Dr. Jose Sal. Tan

This morning, my mentor who became like a father to me, Dr. Jose Sal. Tan, passed away at the age of 66. He was the man who pushed me to become the youngest Master's and Ph.D. degree holder in our school. I have a lot of fond memories of him because before he became my boss and mentor, he was dad's friend from way back.

He was a janitor, a working student who rose to become the President of different state colleges and universities. He was a man who never stopped studying. Even if I was his assistant before, I already lost count of all the courses, both undergrad and graduate, he finished, that had he not been slowed down by diabetes, he would have been studying until now.

The first time I encountered Tito Joe was when I was in high school. I would be at the waiting shed in front of Cebu Normal University at 5 AM every morning waiting for our school bus. Once a week, a tall, smiling middle-aged man wearing a barong would disembark from the jeepney and sit beside me bringing his black document bag. He will just sit there with that smile on his face without saying a word. I would remember him years after when dad introduced me to him.

When I started my first job at the state college (now state university) where he was the President, he would always let me stay at his office so I can learn from watching him work. And boy did I learn a lot working with him for almost 6 years. He's the type of leader who ALWAYS decides on a win-win situation, and in those almost 6 years, I've only seen him get angry once and that happened when he learned that the school Registrar of one of our campuses scolded and humiliated a parent.

I myself was not the best assistant but he never, ever reprimanded me. He always looked at the positive side of things. During the times when insecure people were throwing mud at him, and asked the help of those one-sided, looking-for-fame-and-glamour media people, he never fought back. He was calm and composed, smiling and understanding until the end.

He may have been gone but his legacy, his learnings, the lives that he has touched, the people that he has helped, he will always be alive.

No one is really gone as long as there's someone who remembers