Luck of the Irish

Luck of the Irish | Daily Tribune

My first confession to an Irish missionary in 1950 at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral, Roxas City, gifted me with Irish good luck: first honor from first to fourth year high school where I graduated valedictorian in 1954; and finished with a degree of Bachelor of Arts (A.B.), major in English, cum laude, from the Colegio de la Purisima Concepcion in April 1958.

I developed my teaching potential by taking up a total of 20 education-related subjects, credited for 60 units, reaching a candidacy for Bachelor of Science in Education (BSE). To reinforce my teaching capability, in 1959 I attended summer classes in speech and drama at the Ateneo de Manila Graduate School on Padre Faura, Manila.

I was consistent class president from first to fourth year high school, and was elected president of the CPC College Supreme Student Council. I was first president of the Catholic Youth Organization of Roxas City and diocesan president of the Student Catholic Action.

I served at Mass every day when I was in high school, in tandem with my best friend, Jesus Aldea.

Throughout my life, I was trained by my late mother, Soledad Villariña Besana, a product of a Thomasite education, to be self-dependent and self-sufficient and centered in my Catholic faith. We had no way to ask for help from politicians.

When I decided to leave Roxas City in 1961 to find a job in Manila, I was fully equipped. I joined the General Auditing Office (GAO) as a substitute auditing examiner. The Honorable Pedro Gimenez, as Auditor General, signed my appointment papers on 24 August 1961.

While working, I continued to study. I enrolled at the University of the East and graduated with a degree of Bachelor of Business Administration on 4 July 1965. I pursued graduate studies, graduating with a degree of Master in Public Administration from the University of the Philippines on 23 April 1972 under the scholarship program of the Civil Service Commission.

Then came the life-changing Irish luck. In 1971, the UP College of Public Administration sent me to Europe to attend a three-month seminar on local government finance in The Hague, the Netherlands; Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Luxemburg and Belgium. In 1975, the Philippine government, under the NEDA-USAID scholarship program, sent me to Washington, DC, to attend a four-month seminar on fiscal management and family planning.

Barely 16 years after leaving Roxas City, from 1961 to 1977, my Irish luck surprised a lot of Capiceños. In 1977 I was already resident auditor of the Budget Commission under Dr. Jaime C. Laya.

For indeed, the “luck of the Irish” led me to become resident auditor of the Gold Mining Industry Assistance Board, the Ministry of the Budget, Intramuros Administration, Office of the Prime Minister, Commission on Elections, Office of the Vice President, Commission on Appointments, Philippine Senate, Sandiganbayan, Presidential Anti-Crime Commission, General Headquarters AFP, Philippine Army, and Office of the President–Proper.

After 40 years, three months and three days, on 27 November 2001, I retired effective 28 November 2001.

At 88, I’m still ambitious. I want to finish my doctorate in public administration at UP Padre Faura. I intend to develop my commentaries in DAILY TRIBUNE into my dissertation.