Today, this task of introducing our guest of honor and speaker is a great privilege.

I know
this one is difficult but the thought that he is a pillar of the academe both in Bukidnon and North
Cotabato, I feel elated to introduce him to everyone. After all, he is a very good friend of mine and
I am indebted to him in so many ways. You will discover later on that he is a very accommodating
and kind person to be with.

If one takes a closer look at the alchemy of the achieving person, two distinct virtues pop
up, besides perseverance and hard work. These are: pioneering spirit and willingness. Our guest
of honor and speaker today is the living idiom of an educator who happened to be born at the right
time and the right place. Coupled with an impressive academic and professional background, it is
not therefore surprising that he leads one of the premier educational institution in Region X.

When we have to ask who he is, the answer may not be a surprise. After all, he had become
the person he is now because of the virtues and values that was developed and nurtured in him
during his education at the Central Mindanao University as a professional Doctor in Veterinary
Medicine and at the University of Southern Mindanao in Kabacan, North Cotabato where he
received basic and secondary education, as an academic Doctor of Philosophy in Agricultural
Sciences. This man of the hour is a man incomparable to his genuine intentions to fulfil his chosen
vocation – as a devoted and dedicated educator and school administrator – to students and faculty
alike who needed much help and attention.

If you know him, you would realize that he has lived a very simple life ever since and is
known to be flexible and tolerant despite his stature and position in life. You cannot seem to agree,
much less reconcile with the thought of a pedigreed man spending hours under the sun and
defenseless against the elements in the vast ricefields and plantations of CMU, and willing to
witness and come to the aid of those who needed his expertise. And with his position in the
academe, not only does he bring hope and enlightenment, but most importantly he tries to lead
every stakeholder of CMU, the faculty, personnel, staff and students, to his or her best. I know,
the Central Mindanao University now has experienced a surge in development, the likes of which
the university has never seen before he took over the reins.

Our guest of honor and speaker is a state university product and trained through and
through. Although born in Kabacan, North Cotabato in 1963, he is Ilocano by origin and is married
to who else but the very able and successful principal of the CMU Laboratory School, Madam Ma.
Elena Evangelista, sister of the incumbent mayor of Kidapawan City. With their marriage, they
are blessed with five children, all professional and one is a lawyer with the largest law firm in the
country – the ACCRA Law Office, with offices in Manila, Cebu and Davao.

He served before as the Dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine of the University of
Southern Mindanao before becoming its president for two terms. Presently, he is the SUC
President of CMU, having assumed the position in January 2019. A recipient of various awards,
which are too many to mention, he had undergone numerous trainings both here and abroad, which
he applies to good use in the day-to-day management of a large school, such as USM and CMU.
And despite of his very toxic schedule, he still finds time to serve as a consultant to big agri-vet
companies, notably San Miguel Foods Inc., Novartis Animal Health Phils. Inc. and Cotabato
Agribusiness Development Technology Center Inc. and has written books devoted to veterinary
medicine, which you can buy at leading bookstores in the country.

He is actively involved in various civic action groups and professional associations. He

holds the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Reserve Force of the Armed Forces of the Philippines,
and was a past president of the Guardians Brotherhood, Inc.

Dear graduands, parents, faculty and staff of PCF, the PCF Board of Trustees, Madam
Chairman, Charmaine Pagonzaga, I am very proud to present to you my friend and partner in
crime, the President of Central Mindanao University, the Honorable Dr. Jesus Antonio Gamido
Derije.