By Yyann Liann Miguel Ong | January 25, 2019
“Research is not just about collecting ideas and information from the community, it is also your role to bring it back to them and to be catalyst of change by using whatever recommendation that you have to promote the community ” – Mr. Antonino N. Tobias IV, M.Sc
Mr. Antonino N. Tobias IV, M.Sc. is the eldest among his two siblings. He grew up in Taguig City and transferred to Paranaque when he was only 14 even though his parents are both from Laguna Province. He graduated High School in Don Bosco - Makati in the year 1995 with a technical shop specialization in automotive technology. In the same year, he enrolled in the University of Santo Tomas--- becoming one of the UST Sociology Department’s most loved professors because of his humor and passion in teaching as well as becoming a part of the university’s community development office.
As a student, he considered himself a leader, though admittedly, he was also a typical student who follows the rules that is why during his first year in the university, his classmates elected him as their president and served until so for 2 years. He even began to venture on the field of student leaders as he became part of the student council, beginning in his freshman year as a staff of the Freshmen Society before being elected as the Sophomore Chamber a year later. In his junior year, he served as the Treasurer of the UST Sociological Society until his senior year. He also handled some committees that was under the society’s constitution written by Dr. Clarence Batan and one of the committees that was handled by Mr. Tobias was the Committee on Social Action and Research (COSAR) which he finds very ironic because according to him, he didn’t really excel in research because at that time, he was really into social action, going into different communities for community exposure and development. He aforementioned, “Kasi before, the immersion activity or the exposure activity is not purely academic, it’s also a society activity. So during our time, we had our partner communities. Sociological Society had partner communities.” The UST Sociological Society during the late 90’s handles three (3) partner communities and was able to manage it despite having only two (2) sections of fourth year students while actively participating in protests back in the 90’s.
When asked if Sociology was his first choice, Mr. Tobias revealed that Sociology was not his first choice and like most of us, he has no idea what Sociology is all about, he said,“Nung pumasok ako ng AB ang in-apply ko sa aking entrance exam was Political Science. So AB PolSci [ang pinili ko]because I dreamt of being a lawyer kasi my family came from a family of lawyers and doctors.” But as time went by, it seems that his heart was not really into Political Science but rather in Sociology, “Nung nag-aaral ako, parang na entice ako sa Sociology because we had a very charismatic professor that time... si Dr. Gamo na very enticing kasi Sociology is a very nice course because whenever you get to hear what she’s saying during that time we could actually... well physically relate it to what we see around.” He realized that Sociology is the course that he wanted to pursue because as he was studying the program, he saw Sociology as somewhat relatable and able to give you a deeper understanding of your society which is really vital today and in the future.
Back then getting a major is on your third year so on April of 1999, Mr. Tobias graduated with a Bachelor of Arts- Major in Sociology and he remembers Asst. Prof. Josephine Aguilar-Placido or commonly known as “Ma’am Peppin” was the one who offered him a teaching opportunity because during that time, they were having a short supply of teaching staff because a lot of faculty members were on-leave while one resigned so when Dr. Gamo, his mentor, told him to give it a try, he accepted the offer without any hesitation but since he is a fresh graduate, he was required to get some units for education at the UST Graduate School before he could teach the subjects assigned to him so he enrolled 12 Education Units during the summer of 1999 before his teaching career began in June of that same year and 20 years after, Mr. Antonino N. Tobias IV, MS will be celebrating his 20th anniversary as a professor--- a teacher, a mentor.
When he was asked what grade will he give to himself for surviving the grueling tasks of being a teacher, he answered with “I always look myself based on the way my students would look at me or see me. Para sa akin kasi, the greatest achievement as a teacher is to see my students excel, to appreciate what I do, and to see them being successful in life. Siguro yung grade ko, I would probably say not in terms of 1 to 10 probably, I would say that I am very satisfactory in the eyes of my students but I don’t know with my colleagues. Evidence-based lang, kasi student evaluation yung basis ko.”
And where do you see yourself in the next 20 years? “Probably, I‘ll be retiring in UST. UST is my first and only job. Parang feeling ko, dito na ako tatanda, dito na ako magtuturo talaga.”
What advice would you like to give to your high school self?
“Siguro, I would probably tell Nino Tobias back in High School that it would be better kung you’ve been more political than yung what you were before at saka lumakas yung loob mo to go out of the box ng mas maaga kasi masyadong nakulong ako sa box noon, takot akong lumabas sa aking comfort zone.”
What is your message to your former students?
“I would like to congratulate them for what they are now, for being successful. I hope that you would still realize your role as a member of the society, to give back to your community and to serve the people and wherever you are or whatever you do, always think of your country, think of your people, and always make it a point that whatever you have, whatever you’ve reached, you should always go back and bring back something to your people. Love your country and serve the country.”
What about to your Batch 2019 Students?
“It was really a rollercoaster ride especially when we had our thesis process. It was really probably traumatizing for some and it was really a very big challenge on my part, but I would like to thank also the cooperation of the batch for making the thesis process less difficult for me. They really made it very professional and very academic yung pursuits ng paggawa ng thesis. So my message would probably be a message of thanks and I would also like to wish that they would be more diplomatic and I wish them to be more assertive about their rights and to do it in a more congenial and more diplomatic way.”
Message to the First Year students ?
“[I would like to say] sorry [kasi] hindi ko kayo madadaanan, siguro baka 4th year na din kayo makakarating sa akin. Sayang lang kasi hindi ninyo makikilala yung ako ng ganon ka-aga pero ang masasabi ko lang sa kanila na huwag kayo madi-discourage, sana maintindihan din ninyo yung diversity of faculty members that are available. We have our own uniqueness, we have our own qualities, it’s just up to you which influence you would follow. Madaming challenges na mapapagdaanan pa kayo at kina-kailangan lang ninyo na mas maging matatag at mas [maging]makabuluhan sa pamamagitan ng pagiging “involved” sa pamayanan. You know, I always tell my students, “Research is not just about collecting ideas and information from the community, it is also your role to bring it back to them and to be [the]catalysts of change by
using whatever recommendation that you have to promote the community.”
And of course, to those who plans to take Sociology as their major program?
“Maging makabuluhan, maging involve, maging interesado ka muna sa lipunan at sa pagbabago [kasi] kapag ikaw ay isang estudyanteng walang pakielam sa lipunan, hindi ka para sa Sociology. Dapat meron kang fire in your heart to be an agent for its transformation.”
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