Brod Romeo Acosta
UP Los Banos '68A
March 6, 1952 - February 12,
2013
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BETAN RITES
[Photos by
Joel Paredes]
[More Joel photos >>
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/104540555844155656035/albums/5847268392105869409?cfem=1]
Paalam, Brod Romy...
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E-MAIL MESSAGES
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To my dear Brods,
Sad to inform you that our dear
Brother and a die hard Beta Sigman, Romy T. Acosta, Former DENR/ FMB
Director died at Commonwealth General Hospital at about 9 am today. Wake
will be at Funeraria Paz, Araneta Ave., QC. Details follow. Let
us all pray for the eternal repose
of Brod Romy's soul as well as the other Brods who have gone ahead of us.
Rene de Rueda Batch '64,
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My College room mate my dear Brod Romy, a Die Hard Betan. I was
freshman when I discovered Romy at UPLB Baker Hall. It was FFP National
Convention and he was judged as Best Debater among the High School 4H
participants. From there I recruited him to take Forestry. That June 1968
I was surprised during the registration. He approached me and said: " I am
here ". I recruited him to join us.
Cosme Santiago
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It is with great sadness to hear that Brod Romy Acosta has passed on. My
sincere condolences and prayers to the family
of Brod Romy.
Sincerely,
JJ Jayme
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Sad to know! He played big in my being a Betan because he usually visited
us home in Bayombong when he was around.
God bless you Brod Romy!
vfstar88
(vfstar88@yahoo.com)
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First to leave Dirty Dozen 68-A was Brod Edgardo Justo, who was then CENRO
of Cagayan de Oro City, due to a vehicular accident, followed by Brod
Jocelyn Bugaring, CENRO of Luna, Kalinga-Apayao, who was killed while
implementing laws against illegal logging in his district, and then Brod
Willie Manipon, CENRO in Cotabato Province, due to heart attack, then Brod
Valeriano Mendoza also due to an accident and now, Brod Romeo Acosta, due
to a lingering illness. My other surviving batchmates are Brod Orlando
Celestino in New York, Brod Jesus Florentino in Davao, Brod Aniceto
Manuben of DENR, Brod Mayor Butch Tadena of Sto. Domingo, Ilocos Sur, Brod
Dick Manglapus and Brod Antonio dela Cruz.
When we entered the College of Forestry in 1967, Brod Romy was a member of
the Freshman Debating Team. He was a fiery debater that Atty. Ruben
Garcia, Chairman of the Judges, called him the "uncaged lion" when he
handed Brod Romy the "Best Debater" Award. It was also the first time that
the Freshman Class defeated the Senior Class. True to his description as
an uncaged lion, he became a fiery critic of the Marcos regime pre-Martial
Law as a ranking officer (Chief Strategist) of the Kabataang Makabayan
while in UP Los Banos. He was then a hot item in the eyes of the military
that the Forestry Brods had to keep turns in guarding him wherever he
went. One time his picture showing him being embraced by Senator Emmanuel
Pelaez was on the front page of a daily newspaper because the late Senator
was shielding him from police brutality as he was cornered at the steps of
the old Congress at Luneta. He then went underground and later when he
resurfaced, he enrolled the last semesters of his forestry course at the
Araneta University Foundation, afterwards took the Forestry Board Exam and
topped it.
He joined the private sector upon graduation but his longing for social
change forced him to join the DENR where he rose from the ranks until he
became the Director of Policy and Planning, and later as Director of the
Forest Management Bureau. While in those posts, he was instrumental in
phasing out commercial logging, replacing it with forest stewardship with
community-based forestry. Whenever I went for a corporate meeting of
Benguet Corporation in our Manila office, I always passed by Brod Romy's
office before proceeding back home to Baguio City. We would go to one of
those pubs along Visayas Avenue and have drinks till the wee hours,
reminiscing the past and discussing things on social forestry. He would
barely touch the food that I ordered and would rather just drink and smoke
while waiting for the kid who was peddling his favorite pulutan, peanuts
or nilagang mani.
We had more fun together when I became a local consultant at DENR under
Brod Delfin Ganapin, Jr. As Director of FMB, he was happy because he was
implementing the Community-Based Forestry Program of the DENR which is its
flagship project. Because of my business management experience, there were
times when he would grab me from USEC Ganapin's office and fielded me with
his staff to trouble shoot some problematic community organizations or
cooperatives.
Those were some of the good and unforgettable memories with Brod Romy or
Omiong, as we fondly called him. He's now gone forever. Goodbye, Ka-batch!
Brod Vic Battad
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May I add the following to Brod Vic
B's remembrance of Brod Romy T. Acosta:
He is a native of Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya; the eldest in a family of 11
from the two nuptials of his father. All the six boys are Betans. Four of
them, including Brod Romy, offered their lives to the nationalist cause
during Martial Law. Two of them died violently. A brother was captured,
tortured, burned and buried in an isolated forest in Quirino. A sister was
gunned down when she volunteered to stay behind to hold the line of
defense and allow others to escape an assault by government forces. A
fifth sibling, Brod Rolly, wanted to also go underground but was convinced
by Brod Romy that the family had contributed enough to the nationalist
cause.
Brod Romy's contributions to
Philippine forestry were enormous. Ateneo's Environmental Science for
Social Change (ESSC) headed by Jesuit Father Pedro Walpole has this to say
about his legacy:
*The link is>>
http://essc.org.ph/content/view/783/153/.
Vic Ramos 62 UPD
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*Web
note: The ESSC article is brought up below. Because of possible copyright
issues, we will remove this article
after a brief time.
You can always access it using the direct link above.
Source: ESSC.org.ph
***************
Brod Romy is indeed a pillar in
Philippine forestry and I am glad that the ESSC came out with an article
that describes him well. My last vivid memory of him was a beer drinking
session we had when he and Brod Mon visited New York to attend an
international forestry meeting at the UN. But as such beer drinking
sessions I've had with Romy go, the discussions were deep analysis of what
ails Philippine society in general and forestry in particular. He still
had high expectations of what the country can be and his disappointment
and frustration would come out at the slow progress we were making. Yet
his commitment never wavered and I could see that he still lived the call
to "serve the people". As a kindred spirit, I derived strength and
inspiration in brainstorming with Brod Romy, so much so that at well past
midnight, Janet, my "commander", had to order me to get home or else.
Thus, when I learned of Romy's passing, I had to stop work. I felt a deep
loss. Not just for a fellow Betan and forester. I saw a thinning of the
ranks of true activists tested and hardened by fire. And I prayed that
younger ones will hopefully fill the gap.
With the good news some months ago that his latest operation was a
success, I had planned to visit him when I am on home leave this July. I
am doing early preparations for my future work in the Philiippines, to
shift from being an international bureaucrat and be a grassroots activist
again. Brod Romy would have been a great partner. I will certainly miss
him.
Brod Del Ganapin
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I just arrived home last night from the Philippines to attend the
funeral of my younger brother who died of lingering illness. I intended to
meet Brod Romy during my brief stay there, together with Brod Rene de
Rueda. Unfortunately, I was saddened to learn that he passed on the day
before my flight back home, but thankful to God that I was able to see his
body at the funeral home and met his wife, children and some colleagues in
the forestry profession who share the grief and sorrow of his death.
Brod Mong, as I fondly call him, was a great and brave man who always
stood on his beliefs. He had a big heart for the poor people and always
supported programs that would alleviate their standard of living.
I worked with him at the Planning and Evaluation Division in the Bureau of
Forest Development for so many years until I migrated to the U.S. in 1986.
We worked together like work horses, competed with each other, and laughed
together. I remember those times when we had to work until the early
morning hours during budget preparations and go to Congress to defend the
bureau’s budget. He was very tenacious and diligent in his works. I truly
missed those years.
He was very humble, honest, dedicated and sincere man. He was unwavering
in his decisions and always fought for what he believed in. He practiced
what he preached. He never took advantage of his position to enrich
himself. He always put love into what he did. He died a poor man with a
generous heart.
As a fraternal brother, Mong always looked after the welfare of his brods.
He shared fatherly advices to them if they were not doing right. He fought
for them, drank and shared cigarettes with them…a very down-to-earth
relationship.
As a family man, he was a dedicated husband and a great father to his
children. During his last years, he obediently attended church services
with his family.
The forestry profession will greatly miss him. He left a legacy that will
always be enshrined in our hearts.
Farewell, Brother Romy, till we meet again in the afterlife.
JR
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