ONCE UPON A TIME, MIDWIFERY WAS OFFERED IN TABUK

THE FUTURE OF MIDWIFERY AT KSU

When Madam Andrea Sigat and Madam Nellie Doclan joined the world of retirees last June and July 2017 respectively, their exit signaled the end of an era that ran all the way back to the late 1970’s when Kalinga State University’s forerunner Kalinga Community College offered for the first time this career option known as Two-Year Midwifery Course for the people of the province known then as Kalinga-Apayao. Pioneering Administrator and President Sir Augusto Alejandrino knew they were taking a risk and it was a gamble likewise for the pioneering 30 Midwifery students who opted to take their chances here.
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Their gamble paid off. As history wrote it, all of these 30 Midwifery graduates passed the licensure exams, securing a 100% passing rate for the school. And the rest, they say, is history. THE MIDWIFERY DEPARTMENT HAS SINCE MOVED ON TO PROVIDE KCC/KASC WITH A SURE-FIRE SOURCE OF BOARD PASSERS, year after year.
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As the University grapples with the challenges of re-designing its curriculum as well as re-visiting offered courses, old and new, including possible new ones, the Midwifery Department stands at the middle of this academic upheaval currently gripping many State Universities and Colleges like KSU. The question is: Will MIDWIFERY survive well into the future? Considering the pioneering work of the masters like Estrella Diasen, Floydelia Reyes Diasen, Valentina Attolba, Mrs. Jane Abella Claver, Madam Boguen, Brigette Alejandrino and later Nellie Alejandrino, the Gacuyas (dad and sons Clifford and Ferdinand "Bong"), Ma'am Sigat, Ma'am Doclan and a string of registered midwives, nurses and dcotors who did time in the department -- the current faculty members suddenly faced the reality that they are NOW ON THEIR OWN, with only Christina L Ammakiw  standing as the bridge between the old world and the current one, being the most senior of the current composition.
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With pride, everyone who became part of the Midwifery Faculty, from circa 1970's during  the KCCTI phase of the school, with Mrs. Jane Abella Claver of St. Luke's no less (now St, Peter's), then  passing through the 80's, 90's and the early years of the 21st century up to this time -- yes, each one is credited, no exception. From the cogon-topped classrooms of KCC to the concrete buildings of KASC in Dagupan, then Bulanao Campus, then back to Dagupan again, then a brief stay-over at the NIA compound, and FINALLY RESTING HOME IN ITS OWN BUILDING at the Bulanao Campus --- it has been quite a ride for the course, pulling in as many nurses from the community to become part of the faculty, and who have long since found their niche elsewhere.
Appropriately echoing the question running in the minds of all these people: WILL THE CURRENT MIDWIFERY FACULTY DELIVER?
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No worries. The same commitment is observably present in this set, efficiently chaired by "DOC" Kenny Macasing Natarte and ably supported by his faculty of registered nurses and registered midwives, with RM Liezl Marlita Esteban Quesada returning back to the folds of the Department, including resident Science teacher Evangeline Bunch Torres. Opting to stay in the academe instead of the hospital are these nurses and midwives: Teodifel Barcena Lao-aten, Guia Bugayong, Anie Besyaken Naag, Isaiah Gannaban Patong, Eve Joy Sulca, Geraldine Liwaliw (and even Gibson who has just left).  Young as they are, they exhibit an intensity of not only replicating what their predecessors have accomplished but also straining even more to take their own achievements further. With their dedication, nothing is left to doubt and one can rest assured with the certainty that the current group will sustain Midwifery’s place in KSU, in Tabuk City, and in the province of Kalinga.
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Midwifery is here to stay. It scored the first hit for KCC under Sir Alejandrino, and did well during the succeeding Presidential stints of Francisco Baswel, Venus Lammawin, Eduardo Bagtang and Jovita Saguibo. In fact, as this writer would like to emphasize always, the Midwifery Department scored another first hit through the offering of a new course in Sir Bagtang's current timetable, less than a year as University President --- with the entry of BS-Midwifery, a full-blown 4-year degree version of the Two-Year course, well ahead of other departments/colleges yearning to offer new courses. INDEED, Midwifery is here to stay, and the department is in good hands.
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Now the original masters can relax.
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NOTE: Pardon the overuse of the word “pioneering” – there simply is no other word appropriate for the subject. This is an abridged first-hand observation on the current faculty members of the Midwifery Department where I requested to be a resident (meaning, nakikitira ako, what with their wide space in the faculty, :)  - MARCIANO A. PAROY JR. (November 7, 2017) #marsism