The ticking clock is no friend to anyone, but only those who find time’s blessing seeks the truest fruit of its age. We are all tested by the might of time, most fall and falter on their sword and are mere footnotes to history. But, to those who are steadfast and unwavering in their foundations, not even the march of the ticking clock will faze them.

We stand in the light of a new dawn, and as we witness the breaking of light, we also reminisce the past days that brought us to this place. Time tests all things, and all things are tested with time; but those that are worth something, stand stronger and cannot be uprooted. This is the value of great things, they stand against the bellowing winds of storms like a cornerstone that doesn’t buckle from the stress of history.

Henry L. Stimson, former American Secretary of War and American author, once reflected while walking down the avenues of Washington D.C. at the height of the Second World War: “if you have time, look at the buildings that line Washington. They have stood there since the literal foundation of the nation. They help us all to be reminded how timeless the values that built those buildings are, and how enduring those values are in ourselves.” Behind the edifice, behind the cast iron stone and steel, there is more in it than mere marble. Edifices are not just hollowed landmarks without the people that call them home, with the people that built them and forged by their own hands the crucible of its foundations, buildings become monuments to principles, mementos of ideals, snapshots of our timeless and timely foundations, and symbols of values displayed for all civilizations to see, to adorn, and to marvel into the atrium of eternity. And values that build up edifices are part of the people who reside in buildings that stood the tests of time.

Values that build up edifices are the true foundations of an institution, of a government, of a people. They stand firmer than physical edifices, and without them, we crumble under the heat of ever-changing times, and the coldness of ever-changing social climates. These values that built up our normal school—our College—are simple values, ideals that some could say are “run-of-the-mill”; but, looking at the institution, the impact, and people it built and continues too build, they are certainly not trivial!

Together in Service:

Values such as service that had built our country from the ground up have surely built lasting things; and through thick and thin, service has defended our democracy during the dark moments of our collective history. Service, also, has built our College from the ground up: like the nation the College is seeking to build. Through the tireless work of our student-journalists, student-leaders, ordinary students, and teachers and administrators, the spirit of service has spilled over outside the walls of the College and into the communities we serve and watch over. Teachers who have graduated from this College have sacrificed their time and effort for their students out there in wilderness professional practice. Graduates of our College have also served as civil and public servants and are continuously building our communities after a scorched earth of a pandemic. Some of us, those who are still with the College, are even currently serving a term as SK chairpersons and councilors in their communities. Truly, aside from service building our College, the value that built this institution continues to build others and communities.

Foundation of Truth:

The value of scholarship has made our college a haven of intellectual debate and free speech, research and development that transcends not just time, but differing indigenous and social backdrops. An evidence to this truth is the fact that researches across the College has been used to impact nationally-sensitive and concerning themes of today. We can also see this exemplified in the different ways we, as a community, build up and persevere for the truth, being its crusaders amidst the changing backdrop of sociopolitical strife in the country, as pre-service and in-service teachers of the College stand firm against historical distortions, denialisms, and illusions, fake news, disinformation, and misinformation. The College stands strong as a haven for witnesses of the truth in a time when the truth, and the very concept of the truth, is assailed and assaulted in every front of our society and time.

 Fountain of Leadership:

Servant-leadership has brought forth a College that is steadfast amidst the scandals of the state. It has sustained the breath of the College since its inception, and with it produced great and glorious members of the community that are now holding these said communities up through their example—an example fostered and brought about by a College that has imbibed in itself the aims of leadership and the spirit of servanthood.

Candle of Character:

Of all these, the College has been brought up by a sense of character, a character built on purpose and a character of purpose. All of these attributes are exponents of character, and truly character itself has brought to life a college that is directed in service to the truth and in leadership for the nation. Every CEnian knows and all others can see the level of dedication every pre-service and in-service teacher offers in and outside of the college, a sense of impeccable dedication and faith in their vocation and profession, a candle in the darkness of today, shining a path towards fruitful and selfless devotion to the republic’s cause and aims; teachers and students who are dedicated to their craft, who are capable of conscience, and who inspires others especially in this time of great fear and crisis.

The College started out as a vision of a proud nation, a product of our nation’s ardent desire for truth and justice under the regime of progress and equality, governed by decency and righteousness. The College, an institution, an edifice, now imbues not just to its students and teachers, but to the entire region, a sense of stability, a sense of uprightness, a sense of truth, and a sense of moral righteousness and centeredness—a sense of grounding and sound foundation for our region’s progress, and a testament to the fact that time is conquered by sound and stable ideals. Truly, in its 100 years, the College only provides evidence to how timeless the values that built buildings are, and how enduring those values are in ourselves. And with this, our College, the iron fortress of justice and truth, knowledge and wisdom, justice and mercy will stand firm with her head held high amidst the onslaught of time: a great Gibraltar of Truth, a great redoubt of for nation’s future; forging ahead, with integrity, sensitivity, and, above all, purpose. (layout: Densehl Allen A. Majadillas, written by: Nathaniel O. Remendado : The Mentor)