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ARTEMIO IMPELIDO TANGONAN

Artemio Impelido Tangonan See photos Temio Temio & Family

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rtemio Impelido Tangonan, also known as Temio was born on October 12, 1918 in Sinait, Ilocos Sur. He was the second son of Hipolito Impat Tangonan and Basilia Madamba Impelido.

The Scholar

In his early years in school, he did not excel as much as his brothers did. In fact, he did poorly that he repeated one grade level. His younger brother, Dionisio, caught up on him and they became classmates.

Upon finishing high-school, Temio and Dionisio both took the admissions test in the then Philippine Normal School now Philippine Normal University. To no one's surprise, Dionisio passed with flying colors and was admitted right away. Unfortunately, Temio did not make it and was on the waiting list.

Nevertheless, Temio took this failure as a challenge to prove to everyone that he was not really slow in school. When asked by his mother, Basilia, on what he was going to do then, he bravely answered, "I am going to UP."

Furious of what he had heard, Banong, (who was given the responsibility of taking care of Temio's schooling being the eldest and was already a teacher at the time), answered, "Lipatennak nga kabsat. Kasano ka nga maawat idiay UP ket dika pay nabaelan ti sumrek dita Philippine Normal School? Mangibabain ka laeng. Saan ka nga igastusan. Makaammo kan ti biag mo!" (Forget that I am your brother, you're an embarrassment - how can they admit you in UP when you flunked in Philippine Normal School. You're just going to embarrass us all. I'm not going to spend anything on you - you're on your own!)

University of the Philippines even then was considered the premier school of higher learning in the country. There was no admission test at that time. The student's performance will be evaluated during the first month of schooling. That will determine whether the student will stay or not.

Temio left and for the next few months, the family did not hear from him.

Until one day, Lola Basilia received a letter from UP. Not really understanding what it was all about, she took the first bus from Sinait, Ilocos Sur to Pangasinan, straight to the school where Banong was teaching, so worried about Temio all the time.

Banong, on seeing his mother, thought something bad had happened. Basilia handed him the letter from UP. But all her worries vanished when she saw Banong's wide smile, punching his palm repeatedly, obviously with excitement.

Apparently, the letter was Temio's Grade Report from UP - 1, 1.5, 1, 1, 1, 1.5 - and this was how Temio landed in UP. It turned out he was the smartest of the siblings after all.

He graduated in 1947 with a degree in BS Agriculture.

He was a "walking encyclopedia" according to his colleagues and peers in the University of Southern Mindanao at the height of his professional life. He retired as an Assistant Professor and was at various times the Chair of the Department of Plant Breeding & Genetics, and the Department of Animal Science. Despite his intellectual and scholarly credentials he remained a very humble man.

To Temio, Ining was his favorite among his siblings, not only because she was the only girl, she was also the youngest. When Temio was already bedridden, all his brothers and only sister came to visit him at Kabacan. Banong came back months later to attend his funeral. His coming back to attend Temio's funeral was his way of loving or "giving back" to the younger brother he missed after so many years…not that the rest didn't but being eldest, Banong simply felt constrained for sentimental reasons.

Artemio's ventures

Even as a UP grad, Artemio was the most adventurous of his siblings. After he ventured to Romblon, he taught in a local school there, married Antonia Almaria Gaac in February 19, 1947, and few years later with his wife and three kids in tow, ages 1 ("Deding" or Josephine 1950), 2 ("Boy" or Rommel 1949), 3 ("Nomee" 1947), they came to the "land of promise,": Mindanao.

Soon after he brought his small family and sailed via Cagayan De Oro City, the family travelled by land to Musuan, Bukidnon. Artemio taught animal husbandry in college in the then Musuan Agricultural College (MAC) now Central Mindanao University (CMU). The next three kids were born in Musuan: Aida in 1953, Manfred 1954, and Sol 1956.

Not content with his job at Musuan, he moved to Kabacan, Cotabato (in 1957) and taught college in the then Mindanao Institute of Technology now University of Southern Mindanao. He stayed put in Kabacan and two more kids were born: Artemio Jr in 1958 and Alicia in 1959! A 9th child, Arnold, was born in 1960 but survived only for a day. Artemio then was on a postgraduate scholarship (poultry science) in Australia and it seemed that could be a factor why his wife Antonia had a difficult child delivery, psychological or not, that youngest son died. Being an infant then, it was not so painful.

In February 14, 1990, the family experienced pain in their first tragic loss - the death of Aida, the 4th child and 3rd daughter of Artemio whom everyone believed was the real smart one among the siblings. She had childhood asthma, an illness believed to be hereditary of which frequently she had chronic attacks. She succumbed to complications when finally her heart gave way, and at a time when the world was happy - at valentine's day yet! That was black valentines for the family. After the family lost Aida, Artemio was never the same person again. He was deeply and emotionally affected by the fact that a daughter would have to go first ahead of him. He wondered why it would be him as a parent that should bring a daughter to her resting place and not the other way around. He became quite introspective. Could it have been that Aida's death triggered the breakdown in his health? No one knows for sure but Temio became weak and got ill. He was diagnosed with tuberculosis and became bedridden. In just 1 year and 4 months after Aida's passing away (June 21, 1991) he finally gave in to pneumonia and breathed his last, peacefully, he went back to his Creator.

In Aida and Artemio's funeral, no photos were taken. The family that Aida and Temio left behind wants to remember them eternally alive, smiling, laughing, active...

Artemio's progenies

The "academician professor par excellence" that Artemio was (at least to those who know him), it is unfortunate that he didn't live long enough to see his kids turned out well placed in the university and in their respective jobs.

Naomi became the University Director of Research and Development in 1993-1995 and first woman dean in the 42-year history of the College of Agriculture, the premier college of USM in 1995-97; Naomi also became the only University Professor in USM, an appointment that's considered the highest faculty position in a state university! In June 23, 2005 she is also the 1st USM faculty to have been conferred Scientist by the Department of Science and Technology's Scientific Career Council, a breakthrough of sorts.

Rommel is the Dean of the College of Engineering and Computing in 2000 up to the present; and Josephine the Dean of the College of Human Ecology and Food Sciences, 2000 to the present. Both have aggressively instituted new courses in their respective colleges. Their mom Antonia would be teased by well-meaning friends as the "Mother of Deans."

The other siblings are quite successful in their own jobs as well: Manfred is Development Director at the provincial capitol of Tubod, Lanao del Norte; Sol had opted for early retirement in April 2005 as Soil Technologist in the Department of Agriculture at Cotabato City's Bureau of Soils; Artemio Jr is a Project Development Officer in the Agro-Industrial Production Services of USM; and Alice is an Agriculturist in the Central Mindanao Integrated Agricultural Research Center at Amas, Kidapawan City.

Among the current 4th generation of eight young Tangonans ages 14 to 28 years old (granting we start at Hipolito and Basilia's marriage down to Artemio's progenies), the most prominent is Andrew born in 1977 and finished at the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB), a BS in Agr Chemistry and a registered chemist (Rommel and Evangeline's eldest) who is now on a straight PHD program in Chemistry at the University of Houston, Texas!

His younger sister and only sibling is Emily born 1981, a registered Nutritionist/Dietician in 2002 who took up nursing as a second course & graduated last May 2005. She is now a registered nurse and substituting as a nutrition faculty in the College of Human Ecology and Food Sciences of USM. She also plans to volunteer as nurse in the University Hospital, the better to log in some work experience meantime while hoping for a full time and more promising job so to speak.

All others in this Gen X are still schooling...Tim Raphael (stopped his college schooling meantime, have finished units in accounting, architecture, computer science…what next?), Katherine (3rd year nursing at Davao Brokenshire after she shifted from BS Biology), Jennifer (3rd year BSA major in plant pathology), Kim Johanna (4th year BS Psychology), Jim Michael, and John Isaac (3rd year high school).