| mismo sa pusod ng Lungsod Ng Maynila, marami nang naganap na mga pagbabago na pinagdaan nating lahat, personal man o sa ating bansa. Makikita natin ang mga naitayong mga monumento ng kaunlaran kabilang ang
Skyway, MRT at LRT, SCTEX, C-5 at iba pa.
At sa ngayon, makikita naman sa inyong mga ngiti ang mukha ng tagumpay. Ang lahat ay utang na loob natin sa ating institusyon, ang FEATI University kung saan tayo natuto at nasanay ng lubos sa ating propesyon. Ang ating Universidad, bukod sa ating mga magulang, ang siyang naghubog sa atin bilang mga matatagumpay na indibidwal.”
I can say with conviction that everyone here is a success; a success because our Institution reared us well with a Catholic Orientation within its very walls.
Amid the Beatlemania and the cool sound of The Cascades, and student activism in the pre- and post-martial law years, our FEATI molded us into individuals who strove to make a difference in the lives of people around us by striving to be better than we were when we walked out of the gates of FEATI.
In our own way, we have all fanned the flames of the inspirational battle cry: “Look Up Young Man”, which “the mother of our FEATI, Dr. Victoria Lopez de Araneta”, coined as our guiding light. Indeed it has emboldened us with greater zeal in our respective paths in life. Its unquenchable fire remains ablaze in our hearts and minds.
As we look back to our Alma Mater, we are proud of its history and its physical transformation especially at this time of mobile phones, Facebook, Twitter, and the like and the multi-faceted “comforts” of information technology and multi media; as well as the mega hits of Beyonce’s “Single Ladies”, Lady Gaga, Parokya ni Edgar and River Maya.
I recall the time when the Far Eastern Aeronautics School first made known its existence via our first aeronautical classes. I remember that no less than then President Ramon Magsaysay witnessed the demonstration at the Malacañang Palace of the TV-phone invented by our Dean, Dr. Gregorio Y. Zara in 1956. Later FEATI emerged as the birthplace of activism when the first faculty strike erupted at our school in 1962. Dr. Lopez De Araneta’s son-in-law, Jose M. Segovia, who worked to end the strike later emerged as the third President of FEATI. This was followed by the resurrection of the FEATI Student Publication with the aid of the Student Council in 1987.
Earlier, President Marcos had declared Martial Law. About three years after, FEATI rebounded with its 45,000 student enrollees in 1975. Also, we mourned in 1988 the great loss we felt at the passing of our Great Lady, the “mother of FEATI”, Dr. Victoria Lopez de Araneta.
I can see the face of success in: the brightest among us who choose to be civil servants, because they still believe in our institutions; the honest public servants among us who lead with integrity, honesty and virtue; the parents, single or otherwise, who gave up their own happiness and needs for the sake of their children. And, the businessmen, the corporate warriors and the professionals among us who have helped other people add value to their lives.
School reunions like this special affair indeed are a time when we reminisce of the era that made us into the successful human beings that we are now. Our years in FEATI were memorable years. We grew up in the same God-centered community. Education was our ticket to a brighter better world. And probably for most of us, education was the only way out.
It was a great time to grow up. We had no money, but we learned to enjoy what was available. We did not have television, electronic games and cellphones, but we were free to learn about nature and enjoy life through our physical activities and interaction with each other and our professors.
Several of us were poor, but not poverty stricken because even then we knew we had a purpose in life. This Purpose kept us going.
Think of the professors and instructors we had in those days! They taught us to believe we are winners. They showed us the logic of mathematics and the sciences. They made us good engineers. Let us pause for a moment to applaud our professors and instructors. We respected and somewhat feared our professors, but overall, we knew them as friends we could trust.
We had pride in FEATI University, our dear alma mater. We were proud because we knew hardship was just a step in making us self-sufficient. We did not grow up to be forever dependent on dole-outs or the goodwill of others. We expected to be responsible, dependable and independent adults. We willingly accepted our roles in life, whatever they might be. We were materially poor growing up but we were rich with purpose and pride.
One other thing we had, though we may not have realized it then—and might even have denied it at the time—we had prayer. We had known life and death of friends and family. We had known financial and emotional trials. We had known fears and frustrations. We had felt fatigue and despair. The need to pray and the sincerity of prayer, as we learned in school, have continued to sustain us through the years, and will sustain us the rest of our course.
JEREMIAH 29:11-13 – “FOR I KNOW THE PLANS I HAVE FOR YOU,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”
Yet we remember our growing years as a nagging reality. We have the responsibility of telling our children and grandchildren how we, despite not having all the material comforts, grew with purpose in life, with pride and faith in ourselves that we would come together again later under better circumstances.
Now, we have entered into the new millennium since we left FEATI and right now we are at the crossroads in the history of our nation when our people will again be electing its new leaders. Hence, the call of this humble servant for us to consult our conscience in exercising our right of suffrage, decide properly and vote wisely. Let us all help make this first ever automated elections on May 10 a great success, as each and everyone of us have become a great success in our own way.
We definitely cannot gamble with our future amid the serious challenges of our times such as the El Nino threat, the power outages, as well as the economic crunch.
More than 4 decades or even more than 50 years after leaving its portals, we as its offspring have kept the FEATI fire ablaze. Indeed, “Look Up Young Man”, but as we look up, let us find time to look back to our Alma Mater, FEATI University.
MABUHAY ANG ALUMNI NG FEATI! MABUHAY ANG FEATI!
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