen, good evening.
I am very honored and deeply humbled by this “lifetime achievement award” conferred by our ALUMNI GROUP, in recognition for my contribution and achievements in my profession as a mining engineer.
Every time I give an acceptance speech, I am reminded that I have been working in the mining Industry for almost 40 years. My goodness, time does fly when you’re having fun!
It seems that it was just yesterday wherein I was a young mining engineer working for Philex Mines and taking on the difficult challenges of the job. As motivation, my superiors would always preach about the rewards of outstanding performance such as rising the corporate ladder, earning more money and receiving awards. The funny thing about it was that I wasn’t really interested in their vision of success.
The definition of success, which has been embedded in me, comes from my late father, a fellow mining engineer and Mapua alumnus. By the way, Ernie Villaluna Jr of Philex is not my father, he is my brother, my mentor and whose advice and guidance I’ve always valued.
My dad’s advice was that “with hard work, perseverance and a little bit of luck, you can succeed. Care for the people who work for you as much as you care for the company you work for. RESPECT is earned – it is neither bought nor negotiated; INTEGRITY and HONOR are worth more than money, titles or accolades.”
Mine is a simpler philosophy – “do a bit better today than you did yesterday”. This can only be accomplished if you love what you do.
As many of you know, the life of a mining engineer is a difficult one. It’s a life of dedication not only to the profession, but also balancing the demands of raising a family, improving the profitability of the company while raising the standard of living of your fellow employees and their families.
A few months ago, my 1st grand child was born. Watching my daughter and son-in-law bask in the joy of caring for their new baby, it occurred to me that I may have missed out on those moments. Although I am a very loving and affectionate father, I spent more time at the mine site instead of being at home in the province to watch my children grow. In spite of this, my children have grown to be very respectful, responsible and caring young adults, for which I am eternally grateful to my loving and supportive wife of 32 years – Theng.
If you haven’t figured it out yet, my wife is the primary reason for my successful career. She is the unsung hero every time I’m given an award of recognition. Maybe this time, with your concurrence, could you write her name next to mine on this life achievement award?
Thank you and have a wonderful evening.
However, even upon near-finish of the of the data compilation and drafting of the map, we realized that none of us had the experience nor real knowledge of how to inscribe our colored geological map, in the negatives, acceptable for printing.
Fortunately for us, the National Board of Surveys and Maps which was then only recently founded and established, did not have a ready project for their newly arrived consultant for inscribing and printing of maps, Mr. Michael Fletcher. Scouting for an appropriate project, Mr. Fletcher saw in the Bureau of Mines the map compilation work as the worthwhile project for his UN assignment. Commander Marcelino Tabin, Chairman of the BTSM, seeing the urgency of our project, despite Mr. Fletcher’s commitment to the BTSM, let him use his time instead in the Bureau of Mines. By the end of l963, there were at least 40 draftsmen and geologists doing the inscribing, many of whom were trained by Mr. Fletcher personally.
Mr. Joseph Harrington, who was the Head of the U.S. International Cooperation Administration office in Manila was close and very friendly to most Bureau of Mines geologists. He became aware that we had finished inscribing, and the format of the inscribed negatives of the map was too large for any of the locally available commercial printing press. He informed me that the U.S. Army & Navy Club has large printer facilities but strictly for its own use, and/or for some U.S.-RP Joint Venture project. I replied however that a joint venture may eventually cause the Filipino Geologists to lose the chance for international recognition as independently capable along geology and its related fields of scientific endeavors. Without any argument, Mr. Harrington understood our deep concern for a real independent nation and worked to have 1:1,000,000 Geological Map of the Philippines printed and published for free.
We cannot let the story of this First Complete Geologic Map of the Philippines in the scale of 1:1,000,000 pass without acknowledging this Printing and Publication gift of the U.S. AID, through the efforts of Mr. Joseph Harrington. Without it, the project would not have been completed, and to me this gesture could be considered a gift of love of Mr. Harrington to his Filipino friends and our country.
As a matter of international conventional practice in geologic map publications in civilized countries, the names of all the geologists and their areas of responsibilities were already listed to be included in the printing and publication of said maps. The listing includes the geologists’ names and sedimentary basins data contributions of the several foreign oil petroleum exploration companies then also doing survey work in the Philippines.
However, higher authorities negated aforesaid normal scheme for proper accreditation and simply treated the publication, a project of the Director of Mines.
In l967, on the occasion of the Golden Jubilee of the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources, I was given by then Vice President and concurrent Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources Fernando Lopez, a Certificate of Award as Supervising Geologist of the Bureau of Mines “for 15 years of consistent unselfish service for the extraordinary zeal and persistent dedication and sacrifice he has given his work, especially in the preparation of the first complete geologic map of the Philippines which has earned local and international prestige not only for himself but also for the country.”
Incidentally, I wish to take the opportunity to share this honor with all my colleagues in the Bureau of Mines. Majority of the 81 geologists who worked in this government project are graduates of MIT. Further more, I wish to reiterate my whole hearted sympathy to the families, of our colleagues and comrades in the fieldwork who died without seeing the completion of the map. They had their own share of unselfish sacrifices and contributions to the project.
I thank my Alma Mater, the Mapua Institute of Technology where I studied in 1948 to l952 for the scholarships and my Bachelor of Science in Mining Engineering degree. The Mapua Institute of Technology then already had the distinction of turning out graduates in Engineering and Architecture who were truly ready, willing and able to help build our nation. To avail of quality education in Mapua was neither expensive nor socially selective; tuition discounts were given to deserving students. Diploma mills then were just beginning to sprout, but Mapua was never mercenary. It continued to provide competent mentors who had actual experience or were concurrently professionals engaged in their line of study and not merely academicians. Some of the professors in the general Engineering curriculum were even on loan from other universities in order to avail of their expertise.
I can say, on my part, that my B.S.E.M. education provided a good adequate basis for my profession as mining engineer and geologist. And I am truly grateful to the Mapua Institute of Technology.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT TO MIT-MGM’S GRANTING OF THE
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD IN THE FIELD OF METALLURGY
(Given: November 13, 2009 at the CAP Camp John Hay, Baguio City)
Good evening, everybody.
To the organizers of this event, thank you very much for this award from the bottom of my heart. I will surely treasure this, and cherish this occasion the rest of my life.
A short poem says:
We shall pass this way but once;
Whatever there is to be done, do it now;
For we may not pass this way again.
This award somehow confirms my belief that I made the right choice of the path I took in my life. A path that leads me to the world of the unsung heroes of our times – the Geologists, the Mining Engineers, and the Metallurgists.
Heroes? Yes, because they can associate themselves with practically everything around us:
1. With every bag of cement, every length of rebar, every coil of copper and every pane of glass, that make buildings and other infrastructures;
2. With every tonne of coal, every barrel of oil, and every kilo of uranium, they painstakingly recover hoping mankind will use them to generate power, not create war;
3. With all the metals that compose various equipment, cars and other moving vehicles;
4. With many other things that add beauty to our world – to our women in particular, with:
a. Those golden earrings hanging from their ears
b. Those platinum chokers and nickeled necklaces around their necks overlooking precariously over those precipitous cleavages
c. Even those silicon in-plants that help elevate sagging frontal bumpers, fill up crevices and smoothen irregular body topographies.
Yes, they can associate themselves with and can rightfully claim to be part of all of them. And I am glad and proud to be part of their world.
I have been in the world of mining for almost 40 years already. Certainly, I could have not made it all by myself. There were many people who helped me along the way and I am truly grateful to all of them. Allow me to mention those who have helped me the most.
1. I am grateful first and foremost to God for giving me strength, keeping me safe and allowing me many years to reach my second citizenship. Last year, I became a Senior Citizen.
2. To Atlas Consolidated Mining and Development Corporation for the scholarship that enabled me to finish my college course. Atlas regularly extends scholarships to qualified sons and brothers of its bonafide employees. My father was one of its security guards at that time.
3. To Mapua Institute of Technology for the high quality of education in the field of Metallurgical Engineering, through the dedicated efforts of the faculty of MGM who had to work long hours in the night, after their usual daytime work at the Bureau of Mines and other offices, to make sure their knowledge and experiences are passed on to the next generation.
4. After graduation, Atlas employed me for 32 continuing years allowing me to practice my profession starting at the laboratories, to handling actual operations and eventually to assuming various managerial positions.
5. And when the unthinkable happened ; i.e., when the giant Atlas had to suspend operations for reasons beyond its control, and I had to look for a job and be turned down many times because of my age, Coral Bay Nickel Corporation accommodated and gambled on me. I was hoping to handle operations but CBNC assigned me to a more critical position – Environmental Management and Public or External Relations.
6. I am thankful in particular to Terry Malicse who was my mentor in Atlas and to Jojo Saret, my guardian angel who guided me to CBNC.
7. And of course, I am sincerely grateful to the person who discovered me in Atlas, agreed to give me my family, agreed to let me keep the position of President in the house while she assumes the lesser positions of Treasurer, Cashier and Disbursing Officer –
The Korina of my life, my wife Pedrita (Retty) Manto. She’s over there. Every night before we sleep, I always tell her “Ako’y iyong iyo, lalaban tayo, game ka na ba?”Lately, her answer is “Game ka pa ba?”. And then we go to sleep.
8. And finally to all of you guys whose company and friendship always make me feel so very, very, very much AT HOME
I believe there are still many things to be done
I certainly would like to pass this way again.
Thank you and good night.
