Frank A Hilario’s “Colonial Mentality” – What Would I Do Without The English Language I Love!?”

Someone – I will not identify him for a million dollars – just said to my face, via email a few minutes ago, that I have “Colonial Mentality” because I insist on the English language as my favored medium of communication, and neither Filipino (Tagalog-based) nor my native tongue Ilocano. My response: “Thank you!” 
(image from mnagacpsychosocial.blogspot.com)

I began to love English much with “The Philippine Readers,” a book series brainchilded by Filipino author, an Ilocano, Camilo Osias, once Senator. In Grade 4, I began to love English more when I received a grade of “87%” for writing in class an essay. (Nota bene: My father Dionisio reached only “Grade 2” and my mother Sixta reached only the Kartilla.)

My love for English – reading and learning – grew a thousand times starting 1953 at the townproper of my hometown Asingan, Pangasinan. The Rizal Junior College (RJC) high school that I attended, had an open library holding many, many books of American and British classics, with American monthly magazines Life, Look, Post, and the Reader’s Digest.

The RJC library opened the whole intellectual world to me. On Fridays, I would bring home at least 3 books to choose from to read while pasturing 2 carabaos – I would either read on top of one animal or let him loose and read under the shade of a tree. By the end of the day, I would have “finished” (read the parts I liked). And this is how I “educated” myself about the world outside the classroom.

1960-1965, I took my BSA major in Ag Edu from UP Los Baños, graduating with a grade of “2.36” where “1” was “Outstanding” and “3” was “Passed.” All English.

1974-1975, I was a copywriter of the Pacifica Publicity Bureau in Makati and learned much copywriting from Pacifica and the book Frames Of Mind by “Father of Advertising” David Ogilvy.

1975-1980, I was The Editor In Chief of the Forest Research Institute (FORI), and I fathered FORI’s 3 publications: monthly newsletter Canopy, quarterly technical journal Sylvatrop, and quarterly color magazine Habitat. Canopy, Sylvatrop and Habitat made FORI well-known and respected here and abroad.

2000-2007, I was The Editor In Chief of the Philippine Journal of Crop Science (PJCS), and I rescued the PJCS from being late 3 years, and then made the journal included in the international elite list called “ISI.” 1^st class digital editing.

From 2007 to 2014, I was a digital Writer From Home (WFH) for the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), and ICRISAT published 7 books of mine from my blogs. (You can ask for a copy from ICRISAT if you wish.)

In 2011, the UPLB Alumni Association voted me “Outstanding Alumnus For Creative Writing,” the first – and one-and-only.

Since 2000, I have been a blogger and have since uploaded in my numerous blogs about 50,000 essays of different lengths, from 517 (like this one) to 50,000 words each. Self-taught blogger, for love of humanity.

Now, what good could I have done without the English language?!@517