IT was on December 30, 2019 when we had Ma. Victoria Carpio-Bernido and Chris Bernido as guest in Savage Mind, a bookshop and cultural hub in Naga City. The pandemic was some two months away. It was Rizal Day and Kristian Sendon Cordero, the man behind the other SM, as we fondly labels the place, found out through another friend that the Bernidos were in the old city for the Christmas break.
Why not invite them to grace the first inaugural Rizal lecture series? The thought that two physicists were to honor the day usually reserved for historians and pompous politicians given to pontifications, was an updated way to observe the death of a hero. Rizal himself was an educator and these two were teachers of the first degree. The activity, we told ourselves, was a way of making the day more relevant, and enabling the image of a mythic figure to assume a more appropriate place in our society.
When we planned to have the husband and wife in our small, then a relatively unheralded place, we already knew who they were and what they had accomplished. Victoria Carpio-Bernido and Christopher Bernido began their career in the University of the Philippines in Diliman and proceeded to earn their doctorate from the State University of New York Albany. The two also share a similar background: both belong to privileged families.
After getting their PhDs, Vicvic, as many of her friends and those who knew her called her, and Chris came back to the country. In UP, they assumed the leadership in the university’s Institute of Physics. This was in the ’80s, a period in their academic life marked by researches and recognition from peers and other institutions. Then came another turning point: in 1999, they made the decision to leave the Institute and be in Bohol. In many accounts, it was the wish of the mother of Chris that persuaded them to start another life in an old high school.
Imagine two scientists whose papers are vetted by national and international scientific bodies making their way to teach in a provincial high school. To follow the narrative arc of this adventure, we expect no less than a failure or at least a compromise—perhaps they stay for a few months, select good teachers, train them, and then leave again. Or, go for the worst scenario: close the school. But that did not happen.
The Central Visayan Institute Foundation (CVIF) in Jagna had a new lease in life.
Let the citation from the Ramon Magsaysay Award, which recognized them in 2010, speak of this magnificent transition: “It was not an easy transition but they faced the challenge in a determined, methodical way. In 2002, they introduced a revolutionary way of teaching science and non-science subjects, which they called CVIF D-dynamic Learning Program. A cost-effective strategy focused on strong fundamentals, DLP devotes 70 percent of class time to student-driven activities built around clear learning targets, aided by well-designed learning plans and performance tracking tools. The program also uses a “parallel-classes scheme,” in which “three simultaneous classes are handled by one expert teacher with the help of facilitators.”
The citation mentions how the Bernidos wanted to show “how poverty need not be an excuse to compromise on teaching and learning experience.”
These reputations and more preceded their presence before us on that cold night in December. We were in awe, but we tried not show it; we were honored and we expressed it as we listened intently to their stories. There are no miracles, Vicvic and Chris assured us. Poverty is still around. But many of their students have become competitive when it came to admissions to universities. The old problem still exists: increase just a bit the tuition and the parents manifest their difficulty in meeting the said requirements. Each day is an exercise in prudence, understanding and educational management.
That night, we marveled at the combination of the two physicists: Chris was cool; Vicvic was a passionate speaker.
Ever since in high school, Dr. Mary Jane Guazon-Uy, the friend who made sure the Bernidos got our invitation, recalls how her dear Vicvic always spoke from the heart. She could argue herself through the positions of her teachers and the Sisters of the Daughters of Charity in what was then the Colegio de Sta. Isabel (now a university). But Mary Jane, herself a doctor of medicine, a published writer, and a cultural leader in the city, also remembers a classmate who knew how to listen, and listen intently. “Vicvic would lend her ears to my silliest comments and ideas,” the good doctor shares the memory.
When asked why they gave up their career in the big city and, for that matter, in the international scene, Maria Victoria Carpio-Bernido has her words in the same citation from the Ramon Magsaysay Award: “For us, it has always been the bigger picture, the country. We both wanted to do something for the country.”
Looking back to that night of December 30 in 2019, we realized we were in the midst of two heroes, Vicvic and Chris. One is, sadly, gone now.
Dios mabalos, Maria Victoria Carpio-Bernido.
E-mail: titovaliente@yahoo.com