Allow me to pause briefly to thank God and the people who have given me the opportunity to lead this university. When the Province of Southern Leyte was conceived 46 years ago, the idea of a university bearing its name was considered almost impossible. But through the resilience and hard work of our leaders, the university became a reality. For just 30 months ago, the Southern Leyte State University was born, giving Leyteños the rare opportunity of obtaining higher education at a cost they can afford; a university that could be a conduit for the country’s development.

SLSU is comprised of five campuses with great potentials and unique physical and human characteristics. As your President I am faced with the awesome but exciting task of molding these five pillars of learning into a university system that we can be proud of.

Let me describe each briefly so you will appreciate their diversity and potentials. Only 6 kilometers from here is our 44-hectare Bontoc Campus, the flagship of the university’s fishery and aquatic research and extension services. Towards our eastern shore, facing the Pacific Ocean, we have the seventy two- hectare Hinunangan Campus which specializes in agriculture and forestry. We also have our San Juan Campus, which teaches business administration and entrepreneurship. And where we are at, is the Sogod Campus which is known for its expertise in trade, technology and engineering, while a mere 25 minutes drive west is our Tomas Oppus Campus- the province’s top learning institution for teacher education.

Although I realize my mission goal of transforming SLSU into the top learning institution in Region 8 will be difficult, I am confident it can be achieved with the support of the university students, faculty, alumni, school administrators, local and national officials, and friends. To attain this goal, I will (1) push for the adoption of relevant school curriculum designed by the various sectors of the university, (2) decentralize decision making to encourage initiative and innovation, (3) instill an environment conducive to learning by opening the lines of communications between students and faculty with school administrators, (4) embark on sustainable Income Generating Projects that will make SLSU financially independent, and (5) conduct “action research” that would address the long felt needs of Southern Leyte like the “Bunchy Top” virus that is destroying our abaca industry. Yet before we can attend to these long tem goals, we have to address a problem that looms like the “Sword of Damocles” over our heads. I am referring of course to the CHED policy of weeding-out SUC’s which have proven a financial liability to the national government. To improve the university’s financial capability entails creativity in generating funds and sound financial management. Each of the five campuses should be able to generate its own funds and manage its own budget. The campus administrators are empowered and encouraged to be resourceful and innovative managers. They are expected to come up with relevant and viable project proposals or income generating projects and work towards their implementation.

One IGP that comes immediately to mind is the Hinunangan rice fields which could yield two harvests, but due to lack of irrigation, only produce one lean harvest a year. Congressman Roger Mercado, who visited the campuses yesterday, has promised to provide funds to irrigate SLSU-Hinunangan’s rice field. Also, the Philippine Coconut Authority, through its Provincial Director Manuel Sembrano has committed three irrigation pumps for the hybrid coconut plantation they will establish there which they will inter-crop with black pepper, papaya and pineapple.

My administration is student friendly, after all, they are our reason for being here. The plight of the students will therefore be considered in management decisions which concern them. We have started implementing this policy by including the student leaders of the five campuses into the University Academic Council where they can express their opinion to university administrators and faculty. Hand-in-hand with our efforts to improve the university’s income generating capability, academic performance, and improved interpersonal relationship, there is this urgent need to improve our physical facilities. For whether we like it or not, we are being judged by the conditions of our campus and building facilities. The SLSU libraries will have updated books and internet capability and who knows, an e-library. Classroom and technology laboratories will be renovated and furnished.

Over and above these considerations are our teachers, who I feel are the heart and soul of our educational system. SLSU will attract the best and brightest minds to our campuses. To attain this, we will strive to provide our teachers with the social esteem and incentives they deserve. We will try to attract top agriculturists and marine biologists to teach in Bontoc and Hinunangan. For I am convinced one important way to attract more enrollees into farming and fishery courses, aside from un updated curriculum, is by providing them with the finest teachers in these fields.

The journey will not be easy. It will need sweat, determination, and teamwork for that vision of excellence in instruction, research, extension, and production. Let us then join hands and help each other. Let us help our country, let us start from here. Allow me to end by relating to you my life’s philosophy: “Great things start with a dream, and can only be achieved through a positive mindset, right values, creation of right opportunities, and taking the right action.”

May God guide and bless us in the exciting times ahead. MABUHAY KAYONG LAHAT!