Paying it back for Mang Meliton

This letter from Michelle Rivera is interesting (edited to fit):

“Meet Meliton Zamora, a retired University of the Philippines janitor and my hero.

“For 45 years he swept floors, watered plants and did odd jobs in campus. I met him while with the UP Repertory, a theater group based (then) at the Arts & Sciences building. He would mop the hallway floors in silence, venturing only a nod and a smile whenever I passed him.

“Back then, for me he was just one of those characters whom you got acquainted with and left behind as soon as you earned your degree and left the University for some big job in the real world. Someone whose name would probably ring a bell but whose face you’d have a hard time picturing. But for many UP students who were hard up like me, Mang Mel was a hero who gave them the opportunity to finish college.

“The year was 1993 and I was on my last semester as a Clothing Technology student. My parents had been down on their luck and were struggling to pay my tuition. I had been categorized as Bracket 9 in the Socialized Tuition and Financial Assistance Program (STFAP). My father had lost his job, and to supplement my allowance I worked part time as a Guest Relations Officer at Sam’s Diner (back when the term GRO didn’t have shady undertones) and took some odd jobs as movie extra, production assistant and wardrobe mistress.

“To be eligible for graduation, I needed to enroll in my last three courses. Since my parents didn’t have enough money for my matriculation, I applied for a student loan, hoping that one of my Home Economics professors would take pity on me and sign as guarantor. But those I approached either refused or were not eligible as guarantor. After two unsuccessful weeks of search, my prospects looked dim, and my future dark. So there I was, a downcast 20-year-old with a foggy future, sobbing at the AS lobby. I only had 24 hours left to get a guarantor.

“Mang Mel, mop in hand, approached and asked why I was crying. I told him why I could not enroll that semester. I had no hopes he would be able to help. After all, he was just a janitor. He asked to see my loan papers and said softly, “Puwede ako pumirma, empleyado ako ng UP.” He borrowed my pen and signed his name. With his simple act of faith, Mang Mel saved not only my day, but also my future.

“I paid my student loan the summer after that fateful day with Mang Mel, and it has been 15 years since. I am not rich but have a good job in the real world that allows me to support my family and eat three meals a day. A few weeks ago, a friend and UP Professor, Daki, told me that Mang Mel recently recorded an album which he sells to augment a meager retirement pay, I asked another friend, Blaise, who’s taking his Master’s at UP, to find out how we could contact him. My gesture of gratitude for Mang Mel’s altruism has been long overdue. As fate would have it, my friend saw Mang Mel coming out of the shrubbery behind the Main Library, carrying firewood. He got his address and promised him we’d come by to buy his CD.

“With Blaise and my husband Augie, I paid Mang Mel a visit (Sunday after Christmas). Unfortunately, he was out moonlighting as gardener for a prof. We were welcomed into their home by his daughter Kit. Pointing to a laminated photo of Mang Mel on the wall, she proudly told us that her father had just retired with recognition from the University. However, she sadly related to us, several students whose loans Mang Mel had guaranteed neglected to repay. After 45 years of service to the University, Mang Mel was only attributed 171 days of work for his retirement pay because all the unpaid student loans were deducted from his full retirement pay of 675 days. This seems to me a cruel repayment for his kindness.

“This is a cyber-call to those who overlooked settling their student loans guaranteed by Mang Mel. This would be a good time to thank him.

“Mang Mel is not asking for doles, although I know he’d be thankful for any assistance you can give. So I ask those who benefited from Mang Meliton’s goodness or for those who simply wish to share your blessings, please visit him and buy his CD (P350 only) at No. 16-A, Block 1, Pook Ricarte, UP-Diliman, Quezon City (behind International House), or contact his daughter Kit V. Zamora at 0916-4058104.

“Baka kilala niyo.”

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I recall Mang Meliton from my own days at the Diliman campus in the ’70s. His daughter clarifies that seven students did fail to repay, but the UP admin amnestied six of them. So only one unpaid loan of P5,784 was deducted from Mang Mel’s pension. That doesn’t diminish his kindness, though, for the Iskolars ng Bayan.

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