FRED C. LUMBA SPECKS OF LIFE

(Comparatively speaking, there are some Filipinos who started humbly and rose from poverty to become wealthy and successful business persons, amassing billions.)

Through sheer diligence and applying pragmatic sense, Carnegie learned telegraphy and became a division superintendent in the Penssylvania Railroad where he improved his lot to become a part owner of the Woodruff Sleeping Car Company.

As his earnings multiplied, Carnegie invested some of his money in oil lands, thereby increasing his wealth enormously.

After the Civil War, Carnegie entered the iron business where he eventually established steel works in Pennsylvania.

In 1899, he consolidated all his interests to organize the Carnegie Steel Company.

Two years later, he retired with a fortune estimated to be worth half a billion dollars.

ARE YOU A WORLD CHANGER?

Without any business position and already enjoying freedom from work, Carnegie found philanthrophy as a worthwhile “occupation.”

He announced in 1912 the creation of a foundation where he put in $12M as initial funding.

The foundations funding exceeded $200M during Carnegie’s lifetime.

With such a generous heart and a emphatizing attitude towards factory workers from where he rose from the ranks, Carnegie established a benefit fund for employees of the Carnegie Steel Company.

Little did I know (until I read his biography) that Andrew Carnegie was himself a writer. As a anti-war advocate, he vigorously opposed war and produced three notable books - the Gospel of Wealth, the Empire of Business and Problems of today which becamse best-sellers.

Carnegie was also concerned about education and the welfare of teachers. He was

ANTONIO V. FIGUEROA

Though a virtual unknown, Januario Puruganan is one of the colorful educators assigned in Davao. With pure grit and diligence, he went on to author ‘To Mother and Other Poems,’ (1929) a literary work that would be anthologized, thanks to his Protestant links.

Coming from an impoverished background, he worked as a houseboy while attending el-ementary school. His family’s Protestant ties indisputably helped his academic preparation.

In his intermediate years, he credited his early English poetry writing to Emiliana P. Ven-tura.

After completing elementary, he initially worked as a nurseryman in Batac, Ilocos Norte, and was later appointed as a teacher at Paoay Intermediate School in the same province. He also worked as a clerk in the division office of Ilocos Norte, which opened the door to his en-rollment in the secondary level. (In prewar times, Grade V students were already qualified to teach.)

Puruganan’s search for greener pasture was contagious. With help from Bishop Servando Castro of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (Aglipayan) who loaned P20 to his mother. Janu-ario journeyed to Manila where he worked as a houseboy of couple Manuel Arroyo and Jua-na Guerrero-Arroyo after his name was advertised in the Manila Daily Bulletin by H.E. Cutler. He was at the time waiting for his transport bound for Davao.

In the acknowledgment of his book, Puruganan wrote: “[M]y position as a teacher in Da-vao, I owe to Mr. Horace E. Cutler, thru the recommendation of Mr. Miguel Guerrero; my position as the major funder of the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh and generously funded sponsorships to the St. Andrews and Aberdeen universities in Scotland

His gift of $12M to the Carnegie Institute for the Advancement of Teaching was meant to aid teachers during their retirement years.

Carngie, who was also involved in oil exploration, also focused his attention towards widows, orphans and heroic deeds of people who saved human lives.

These details of Andrew Carnegie’s bio tell us about the inherent goodness of man towards his fellowmen.

Although this one of a kind millionaire desired to die poor because he wanted his fortune to benefit the many of the less privilege, Carnegie passed away (in 1919) with an assessment of $22M in his name.

Perhaps this Scottish of a lad believed that he could not bring his money with him when he dies; He could not have developed a philanthropic attitude if he was focused merely on acquiring wealth for himself.

I guess - as Andrew Carnegie was - we all can be game changers in our own way, in our own time.

The contemporary life we live today and the attotide and behavior that are in practice vividly compares to the narrative that Carnegie lived by.

I get to read less and less of philanthorpic missions and endeavors these days.

Everything seems to have a price tag - for the service that one renders.

Obviously, the two-year long pandemic panic and the worldwide lockdowns have spawned a new attitude and behavior, anchored on global economic patterns.

Andrew Carnegie was one in a million.

He could also be the last of a kind. (Email feedback to fredlumba@yahoo.com.) GOD BLESS THE PHILIPPINES!

Journey Of A Mati Educator

Principal Teacher and Supervising Teacher in the division of Davao, I owe to Mr. James E. McCall.”

During his years at Ilocos Norte High School, his mentors included Mrs. William L. Penn, Ms. Smith, and Mr. Garletts. Also instrumental in preparing him for future literary endeav-ors, were his first-year high school mentors, James F. Lawrence, Walter R. Brooks, Lt. Thomas L. Simpson, and Henry R. Beyer (who would become his co-supervising teacher in Davao) during his second year; and Leslie G. Klepinger, in the early months of his third year in the secondary level.

Puruganan’s undergraduate studies in Silliman Institute (now university) were through the endorsement of Rev. Julius S. Augur, a Protestant pastor of the Congregational Church in Davao. His stint in the institution was made more productive with the support of Dr. Paul Doltz, the college’s acting president; Lorenzo Bernardo, who chaired the school’s Self-Help Committee; and Prof. Clyde E. Heflin, head of the education department of the institute.

At Silliman where he was an associate editor of the school organ, ‘The Sillimanian,’ he credited his fluency in English to Mrs. E.R. Chapman and Ms. F.V. Rodgers, who were his English tutors.

Puruganan also taught at Davao Central School, now Kapitan Tomas Monteverde Sr. Central Elementary School (KTMCES) in Davao City before he was promoted to Mati City as district supervisor. While there, he expressed his intent to continue his studies at Silliman with a plan to return to the service after completing his education.

After his Davao stints, he became executive secretary of the Laoag Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) with help from his fellow instructors at Silliman, including Jesus Dine-ros, the associate national secretary of the organization, who recruited him to join the group while still enrolled in the undergraduate school.

Puruganan’s book was included in Leopoldo Y. Yabes’ ‘A Brief Survey of Iloko Literature from the Beginnings to its Present Development’ (1936) published in Manila. In a personal note, he gave credit to Juliana E. Castro, academic principal of Ilocos Norte Trade School, and Ms. Edith Lynn, an English teacher of Ilocos Norte Normal School, as among those who encour-aged him to compile his poems and publish them in book form.