PARENTHESES

Nakakaawa kung tutuusin ang mga salespersons ng mga malls lalo na sa SM. Biruin mo naman, nakatayo lang sila buong oras ng shift nila. Kaya lang minsan nakaka-inis din kung matapat ka sa isang kupal na salesperson. Gaya nitong naranasan ko kanina habang namimili kami ng Mrs ko sa SM.

Ako:“Excuse me, Brod, meron kayong remote control na universal?”
Salesman: “Ano hong brand nyo?”
Ako: “Brand nang player ko ba kamo?…Samsung”
Salesman: (*tinuturo lang ang mga RC’s na nasa loob ng display shelf, habang nag-aayos ng buhok) “Ay, hindi ho puwede sa Samsung yan.”
Ako: (*nakalagay sa sticker ng RC na puwede sa Samsung). “Puwedeng pakibuksan ang eskaparate’t kunin mo yung RC nang matingnan naman natin.”
Salesman: (*saka pa lang kinuha ang RC sa loob ng shelf at inabot sa akin)
Ako: “O ayan ba’t nakalagay puwede sa Samsung.”
Salesman: (*tiningnan ang RC) “Ah, tinesting na ho namin yan, hindi ho gumagana sa Samsung.”
Ako: (*salubong na ang kilay)
Salesman:“Yun hong isa, gumagana yun sa Samsung”
Ako: “Asan yun?”
Salesman: “Ubos na ho ang stock namin nun.”

Today is the 44th founding anniversary of my Alma Mater, the Mindanao State University (MSU).

Created under RA 1387 as amended through authorship of Senator Domocao A. Alonto, the Mindanao State University was established in Marawi City on September 1, 1961. Dr. Antonio Isidro, former Vice President for Academic Affairs of the University of the Philippines, was its founder and first president.

Formal classes opened in June 1962 with 282 students, 19 faculty members and staff, and three core colleges: Community Development, Liberal Arts and Education.

After more than three decades of operation, the University has grown into a multi-campus University System with seventeen colleges and degree-granting units in the Marawi campus alone.

I consider MSU Marawi City as my second home. I practically grew up in the campus. It is there where I passed my coming of age. It is there where I got not only my elementary, high school and College education but also a greater education about life, on simple living and hard struggles.

Life in MSU is so simple but so beautiful. Whenever I take a stroll down memory lane, my first destination is always MSU. Whenever I see a place endowed with the beauty of nature, I remember MSU. Its cool climate is comparable to the climate of Baguio. In the midst of a wartorn land, MSU remains a sanctuary of peace, a place of bliss. Students of different faiths, having different social status and coming from different places live together in a campus far from the vestiges and profligacy of urban lifestyle. They are bonded together by a simple, almost ascetic, lifestyle. A common experience shared with pride by all MSUans.

To compare MSU with other academic institutions would be like comparing apples to oranges. MSU has a unique identity of its own. An identity known by those whose lives she had touched and intellect she had helped nourished.

To my Alma Mater and to all MSUans, happy foundation day.