Fr. Lao also stated that the Colegio has turned in many accomplishments of its own. However, he added, Inspite of all these, there is still much we have to do and for this, the St. Vicente Liem dela Paz Foundation was launched with seed money that came from the savings from operational expenses of previous years."

Fr. Rector disclosed that some classes have already contributed to the fund and thus, he is thankful that the LAFI recognized such purpose and decided to turnover its fund to the Foundation where alumni shall also sit in the different committees thereof.

The highlight of the program was the turn over of the fund of the Letran Alumni Incorporated by the LAFI officials headed by Mr. Jesus B. Mendoza Jr., the president and two members of the board of directors, Mr. Justo Ortiz and Mr. Guillermo Chua. The Reverend Fathers Edwin A. Lao, O.P. and Oscar Novem Enjaynes, O.P. accepted the check for the Colegio. The program was hosted by Mr. Federico V. Ortiz III.

Memorabilia exhibits were displayed at the lobby of each floor of the Student Center. The exhibits ranged from trophies to old pictures specially prepared for the inauguration by Miss Edna Marco, Miss Carolyn Rulona and Mr. Ramil Leslie.

Other notable guests included Mrs. Zenaida Quezon Avanceña, Mrs. Lulu Quezon, Director Javier Galvan of Instituto Cervantes, Angel Lara Gonzales, Chief Librarian, Instituto Cervantes, Fr. Pompeyo de Mesa, O.P., Fr. Rogelio Alarcon, O.P., Dra Lucita Villegas of the NCCA, Lt. Col. Julian Malonso, Dr. Jesus Perez of UST and St. Luke’s, Congressman Rudy C. Bacani and the LAFI and LAA officials.

President Manuel L. Quezon was my idol. I am partial to him probably because we are both Letran Alumni. There was a wrong impression that President Quezon was the son of a priest, because a Franciscan priest brought him to Manila from his hometown Baler, Tayabas (now Quezon Province). Since the Franciscans did not have a school in Manila then, Quezon was sent to Letran, a Dominican school, and became a working student, called "Agraciado". President Quezon and Don Vicente Madrigal were both working students in Letran. President Quezon said, "I am a successful politician but I am not a millionaire. Don Vicente Madrigal was a successful businessman and was a millionaire.

The father of Pres. Quezon was Lucio Quezon, a Spanish soldier. After retirement from the army he taught in Baler and met another teacher named Dolores Molina, whom he married. Pres. Quezon used his second Christian name Luis instead of the middle initial M. He was very particular that his middle initial L was not omitted.

I am very careful in writing about President Quezon, because his only living daughter, Ms. Zenaida "Nini" Quezon Avanceña said that I should be sure of what I would write, when I told her that I was going to write about her father.

August 19 is a red day in Letran because it is the birthday of President Manuel L. Quezon, its most illustrious alumnus. When Pres. Quezon was alive, every August 19 the whole family would come to Letran to hear mass and they would have their breakfast of thick chocolate and churros in the Fathers’ refectory. Even after the death of President Quezon, the living members of the family would come to Letran to follow the same tradition.

President Quezon used to go to the NCAA basketball games. On August 19, after the mass and breakfast, Pres. Quezon told the sudents, "I hope you win next time in baseball." This was when La Salle applied the zone defense and Letran failed to penetrate the La Salle defense. We did not know if Pres. Quezon was mistaken in saying baseball instead of basketball because of the low score. Pres. Quezon was cheering for his Alma Mater Letran while his children, Maria Aurora "Baby," Zenaida "Nini" and Manuel "Nonong" Quezon were cheering for La Salle, because Nonong was studyiing in La Salle. When asked why Pres. Quezon did not send Nonong to Letran, he said he was afraid that the priests in Letran would spoil Nonong.

Pres. Quezon and Pres. Sergio Osmeña were classmates in Letran. Pres. Osmeña used to give way to Pres. Quezon, who became the president of the Commonwealth while Pres. Osmeña became his vice-president.

When Pres. Quezon said he preferred a government run like hell by Filipinos rather than a government run like heaven by the Americans, according to Nini and Nonong, he did not mean it that way literally.

Before he died he told Nonong to be honest, grateful, and not to be vindictive. When he said this he meant it also for the Filipino youth. Pres. Ferdinand E. Marcos admired Pres. Quezon. He referred to him as the "Mestizo".

Nini Quezon Avanceña sued Ferdinand Marcos before he was elected President because Pres. Marcos claimed that Pres. Quezon influenced Judge Roman Cruz to convict him for the Nalundasan murder. The Supreme Court reversed the decision of Judge Roman Cruz. Pres. Jose P. Laurel then was a justice of the Supreme Court who penned the decision. Ferdinand E. Marcos was a promising brilliant young man, who reviewed in jail and topped the bar examination.

During one alumni homecoming, President Quezon sent Mrs. Aurora Aragon Quezon. Senator Quintin Paredes introduced Mrs. Quezon and said that Pres. Quezon could not attend the homecoming for he was indisposed; instead, he sent his heart, Mrs.Quezon.

In another Letran Alumni Homecoming, upon the arrival of Pres. Quezon the Spanish National Anthem was played before the Philippine National Anthem. Pres. Quezon asked vice-president Sergio Osmeña, who was concurrently Secretary of Education to close Letran for the discourtesy to the President of the Commonwealth. The Father Rector then had to apologize.

Two days ago, I arrived back from the United States, being among the representatives of the Philippine Province to the General Chapter of the Order. Before heading for home, I had a chance to visit several colleges and universities in the US, among them, Harvard University. It was then that I realized that what sets Harvard apart from the rest is not its campus, not its buildings nor its facilities. Among others, what sets Harvard apart from the rest is its alumni. It is Harvard University’s alumni that practically take care of its buildings, its facilities, its numerous professorial chairs, and an endowment fund said to be in the region of 10 billion dollars.

In the U.S., in the Philippines and anywhere in the world, practically all schools declare a desire to provide quality education and develop well rounded individuals. It is in all our mission and vision statements. Yet, as the Symposium on Tuition Fees in UE last month will attest, no two sectors in the same school agree on how quality education should be defined. All the more if we compare the definition of one school against another’s. What, I am sure of, however is this: the quality of graduates depends much on the quality of education, real or

perceived, provided by the schools. That is the reason why slots in schools perceived to provide quality education are sought after at any price.

Is Letran as sought after as the other premiere schools in the country? Do people who have a choice select Letran? It will be interesting to find out how many of the alumni in this hall continue to send their children here.

Maybe, we are partly responsible for this. Whenever people who know Letran speak about her, we tend to speak more about a glorious past instead of a bright future. Over the years, our promotional efforts focused on Quezon, Mabini, del Pilar and the other alumni heroes while other schools focused on life in the digital age and the knowledge based economy — something Letran is very much in a position to give.

We have our reasons for doing this, and you will agree with them. We believe that the reputations of schools rise and fall with the reputations of its alumni. Looking at the faces in this hall tonight, I can see that Letran has continued to produce, as it had done in the past, dynamic builders and leaders of communities loyal to the ideals of Deus, Patria, yes – even Letran.

Over the last few years, the Colegio has slowly been building its ties with its alumni. We have taken a more active role in the activities of the Letran Alumni Association such as the homecoming, the selection of outstanding alumni awardees, even in monthly meetings of your Board of Directors. On our own, we tend a fellowship day targeting specific batches from the elementary, high school and college alumni. We began organizing the alumni of the graduate school last year.

You have also responded in kind. During the Rector’s night held at the Polo Club soon after my installation, you gave me an opportunity to share my vision and plans for Letran. Over the months, there had been occasions to report to you the progress we have made with regards those plans. All of these have to do with why we are all together tonight.

Let me begin by giving you an idea of where Letran stands today.

Over the last 10 years, we have seen a steady decline in the enrollment of the elementary and high school departments. While college enrollment has steadily increased over the same period, we did not meet our projections this year.

We can think of all sorts of reasons for this. We can convince ourselves that it is due to the free secondary education program of the government. Traffic in Metro Manila is forcing parents to look for schools nearer their place of residence. Many schools have now opened in what used to be feeder areas of Letran – Cavite, Laguna, Quezon City. Then there is the economic crisis that has been hitting us ever since the peso broke away from P28 = $1.

I believe the bottom line is that we have not done enough to create the perception and the assurance that Letran is a school that provides quality education. An assurance that will make parents invest in a Letran brand of education at any cost.

           6. There have been numerous improvements in our physical facilities. Since last year,
          all our classrooms are air-conditioned and the faculty reports better concentration
          in the classroom and fewer disciplinary problems because of it;

Changes in the field of information technology is another area that schools have to contend with. The fact of the matter is that the latest technology acquired at great expense becomes obsolete in about 2 years or less, even if it is still functional. Parents and students want the latest Pentium 4 class processors, even if all they use are word processors, spreadsheets and occasional internet access – something that can be delivered by a

486 with 16 MB of memory. This year, we added 3 new computer laboratories all connected to our network. Aside from internet stations at the library, we are allotting one lab to be used for internet surfing by our students.

We would like to do more. In one of the schools in Hong Kong, students do not have to decide whether they would rather eat at the canteen or study at the library because they can do both. Even the canteen has network outlets. Maybe, we would like to do that too. In the short term however, we envision each classroom to have at least several network outlets, an overhead projector and an LCD projector for video and computer presentations. We’ve already taken care of the air-conditioning and the increased power consumption requirements. Hopefully, I can attract some of you to provide the rest.

I believe enough has been presented to give you an idea of where we stand, where we want to go, and the resources we would need to get us there. During the launching of the foundation last year, some of you, either as individuals or classes have already responded. I now take this opportunity to invite the rest to do the same. Let us not be content to inherit a glorious past. Help us provide a glorious future as well, for future generations of Letranites.

Arriba.

Please write a formal letter of complaint to their respective deans or department heads.

On the request for a student lounge:

College students can now use the second floor of the Student Center, now that its air-conditioning units are operational.

On the thesis:

Please address your problem to the concerned dean or department head.

Particularly in higher education, accepting the loss of English competence greatly restricts educational resources. Without English, it is virtually impossible to keep in touch with the world science and literature. Replacing English as a language of instruction is a major task and, even if successful, the gain is questionable. Surveys indicate that more than half of the population see no connection between nationalism and language usage.

The Symposium came up with a variety of interesting suggestions for educational procedures designed to strengthen English instruction. While these suggestions have merit, they do not really meet the major problems involved in keeping English a viable language.

Perhaps the major problem is goal dilution. If all Promotion efforts are directed at Filipino and English is seen as a passing burden, newer educational techniques are unlikely to be successful. For most people, acquiring real fluency in a second language is a difficult task. People seldom really learn a language unless they have a chance to use it. If the use of English is socially stigmatized, as it often is, the students will have little exposure outside the classroom and competent English teachers, already in short supply, will be difficult to secure.

One problem in English instruction is also true of the entire gamut of Philippine education. This is a failure to realize that learning outcomes have some relation to the amount of time spent in school. The most obvious problem here is that, while at one time, English was the sole language of instruction, it is now used in only about half the curriculum and in actual practice, probably much less. Another is that, in the words of an early commentator, Clifford Prator: "Filipino children go to school for an unusually brief part of the day and

for an uncommonly short span of years." Elementary school classes still run on a half-day schedule in any districts and the seventh grade, dropped after World War II, has never been restored. Thus, Filipino children have only 10 years of formal schooling before college, compared to 12 years for American students. Mastery of either a second language or the essential background of pre-college learning is more than a bit difficult under these limitations.

One hopeful aspect is that fewer Filipino children leave school at a very early age than formerly. A few years ago, a majority of children left school before finishing the fourth grade; now a majority complete six years of elementary education. There is even some talk of bringing back the seventh grade. Back in 1951, Gerardo Flores found that it usually required seven years of education to achieve real literacy in English. If the half-day session could be abolished, the seventh grade added and English content increased, perhaps the majority of Filipinos could become functionally literate in English.

The current state of language policy is not satisfactory either for those who long for a stronger role for the national language or for those who feel Philippine progress would be advanced by a greater degree of English competence. Logically, English should either be abandoned or more strongly supported. However, logic seldom wins and a confused language policy is likely to continue for the definite future.

Letran has seen better days. According to Father Edwin, the decline really started way back in the late 60’s when the management of the school was turned over by the Spanish Dominicans, the priestly order that founded the school 400 years ago, to their Filipino counterparts. For one thing, the whole Dominican Order, the Filipino side, that is, was left to fend for themselves, bereft of even the rudimentary skills in administration and business, much less the needed logistics. The fabled riches, the so-called friar estates, that were awarded to the Order by the Spanish Crown, seemed to be just that -- fables.

Not surprisingly, the Filipino Dominicans were unprepared to take over the reins of the institutions the Spaniards left behind. Management and organization were uncharted fields for Filipino Dominicans of three decades age. While the Filipino Dominicans strove to keep the schools and the churches going in the face of penury and inexperience, the adjustment period had been long and painful. That these goodly priests went through the gauntlet without a whimper of complaint or a shout for help to its numerous and very able alumni shows the mettle Filipino Dominicans are made of.

And recover it did. Letran banking on the strength of its good performance and name over the last 400 years as a provider of a good Catholic education for the sons of

the rich and not so rich, many of whom have left an indelible mark of their passage in the history of the country, never failed to attract a good number of students.

Today, the products of those difficult years have proven their worthiness in many fields of endeavor. Some have become governors of provinces, legislators, big businessmen, prominent professionals, and academicians. Most of them have turned out to be solid citizens of the country, the types you would like to have on your side because they would never run away from a good fight.

Recently some of these knights in shining armor hugged the front pages of newspapers and magazines and became household personalities because of the television coverage of the Estrada impeachment proceedings and the key roles they played in bringing the president of the Republic to trial. There’s Chavit Singson, key witness and governor of Ilocos Sur. Jose Luis Yulo, star witness and former president of the Philippine Stock Exchange, Cecilio Apostol, congressman turned prosecutor, and Leonard de Vera, member of the private prosecution team. Even on the civil front, a Letranite, Pastor Saycon, also played a critical role. Saycon was a convenor of Kompil II. the non-government organization that mustered popular support for Estrada’s impeachment and, after its ignoble end, for the second show of people power at EDSA.

Bad guys turned good guys? Sinners turned saints? Whatever, this latest batch of Letranites, shine with patina all their own. An elan that has not changed over the centuries, but which sizzles and dazzles whenever the push comes to shove and somebody has got hit back and hard. This indefinable quality that separates the Knights from the Archers or the Eagles or the Lions is the essence of what Letranites call Dugong Arriba.

Heady with their successful takeover from the Spaniards, the school decided to expand by building a branch in Calamba, Laguna. Needless to say, the decision was not only wise, marketing-wise, it was noble and patriotic. The market was really there for the taking. In fact, there was a real need for a good school. Letran-Calamba did contribute its share in making the industrialization efforts in the Calabarzon sustainable by providing locally the professionals and technicians

needed to run it over the last two decades of rapid growth.

The move was also timely. It was in synch with government moves to build an industrial corridor that would generate hundreds of thousands of jobs for the labor force of 4 provinces, including Metro Manila. The fact that the CALABARZON is now the biggest and most robust of industrial sites is one laurel more in the cap of Letran.

However, financially, the move was a risky one. Depending solely on its own internal funds, the school was squeamish about bank loans and solicitation from alumni had put a heavy burden on the finances of Letran-Manila. The added cost of a second campus stunted the growth of the Manila campus which, in time, translated in a decline of enrollment and prestige. The school built itself a financial quagmire that threatened to swallow up both campuses.

It was, at this time critical time, that Father Edwin came into the picture. Neither a Letranite, although he did have a study stint at the school while on his way to postulancy in the Dominican Order, nor a management man, he admitted to a preference of pastoral work. Father Edwin, however, has money in his blood. Son of a Chinese grocery owner in his native town of Duenas, lloilo province. Father Edwin was raised in a typically Chinese household. Everybody’s life, all 7 children and both parents, revolved around the store. His childhood was, in the recollection of Father Edwin, a daily regime of packing orders and making deliveries interspersed with school and homework. Even play was done inside the store so the children will develop a "nose for the money".

Restoring the financial house of Letran in order was like-fishing hitting the water for Fr. Edwin. While he says he did not enjoy doing it as he was already making an alarming number of enemies in the faculty, personnel, studentry, and even among his colleagues, Father Edwin did a thorough job as Vice President for Financial Affairs of Letran. He pinched and counted centavos as only a Chinese can and he even did it in a big way. He took and finished a master’s degree program in management at the Asian Institute of Management.

While Father Edwin was having a tough time at the AIM, he was also giving the whole school its own dose of bitter medicine. The school, in short, was made to live within its means. The Calamba branch was given autonomy and, had since, been doing well. The Manila school, on the other hand, was getting adjusted to being run like a corporation. After ten years of keeping a tigh hold on the purse, Letran has finally found its financial footing, ready and able to face up with the challenges of the 21st century.

School year 2001- 2002 opened doors to new Elementary teachers.

Ms. Sotera G. Alcaraz is a native of Bulacan. She has worked as a Pastoral worker in the Diocese of Antipolo. She is formerly a Pastoral worker-formator in the Ministry of Social and Human Development. Her previous work was teaching Christian Living and Technology and Home Economics at San Idelfonso College in the High School Department in Tanay, Rizal. Ms. Alcaras is now teaching Filipino and Christian Living in the Elementary Department. Recently, she finished her M.A. in Religion at De La Salle University.

Ms. Maria Rosario A. Faustino is a graduate of Sta. Isabel College with the degree of Bachelor of Science major in Public Relations with Honorable Distinction. After taking her eighteen units she passed the Licensure Examination of Teachers (LET). She worked as a Grade School teacher in Maria Montessori School in Ayala Alabang. She is currently the class adviser of St. Thomas of Aquinas section and the new Letran Page adviser. She is currently continuing her Masteral Degree at the Ateneo de Manila University for an M.A. in Educational Administration.

Mr. Joseph M. Sarmiento is a native of Bulacan. He has been teaching Math for quite some time now. He graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Science in Education. He taught in St. Paul San Ildefonso, Bulacan. He is teaching Math and MAPE at the Elementary Department.

Mr. Dennis A. Apostol is a graduate of Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education Major in English. A native of Dao, Capiz, he is presently residing at Sampaloc, Manila. He used to be a substitute teacher of Agtanguay Elementary School. He loves teaching children and he will be teaching MAPE, Language and Reading and Phonics.