My Memory of Teaching in the University of Makati

By Oggie Medina

Dra. Elenita Binay, wife of former Makati Mayor and former Vice President Atty. Jejomar “Jojo” Binay, had encouraged me to teach at the University of Makati, or UMak.

I remember that years ago I was with photographer Ms. Mandy Navasero (who passed on recently) when we went first in the morning to the residence of Mayor Jojo Binay before we proceeded to the newly built UMak. Later that noon we had lunch at UMaK premise with then presidential son Noynoy Aquino who joined Mayor Jojo Binay, Mandy Navasero and me.

I had a vision that I would teach in later years in UMak. And it came true in July 2019.

I was assigned in UMak’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, with Dr. Acel German as our dean. I taught economics, entrepreneurial mindset, art appreciation, ethics, Philippine history and Rizal subjects.

I got to know the late Dr. Merriam Bernardo who was my dancing partner during UMak’s special events. I gave her two dogs that she had taken care of.

I invited some celebrities to give inspirational talks in my classroom for the Rizal subject: some descendants of our national hero Dr. Jose Rizal. These included former tourism secretary Gemma Cruz Araneta, the Philippines’ first Miss International, together with her cousins Mia Syquia Faustmann, Sanya Faustmann, Encarnacion Laurel Loewen and Ester Azurin, who gave a talk on Rizal’s life to then UMak students.

“I’m grateful that I was able to hear stories from the grandnieces of Dr. Rizal. The stories they share give me knowledge and truth about who Dr. Rizal really was. Their knowledge about their family history is quite astonishing. They really are the grandnieces of Dr. Rizal for they inherited our national hero’s intelligence. I am amazed as well that they are tall. In the books Rizal is said to be a small person but it is not true. This is once in a lifetime opportunity to be able to meet in person and hear stories from the bloodline of our national hero,” remarked Jeremiah Manlapaz, then a computer science student.

Added John Clark Marcelo: “Without Jose Rizal, there would be no freedom in the Philippines. This sentence said by Ms. Gemma Cruz was the one thing I will not forget from the lecture. We owe it to our national hero that we are free from tyranny.”

Gemma later gave two books she wrote, Rizal’s True Love and 50 Years in Hollywood: The USA Conquers the Philippines, to some students and to UMak through Dean German.

For the third time (his first was during the launch of his indie film Fidel where he played the lead role; second was when he was invited to judge a contest), singer-actor Lance Raymundo surprised some UMak students taking the course Art Appreciation, a subject that covers film (mainstream and indie), music, dance, illustration and animation, theatre, literary works, applied arts such as fashion and architecture, with his humility and kindness despite what happened to him some years ago from a gym accident.

“I want to thank Mr. Lance Raymundo for giving his time to us… his story is very inspiring and has a positive vibe because he is a very humble, kind person. He shared about his career and the accident that happened in his life but he never gives up for he knows that everything will be OK when we trust God and forgive others,” said then student assistant Theresa Torres. Lance later sang some songs for them.

Afterwards, well-known animator Jess Espanola, the first Filipino to win an Emmy Award, gave a hearty talk to UMak students who appreciate the world of animation (UMak students have been excelling in this art category too, thanks to the support of UMak’s College of Liberal Arts and Letters).

Remarked Ryan Jake Antig: “Ang isang Jess Espanola ang nagpapatunay na hindi patapon ang buhay ng isang tao. Lahat tayo ay may purpose, siguro ngayon hindi pa natin alam o nakikita (A one Jess Espanola proves that life of a person is not a waste. We all have a purpose, perhaps now we do not know it yet or we are not seeing it at this time). By means of drawing on notes, Jess Espanola did not know that it would help him rise from poverty. He has received many achievements and he did not realize he would reach that goal.”

From Associate Professor 2, I was promoted to Associate Professor 3 (or Senior Lecturer 1) after a year. Thanks to UMak.