Forced Start (1998-1999)

I was hired to be a part of the faculty of the Department of Physical Sciences in Cavite State University (CvSU) formerly known as Don Severino Agricultural College (DSAC) based in Indang, Cavite, my father’s hometown. The department head is Dr. Divinia C. Chavez or Ma’am Esan (now the CvSU President). Work is around 30 hours of teaching every week. I like the school overall except for some of the policies they implemented which includes the use of ID (which I am not used to) and the need to stay the whole day in your office even if you don’t have class. The environment is quite different especially for a UP grad like me. They seem to expect many things from me and at the same time, I could feel that some of the faculty feel threatened with my presence. I have no plantilla and I don’t really care. I just want to have a job and have my own source of income. The UP culture in me made me close to people who in one way or another are connected to UP. I found friends in the person of Beng Umali, Mar Tabur, Miriam Du, Fatima Deriquito, Reggie Pena and Nenita Maranan. I was also able to establish contact with Dr. Evelyn Singson (Crop Protection) and Dr. Ding Manuel (Crop Science). My undergrad classmate Hosea Matel was supposed to be a colleague of mine in CvSU but he was accepted in UPLB and teach there. The plantilla is no big deal for me until some of my relatives and friends (connected to CvSU) began asking questions why I don’t have an item. I have no idea of what it is and as I’ve said I don’t care.

I visited UPLB for my review session every weekend for the board exam. In addition, I still have friends there who are still completing their studies. At the same time I began to establish some contact or rapport with the faculty of IC and they began to learn about me and the presence of chemistry in CvSU. Since IC was given the Center of Excellence status, they are trying to look for other schools that they want to help by developing the chemistry program that they have. CvSU has a BS Chemistry program and thus one of the school targeted by IC. The meeting that occurred between the people from my former school and from the present school where I am working changed the outlook that I have about item.  Sir EJ was asking my boss why I don’t have any item to think that I should be given. I never realized that its a big deal to have an item until that time. I remember him saying if you don’t give him an item, we will hire him in the future (which turned out to be prophetic). Dr. Norriel Nipales looking at the facilities we have in CvSU suggested me to do simple researches. No  high tech studies. Just simple basic researches.

Realizing that the job item is a big deal, I now asked the people around me how to have it. I even asked my uncle and aunt who are closed to the President about it. Deep inside, I know I deserved it so the school should be the one giving it to me. In one of my chat with a professor, I was in hot water because, I told her that the other people from UPLB who were given item cannot do decent researches in the university because of lack of facilities. That comment reached and irked the people involved (of whom some are my friends) and also force me to make myself better in research. At the same time, the BS Chem program had their first batch of students graduating. They assigned me two students to be my advisees. They were the first among the many students that I will mentor in my research career.  They were Rochelle Apdua and Lynn Mulitas, both from Batangas. Rochelle was a tall and beautiful lady (morena). Lynn on the other hand, as my boss warned me is a fighter (aktibista). My main problem is what will be the studies that they will be doing. I narrowed it to two: natural products or water analysis. Luckily for me, the Cavite Provincial Science Center is developing a lab that can conduct water analysis. This lab is manned by people who in one way or another is connected or related to me. The chemist is Agnes Gonzales, a year ahead of me from UPLB and she is assisted by Marisol Nuestro-Magno, a friend from the same barrio where I lived. Although I don’t know Annie (Agnes nickname), the UPLB connection is enough to ask for her help. Since the students are going to spend for themselves, I asked her if she could help me with my students in conducting their thesis. I even get a copy of her thesis in the UPLB and let my students read it and pattern their research after it using the CvSU water system as the sample. I also asked Annie to let the student conduct the experiments themselves in the lab so they could gain first hand experience in doing the experiments. I was very happy when they were able to defend and finish their studies. They graduated that year (1999). I also attended a week-long international workshop in combinatorial chemistry in UPLB and the Philippine Chemistry Congress that same year. As you can see, I was forced to do research back then. Forced to do it to back up the comment that I’ve made to some colleagues and forced to do research because students were given to me. As one story goes, where a child accidentally fall on the boat, another person saved the child. When he was interviewed and asked the question why did he saved the child, he answered “di ko rin alam kung bakit, ang alam ko lang may tumulak sa akin, kaya sinaklolo ko na yun bata”.

1999 also mark the time where I will be going back to where I cam from. I was hired to be a faculty member of Institute of Chemistry, UPLB where it all started for me. That’s another chapter of my life.

To be continued

The Formative Years (1997-1998)

It’s been ten years since I made my first formal science research in the Philippines. It is a research study on the anti-insecticidal activity of neem leaves against mosquitoes and houseflies under Dr. Amelia Tejada. This is my thesis which is a requirement in obtaining my BS degree in Agricultural Chemistry. I still remember the time when I have to wait for the bus going to NCPC (National Crop Protection Center) in UPLB Admin building. The time when I have to rear mosquitoes from their larvae from stagnant water found in drums. It is also the time that I have to ask Lorenzo Fabro for a motorcycle ride in going to NCPC for emergencies. He is also doing his thesis there together with other students like Jose Ronelio Subsuban, Samuel Bobiles, Maricel Hernandez and Baby Liezel Dayanghirang (Saguin). The lab personnel have been accommodating and I really enjoyed every hour of my stay in that building. I remember the present chancellor of UPLB (Dr. Velasco) is still NCPC head.

Although the neem study will be the basis of my thesis, I have done studies with the pesticide profenofos and its effect on soil. It is a team research wherein I will be working with Jun, Sam and Lorenz. However, since I still have some course work, I was only able to perform preliminary experiments dealing on the effect of profenofos on soil respiration. I have to change my topic since I don’t have any soil samples that is applied with profenofos. Although, I did not finish this study, I was lucky to be included in a poster paper presented in NAST.

For the neem study, I have to do fractionation using different solvents in determining the active components/fractions. The toluene and benzene fraction was found to be promising and this was characterized further using gas chromatography (GC) and infra red (IR). GC was done in Edna Mijares private laboratory (JefCor) in Sucat while IR was done in FPRDI with the help of Irma I. Palanginan. Although my home unit has an IR instrument, I heard from my blockmate Theresa Manalili that there is some problem with it. This was my formative years in doing research. I did the study because it is a requirement. And by October of that year, my adviser asked me to present it as poster in Annual KKP meeting. I have no idea that this will be just the beginning of my journey as a scientist/researcher as well as presentor.

To be continued