Fredelino Café

Although the longest years of my work experiences had been spent in several academe settings (first spent in a State University as Social Science Assistant Professor, the next following years which were a continuous stint in an Islamic International University-Malaysia, and the final years in an International College in Metro Manila - where teaching of English grammar and language communication was the main focus, plus logic and philosophy teaching), the very core fruitful experience actually was my maiden job in an American multinational corporation where I rose from being a mere Statistical Clerk, to that of Packing Plant Supervisor until my final promotion as Night Shift Superintendent at the Operations/Packaging Department where I gained the only prestigious “Excellent Performance” award.

Having two aunts who were very good in piano playing, the first being schooled formally while the second being a free-lance piano player, they became my main influencers to delve into playing piano myself, following the style of my second aunt. My mother's youngest brother, who used to stay lengthily in our home, was a good guitar player and so easily I was also lured into guitar playing, following his example. Later years saw me trying the flute which proved quite easy to learn. Music appreciation thus followed all these inclinations to play two musical instruments further on. It goes without saying that a musically inclined person somehow will also come to love poetry and often venture to poetry composition, which actually happened to me, likewise.

Chess games became a favorite pastime for me from inspirations derived mainly from the legendary Eddie Fisher of USA. Being always occupied with my work for my family's daily bread, I failed to develop my love for chess playing to a higher level. When it come to the love for hunting, necessarily when occasions were open for my associates in the packing plants for such sport, it was there where some spare hours were spent in hunting for wild birds which we would cook and eat with some drinks together.

My special accomplishments would include that special flair for developing curricula for college courses, particularly Islamic Studies. It started with a challenge posed to me by our chancellor at a state university. He gave full trust in my capability to deliver the goods for that purpose, mainly because I was a graduate from our nation's premiere university with exposure in that same discipline.

This was duplicated later with an invitation by a friend to create a similar curriculum at the premiere university in Davao City, which is run by Jesuit priests, the Ateneo de Davao University. The latter curriculum, though it was also for a four-year college course in Islamic Studies, was rather a vast improvement when compared with the curriculum I developed in the Mindanao State University. The reason for such enhanced curriculum creation was due to my lengthy stint at the International Islamic University-Malaysia. Accomplishments of these sorts were something that provided me personal satisfaction because the university heads from these two institutions personally congratulated me for the work which I did without anybody's assistance.