Obet Tiongson

Roberto Tiongson (PIONEER)

Obet Tiongson with family...

Brod Obet with family...

When did you graduate from UP?

I graduated from the University in October 1971 with a degree in BSME. I finished the course in 4-1/2 year(w/ summer classes). There were 2 of us in the fraternity who finished the course in that time, the other is fellow brod Pioneer Ben Cacha. Ben and I also took the board exams for ME at the same time on Feb. '72 where I placed 3rd. My contemporaries are the other Pioneer brods, Bing Castillo, Jun Marte, Angel Manzo, Gerry Zaragoza, Edwin De Leon, etc.

How was student life (and girls) then? Saan ang gimmicks ng mga brods?

Student life then is different, much simpler than today. To go on "gimmicks", we have to take a bus to Quiapo (DM or JD Transit) and shell out 25 centavos for the ride. Cubao then is only Araneta Coliseum and Farmer's Market. There are no movie houses in Cubao, only in Rizal Ave. (Ever, Galaxy, Universal, Odeon). Ikot ride fare was only 5 centavos and Jeepney fare to Cubao is 10 centavos.

Academic life, I feel are the same. We also have our ""terror instructors" as the college may have now. UP is also liberated then as now. We also have a mix of all levels of the Phil. Society in the campus. We have the 'sosings or the "burgis' as we called them then", the "promdis", the leftists, the rightists, the lasingeros, the professional students, etc. Our favorite hang out when we were freshmen and sophomores is the Arts & Sciences(AS) building. Nandoon kasi ang mga magagandang mga 'chicks na naka miniskirt. The AS lobby is favorite lounging area for the male population in the University. Kung gusto mong mag treat sa girl friend, we go to a 'snack house' beside the university swimming pool, the name of which escapes me at this time.

Kung gusto mong medyo class, ang punta ay sa "Butterfly" which is a restaurant with folk singers located along Commonwealth Ave near the entrance sign to UP Campus, close to where the Petron gas station is now located.

Saan ba ang tambayan natin noon?

In Eng'g proper, our unofficial tambayan is the Main Lib or the Engineering Lib. Most of the time, we are at the main lib. because Mrs. Lopez, the Eng'g librarian is very strict, parang si Mrs. Tapia of the Iskul Bukol fame. Pero kung minsan, tinitiis namin si Mrs. Lopez dahil maganda ang library assistant niya, mabait at masarap bolahin. Do you know that then, we have an official "talking room" at the Eng'g library? This is a separate room with doors always closed. This is the place where the students discuss with full emotions anything and everything under the sun. Most of the time, the room is occupied by ethnic Chinese Eng'g students dahil palagi silang maingay mag-usap.

Golf on your free-time?

I read a lot (magazines and technical stuff) during my free time and play golf as a social sport.

We heard that you work for Eveready?

I am connected with Eveready Battery Company based in Westlake, Ohio. You might say that I am an expatriate employee in my own country as I work for our head office in the US. I am the Global Technical Coordinator and my job is to visit all our battery plants worldwide and make sure that they follow set or defined manufacturing standards. This is to ensure that batteries from one location are made the same way as in any other location. This job requires a lot of travelling so many times I am not at my office in Mandaluyong.

How is the family?

I reside in Marikina with my family. I have 6 children with the eldest at 24 and youngest at 13 yrs. old. I have 2 boys, oldest and youngest with girls in-between. Three of my children are already college graduates with 2 working already. The 3rd just graduated last school year and is now preparing for the board exams for Pharmacy. The 4th is graduating this year from Miriam with a course in Communication Arts.

What was your frat experience?

I like the camaraderie, the sense of belonging and the fact that even if we argue a lot, at the end of the day, there is no hard feelings and we are still one. This is especially true at the time when we were framing the Constitution. We had many arguments and discussions as we have different political leanings at the time(mostly to the left but in varying degrees) and everybody would like to push his own agenda. The deliberations even reached a point when emotions were running high and Bing Castillo, the first GQ had to bang the table to control the situation.

The experience is very enriching as it gave us first hand insight on organization, how to start and run it. It definitely developed my personal management and leadership skills and I am sure in most of the brods too. The most "argumentative' brods during that time are Melvin Pangcog (the rightist), Gerry Zaragoza (the left of center), and Sergio Miranda( the leftist). Every now and then, Rommel Calilung (the clown) will butt in and everybody will burst into laughter, not because of the joke but because of how corny his jokes were.

Any messages for the young ones?

My message to the brods is to have a clear vision of what they want to do with their life, their career and pursue them with determination. There maybe roadblocks ahead but that is what make life exciting and challenging.