About the COCOFED National Scholars from Eastern Samar

    One of the best human resource development projects in the 1970s and 1980s was the Pres. F.E. Marcos-COCOFED National College Scholarship that enabled thousands of bright but poor high school graduates to pursue college education in top colleges and universities throughout the country. The prestigious and well-funded scholarship produced many of our present scientists, engineers, politicians, managers, and leaders. 

    The selection process was very tough due to the high number of applicants for the limited slots. Our experience in Eastern Samar was like this: First, all high schools in each municipality had to endorse only students who belonged to the top 5 of the graduating class. Then there would be a municipal level screening in the form of examination and panel interview to select the municipal level qualifiers (in Borongan, the applicants came from four high schools). This was followed by the provincial screening wherein all the municipal qualifiers would come to Borongan for the panel interview. Those who were lucky to be selected in the provincial screening would then take the national written examination administered by the COCOFED national office, followed by the final interview. The list of those who passed the national screening was then published in the national newspapers.  

The COCOFED scholars from Eastern Samar posing with Mrs. Maria Clara L. Lobregat, COCOFED President in ViSCA in 1978
 

    The COCOFED scholars from Eastern Samar, which totaled 75 from 1976 to 1986, were sent to the different top schools in the region for their undergraduate education such as ViSCA, Divine Word University (now defunct), and Leyte Institute of Technology (now EVSU) in Tacloban, and University of Eastern Philippines (UEP) in Catarman, Samar. One of those who studied at UEP, Dr. Maximo C. Aljibe, CESO III, is now an outstanding education administrator who has been appointed by four Philippine presidents to several top-level government positions. He has served as CHED regional director in several regions in the country. (Max and I represented our high school, the Eastern Samar National Regional Agricultural School, now ESSU, in various provincial, regional, and national student conferences of the Future Farmers of the Philippines or FFP).

    But the majority of the Eastern Samar scholars were sent to ViSCA (now Visayas State University), one of the best agricultural universities in Asia. To support its scholars, COCOFED built four dormitories, one cafeteria, and a guest house in ViSCA. The picture above shows the scholars from Eastern Samar with Mrs. Maria Clara L. Lobregat, COCOFED President, and other regional federation officials (e.g., Atty. Celestino Sabate) during the inauguration of the COCOFED dormitories in ViSCA. The scholars who belonged to the  2nd, 3rd, and 4th batches were Pedro Corado, Veronica Alconaba, Jacinto Aspa, Joy Castillo, Jovino Padullo, Manuel Chua, Luz Tiu, Edgar Estil, Cornelio Abuda, and myself.

    I was lucky to be among the more than ten fourth-batch scholars from Eastern Samar. For various reasons, some were not able to finish their courses. However, most of those who graduated are now very successful in their profession and are now occupying important positions in their respective institutions. 

Polluted Vigan River in General MacArthur, Eastern Samar

The pictures below show Vigan River in General MacArthur, Eastern Samar, on April 12, 2013. The bright red color of the river sediments, which is unusual and unnatural for rivers in Samar island, is due to iron oxides deposition. The degree of deposition of this iron compound is clearly not of natural origin. It is severe pollution probably due to iron mining activities upstream. It is easy to speculate that not many aquatic

organisms can survive under this polluted environment. 

Upstream from Vigan bridge

Downstream from Vigan bridge

The beautiful white beach of Punta Maria in Borongan

Punta Maria beach is one of the remaining white beaches along the Pacific coast in Borongan, Eastern Samar that has not yet been altered by any resort development. At least for now it has remained serene, natural, and beautiful. I recommend this to any local or foreign tourists.

On June 9-10, 2012 during our field work in Eastern Samar as part of my graduate and undergraduate classes in Soil Science and Geo-ecology, we visited the beach to observe its formation and ecology.

As I already mentioned in an earlier article in this blog, the beach is white because it consists of fragments of the limestone rock. Examination of the fine sand sample using a modern digital microscope (magnified 150 times) at my laboratory at Visayas State University, revealed that the fine white sand is indeed composed of shell and coral fragments (see photo above).

Taft river slowly recovers

In the early 1980s, every time we passed by Taft river on our way to Tacloban City, I always wondered why its banks were practically devoid of plants and why the soils along this river were colored bright red, black or green.
Years later (in the 1990s) we learned that the unusual appearance of the river was due to the fact that it was ecologically dead because of the severe heavy metals pollution as a result of the mining operations in Bagacay (located in the upper part of the river basin)(see photo below). Last December 2010, as I was driving along the winding Wright-Taft highway, I noticed that the nearby Taft river was very much different from what I used to see years ago: the river has started to recover from the severe pollution as indicated by the variety of plants that can be seen growing on its banks. This is a very positive development but I hope Estehanons will not forget what happened to this important river in the past.

Following the trail of Rizal in Germany after more than a century. Part II

Part II: Fulda-Weimar-Halle-Leipzig

On his way to Leipzig to take lessons in opthalmology, Dr. Jose Rizal visited beautiful and historical places like Fulda, Weimar, and Halle.


Fulda

Fulda is a relatively small city along the Fulda River in middle Germany. It was founded on a Benedictine monastery in 744 and is an important center of catholicism in Germany. It is well-known for its Baroque style buildings. When I first visited it in the mid 1990s during a student field trip, I was impressed by its beautiful castle. I also became aware that the Fulda tires that one can buy in the Philippines come from this city.

Fulda cathedral

Fulda castle

View of the city

Weimar

Weimar is one of the great cultural sites in Europe. It is the home of the Weimar classicism started by Goethe, Schiller and Herder. The town has been a pilgrimage site for the German intelligentsia ever since Goethe came here in the late 18th century. It was therefore not a surprise that Rizal visited the town. Weimar has also a great music tradition. Bach, Liszt and Hummel have lived and worked here. In the early part of the 19th century, the famous Bauhaus architectural movement was founded in Weimar by Walter Gropius.

I visited the city in September 2008 during our Humboldt fellows tour.

Two great men of letters who influenced world literature: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) and Friedrich Schiller (1759-1805) in front of the German national theatre

Goethe's house (now the National Goethe's Museum)

Schiller's house

Bauhaus museum

Market place (central plaza)

View of the city near the Goethe and Schiller monument

Halle

Halle is a trade and science city in middle eastern Germany along the Saale River (20 km north of Leipzig). Halle has a long tradition as a trade center being a traditional source of salt, a very expensive commodity in olden times. In fact, the name Halle and Saale have their origin on the pre-Germanic word for salt.

It is also the birthplace of Georg Friedrich Haendel (1685-1759) (English: George Frederic Handel) one of the greatest composers during the Baroque period (the house where he was born is now the Handel Museum). One of his compositions Zadok the Priest is used as the anthem of the UEFA Champions League.

Halle is the home of the Leopoldina, the world’s oldest science academy and now the national science academy of Germany.

The 500 year-old University of Halle-Wittenberg (Martin Luther University) is one of the most important German universities. Christian Wolff (1679-1754), one of the three founders of modern philosophy (Leibniz, Wolff, and Kant), was among the first professors of the university.

I have lived and conducted scientific research in this city for a total of 2 years (1999, 2004, 2008-09).

The park near the New Theatre and Post Office

Market place (central plaza) with Haendel monument

House of Haendel family where the composer was born and grew up (now the Haendel Museum)

The Marian Church (16th century) where Martin Luther used to preach, and the Gothic Red Tower (15th century)

Administration buildings of the University of Halle-Wittenberg

House where the famous philosophy professor Wolff lived (now Wolff's museum)

Saale River in autumn

Leipzig

Leipzig is a major trade and cultural city in middle eastern Germany. Many world renowned thinkers and scientists (e.g. G.W. Leibniz, J.W. Goethe, W. Wundt, G. Hertz, F. Nietzsche, W. Heisenberg) have studied and or taught at its 600 year-old university, the University of Leipzig.

Leipzig is also a “Bach City” since Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1780) the greatest Baroque composer, served as the director of music of the principal churches of the city particularly the St. Thomas’s Church. Aside from Bach, other great composers like Wagner, Mendelssohn-Bertholdy and Schumann have also lived or worked in Leipzig. It is also the home of the world famous Gewandhaus Orchestra founded in 1743.

When Rizal came to Leipzig, the most famous professor at the time was probably Wilhelm Wundt, one of the founders of modern experimental psychology.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is a physics graduate of the University of Leipzig.

In the last 10 years, I had the opportunity to visit this beautiful city many times.

Leipzig's central train station, one of the largest in Europe

The historical Church of St. Nicholas (left) and university buildings (right)

St. Thomas's Church where Bach was based


The organ in St. Thomas Church that Bach used

Bach's grave inside the St. Thomas Church

Statue of J. W. Goethe who studied in Leipzig

Old Town Hall


Statue of the great 19th century German-Jew composer Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy in front of the St. Thomas Church

Following the trail of Rizal in Germany after more than a century

In August 1886, Rizal travelled to various parts of Germany starting from Heidelberg where he was studying. The places he visited were and still are favorite tourist attractions. Berlin, Heidelberg, and Cologne for example, are always crowded with tourists from all over the world.

At various times during my graduate studies and later scientific work in Germany, I had the chance to visit many places including most of those visited by Rizal. So I have personal knowledge of the places included in this photo documentation.

I took many of the new photos while the majority of the old photos (from the time of Rizal) are from the website of the Knights of Rizal. Some photos were downloaded from the internet and whenever possible the sources are acknowledged.

This presentation is divided into three parts: Part I for the route Heidelberg-Mannheim-Frankfurt-Rüdesheim-Bonn-Cologne. Part II for Fulda-Weimar-Halle-Leipzig. Part III for Dresden-Potsdam-Berlin.

I hope this will help Filipino students appreciate more the life and works of Dr. Jose Rizal.

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Part I: Heidelberg-Mannheim-Frankfurt-Rüdesheim-Bonn-Cologne

Heidelberg is famous for at least two things: its university and its beautiful scenery. The University of Heidelberg founded in 1386, is one of the world’s oldest and most influential universities. Many world-renown social and natural scientists have studied or taught here. Heidelberg's natural beauty is considered as the symbol of German Romanticism. It is no wonder that while studying in Heidelberg, Rizal wrote a beautiful poem “To the flowers of Heidelberg”.

Here's my favorite part of that poem:

"Carry, carry, flowers of Rhine,
Love to every love of mine,
Peace to my country and her fertile loam,
Virtue to her women, courage to her men,
Salute those darling once again,
Who formed the sacred circle of our home."

"And when you reach that shore,
Each kiss I press upon you now,
Deposit on the pinions of the wind,
And those I love and honor and adore
Will feel my kisses carried to their brow."


During one of our visits to Heidelberg some years ago, Dr. Buboy Dargantes, Dr. Bert Guarte and I went to the garden of the castle which we thought could have inspired Rizal to write his poem.

The first photo below (left) shows Heidelberg around the time of Rizal.

Mannheim is a major industrial city located 20 km from Heidelberg. Carl Benz' first car was manufactured in his workshop in Mannheim and was first shown to the public in 1886 the year Rizal was in Heidelberg.

In the early 1990s, I lived for six months in this city (I stayed in a student dormitory in Käfertal) while I was studying the German language at the Goethe Institute-Mannheim University in preparation for my graduate studies in Giessen and Stuttgart. At the time, I made many weekend visits to the nearby Heidelberg.

My favorite places in Mannheim are the Wasserturm and the Luisen Park. The first photo below (left) shows the Hauptbahnhof (main train station) during the time of Rizal.

Frankfurt on the Main River (German: Frankfurt am Main) is the financial and commercial capital of Germany. It is also the usual point of entry for millions of travellers who come to central Europe each year. Frankfurt is the birthplace of J.W. von Goethe, one of the greatest men of letters that have ever lived. More than two centuries ago, Frankfurt was the coronation site for the kings and emperors of the Holy Roman Empire.

Photo above (left) shows a section of the city during Rizal's time

Marksburg Castle is located above the town of Braubach. It is one of the many (close to 30) medieval castles along the Rhine River and is one of the principal sites of the UNESCO World Heritage Rhine Gorge. The castle was built to protect the town of Braubach and to reinforce the customs facilities. It was built about 1117 and explicitly first mentioned in 1231. In 1283 Count Eberhard of Katzenelnbogen bought it and through the 14th and 15th century the high noble Counts rebuilt the castle constantly (Wikipedia).

Rüdesheim is a charming small medieval town located at the entrance to the Upper Middle Rhine Valley. It is surrounded by vineyards and is one of the most popular places along the Rhine River. The entire region is famous for its white wines and they are available almost everywhere in Rudesheim.

Bonn is the birthplace of Beethoven. The city is located near Cologne and was an important place of residence of the electors and archbishops of Cologne. After the Second World War until 1999, it was the capital of West Germany.

The elector’s residence has housed the university since 1818.

Photos above show the market square during Rizal's time (left) and now (right)




Cologne (German: Köln) is an industrial city along the Rhine River. It has elegant churches and colourful riverside houses. The city is the origin of the Cologne or Eau de Cologne perfume. In 1709, Giovanni Maria Farina (1685-1766) an Italian perfumer, launched his new product in Cologne. He named his new perfume Cologne to honor his new hometown.

Santacruzan in Taipei

During my scientific research work at National Taiwan University in Taipei about three years ago, I had the opportunity to witness the very colorful and lively “Santacruzan” organized by the St. Christopher Church of Taipei. Santacruzan is a traditional religious beauty pagent held in many parts of the Philippines during the month of May.

I estimate that no less than 2,000 Filipinos working in Taiwan and many Taiwanese-Filipinos living in Taipei participated in the activity. It was a unique experience for me not only because the celebration was held in another country but also because the parish priest at the time, Father Romy, was a college classmate of mine. It was a nice surprise for me to meet him in Taipei many years after we graduated from college (after college, he went to Rome to study for the priesthood while I went somewhere else for graduate studies).

During the activity, I met several kababayans from different parts of Eastern Samar. Some of them told me that they were enjoying their jobs in Taipei but a few complained of homesickness although their jobs were not difficult. I asked them if they knew how many Estehanons were working in Taiwan but nobody knew about it.