Hello my dear fellow UCCians!..How are you?
Anyway..I'd like to share this article copy Mr. JOP TOLENTINO (a former editor of THE CROSSROADS) generously gave me. It's from the Publication.
So..have a glimpse of HOW UCC CAME TO EXISTENCE.
THE UNIVERSITY OF CALOOCAN CITY: A HISTORY In a
Nutshell
Source: The Crossroads Publication Vol. IX No.3
January-March 2004
Year 1959, Col. Macario B. Asistio Sr. was
elected for the 3rd term as a Mayor of Caloocan, Rizal and started toying the
idea of a College. For all those years, Caloocan residents seeking higher
education had to go to distant schools in neighboring Manila at a prohibitive
cost to parents of students.
That being the situation, the idea of
providing educational opportunities to the Caloocan constituents of the town
executive was brought to fore with the assistance of the Cecilio Apostol
Elementary School Principal Mrs. Modesta G. Boquiren.
Hence, on
July 1, 1971, the CALOOCAN COMMUNITY COLLEGE opened its door to the first 42
students of the college as Education secretary Juan L. Manuel authorized its
first year operation. Articulating its purpose was "to provide quality
educational opportunities to deserving but indigent constituents and to insure
the maximum participation in the enjoyment of the benefits of such growth and
development" Municipal Ordinance No.495 appropriated P23,400.00 to start the
classes.
Two classes, one for the Bachelor of Science in Industrial
Education (BSIE) and another for the Bachelor of Science in Business Technology
occupied two rooms of the Caloocan High School PTA Building in the late
afternoon.
The first College Dean was Teresita Ochoco. She was
followed by Macaria Padrinao, Mrs. Pilar Pascual and Bernardo
Pascual.
On June 22, 1972, the second year of operation of the two
classes and one year Secretarial course were authorized on a P35,100.00 budget.
On June 7, 1973, the third year operation of the existing three
courses was granted, appropriating therefor P36.760.00 in Municipal Order 2020
and 2140.
On March 25, 1975, Municipal Ordinance No. 2295 provided
for the College Charter defining also the purpose of the renamed CALOOCAN CITY
POLYTECHNIC COLLEGE, as follows:
1. To fully develop the Filipino
intellect and explore its manpower potential.
2. To help promote a continuing
welfare and interest in improving the standard of living of the people of
Caloocan City with meaningful education geared towards the future demands of an
emerging industrial society.
3. To help enhance the prestige of the
underprivileged students by providing them with low tuition fee, the fundamental
instrument toward the improvement of their economic status.
A fire
that gutted the school building forced the College to go to the nearby
elementary school in the evening before transferring to the Puericulture Centre
Building in Sangandaan. Up to that time, classes were held only in the evening
when the rooms were vacated by the pupils.
The Sangandaan
Puericulture Centre was used before by the A. Bonifacio High School or M.B.
Assistio Sr. high School when it moved to its present Dagat-dagatan site.
Meanwhile, Pacencia Mendoza was designated College Administrator.
She was succeeded by Flora Besa-Cruz and again, from 1989 to 1995 NCR director
Modesta G. Boquiren was asked to serve as the College Administrator and
Educational Consultant.
On June 30, 1995, Dr. Orlando B. Molina was
appointed College Administrator by the new City Mayor Hon. Reynaldo O. Malonzo.
Upon his assumption, Dr. Molina envisioned the institution as the "centre of
excellence", the center that would yield to a new world-class human resource
development, to the economic, social, political, and moral transformation of the
city.
In 1996, the enrolment rose to 4,142 necessitating the
employment of 200 part-time instructor and 12 full-time mentors. Six courses
were added: Bachelor in Elementary Education, Secondary Education, Accountancy,
Computer Secretarial ladderized to Office Administration. Later, Business
Administration phased out Business Technology, Math and English; 24 unit course,
Computer Science, Management Accounting, Masters course in Education and Public
Administration.
In the August 1996 first Licensure Examination for
Teachers (LET) a BEED graduate Irene Villanueva placed 4th Place and in the 3rd
LET in 1998, a 24 Unit Education student Cris Paner came in 10th. Succeeding
passers were in the Accountancy Board Michael Aguirre and Elisalde Frutas in
1998 and in 2003, respectively.
In one, a CCPC computer student
Wilfredo Requillo Jr. was Champion in first ALCU Skills Olympic in Information
Technology Programming Contest.
The continuing help and support of
the Mayor operationalized Buena Park Grounds for Physical Education, the Camarin
and Tanmdang Sora Campuses for Academic and Voc-tech classes thereby helping
solve mismatch between offerings and employment need.
Recently,
Students have enrolled for the new courses opened in June 2004: Nursing,
HRM-Tourism, Communication Arts, Criminology and BS Psychology. Some 200
students in vocational courses were enrolled in October 2003. More
vocational-technical and livelihood programs in the Voctech are helping solve
economic problems, giving the poor but deserving youth educational
opportunities, as planned.
Converting the College to the UNIVERSITY
OF CALOOCAN CITY has not been that impossible, for after 33 years of waiting, on
January 29, 2004 at the third and final reading of Municipal Ordinance No.
1020-2003, converting Caloocan City Polytechnic College to the UNIVERSITY OF
CALOOCAN CITY came to reality. This was met by students, parents, faculty
members and the academic community with great jubilation as they thronged the
Sangguniang panlungsod session hall shouting Mabuhay for their appreciation and
gratitude to Mayor Reynaldo O. Malonzo, Vice mayor Tito Varela, Atty. Dick
Gonzales, author and other authors of the Ordinance in the Sanggunian. (Ipr,
12904).
- Crossroads
So there it it is guys..and gals...The History REvealed.
"History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. History is who we are and why we are the way we are."
1 comments:
I'm proud of my aunt Modesta G. Boquiren (she never had kids so she took care of her nephews and nieces as if her own including my cousin city councilor Atty. Benedicto Dick Gonzales) who brainstormed and spearheaded the idea of forming the eventual University of Caloocan.
My aunt rose from the ranks as elementary teacher to being CAES principal thence becoming the city's superintendent of schools and was ultimately appointed as Dept of Edu NCR's director.
In her early years (after moving from Gapan, Nueva Ecija to Caloocan) she became a close friend of the Assistio family and succeeding political clans of the city where she carried a major influence over the entire teaching force and students' electoral preferences as to whom to vote for if she only campaigned for any that's why she stayed neutral in spite of her close association
with the Assistios who begged her to run for city mayor because of her then popularity but declined, hence earning the respect of all.
UCC is her legacy to the city of Caloocan.
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