NEHS 2012 Most Outstanding Alumnus

by Carmelita Cochingco Ballesteros.
December 1, 2012
On November 25, my friend Letty and I of Class 68 went to Cabanatuan City to attend yet another class reunion of Nueva Ecija High School graduates. Letty used her pick-up and was at the wheels from Metro Manila to Cabanatuan City and back. It was a four-hour drive one way.
“Grandma, are you driving to Cabanatuan City by yourselves?” my nine-year old granddaughter asked.
“Yes, we are.”
“Only the two of you? But you’re senior citizens!” she exclaimed with worry written all over her sweet face.
“Don’t worry, we can take care of ourselves,” I said laughing.
* * *
JOSE M. PAGLINAWAN, JR. Among the nineteen 2012 awardees as outstanding alumni of Nueva Ecija High School, the Most Distinguished Alumnus Award went to Jose. He was the salutatorian of Class 68 to which Letty and I belong. Not only that, we were classmates from first to fourth year. Thus, Letty and I felt that we had bragging rights.
Jose, or Joe, likes being described as a self-made man. He doesn’t get tired telling anyone who’s willing to listen that he had to support himself in college by moonlighting as a tricycle driver. He would say sheepishly that he was so embarrassed then that he’d wear dark shades and a face mask.
Jose and I went to the same university, the Araullo University or Pamantasan ng Araullo in Cabanatuan City. In the 1970s, it was called Araullo Lyceum. Jose took accountancy, graduated magna cum laude in 1972, and placed 8th in the CPA Board Exams of 1972.
Teachers who mentor their students do make a difference. Back at the NEHS, Jose was mentored by Mr. Aurelio Marbas in everything that had to do with numbers. We were not jealous. We knew that Mr. Marbas appreciated Jose’s humility and gift with math. At the Araullo Lyceum, Jose was mentored by a well-respected accountancy prof, Mr. Eduardo Jacinto. We knew that Jose was going to become a successful professional someday. And so he did.
In the corporate world, he held the position of Vice-President and Area Manager of the Planters Development Bank. Then he served as Dean of the College of Management and Accountancy of Araullo University from 2005-2007. Since then, he has focused on several successful business ventures in the field of banking and finance.
The amazing fact about Jose is that despite being immersed in money and money-making ventures, he has remained a faithful servant of God. He serves as a lay minister and commentator at the St. Nicholas of Tolentine Parish in Cabanatuan City.
Most of all, despite being immersed in money and the intoxicating power it brings, Jose has remained a faithful husband and father. Saturdays are sacred for Jose. They are for his wife Elvie and their children. Despite a long list of awards from every imaginable award-giving body in his community and professional world, Jose has remained humble, affable, sincere, and childlike.