Golden Man of Region 8 Meet the golden-haired man whose head is full of historical accounts and whose heart

is passionate about Region 8. By Rey B. Garnace Way back in 2002, one of my students in Philippine Science High School joined the Ramon Magsaysay Essay Competition and made it to the Visayas Cluster. When I asked my student who pushed him to join; he said his father, who was a historian and a writer. Four years later, I trailed the name when I was appointed Senior Lecturer in UPM-SHS. The name inscribed was PROF. ROLANDO O. BORRINAGA. After almost six years working with him, I never had a chance to talk about his life, not until I volunteered to interview him for People in 8 Magazine. Read on ROLANDO O. BORRINAGA, fondly called Rolly, was born and raised in Naval, Biliran Province, when this was still part of Leyte. I was actually turned between two lovers when I was in college. I was forced to enroll B.S. in Agriculture (major in Agribusiness) due to my scholarship grant from COCOFED, but I pursued a cognate degree in Philippine Studies from Silliman University, Dumaguete City in 1980. At the same time, he was engaged into writing. Trying to trail whatever path would take him, he took Master of Management in Public Management from U.P. Tacloban College in 1987 and Doctor of Philosophy in Social Science Research from Leyte Normal University, Tacloban City in 2002. His doctoral dissertation, The Balangiga Conflict Revisited, was published as a book that became Finalist for the 2003 National Book Award for History of the Manila Critics Circle. His second book, The Colonial Odyssey of Leyte (1521-1914), co-authored by the late Fr. Cantius J. Kobak, OFM, won the 2006 National Book Award for Translation. His third book, Archbishop Lino R. Gonzaga: Christian Trailblazer from Leyte and fourth book, Leyte-Samar Shadows: Essays on the History of Eastern Visayas, were launched in 2008.

Dr. Borrinaga is a Full Professor at the School of Health Sciences (SHS), University of the Philippines Manila, in Palo, Leyte. Aside from teaching general education courses to health sciences students, he engages in community journalism and local historical research which earned him the U.P. Centennial Professorial Chair for 2008. Asked about how he manages both his work in school and in the community, he said that Both tasks complement each other. Being a professor in the community requires a lot of research and paper presentations. I reap the rewards in the end. As a community journalist, he writes a column for The Tacloban Star and contributes articles to the Philippine Daily Inquirer. He won the grand prize in the 2001 Gawad Kalinangan Journalism Awards of the Rotary Club of Manila and the LRP (Leo R. Prieto) Award for Best Feature Story of the Philippine Daily Inquirer in September 2004. As a local historian, he has published books and articles in several academic journals and read academic papers on Leyte-Samar history and culture in various regional and national conferences since 1996. Since 2004, he has been a member of the Board of Trustees of the Philippine National Historical Society (PNHS), Inc., the oldest voluntary professional organization devoted to study and research in Philippine history. He is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of The Journal of History and editor of its issues for Vol. 53 (January-December 2007), Vol. 54 (January-December 2008), Vol. 56 (January-December 2010), and Vol. 57 (January-December 2011). He unveiled that his involvement as a historian and a writer is a voluntary service; he does not receive remuneration on a regular basis except when he has published articles or produced books. I tell you, nobody gets rich in this endeavor. This is simply passion and voluntary, he quipped. He further remarked that he is privileged to have supportive members of the family. He is married to Dr. Jane Ragrag-Borrinaga, from Jaro, Leyte, a Fellow of the Philippine College of Physicians. Currently. Currently, she chairs the Department of Medicine of the Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center (EVRMC) in Tacloban City. They have two sons, George Emmanuel and Frederick, a high school scholar, who was my former student, at the Philippine Science High School - Eastern Visayas Campus. George graduated from the University of San Carlos in Cebu City with a B.S. in Computer Engineering in 2006 and a Master in History in 2008. I suppose he is making his own niche in history, Dr. Borrinaga commented. Frederick graduated with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, also from USC, in 2007 and passed the licensure examination for mechanical engineers months later. Both are now starting careers in their respective fields of interest. It is indeed our honor that after Dr. Borrinagas biographical sketch appeared in the 13th (1996) edition of Whos Who in the World, published by Marquis Whos Who in the United States, and in the 25th (1997) edition of Dictionary of International Biography, published by the International Biographical Centre in Cambridge, England, now he is published in 8 Magazine.

Continue to pursue whatever passion you have especially for the betterment of the region. There is so much to be done, but there are only few people who have the heart to do this. I salute you for making a history like I do, he challenged the 8 Magazine staff.