A L O H A   and   M A H A L O

First of all, allow me to greet you a warm aloha and mahalo (thank you) for checking me out. Kumusta po kayo? Buti naman at nagkaroon din kayo nang pagkakataon na dumalao at makipagkilala sa akin (How are you? It is good that you found the time to visit and for us to get to know each other).

My name is Juny Pilapil La Putt and among my friends in cyberspace they know me well as the "Hawaiian WebMaster". Yes, it was I who created the Academy Cavaliers' Forum (ACF). It was just way back in February 16, 1998 when it all started. I envisioned the Forum as a tool to help bond together in close camaraderie and friendship all those who trace their roots to the PHILIPPINE MILITARY ACADEMY. It still is a little too early to tell you that it turned out to be a successful project ... but I'm not giving up on it yet. And as far as I am concerned, it is all systems go.

In the beginning, I was really a little bit hesitant to go ahead with this project, considering that there were only 18 Cavaliers to start with. In fact, I didn't even have adequate funds to support this undertaking. All I had was a goal and a strong sense of determination. At any rate, I gave it a shot and up to now I still continue to keep my fingers crossed ... still hoping that this will turn out to be something really big and worthwhile. But it is rewarding to note though that the ACF has grown so much in membership and things are really beginning to happen ... just as I thought it would.

I am most thankful that there were many Cavaliers who offered their wholehearted support for this project. Without them this project wouldn't have materialized and lasted this long. What I now keep hoping for is the participation and involvement of our numerous Cavaliers who are located in different and distant parts all over the world. It is my objective to utilize this Forum to link all Cavaliers who now have access to the Internet.

By the way, as you scroll down this page you will see two of my photographs ... a sort of "before" and "after." The first photo was taken in 1969 when I was already a captain and had just returned to the Academy after a two-year stint in South Vietnam. The second one was taken in 1995 when I visited one of my daughters in San Francisco. The caricature above was drawn just a few months ago by a Filipino artist friend of mine here in Honolulu.

Why This Involvement With PMA?

You probably would want to know why I am very much involved with the Philippine Military Academy and Peemayers. I'm not a graduate of the Academy although I was supposed to be a member of the Class of 1962. I took and passed one of the most difficult entrance examination ever given by PMA. It was only during my time that two examinations were given since there were not enough candidates who passed the first exams. I was one of those who successfully made it in the first exam. I guess this was where the best in the Class of 1962 came from. However, I was not destined to become a cadet and things didn't turn out as my parents and I have wanted or expected. It was only six years later that I realized fate had something else in store for me ... to be a mentor at the Academy instead.

Well, I did finally joined the Philippine Military Academy as a member of its academic faculty. This started sometime back in 1963 when I was pulled out from my field assignment with the Corps of Engineers in Camp Evangelista, Cagayan de Oro City (Mindanao) and was directed to report to Fort Del Pilar to serve as an instructor. At that time I had just completed my Engineer Officer Basic Course at PASC in Fort Bonifacio.

I was then a newly commissioned 2nd Lieutenant, single, and just completed my bachelor's degree in civil engineering ('61) and the ROTC Advanced Course ('59) from the Mapua Institute of Technology. Being a licensed engineer, I was given a teaching load in the Department of Engineering Sciences. I taught subjects such a engineering graphics, space graphics, map reading, elementary & higher surveying (earlier known as military topography), and in the later part - Fortran programming.

My Extended Stay At The Academy

Most graduates spend only 4 years at PMA. In my case, I was with the Academy up to 1981 - a total span of 18 years ... 4.5 times longer. I do not know if I was really that good an instructor or was it just that they couldn't find a replacement for me. It was during my assignment at the Academy that I wrote a book on "Elementary Surveying" which is now a standard textbook in most engineering schools in the Philippines and in PMA as well. It was also during my stint as a course director that I developed the "SRM" (Simple Reading Matter) method of teaching ... a style I applied in my teaching of Surveying and Fortran Programming which was designed to encourage cadets to read and learn by themselves instead of having to depend on the lecture of their instructor. I knew it was a successful method because my students were getting higher grades, there were no more failures in both subjects, and it was easier for me and my instructors to just answer questions instead of conducting lectures.

I guess I was the longest staying faculty member who was not a member of the Corps of Professors ... although my assignment was interrupted thrice. The first time was when I volunteered to serve in South Vietnam for two years with 1ST PHILCAV-V (Philippine Civic Action Group-Vietnam). This was way back in 1966 up to 1968 and only a few months after I got married. The second time was when I was sent by the Corps of Engineers to pursue further studies in Geodesy & Photogrammetry for a year at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City in 1973-75. I was still a student at UP when President Ferdinand Marcos declared Martial Law. The last interruption came about in 1975 up to 1977 and this was when I was sent as a Fulbright-Hays scholar to the Ohio State University where I graduated with a master's degree in Geodetic Science majoring in Cartography (Map Making).

Leaving The Academy

It was in the middle part of 1981 when I decided to leave the Academy to help establish the National Cartography Authority or NCA (now known as NAMRIA) which was then under the Office of the President of the Philippines. I was designated as Deputy Executive Director and given a big chance to make good use of what I learned in my graduate studies at the Ohio State University.

There were numerous projects related to cartography and photogrammetry which I tried to pursue at NCA. The publication of the National Atlas of the Philippines was one project I was most interested in since this was my thesis in graduate school. Working with the NCA was quite challenging but I started to miss teaching and relating with students. I also wanted to resume writing more books in surveying and most of all it was also difficult on my part to be separated from my wife and kids who have remained in Baguio City.

Events That Followed After My Retirement

As they say it, everything good must come to an end. After nine months at NCA I decided to optionally retire from the service and come back to Baguio. Upon my retirement in 1983, I have served 21 years and 6 months and made it to the rank of a colonel in the Philippine Army. On my return to the City of Pines, I was immediately offered by the University of Baguio to head the Department of Surveying and also the University Computer Center which I set up in 1983. A few months after, I established the Baguio Research and Publishing Center (BRPC) and started working full time on my books in surveying which we later started distributing nationwide. Early in 1985 I was once again awarded another Fulbright-Hays grant ... this time, as a Visiting Professor and Researcher at the University of Maine in Orono (UMO).

The final part of my textbook research was done during my one-semester stay at UMO. Upon my return to the Philippines in 1985, I started the final work on my books. In the two years that followed my firm (BRPC) started publishing and distributing five textbooks I wrote ... four in surveying and one in computer science. All my books turned out to be best sellers having been widely accepted as textbooks in most engineering and technical schools and universities in the Philippines ... and they still are up to now. By the way, if you do get a chance to visit the United States Library of Congress in Washington, DC you will also find a copy of my books there since these have all been issued copywrights by this agency. In the Philippines all my books are currently sold and distributed by National Bookstores.

An Eye On America

In 1987, my wife asked me about going back to America ... this time with the whole family. I did have an approved petition for a 3rd Preference immigrant visa which I filed way back in 1969. We decided to try it out before our eldest child would turn 21 years of age. Finally in March 15, 1987 with my eldest daughter (Tessie) and eldest son (Alfeo), we left for Hawaii ... just 3 days short of my daughter's 21st birthday. Another daughter (Dolly) followed in May and in June my wife and two other children (Mike and Jenny) arrived in Honolulu to join the rest of the family.

I have started a new chapter in my life here in the United States ... I first taught at the Honolulu Community College for a year, transferred to the City & County of Honolulu to work as a building official, struggled hard to obtain my professional engineer license, bought a home, involved myself with activities of the community, learned about the Internet and its many tools, see my kids through college, and started to enjoy living in "this land of milk and honey."

I think I had about the best of everything in life (considering that I now live in "paradise"), not much of regrets, although I committed some blunders and mistakes along the way but, I've learned plenty of good stuff and will have a lot to think about and reminisce later in the twilight years of my life. I thank the Lord for giving me a good life, a beautiful and loving wife, dear and adorable children, and very smart and intelligent grandchildren.

And by the way, I have just started learning how to play the Yamaha electronic keyboard. Remind me to play a few tunes for you one of these days. I really am not very good at it yet but I am beginning to accumulate a number of songs in my repertoir. Mahalo and aloha! It was nice having you as a visitor and I hope you will come visit us again soon. And should you want to communicate with me, my e-mail address is jplaputt@pixi.com.