Nemesio Prudente, the former president of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines and human rights advocate, died Friday morning in a Cavite hospital due to complications after a prostate operation, the Inquirer reported. He was 81.
A good friend and a fellow academician in PUP, Rogelio Ordoñez called "Doc" Prudente as the best President the University ever had. Ordoñez, Editorial Board Chairman of Pinoy Weekly wrote: "Higit sa lahat, naipunla niya sa PUP ang isang edukasyong may makabayang oryentasyon at mulat sa pambansang kalagayan. Ang diwa ng makabayan at makataong aktibismo at paglaban sa inhustisya ang naipunla niya’t napayabong sa PUP. Sa aba naming palagay, sa mga humalili sa kanya, waring wala pa siyang kapantay sa hindi mapag-imbot na dedikasyon at pagmamahal sa PUP at, lalo na nga, sa pagiging makabayang edukador at progresibong intelektuwal."
Communist Party of the Philippines founder Jose Maria Sison in his website remembers Prudente as "an outstanding educator. He rose to the position of president of the Philippine College of Commerce and then the Polytechnic University of the Philippines. But most admirable of him was that he promoted and practised that type of education and life of action that is clearly, resolutely and militantly in the service of the Filipino people in their struggle for national liberation, democracy, social justice, development and peace.
"He articulated a progressive nationalist policy and was ever supportive of the students whenever they joined protest mass actions. He also appointed to the faculty patriotic and progressive teachers. Thus, the PCC became one of the most active centers of the anti-imperialist and democratic student movement in the 1960s, in the First Quarter Storm of 1970 and up to the imposition of martial law on the people.
"Before I went underground in late 1968, I had become close to "Doc" Prudente because I had frequent conversations with him and Prof. Teodosio Lansang over subjects encompassing philosophy, political economy and social science in connection with current events. "Doc" Prudente had a revolutionary outlook and was seriously interested in the revolutionary transformation of Philippine society from a semicolonial and semifeudal status to an independent and democratic one.
"He also actively supported the Movement for a Democratic Philippines, the Movement of Concerned Citizens for Civil Liberties and the formation of a workers' institute. He cooperated with the Preparatory Commission of the NDFP and subsequently with the NDFP. He was never cowed by threats of arrest and actual detention. In and out of the fascist prison, he was a model of firm resistance and a modest hardworking man among comrades.
"The enemy could not tolerate his ideas and deeds in fighting for the rights of workers, in promoting the united front and in making the PUP an outstanding university of learning and technical training for patriotic and progressive students and teachers.
"But "Doc" Prudente was a steadfast revolutionary patriot. He upheld his principles and courageously put his life, limb and liberty on the line in fighting for the just cause of the Filipino people. In his years of retirement from academic life, he continued to have excellent relations with the revolutionary mass movement, especially with the youth and workers. He was held in the highest esteem by the broad masses of the people. His memory and example will always inspire the people."
For more info about Prudente: www.centennial.pup.edu.ph/history/19861990.asp
