Amado A. Castro
May 29, 1924 - June 10, 2017
Dr. Amado Alejandro Bundalian Castro was born on May 29, 1924 to public school teachers Melquiades M. Castro and Victoria Bundalian Castro, the eldest child of four. He attended elementary at the Philippine Normal School Training Department (Victoria B. Castro was a teacher at the Philippine Normal College) and proceeded to high school at the Ateneo de Manila in Padre Faura, graduating as salutatorian in 1941. For post secondary, he attended the University of the Philippines for a degree in Business. His studies was interrupted by World War 2 where he served as the 2nd lieutenant of the Hunters ROTC Guerilla. Resuming his studies, Amado graduated magna cum laude with a BSBA major in economics in April 1948, missing to be summa cum laude by a mere .001 point.
College graduation and Amado's first employment soon after started a lifelong service to education. Amado became an instructor in Economics which in those days, the Economics Department was under the College of Liberal Arts at University of the Philippines (UP) Manila in Padre Faura. There were only two professors in economics at that time: Jose Valmonte and Amado Castro. Both undertook the transfer to UP Diliman, literally bringing along the tables and chairs to be temporarily housed at the third floor of the College of Law building.
Economics as a distinct discipline in the Philippines had not yet been established then. Having an A.B. Economics degree under the Liberal Arts program meant having a liberal arts education - meaning one had a wide choice of electives (e.g. in philosophy and political science), albeit with a number of economic subjects as requirement, but more or less the degree program was designed to give students overall preparation for a career, molding character and honing general critical intelligence without necessarily intending specialization in economics. But by the 1950s, along with the march to a "modern progressive nation", interest in business administration degrees grew. In 1952, the Economics Department at UP Diliman came under its College of Business Administration.
Sent by the University of the Philippines on a Faculty Fellowship to obtain a doctorate degree in Economics at Harvard University in 1954, Amado came back to be the only faculty with a Ph.D. He taught all the economics courses (except public finance). He became head of the Department of Economics in 1956. In that same year, President Ramon Magsaysay called for the "establishment of an Institute of Economic Development and Research (IEDR) in the University of the Philippines 'to provide not only our students but also those of neighbouring Asian countries with the advanced training essential to accelerated development" and subsequently, the UP set up this institute in 1957 through funds from the national budget. Amado thus, became Acting Dean of the College of Business Administration in 1958 and Director of the IEDR from 1958-1966.
The IEDR was the research resource of the government at that time. It attracted foreign donors with the Rockefeller Foundation giving funds to house its library building. Soon more funds flowed to support a building for the Economics Department and the College of Business Administration. Amado Castro oversaw and sourced the funds for this building, choosing architect Ariston Nakpil (son of National Artist Juan Nakpil, the architect of the UP's main building, Quezon Hall) to execute this. This building became the Benton Hall which is known for its sunbreaker style (brise soileil).
It is not a surprise that Amado developed an inclination and a facility for constructing buildings because it is a facility influenced by Melquiades, his father. Later, Amado would put this facility to good use when, serving on the Board of the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), he was put in charge of the construction of DBP's building in Makati, for which Amado chose as architect Carlos "Carling" Arguelles. In time, Arguelles would also be the architect of the School of Economics when it finally had its own buildings.
Meanwhile, economics as a separate discipline was growing in prestige outside the university. Cesar Virata, then Dean of the College of Business Administration recognized this and together with Amado who advocated establishing economics as a distinct discipline, the College of Business Administration released its hold on the Economics Department and a separate School of Economics was created by the UP Board of Regents in 1965. Amado Castro became its first dean. He served in this capacity from 1965-1973. It is no wonder that the UP School of Economics was like home and family to Amado. He was indeed one of that school's main pillars. And he was likewise proud of the school and the brilliant minds that it produced.
Gerardo Sicat, himself a product of the school, mentions these "incomplete set of prominent names" as: Felipe Medalla, Dante Canlas, Benjamin Diokno, Romeo Bautista, Gonzalo Jurado, Raul Fabella, Emmanuel de Dios, Emmanuel Esguerra, Orville Solon, Ruperto Alonso, Gwendolyn Tecson, Vicente Paqueo, Danilo Villanueva, Evangeline Javier, Chita Tanchoco, Filologo Pante, Jr., Wilfredo Nuguid, Chito Sobrepena, Mario Lamberte, Linda Medalla, Rosario Manasan, Ponciano Intal, Josef Yap and Gilbert Llanto. Sicat further mentions those who were recruited as faculty and that "all of them have either served in the Economics faculty, went on to lead government positions as cabinet secretaries in various positions as NEDA Director Generals, other cabinet positions, as deputies, directors, or served as economists in international institutions like the World Bank, IMF, or the Asian Development Bank, or worked as prominent economists at the government think tank, the PIDS (Philippine Institute for Development Studies)". As Amado would have put it, the earlier efforts at establishing the school and economics as a discipline, indeed, had multiplier effects.
Beyond the walls of the academe, Amado Castro lent his talents to the Development Bank of the Philippines becoming Governor and Acting Chairman from 1962-1966. He also rose to become the ASEAN Secretary of the Economics Bureau from 1977-1980, living in Indonesia for that period of time.
A teacher and his passionate hobbies[edit]
Amado Castro retired from teaching at the University of the Philippines in 1989. However, he continued to teach economic history at the University of Asia and Pacific until the time of his death. In the UP he was later known as the one who taught economic history because as he said, "How could one know the path to the future without knowing the past?"
Amado had a passion for photography, being a lifetime member (and former president) of the Camera Club of the Philippines. At the UP School of Economics, he stands out for being the only one who has single-handedly taken a picture of every class he has taught through the years. He has a complete archive in and of itself and in October 2016, he donated this archive to the UP School of Economics. The school, in turn, held an exhibit of photos taken with analog Nikon, Contax or Leica by Dr. Castro, where Vice President of the Philippines Leni Robredo was invited to cut the ribbon with him.
A truly renaissance man, he extensively documented the performances of Ballet Philippines of the Cultural Center of the Philippines in both black and white, and color, since the nascent days of the company as one of its original supporters. He was also a long-time supporter of various music organizations such as the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra, Manila Symphony Orchestra and Musical Arts Foundation for composers.
Amado also had a great passion for vintage and sports cars and was one of the founding members of the Manila Sportscar Club.
Awards and recognition[edit]
The School of Economics honoured him as one of UPSEAA Distinguished Alumni Awards in February 2015. Besides his academic contributions, the award also recognized "his work as a founding member and past president of the Philippine Economic Society in 1960, and as past President of the Pastoral Council of Sto. Cristo Parish in San Juan, and on the Board of San Martin de Porres Charity Hospital" which to them "exemplified his deep sense of caring and commitment to his students and fellowmen".
References[edit]
Sicat, Gerardo. "The UP School of Economics and its Early Years." Crossroads (Toward Philippine Economic and Social Progress), The Philippine Star. June 13, 2017.https://www.philstar.com/business/2017/06/13/1709664/school-economics-and-its-early-years
Sicat, Gerardo. "UP School of Economics at 50 - the GPS Awards." Crossroads (Toward Philippine Economic and Social Progress), The Philippine Star. February 4, 2015.https://www.philstar.com/business/2015/02/04/1419826/up-school-economics-50-gps-awards
Villegas, Dr. Bernardo M. "An Economist and a Gentleman". Manila Bulletin. January 25, 2018. https://news.mb.com.ph/2018/01/25/an-economist-and-a-gentleman/
Zamora, Dennis. "Leicas, Alfa Romeos, Tube Amps and Doc Amado." Camera Club of the Philippines. April 4, 2011. http://www.cameraclubph.com/ccp/?p=1706
http://upseaa.com/photo-exhibit-tribute-to-dr-amado-castro/
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