By Dr. Manuel C. Palada
(A Testimony in the Morning Devotional during the CPU 10th Global Alumni Reunion at Chicago, Illinois on July 7, 2018)
Dr. Palada in his college yearbook. He graduated from CPU with a degree in Bachelor of Science in Agriculture in 1966.
Introduction
My beloved Centralians, good morning! It’s a great privilege to share with you my testimony reflecting my education, experience, and career as an alumnus of Central Philippine University.
I was born in Bacolod City and the sixth in the family of 13 (8 boys and 5 girls). Our father, Rafael Paginado Palada, Sr. passed away at an early age of 47 years. I was first year in college when Dad left us. Our mother (Gloria Celiz Palada) took care of us and helped us so we can continue our education.
I graduated as a high school Salutatorian from the Negros Occidental High School Class 1961. After graduation, I was admitted to La Salle College with a partial scholarship and work student benefit. I came to CPU as a sophomore from La Salle College, Bacolod in 1963. The Lord guided me to study at CPU since it was my childhood ambition to become an agriculturist. La Salle College had no degree in agriculture at that time, and CPU is the only university in Western Visayas that offers B.S. Agriculture degree with high standards and quality.
Student Days at CPU
I stayed at the Dorillo’s residence – family relative of the Pabionas with a strong fundamental Baptist Christian foundation. Nong Juaning (Juan Dorillo) was a strict foster father to us (student boarders). Every evening after dinner, we had a family devotional fellowship (Bible study and prayer). The Dorillos had a strong influence on our Christian life. Every Sunday, we attended morning worship service and youth fellowship in the afternoon at Doane Baptist Church.
In the second semester 1964-65, I was accepted in the CPU Work Student Program and was assigned to work with Mrs. Estrella S. Rio, Chairman, Life Sciences Department. I started as a stockroom clerk, issuing lab equipment and supplies for classes in botany, zoology, microbiology, and entomology. I was then promoted to the position of Office Clerk Typist, typing course syllabi, lecture notes, exams, etc. To earn extra income, I typed research reports and thesis of graduating agriculture students (during personal time).
I was elected Vice Governor of the College (Province) of Agriculture, joined the CPU Men’s Revue Club, CPUCA Choir Group, Gospel Team, and Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship (IVCF). I accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as my personal Savior in a 2-week summer IVCF summer camp at Kawayan Camp in Murcia, Negros Occidental. My saving Bible verse: Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that is not by yourself, but is the gift of God. Not by works, least any man should boast”
I completed the B.S. Agriculture degree in three years under the Work Student Program. I graduated in October 1966 with a major in Plant Science. I owe a deep gratitude to Mrs. Rio, who supported me throughout my school years at CPU. Also, I thank Atty. Modesto Rico who was a disciplinarian and coordinator of the Work Student Program. Above all, I’m grateful to all my teachers and faculty of the College of Agriculture who provided me with quality and Christian education.
Professional Career
After graduation, I went for a job interview in Cebu City. The Presidential Assistance for Community Development (PACD) was recruiting field technicians to work in villages and communities in government social and agricultural development programs. There were about 5 of us from CPU who applied for the job. We all passed the interview and were getting ready for in-service training at the University of the Philippines at Los Banos (UPLB).
However, when I came back to CPU to prepare my travel to Los Banos for in-service training, the Lord had something better prepared for me. Dr. Joseph Lenwood Edge, Dean of the College of Agriculture, asked me if I can stay and teach at the college since, at that time, the college was understaffed. The college needed to hire additional or new faculty due to the increasing number of enrolled students. Dr. Edge said that if I stay at CPU and teach, I will have a bright future. I followed his advise and accepted his offer for a position as an instructor in the college. I know that the Lord was leading and guiding me to the decision I made. It was my first experience teaching college courses, and I enjoyed instructing and advising students. Although we have a heavy teaching load and low salary, in the long run, it was fulfilling and rewarding.
If I did not stay and teach at CPU, I would not have met my beautiful life partner Elisa (Ellie) Hortelano. We’re both proud to be Centralians and of the same Baptist faith.
After teaching for two years, Dr. Edge recommended me to avail of the faculty development program. He recommended and supported my application for a scholarship grant at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in Los Banos, Laguna. IRRI is adjacent to UPLB, where a student takes courses in the College of Agriculture. IRRI and CPU have one thing in common. IRRI was founded and established by the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations. CPU was also established in 1905 through a grant given by the American business magnate, industrialist, and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller under the auspices of the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society (ABFMS). IRRI granted me a full scholarship that enabled me to complete my M.Sc. degree in agronomy at UPLB.
After completing my M.Sc. degree for two years, I returned to CPU and served as an Assistant Professor in the College of Agriculture. President Rex D. Drilon, first Filipino President of CPU, welcomed me, encouraged, and inspired me to serve CPU to the best of my ability. It was sad to know that he passed away one year after I came back to CPU.
After serving and completing my teaching contract for two years with CPU, I decided to move on to the next level of my post-graduate goal beyond a master’s degree. With permission from Dr. Agustin Pulido, I went back to IRRI, Los Banos, and joined the Multiple Cropping Department team as Senior Research Assistant. As an international research center, IRRI gave me an opportunity to coordinate the multiple cropping training programs where we trained participants from South and Southeast Asian countries on improved technologies for rice-based multiple/cropping system. IRRI also sent me to Taiwan for advanced training to strengthen and expand my knowledge and skills in multiple cropping technology.
God had a plan for me to return to Iloilo after working with IRRI in Los Banos for two years. I was assigned by IRRI to coordinate the research outreach site in Oton and Tigbauan, introducing the rice technology on direct seeding and double cropping under rainfed (no irrigation) farming areas. This project was called Rice-Based Cropping Systems in Rainfed Environment. Our research team was composed of 20 project staff members and covered 10 villages (barrios) in Oton and Tigbauan with 50 rice farmer cooperators (participants). The technology made it possible for rice farmers to increase their production from one crop to two crops of rice a year and additional upland field crops (mungbean, cowpea, corn, watermelon, vegetables, etc.) without irrigation. While we were living in Oton, we attended Oton Baptist Church under Pastor Ilacio. Ellie played the piano in the morning worship service. I also had a chance to serve CPU again as part-time faculty in the College of Agriculture, teaching advanced courses in agronomy.
The IRRI-BPI (Bureau of Plant Industry) project in Oton and Tigbauan was very successful such that it became a model for other Southeast Asian countries. Many international scientists and researchers visited the project sites and learned more about the success of the project. The Department of Agriculture Region 6 (Western Visayas) promoted and disseminated the project all throughout the region and called it KABSAKA. We just had a project staff reunion last May 2018 and after 43 years since the project was launched in Oton. It is amazing to see the rapid progress and development of the project sites (barangays) where roads are concretely paved, and houses are modern and larger compared to nipa and bamboo huts before. The project really made a great economic impact in the community.
God has so much blessed this project under my leadership and also my family. I thank him for using me to serve and help rice farmers improved their production and standard of living. The success of this project brought personal rewards and blessings to me and my family. After coordinating the project for almost two years, IRRI recommended me for a Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship (scholarship) to pursue my Ph.D. degree at the University of Florida, Gainesville. In September 1976, we left the Philippines and arrived in Florida, where I started my graduate program in horticultural science with major in vegetable crops at the University of Florida. The full scholarship covered tuition, books, stipend, insurance, travel, and family allowance. The Rockefeller Foundation was so generous, just like when they established CPU. It’s a great and abundant blessing the Lord provided to us. While a graduate student, we continued faithfully in the service of the Lord. We attended and served in the Sunday worship service in a local Baptist church. By God’s grace. I successfully completed my Ph.D. degree in the spring of 1980, two- and one-half years (31 months) after I started the program.
Immediately after graduation, I was invited by my former boss at IRRI (Dr. Richard R. Harwood), who also recommended me for a Rockefeller Foundation scholarship to join him at Rodale Organic Gardening and Farming Research Center (now Rodale Institute) in Kutztown, Pennsylvania as a post-doctoral fellow. I conducted a study of an integrated crop-livestock organic farming system as practiced by the Amish (Mennonite) farmers in Pennsylvania. This was my first opportunity and experience to be exposed to chemical-free organic farming systems. While there at Rodale, I coordinated the Horticulture Program focusing on year-round vegetable production in the field and in solar greenhouses. After one year as a post-doc fellow, Rodale hired me as Research Scientist developing organic and sustainable vegetable cropping systems. I also conducted training workshops for summer intern students, U.S. Peace Corps volunteers, as well as farmers in Africa.
After working for three years at Rodale, it was time for me to go back to international tropical agriculture. In 1984, I accepted the job as Senior Agronomist at the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Ibadan, Nigeria, West Africa (1984-1989). I managed the farming systems project funded by the Canadian International Development Research Center (IDRC). The project focused on improving the farming systems of small-scale African farmers using improved technologies developed by IITA. We introduced enhanced technologies for the production of cassava, yam, sweet potato, corn, cowpea, rice, banana, and plantain. Most research projects were conducted on-farm with farmers’ participation. This job gave me an opportunity to travel in countries of West, Central, and East Africa. This job also gave my family the chance to travel once a year during our home leave visiting countries in Europe, Australia, China, and Southeast Asia.
When the Canadian funded project was completed in five years, I moved back to Pennsylvania, and during the transition period (while looking for a permanent job), I worked as short term consultant for the World Bank and the U.S. based NGOs on development projects in Liberia, Kenya, and Somalia.
It was my desire and wish to settle down in the U.S. and get a permanent job. The Lord has been gracious and answered my prayers. Two years after I left Africa (1991-1992), the Lord led me to a new job at the University of the Virgin Islands in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. Virgin Islands is a U.S. territory like Guam and Puerto Rico. I started working as Research Assistant Professor at the Agricultural Experiment Station and was later promoted to Research Associate Professor, Full Professor, and Assistant Director. While in the Virgin Islands, we visited several Eastern Caribbean islands for the annual meeting of the Caribbean Food Crops Society (CFCS). Those islands are mostly tourist destinations: St. Thomas, St. John, Virgin Gorda, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, St. Marteen, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Grenada, Barbados, Antigua, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Trinidad-Tobago, etc. Also, we traveled to some Central American countries: Honduras, Mexico.
There was also an opportunity for a consulting assignment opened in the Philippines. During a short break, I was invited by ADB – Asian Development Bank in Manila to provide technical expertise for the Philippine Grain Sector Development Project in agronomy. We reviewed and surveyed the status of rice and corn production in the Philippines, traveling in rice and corn-producing regions from Luzon to Mindanao.
After seven years of service at the University of the Virgin Islands, I availed of the benefit of the sabbatical leave program by the university. I accepted the offer of the Asian Vegetable Research and Development Centre (AVRDC) now the World Vegetable Center in Taiwan, as a Visiting Scientist on sabbatical. I worked under the Crop Management Program, developing year-round vegetable production systems for the tropics. Aside from the various vegetable projects, I introduced the multipurpose miracle tree Moringa (Malunggay) at the center and studied varietal characteristics of various varieties collected from different countries in SE Asia. Upon my retirement from the World Vegetable Center, I brought some of these varieties to CPU College of Agriculture for starting the Moringa Project in collaboration with the World
Vegetable Center. Several varieties were evaluated for their characteristics and adaptability in central Philippines.
While in Taiwan, I had the opportunity to visit CPU in 2001 when my Alma Mater selected and presented me with the prestigious Distinguished Centralian Award in Agricultural Education and Research. I’m greatly honored and grateful to CPU for recognizing my achievements over the years. I owe a lot to CPU.
After my sabbatical leave in Taiwan, I returned to the University of the Virgin Islands and served for another year when the World Vegetable Center offered me a full-time job as Crop and Ecosystem Management Specialist to head the Crop Management Unit with 20 research staff. After working for 13 years at UVI, I decided for an early retirement and spent the last five years of my career in Taiwan. It was also my desire to return to SE Asia, where there are tremendous challenges in improving the livelihood of the small-scale farmer for more challenging than those in the Caribbean region. Furthermore, Taiwan is so close to the Philippines, giving me a chance to frequently visit Iloilo and CPU.
The last five years of my professional career at the World Vegetable Center was challenging and fulfilling. As Crop Management Specialist, I traveled throughout South and SE Asia monitoring vegetable crop projection projects. I went as far as Afghanistan and Solomon Islands to introduce and promote improved vegetable production technologies to small-scale farmers. Another reward and honor the Lord gave me while serving the World Vegetable Center was to be awarded as the Outstanding International Horticulturist by the American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS) presented during the ASHS Annual Scientific meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada, July 2005. I think I’m the first Filipino to receive this award as recognized by ASHS. I’m really proud to be a Centralian with this award.
After serving the World Vegetable Center for 5 years it was time for me to retire. It was my plan to share my God-given talent and gift to CPU when I retired. After all, if I did not study at CPU, I would not have attained and achieved all these successes. CPU gave me the solid foundation of Christian education. I’m now serving CPU as a Visiting/Adjunct Professor at the College of Agriculture, Resources, and Environmental Sciences (CARES) at the same time as a member of the Board of Trustees and CPU Corporation.
I owe a lot to CPU, my beloved Alma Mater. CPU is the place that made me what I am today. Indeed, the Central Spirit is alive!
Lastly, one of my favorite Bible verses: Psalms 37:23, “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and he delights in His ways.”