My Autobiography: David Balleza K(C)atague: Dr. Felix Llamido Book about the Philippines

Friday, September 13, 2019

Dr. Felix Llamido Book about the Philippines

Dr Felix Lamido, MD was my contemporary (mid 1950's) at University of the Philippines(UP). We both resided in Narra Hall ( UP Men's South Dorm) and we were active members Of the University of the Philippines Student Catholic Action (UPSCA). The following photo was taken in 1954 and Dr Llamido is in front squatting holding a newspaper and I am in the second row third from the Left.

Last November, Felix and his son Kevin visited us here in Fair Oaks.

https://chateaudumer.blogspot.com/2018/11/a-visit-from-former-dorm-mate-and.html

Just recently Dr Llamido published a book about the Philippines. Its about the Japanese_American War in the Philippines. It is getting good reviews from readers and critics. Its available from Amazon, but Dr Llamido is giving me a complimentary and autographed copy next month.

Here are some reviews of his book, The Box of Noli's Bones.

1. I really enjoyed this book. The author takes you through life in the Philippians during WWII. Not only did he obtain material facts about the war, but he also saw it with his own eyes. As a war enthusiast, I did not know much about the war in the Philippians, mostly my interests were in Europe. It was nice to hear about the war from this perspective.

The author is a very good writer. He actually provides such vivid imagery that you feel as if you have been there before. The chapters are well segmented and the flow of the book is easy to follow. I found myself so intrigued that it was hard to put down at times. I really wanted to dive to the end immediately, but resisted. I would recommend this book.

2. This book by a talented retired surgeon is a timely reminder to us and the leaders of the world about the atrocities of war. It is difficult to understand how a civilized country like Japan could change to a barbaric nation.

As a 2 yr old boy during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines (1941-1945) the story is reality instead of fiction. With other children we witnessed scenes like a dead man bayoneted by Japanese soldiers hanging from a tree and adult males in the neighborhood lined up in the middle of the night while a masked prisoner led by Japanese soldiers identify guerillas among them. We children thought they were funny but I am sure to our relatives they were terrifying.

For the record unlike the author I did not swallow the first chewing gum thrown by the GI liberators from their dusty trucks as we yelled “victory Joe” while they were passing by. Instead I reused it and parked it under the table during meals.

This book shows that surgeons with gifted fingers for dissection can also use them for writing excellent stories. I hope he writes other stories about post WWII Philippines.

3. Engrossing family - war related stories..Left me tingles after reading the book!

4. His documentation of the war in the Philippines and the trauma faced by one small village and his family was exquisitely presented. You felt like you were there. He was right....he had to write this book.

5. I enjoyed reading the book. The author made a vivid description of the Philippine customs and sceneries during his and my childhood days. Writing about the unforgettable events during WW II required a vast amount of research work. I am looking forward to reading more of Dr. Felix Llamido’s literary work.

6. The first paragraph pulled me in. "Two Titans clashed in a place named Pearl Harbor. One fell on his back, surprised by the unexpected assault, roiling the waters with a splash that gathered the momentous force of a malevolet tsunami. Out of control, he rolled across the ocean delivering an offspring, War, to distant shores in the Pacific." This analogy led the way to what seemed to me to be a collection of short stories by chapters, connected by the context of the times, some personal, some biographical, and some military history. Much research is evident, and the author connects facts and figures with people and events. Like Germany, the United States fought this war on two fronts, Europe and Asia.

Many books have been written about the Nazis and the war in Europe. This book fills us in on what I would call the Holocaust of the Pacific. It is an important contribution to our knowledge, not only of a lesser-known than the European area of history, but of what people will do to one another under certain conditions. This war and its lasting effects on hundreds of thousands of people in the Philippines should never be forgotten. We should always be very wary of people who regard other people as less than human.

I wouldn't be surprised if a movie contract is offered, the rich images in this book being so powerful and personal. The book is full of action and pathos as well as information about a country and culture that deserves more recognition.

Personal Note: I have always wanted to write a book about my childhood experiences about the Japanese-American War in the Philippines. It has not materialized-but I have two articles published in my personal blog and Hubpages.com account as follows:

https://chateaudumer.blogspot.com/2012/05/japanese-american-war-in-philippines.html

https://hubpages.com/literature/my-childhood-memories-of-world-war-2

I am proud of Dr Llamido's accomplishments and again thank him in advance for my complimentary and autographed copy.

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Highlights of My Professional Career

In my more than 40 years of professional career, I have experienced both working rank and file, as well as supervising the work of subordinates. I have worked in four private firms and the Federal Government, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), where I retired. I enjoyed the challenges and difficulties of both types of job situations. This is the highlights of my work experience story.

My first job after completing my doctorate degree was a Chemist for Chemagro Corporation in Kansas City, Missouri. It was a subsidiary of Bayer Corporation, a German conglomerate. I worked for the analytical chemistry department comprised of about fifty people; half that number was either chemists or biologists. My specific task was to develop analytical methods for the detection of pesticide residues in plant and animal tissues. I worked on my own, similar to six other bench chemists, and we all reported to the same supervisor.

The firm sponsored my visa conversion from a student to a permanent resident, and I was able to legally work and reside in the United States with my family. The company generously took care of its employees. At the end of each successful year, everyone received a 13th month salary bonus. The employees and their families celebrated wonderful annual Christmas parties in a downtown Kansas City hotel, with dancing and free drinks for the whole night.

Inasmuch as I enjoyed and loved working for Chemagro for five years, I found a new job which offered a substantially higher pay. Due to my exemplary work performance, my supervisor preferred and lobbied for me to stay with the company. I had to turn him down because they could not match the package presented by my new employer. It was also a chance for me and my family to move and live in the US west coast, where the mild winter climate is bearable compared to the Midwest.

My next job was at the agricultural research division of Shell Development Company in Modesto, California. I was a Research Chemist, and again I worked individually, same as five other chemists who all reported to a supervisor. My specific duty was similar to my previous job. I worked for them for five years, until the company decided to get out of the pesticide business. They closed their research facility affecting the jobs of more than 200 employees.

My third industrial job was with the agricultural research division of Stauffer chemical company, located in Richmond, California. I was a Senior Research Chemist doing the same project as my two previous jobs. I worked for twelve continuous years for the company, with outstanding annual job performance. I became a Principal Research Chemist, the highest attainable non-supervisory position.

One day in 1986, my supervisor informed me that my job had been eliminated, and I had one day to vacate the facility. It was the most dreadful lay off experience in my life. I felt anger, sadness and humiliation to be dismissed from work with one day notice, after all the years of hard work invested for the company. This was an unforgettable incident and was the gloomiest point in my professional career.
The company terminated sixty research employees, who were upset of the bad news.

One of the chemists was distressed and expressed his outrageous anger by threatening the company and its workers. He told his supervisor of his intention to bomb and burn down the laboratory. He was immediately escorted by the security staff out of the building and into his car. He was informed to leave behind his personal belongings; they will be mailed to his residence. He was warned never to show up again near the company premises or risk getting arrested.

My supervisor was kind and allowed me to take my time to pack up my belongings. It took me two days to clear up my workplace, after toiling for a long period in the same jobsite. We were provided clerical help and office space, in preparation to look for another job, such as updating our resumes, and using the computer and copy machine. We were given six weeks of separation pay plus benefits.

Fortunately, with the help of a friend who is a Church parishioner, I found another job thirty days after leaving Stauffer chemical company. He hired me as a senior research chemist and as a group leader with two technicians to supervise. It was in the same field as my expertise in my previous three jobs spanning the last twenty one years. My new employer was Chevron Chemical Company, and which was located in the same area as my former employer.

This job gave me the introduction and basic knowledge of managing the work of subordinates. I worked for Chevron Company for four and a half years. The company decided to consolidate their research facilities in Texas, and lay off all its research employees. This time I had enough distress and agony from working, and eventually getting laid off from several private companies. To avoid going through any more miserable layoffs, I made a vow that I would never again work for a private company.

In my work experiences, there were noticeable and unavoidable jobsite occurrences. One can never miss the office romantic relationships between co-workers, both illicit and permitted. Though it was frowned upon, there was a boss and staff relationship, which was used as a ploy to get ahead in the company. Some relationships had chemistry, no pun intended, but some never worked out. Oftentimes, there was a sense of distrust among bench chemists for some workers who unjustly obtained preferred work assignments.

Some employees resorted to bribing superiors to get special privileges, such as being able to attend choice conferences and meetings in exciting venues or locations. Likewise, politics was always present at the worksites. It was during an era when various forms of harassment, equal opportunity and discrimination laws were not yet enforced in the workplace. Occasionally, an unexpected chemical explosion happens in a laboratory setting, where luckily no one got seriously hurt.

In the three private companies I worked for, I was able to publish scientific journals for some of the research studies and analytical methods which I developed for the respective companies of Chemagro, Shell Development and Stauffer.

After deciding and making a vow to avoid working in the private sector, I made my new goal which was either to work for the state of California, or the Federal government in Washington, D.C. Four months after I lost my job in Chevron, I was lucky and joyful to be hired by the Food and Drug Administration as a review chemist in the fall of 1990.

In 1994 I was promoted as an Expert Research Chemist with a GS-14 rating. My expertise was on Anti-malarial and Anti-parasitic drug products. In 1997, I was again deservingly promoted to Chemistry team leader, supervising the work of six Chemistry reviewers including five with doctorate degrees.

As team leader, I was responsible for prioritizing, assigning, and assuring the technical accuracy of all chemistry, manufacturing and control issues for all new drug applications submitted to the Division of Anti-Infective Drug Products, Center of New Drugs.

It was part of my responsibility to give advice, instruct and promote high morale and teamwork in my group. My work in the FDA is confidential, until the drug patent on the products I worked on has expired. There are manufacturing supplements that I have approved that are now open for the public in the Internet.

In 1998, I won the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Award. The citation reads, “For outstanding accomplishments in fostering the objectives of the EEO Program by hiring minorities and encouraging their professional growth while providing excellent leadership.” I have received numerous certificates of appreciation, awards in leadership and communications, commendation for teamwork and excellence in the accomplishment of the FDA mission. I have also received several letters of appreciation from private industry for my review work.

There are many good things working as rank and file while enjoying doing one’s job individually. It is a humbling, satisfying and productive experience, if one can work in harmony with one’s immediate supervisor. Working individually develops one’s skills in goal setting and scheduling. But in general, the financial rewards are less than a person who has supervisory responsibilities.

Managing the work of others has its challenges. Moreover, it develops one’s skill in handling and developing people, and the compensation rewards and benefits are better. Due to additional duties, responsibilities and leadership, supervisory work can be more stressful than working as a subordinate. However, supervisory jobs give one more personal growth and satisfaction, based on my personal experience. My work in FDA as a team leader managing the work of six scientists had been the happiest and rewarding work experience in my career in Chemistry. You might also like:

Friday, September 13, 2019

Dr. Felix Llamido Book about the Philippines

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