Greetings of peace!

It is with sadness to inform you that Brod Bienvenido "Benny" T. Postrado+, 83 years old. joined his Creator last October 22, 2020, per info received from his younger sister - Lutgarda Postrado Gura-ay of Iligan City, Mindanao. The cause of death was Asphyxia due to his Asthmatic condition and previous stroke. His body was cremated last October 24, 2020 in Cagayan de Oro City. He is survived by his five siblings. He died single/without his own family. Brod Benny was born in Manila on February 6, 1937.

Brod Benny finished his BS Forestry at the then UP College of Forestry in 1966, and was also a graduate of BS Agriculture at the then UP College of Agriculture in 1960. He joined the UP Beta Sigma Fraternity in 1965, together with young forestry students and a handful of returning students, popularly known then as government pensionados. He, together with the other "pensionados" could have easily joined the fraternity as Honorary Members which was an acceptable practice then, but they decided to join the fraternity as regular members to enjoy all the rights and privileges due a Beta Sigman, thus, had undergone the traditional initiation rites of the fraternity. They had their finals at a farm of Brod Sonny Ramos in Pangil, Laguna. If I recall it right, there were three pensionados who joined the fraternity in 1965, namely - Brods Benny Postrado, Candido Agbisit and  Catalino Tosco. We were told that Benny was already a believer of the fraternity when he was with the UP College of Agriculture as he was a classmate of many campus figure Beta Sigmans.

We were classmates at the UP College of Forestry starting my junior year in 1964. Brod Benny just came from then a field assignment in the province of Bataan whose main task was to rehabilitate the denuded areas of watersheds managed by a government agency called Reforestation Administration. Being a forestry project, it was expected that the area would be planted by forestry tree species. Please take note that during this time, "kaingin making" was considered a criminal offense. Most of the so called "kaingeros" were landless and very poor, thus forcing themselves to clear a patch of forest area to give way to planting of agricultural crops, like corn, upland rice, root crops, for their food/survival. Brod Benny was a strong believer on the dictum that "those who have less in life should have more in law".

With Brod Benny in our various forestry classes whose main focus were forest conservation and forest protection, the discussion became more interesting as Benny's experience was, at the time, considered "out of the box line of thinking". An example of his valued experience which I thought was a factor for having finally a Social Forestry Program of the government, was his experience/observation and the then "unorthodox approach" to reforestation. As a fieldman/"Nursery Farm Foreman" of a reforestation project in Bataan, he observed the periodic burning and or vandalism such as uprooting or cutting of planted seedlings in the area such as, but not limited to, Narra, Mahogany, Teak. However, if there were planted/growing fruit tree seedlings, the same were not burned and it was spared from being cut/uprooted/destroyed. With such an observation, Benny decided to propagate fruit tree seedlings like Guyabanos, Nangkas, Kasoy, Mangoes and planted the same in the watersheds, instead of the traditional forest tree species. The result was very good. There was practically no more burning and/or other forms of destruction of the new plantation. Unfortunately, when the assessment was done by his supervisors, instead of congratulating Brod Benny for the successful tree growing activities, he was "criticized why he planted fruit trees instead of forest trees". He tried to explain that the fruit trees can also provide the same ecological services that forest trees can, and its "bonus point" was that the plantation will not get burned because the people were not threatened to be ejected from the watershed where they were "illegally farming". In addition, they could also be benefited from the fruits that could be produced from the newly established plantation, composed mainly of fruit tree species. The end result of the said assessment was a statement that "fruit trees belong to the mandate of the Bureau of Plant Industry, and not for the government reforestation project". Thus, his supervisors then recommended him to study further at the then UP College of Forestry "to know more about forestry". Being with him in a classroom discussion was always a good enriching experience. It was my belief that, due to the richness of our discussion inside our classroom, many students then who joined the government later were convinced that people and forestry can be together in watershed management, in forest protection and in forest conservation. Thus, we can consider Brod Benny as one of the pillars of the present social forestry program of the government.

Brod Benny grew up in the midst of poverty in the district of Malate, city of Manila. He was deprived of enjoying his childhood. Instead of playing, he was selling cigarettes, candy, etc. on the streets to augment the meager income of and support the family. And, being the eldest, "he saw to it that no one is left behind". He supported his siblings in their education, and fortunately, by now, all of them have their own success stories to tell. Unfortunately, the result was a "Benny" who was so focused on helping people that he forgot to have his own family.

Brod Benny was also a "revolutionary". Like many of our own fraternity brothers who became revolutionaries because of their conviction to effect changes from an "observed corrupt bureaucracy/governance system". We also have a classmate/ fraternity brother who was opting the Andres Bonifacio style of "revolution" like, for the lack of better words, the saying that "dadanak ang dugo". Benny on the other hand, adopted the approach of "using the money of the rich and or corporation to help the poor", thus when he was employed as Community Development Manager of the then Atlas Mining Corp in Toledo City, Cebu, he used the Company's resources to help the rural poor in their environs. He led these communities to convert into reusable materials those that were considered "wastes but recyclables/reusables", and have it sold back to the Company for its use in its operations. He was also responsible for the sending of many children of the rural farmers to schools. The same is true when he was assigned as Field Manager of the Andres Soriano Foundation in Palawan. He used the Foundation's resources to help many Bataks family (an Indigenous people of Palawan) thru rural development projects and by sending to schools many children of the Bataks families. I was told that many of these children who got their education are now gainfully employed and were sending their felicitations and gratefulness to Brod Benny thru his siblings.

Brod Benny was the "big brother" in the fraternity. When he was still in the government service in the 1960s and 1970s, many resident Brods were employed as "tree nursery workers" during the semestral/summer breaks for additional income. He was also generous to extending financial help for our resident brods who were in dire need. He also volunteered his nursery area and other facilities as the site of the finals for the resident brods of the UP College of Forestry in 1966. I understand that many fraternity Brothers, especially from our forestry group, were assisted by Brod Benny thru valued advice and or provision of financial assistance.

Brod Benny lived his life very productively by using his time, talents, and treasures to where it matters most, helping Mother Nature thru rehabilitation of denuded mountain areas, including the mined-out areas of Atlas Mining and helping the marginalized rural poor, including the Bataks tribe of Palawan. He had many friends who laughed with him during times of togetherness.

I and Brod Roger Ramirez of Butuan City, UPLB'63, were fortunate to have visited Brod Benny in Iligan City some few years back. We had the day of our visit reminiscing the good old days in the midst of the beautiful Maria Cristina Falls and beautiful beaches of Iligan City. We stayed overnight in his place in the city to continue our bonding. I did not realize that it would be our last laugh together, because the Covid-19 Pandemic prohibited us for another visit to Iligan City.

Brod Benny will be missed in the fraternity, especially by his contemporaries and friends. I hope that when things normalize, Brod Benny will be part of the general honoring that our fraternity is planning for its faithful departed members who died during the pandemic.

May I respectfully request our Brotherhood to please offer prayers for the eternal rest of the soul of Brod Benny and also for all our departed fraternity Brothers.

Rest in peace, my dear Brod Benny Postrado. My salute to our brotherhood and friendship!

Rene, uplb'64