IN MEMORIAM
|
Brod Doroteo Antonio UP Los Banos - Charter Member
DOROTEO U. ANTONIO, 1929-2011, -- CHARTER MEMBER OF THE UPLB CHAPTER AND EPITOME OF A TRUE PUBLIC SERVANT
(Eulogy delivered by Brod Vic Ramos during the fraternity’s final rites in honor of Brod Doroteo U. Antonio at the Libingan ng Mga Bayani Chapel, Makati City, Sept. 2, 2011)
Tonight we honor a brother who has found meaning in the virtue of living a simple life of honesty and integrity. In all his actuations, he lived truth in his heart and offered it to others without compromise. As a public servant, he offered real service that could not be bought or measured with money. To his younger colleagues like us, he stood with integrity as a praiseworthy model with his goodness and excellence. What made this life even more exemplary was that it was built on a career as officer of a government agency that was full of temptations to become rich quite easily and yet he simply shrugged off the lure of easy money. We could appreciate even more his discipline and great capacity for self-denial when we remember that those years when he held much power and authority were the heights of the logging boom in the country from 1950s to 1970s when money literally grew on trees!
When I joined the DENR as an undersecretary in 1987, Brod Dorot was already a living legend for his honesty and integrity. He was pointed out to me as someone I should meet because he typified a model public servant we could emulate. He turned out to be a very soft spoken older person but one who exuded knowledge and competence in his field. I have learned to depend on him to give me the real score of what was happening in the forestry sector. He was not capable of telling a lie. If I spoke to him in Ilocano, he knew it was something serious.
He graduated from the College of Forestry in Los Banos in 1951 and applied immediately for a position with the Bureau of Forestry Development (BFD). While waiting for an available position, I was told by his wife that he worked as a basurero or garbage worker. Eventually he got a temporary position as a ranger with a salary of P110 a month. Mind you, that was not a paltry sum in the old days. That amount could buy a hectare of riceland in our region. After two years, his appointment was made permanent with a salary increase of P10 per month.
He moved up quickly after that from being a scaler of logs to Asst Forester, Asst District Forester and District Forester in 1957. District Foresters were kings in their realm with extraordinary powers because they were assigned to far-flung reaches of the forest that were even made farther by the poor communication systems at that time. They were expected to perform their duties without having to readily consult with their superiors.
It was in Basilan where he worked as a scaler that he met a teacher from Iloilo, Manang Virginia, who became his wife. Their marriage was blessed with four kids.
After another ten years in BFD he became department head as Chief of Forest Development. When I joined the DENR, he was assistant director for Industrial Forestry -- second in command of the bureau with responsibility for all the operations of logging companies and sawmills -- one of the most sought-after positions in government. He first reported to Brod Edmund Cortes and later to another brod - Cirilo Serna, also a founding member in Los Banos. I did not move him immediately to field operations where I was boss because I needed someone close in the head office to consult with. In 1989, I promoted him to Regional Technical Director for Forestry in Region 7 to put stop to the smuggling of illegally cut timber into Cebu for processing. He reported to Brod Rene de Rueda, who was the Assistant Secretary for Visayas at that time. As expected, he performed his job well. He retired a year before I returned to the DENR as Secretary in 1995.
I have often wondered where Brod Dorot got all that strength of character to resist the temptations of material gains that were overflowing in his positions of power. I believed it came from the way he was born and brought up. He was born in Tondo after the untimely death of his father who was also a forester. Early in life he saw the virtue of a simple life without the complications of worldly goods. He was raised in simple surroundings by the sister of his mother in San Marcelino, Zambales, learned to live on whatever he could catch from the rivers of his hometown. He never yearned for anything more than the fruits of his own toils. He persisted on this lifestyle until the end of his days.
And yet in death he was able to bequeath to his children and grandchildren a name associated with integrity in public service -- a badge of honor that will live on from generation to generation. That is the legacy of Brod Doroteo Antonio not only to his children but also to us-- his fraternity brothers. What could be a better inheritance than to carry and be associated with such an honorable name? In our eyes, he stood tall like the sturdy molave tree that he was. He therefore deserves to be buried here tomorrow among the heroes of our age in the sacred grounds of Libingan ng mga Bayani.
The other personal example worth emulating from him was his loyalty to the fraternity. He was the only Betan I know who has kept his original fraternity pin in his wallet for the rest of his life-- whether in the forest or in the city. He joined the fraternity as one of the founding members of our UPLB chapter. That itself was a badge of recognition because Brods Rudy Ylarde and Ed Mabesa chose as charter members only those who excelled in academics and extra-curricular activities.
Excellence, Integrity and Loyalty were the personal hallmarks of this life that we celebrate tonight. These are the same values that our fraternity continues to inspire in us through our elders. I am confident therefore that Brod Dorot will be remembered in the annals of our fraternity as a quintessential Betan who in his quiet ways became a personal example of what it means to be a true public servant.
Brod Dorot, you are our hero! May the Good Lord hold you in His arms as you transcend to life everlasting.
UPBSF, Inc. Pres. and fellow forester Rene de Rueda delivers his eulogy
UPLB GP Raymond Juan puts fraternity pin on Brod Dorot's widow, Manang Virginia
Brod Dorot's grandchildren
|
