The Life and Times of a Beta Sigman
By Ben Manzano, U.P. Diliman 1957
In 1954, after graduating from Ilocos Sur High School, 6th out of 400
seniors, I was admitted at the University of the Philippines without an
interview or taking an entrance examination. My grades at Ilocos Sur
High School were better than I could have hoped for: I graduated with a
GPA of 90%, good enough to enter the college of my choice. At that time,
high school and college curricula were heavy in math and science
courses. These studies formed the cornerstone of my academic life during
my first two years at U.P. as a pre-med student, propelling me to the
Dean’s List of candidate students for the College of Medicine, at number
30 out of 1200 pre-med students.
At the beginning of my third year, I changed my academic trajectory when
I transferred to the College of Engineering without the consent of my
brother Bonie, who was my main financial backer. He was a kind,
thoughtful, and considerate brother, knowing well that there was no way
my parents could have eked out tuition and board from a life of work on
the farm where harvest was barely enough for survival. There were two
reasons for my change of academic pursuit: first, I thought I could
contribute more to society if I became an engineer; and second, when I
saw those engineering graduates visiting U.P., dressed in short-sleeve
white-polo shirts with neckties and driving cars, I was jealous - and
dreamed to be one of them. Coming from a farming family, to have a car
was a far-fetched dream and I never thought I could make that dream a
reality.
At the U.P. Men’s dorm “The Kanlaon”, my roommates Filomeno Balbin and
Cesar Carreon, both law students, and Cesar Pizarro, a business
administration student, asked me if I wanted to join the Beta Sigma
Fraternity. I was uncertain, because at that time the engineering
fraternity Beta Epsilon would have been a more logical place for an
engineering student. After a while, I decided a university would be more
advantageous because membership is more spread out and not limited to
one college. After noticing that frat members were a very happy, singing
bunch of brothers bonded together by blood and conviction, I told my
roommates, “I think I would like to join.” On the third day, I told
them, “I will join.” In a split second, right after I agreed to the
invitation, they told me to lie down on my bed; the next instant, they
hit me with a wooden paddle. Oh how painful it was to be hit with their
instrument of brutality! I couldn’t believe that a friend would do that
to me. “I quit!” I told them. They asked me to stay, which I did after
some pleading that they would not hit me anymore.
Initiations and meetings with other “masters” continued. Masters
continued to shout four-letter words and demeaning insults, followed by
slaps on the face. It seemed that those who were not as handsome as you
inflicted more severe punishments, as if by doing so their misfortune
could be alleviated. One master who did not like me, though he was a
pretty good looking character was C. Duran, son of a congressman from
Cebu. He hit me with a 180-degree slap on my right jaw, using a closed
fist. There was so much force that today there is still a clicking sound
in my right jaw whenever I fully open my mouth.
One of the more enjoyable moments of being a neophyte was approaching
beautiful girls, giving them flowers and learning their names. After
classes, masters and neophytes would go places in search for those
beauties. A favorite place was the “Little Quiapo”, a strip mall on the
Diliman campus. Masters ordered me to deliver a red rose and ask for the
names of girls they were interested in, but were too shy to approach. I
liked this part of the initiation and to this day, I have always found
this method of meeting girls of interest. On weekends, master and
neophyte would even go and find girls at UST and FEU. One favorite
location was at Espana Street in front of the UST campus.
The initiations and various activities with the Beta Sigma Fraternity
continued without letup, inflicting a severe strain on my studies. My
grades went down to a point that there were no courses I could take
because of pre-requisite requirements. My college advisor, Professor
Dominador Ilio, advised me to enroll at another university and to return
if my grades improved. With my future in mind, I transferred to the
Polytechnic University in Sta. Mesa. This was a nightmare, and whenever
I heard U.P. students talk among themselves on a JD bus, I was quiet. At
the new institution, I concentrated on my studies, determined to erase
the humiliation of leaving U.P. voluntarily. After a semester, I went
back to see Professor Ilio armed with a transcript of grades of perfect
1.0. As he promised Professor Ilio re-admitted me to the College of
Engineering; Overwhelmed with delight and gratitude, I worked hard on my
studies and graduated from U.P. with a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical
Engineering – a lifelong dream since I was a six year old lad tilling
the soil in the bucolic village of Mabilbila Norte, in the windy town of
Santa, Ilocos Sur.
Six years after leaving the U.P. Diliman campus and while working as a
Sales Engineer with USI Philippines in Butuan City, Agusan, rumors were
circulating that my counterparts in Manila were applying for immigration
to the U.S. and Canada. Jealous of their possible advancement - and
remembering my dream of going abroad - I made a trip to Manila and
submitted applications to the Canadian and U.S. embassies. Six months
later, in September 1966, I received my approval to immigrate to Canada.
It was a bittersweet decision to leave my job in Butuan City because at
that time my company car, a Toyota Land Cruiser, had just arrived and
had become my favorite companion wherever I went – to visit clients in
Bislig, Misamis Oriental, the beach, and the neighboring City of
Cabadbaran. I left my dream job at USI and wandered across the ocean
blue, lured by a fantasy that life would be a splendor beyond the
horizon.
I arrived in Vancouver, B.C., as a young man of thirty, and was
instantly received with open arms by the first batch of Filipino
immigrants – nurses, secretaries, and engineers from U.P. and FEATI
University. We were a very small group of expatriates but were very
cohesive and helpful to each other. During my short stay in Vancouver I
worked as a Design Engineer with H.A. Simmons International, a
consulting engineering firm for the pulp and paper industry, and with
ACO Conveyors, a bulk and handling designer and fabricator. Contracts
were sparse and few, so despite my reluctance to leave, I left B.C. for
Toronto and landed a job as Staff Engineer for Consumers Glass Company.
The job had a lot of visibility for me professionally because I was
given the assignment of studying the noise level and its impact on the
environment, given that I was a professional engineer registered in
British Columbia. This type of role catapulted candidates to premier
engineering jobs in Canada. U.P. graduates were just the lucky batch
because we didn’t have to take the rigorous examination as required from
other foreign graduates. The University of the Philippines was accredited
by the Professional Engineers Society in B.C., so the four of us from
U.P. – Tom Floro, Constancio Cejalvo, me, and Vic Mercado -were awarded
professional engineer registration.
In May 1968, after two years in Canada, another event changed my life:
My immigrant application to the U.S. was approved. I arrived in Detroit
that month at the invitation of my brother Bonie. It was supposed to be
a transitory stay, because my target destination was California.
However, my brother, Bonie, another Ilocos Sur High School alumnus and an
advanced mechanical engineering graduate from the University of
Michigan, persuaded me to look for a job right away. After working with
two consulting engineering organizations, I worked with General Motors
for nine years and Chrysler Motors for twenty years, from which I
retired in 2000. Detroit became my permanent residence for the next
thirty seven years and my second hometown. This was the place where life
was worth living for because it was here where I met my second wife, Editha Dequina Dormitorio from Dumangas, Iloilo, who gave life to my
four outstanding daughters.
Christina, the eldest, graduated with a business and MBA degree from the
University of Michigan in 2006. She was also admitted membership to the
Phi Beta Kappa. A few months after graduation she was hired as a
business analyst at Polo Ralph Lauren in NY; she rose through the ranks
assuming varied positions, including a one year assignment in Hong Kong
to oversee the transfer of one hundred independent Ralph Lauren
outlets from China which she recommended after a thorough business
analysis. From Hong Kong she was transferred to the international
headquarters in New York where she became the Director of Business
Development Worldwide. Currently, she serves as the Director of Finance
and Accounting for the Ralph Lauren Retail Group of the Americas.
Katrina was editor-in-chief of the school newsletter at Troy High School
where she graduated summa cum laude. She obtained her BS degree from the
University of Michigan and her Master’s Degree in Public Health (MPH)
from Columbia University. Katrina is the Division Administrator of the
Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Group of New York University (NYU) Medical
Center. She contributed many articles about her Philippine heritage to
the Philippine Time newspaper of Chicago. She was the first winner of an
essay writing competition for Filipinos abroad sponsored by the overseas
Filipinos of the Department of Foreign Affairs.
Ashley was a lettered volleyball varsity player from Troy High School,
from which she graduated summa cum laude. In her senior year, she was a
captain of the track and field and volleyball teams, and defensive MVP
in volleyball like her sister Christina. In August 2005, she won the
Miss Michigan-Philippines beauty title winning all the other subtitles.
Ashley studied at the University of Michigan Ross Business School. She
is Senior Digital Media Planner with Greater Than One Inc., a major
advertising group for drug manufacturers. ‘She is a rising star,” says
her boss. On January 7, Ashley was promoted to Supervisor and one of the
lead employees of her company’s new West Coast office based in San
Francisco.
Lauren is also a product of Troy High School where she graduated magna
cum laude. In her senior year she was president of the Japanese Club,
being able to speak the language. Like Ashley, Lauren was the captain of
her Track and Field team where she was a 100 and 200 meter sprinter. She
obtained a BA degree in Family Community Services from Michigan State
University. In her senior year she was president of the Golden Z Club,
an international organization whose mission is to work together to
advance the status of women worldwide through service and advocacy.
Despite the fact that my second marriage was blessed with the appearance
of four beautiful daughters, it came to an end after twenty three years
of bliss and happiness. During the last week of May 1998, I left for the
Philippines to see my aging mother. My elder brother Bonie delayed his
trip. “I don’t want to come back if our mother survives,” he said. While
he was buying his bus ticket to the province, a lady behind him
overheard him saying, “I am going to Mabilbila Norte.” That lit a fire
in the eyes of the lady who asked, “Do you know Ben Manzano?” The next
day, Hely Nartatez, a friend and contemporary, came to pay respect to my
mother. We had a conversation about the good old days and she showed me
pictures of her family. I noticed a beautiful picture of her daughter….
I met Gryselle, Hely’s daughter in Manila the week of Philippine
Centennial on June 10, 1998. I asked her to escort me to the Rizal Park
to record my visit to the Philippines. I had a Nikon N50camera and a
Sony Digital camcorder which we interchanged to take each other’s
pictures and video. That started our friendship and germinated in
everlasting love for each other. We were married in San Sebastian
Church, Philippines, during a balmy summer day on June 2000. Our
marriage was again blessed with four children – three boys and a girl.
Today, being a member of the Beta Sigma Fraternity and U.P. alumni has
turned out to be a blessing I could have never predicted. I made
lifetime friends from the Beta Sigma Fraternity. Among them are:
Franklin Rosario, retired as Engineering Manager at Singer Sewing
Machine Philippines, now living in Calgary, Canada; Oscar Ofiana,
retired Territory Manager from United Drug Philippines. Both were
principal sponsors during my wedding in June 2000. Others that I
remember are Victor Pulmano, former head at the U.P. Civil Engineering
Department and professor at Sidney University, Australia; Evaristo
Carinio, deceased; Rick Monje, consulting engineer; Dave Villegas,
lawyer, brother of very popular Manila Mayor Antonio Villegas, and
currently GP of UP Northern California Chapter; Orlando Nicdao, United
Drugs, retired; Filomeno Balbin, former ambassador, Saudi Arabia, and
former provincial board member, Ilocos Sur; Cesar Carreon, former
provincial board member, Sorsogon; Enching Rodriguez from the College of
Business Administration; Federico Agnir, PhD, Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, and former professor/department head Greenfield Community
College; Pat Escalante, now living in Sacramento, CA; and Prospero
Crescini, our Grand Princep and author of the Betan Credo.
Being a U.P. graduate and a Beta Sigman
continues to light the eternal flame of belonging that burns in my
heart. I love going to the UPAAA convention, where I served twice as
PRO. I am now a secretary with the UPAW (University of the Philippines
Association of Washington) and a member of the Beta Sigma NW, a very
active, vibrant, and closely-knit brotherhood of men dedicated and
guided by the values, credo, and principles embodied in our creed, which
was established many precious years ago on the soil of UP.
ben_manzano@hotmail.com February 4, 2013
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