Our Eternal Search For Knowledge *

* Message of Gov. Carlito S. Marquez delivered  during Seminar – Workshop on Digital Technology and its Application To Research – Quantitative and Qualitative, September 6, 2012, Casa Pilar, Boracay.

In behalf of the people of Aklan, my warmest greetings of welcome and expression of gratitude to the Northwestern Visayan Colleges and the Higher Education Institutions for Research Association, Region VI, for sponsoring this Seminar-Workshop on Digital Technology and It’s Application to Research – Quantitative and Qualitative – whatever that means.

I said “Whatever that means” because I belong to that generation, over 65, which finds Information Technology too complicated for us to devote to its study and practice, the little time left for us in this world. 

There are exceptions, of course, like our Dr. Botoy Villorente who at age blank is still adept at computers, publishes a local newspaper, until recently led the local press club, is an ultra active Rotarian, is a world traveler, and has involved himself in almost every other activity, government and civic.

Nang ma-uso ang cellphone, niregaluhan ako ng anak ko ng isang unit na mamahalin. Ang daming features. Pero pinalitan ko ng simpli lang. Yung mga i-si-send ko kasi nadi-delete, yung i-di-delete, nasi-send. May napipindot akong biglang nawawala yung mga hinahanap ko at kung minsan, yung cellphone ko mismo nawawala.

As a Mapuan Chemical Engineering graduate, I would rather solve the most complicated mathematical problems, unravel the most complex formulas, rather than face a computer with its confusing buttons. 

And so, I envy you the participants, young and old, who have the patience, the will and determination to learn new skills, to explore new fields in our eternal search for knowledge.

Our sincere thanks to our resource speakers who have come to Aklan to selflessly share their wisdom with us in Western Visayas. Abung saeamat gid kay Dr. Constantino Ballena ag kay Dr. Jaime Ballena. 

Malipayon man nga pagbisita sa atong mga igmanghud halin sa sari-saring mga probinsya ku Western Visayas. Welcome to business and pleasure. The business of keeping abreast, updated, with rapid educational developments and the pleasure of Boracay Island, the World’s No. 1 beach, the centerpiece of Aklan’s Tourism Industry, a leading tourist revenue earner for our country.

No better choice of a venue for a seminar-workshop on research. Boracay island is a rich mine of research subjects. People and cultures, as varied as the colorful fishes that abound in its equally colorful coral reefs; the wonder of so small an island attracting diverse nationalities from the four corners of the world; hotels and resorts with the most modern amenities side by side with the primeval beauty of its beaches.

May I challenge our participants to make Boracay island a subject of their workshop research. Research, find out, and tell us what lures tourists to Boracay. Why tourists, now nearing a million this year and who shall surely exceed our one-million target, keep coming and coming. Research, find out, and tell us how best to cope with the endless traffic of people. Research, find out, and tell us what measures can the national, the provincial and the municipal governments can institute to sustain the island, to keep the goose laying the golden eggs.

Do your research whatever way you want – analog, digital, quantitative, qualitative as long as you produce the answers to these many other questions, many other subjects, that arouse a learner’s curiosity, but, of course, a subject close to a local government official’s heart – local governance.

Kung kayong mga nasa academe ay may eternal search for knowledge, kami sa government, lalo na sa local government, ay meron ding eternal search.

Kung papaano mapagkakasya ang palaging kulang na kulang na pera ng gobyerno sa palaging mas lumalaking pangangailangan ng ating mga kababayan. Kung papano mabibigyan ng trabaho ang walang trabaho. Kung papano ma-ipagamot ang mga walang pera para sa doctor at gamot, kung papano mapag-aral ang walang pang tuition.

Sige nga, i-research nyo yan, kung may isasagot kayo. 

But seriously now, in every field of endeavor, including and especially, local governance, research is an urgent, indispensable need.

We cannot just dream, plan, and implement any project or program without investigating whether it is needed, how much of it is needed, and if it is needed more than the others.

And so, continue your search for knowledge. In the end, we in the local government will be the most benefited. 

Maraming salamat po! /MP