Benguet State U gets history lesson from former regent

By Richard Giye

A former regent of the Benguet State University has become a rich source in piecing together the school’s history and lore.

Former Alumni Regent Chester Lee B. Alipit was recent resource speaker of the Benguet State History Committee, chaired by Dr. Grace T. Bengwayan.

Alipit, who graduated with a degree in Science in Agricultural Education in 1969, was the first BSU Alumni Trustee of the Board appointed by former President Fidel V. Ramos and the last alumni regent when BSU was under the Department of Education.

Alipit’s accounts will be part of the coffee table book that will be published in time for the school’s centennial this year..

Shown pictures gathered by the History Committee on the School’s landscape in the 1950s and 1960s, he identified old buildings, helped in the captioning of photos and shared his anecdotes.

He described how different school clubs were organized in the early 60s, among them the 4-H Club, Future Farmers of the Philippines, Women’s Auxiliary Training Corps, Reserved Training Corps, The Mountain Breeze and Athletics. 

Alipit said Benguet State was then Mountain National Agricultural School (MNAS), established several years before World War II.

Life was difficult, he said. The school’s buildings were damaged during the war.
Only a few students were interested to go back to school, so the school offered free board and lodging at its dormitories to entice them back.

Alipit said the students participated in rebuilding the school, providing materials like rocks and sand which they hauled from Balili River. Aside from buildings, the rocks were also used for the pathway stretching from BSU-SLS to the old Administration building.

Alipit also turned over memorabilia such as souvenir programs, the first issue of The Mountain Collegian, published in 1963, and the study conducted by the late Nicomedes A. Alipit titled: An analysis of the Problems and Role of the Mountain National Agricultural School in the Progress of Mountain Province (1958).

Alipit recently made a quick tour of the campus, recalling how it looked in 1950. Manuelito Z. Tirazona, a graduate of the secondary laboratory school, drew a sketch based on Alipit’s description.

In the 50s and 60s, the river flowed through the present Secondary Elementary School area, curved at the back of ATI-NTC before continuing to where the Administration Building and executive Guest House now stand, he said.

The California Palms in front of the Admin building were planted in 1962 and the Agoho trees in front of Benguet General Hospital were planted in the 1950s.