Victor's Victory

In spite of Victor’s academic record, his secret is neither intelligence nor brilliance.
By Cristine Antonette B. Catu

Boundless energy. A passion to pursue a worthwhile goal. Luck of being at the right place at the right time. Recognizing and grabbing the opportunity. These are the ingredients of Victor Percival Martinez Ordoñez’s [GS 1957, HS 1961, AB 1967, BSE 1968, MA 1970] victory.
Ordoñez started preparing for his career as early as his first encounter with Lasallian education. He earned his elementary and secondary diplomas in Taft, graduating as a gold medalist.
Family indeed knows best, for it was Victor’s parents who decided that he should study at La Salle, from preparatory until college. His brother Ernesto Ordoñez [GS 61, HS 65] is a Green Archer, too.
”Even before I first set foot on this campus at age five to enter prep, they had prepared me for school, like a sponge, ready to absorb everything La Salle had to offer,” quips Ordoñez.
Aside from his academic excellence, Ordoñez was also molded through engaging in extra curricular activities. He was involved in basketball and track and field-high jump. He was also a member of the school publication and council. Then, he became the captain of the College of Education debating team that championed during his post. But above his numerous memberships in student organizations, for Victor, it was Green spirit that he was most fond of.
”I enjoy my memories of being an avid NCAA basketball fan in grade school and high school. I went to the Rizal Memorial Coliseum regularly to watch the games and cheer till I lost my voice,” he quips with a smirk.

The Educator and his Education
In 1967 and 1968, Ordoñez went on academic overdrive and earned five of his seven degrees from La Salle and UST. He was only 23.
By 1970, Ordoñez had a bachelor of arts, summa cum laude; bachelor of science, summa cum laude, and a master of arts from La Salle and a bachelor of philosophy, cum laude; licentiate in philosophy, cum laude; doctor of philosophy, magna cum laude; and a bachelor in sacred theology, summa cum laude from UST. In the following years he pursued further studies at the University of Wisconsin, AIM, and Harvard Business School.
Through the 1980s and 1990s, Ordoñez was back to where he started, as an epitome of Lasallian excellence. He taught in DLSU, Xavier University, La Salle Bacolod, UCLA, and University of Hawaii and lectured at several prominent universities abroad including Harvard and Oxford. He also became Dean of the University of St. La Salle in Bacolod and DLSU-Manila’s Graduate Schools of Business and Education.
For Ordoñez, education was important in two senses: First, it gave him a good foundation for his professional life. Second, it was imperative to him as a chosen career path because he believes that nothing can be more noble than assisting in the formation and development of young people.
Since education is his main area of competence, he had the chance to study, teach, and consult at the best universities around the world. Name it. Oxford. Tokyo University. Cambridge. Stanford. Hong Kong University. Harvard. University of Beijing. Sorbonne. UC-LA. and Berkeley.
“But at no time did I feel that the basic education I received at La Salle was in any way inferior to theirs. I have worked with the best of their graduates. And on the foundation of what my La Salle teachers gave me, I was able to stand shoulder to shoulder with them and succeed,” shares Ordoñez.
Indeed, it was Ordoñez’s education that provided him an underpinning upon which he built the rest of his education. Learning and self learning became purposeful when he went to other institutions. Also, it gave him a solid foundation for his Christian faith. For ten years, as a Brother himself, he was shaped for a better perspective of life.
He is now a senior education fellow at the East - West Center in Honolulu and an adjunct faculty member at the University of Hawaii’s School of Education.

The Public Servant and his Service
Ordoñez’s decision to move into the government service was relatively unplanned. He was living in LA, but happened to be in Manila in February 1986, when the new Cory government took over. Two newly appointed ministers [Quisumbing for Education and Villafuente for Government Reorganization] asked him to be their deputy. After some vacillation and negotiation, he eventually accepted the bid. Subsequently, he relocated from LA, and looked forward to being part of a new government with a fresh start. Little did he knew, the shift from the private sector to the government sector and vice-versa would continue.
“I left government, shortly after a cabinet reshuffle during which a new Secretary of Education was named. It coincided with an offer from UNESCO for me to be Director of Basic Education in Paris, which I accepted,” he shares.
With his background tucked under his belt, Ordoñez became the acting deputy minister of the Ministry of Trade and later the Chairman of the Presidential Commission on Government Reorganization and was the Philippine’s representative in the UNCTAD/UNIDO Panel of Experts on Trade and International Cooperation. He also contributed to the private sector and rural development with several vice-presidencies and chair positions in local, regional, and foreign organizations.

The Artist and his Craft
Ordoñez also showcased his talent and love for the arts. He was the founding chairman of the Presidential Commission for Culture and the Arts; supervising undersecretary of the National Museum and National Library; vice-chairman of CCP’s Board of Trustees; and board member of the Philippine High School for the Arts, Batibot, Metropolitan Museum, and Nayong Pilipino, among others. He has dabbled as an actor both on and offstage and as a director, producer, and project developer for Filipino and foreign films. His novel “With Hearts Aflame” is currently in negotiation for a Hollywood film.

The Achiever and his Achievements
Ordoñez’s well-rounded and colorful career is peppered with innumerable achievements. Apart from his seven degrees by the age of 25, he also propagated the professionalization of educational management in the Philippines and Asia and oversaw DLSU-Manila’s transition from a male-only college to a co-educational university. He helped draft the education chapter of our current Constitution and navigated landmark education laws through Congress. He also spearheaded Education for All, a worldwide interagency campaign against illiteracy, and served as a spokesperson for agencies sponsoring the World Education Forum. From 1995 to 2000, he had the distinction of heading UNESCO’s largest office outside of Paris, the Principal Regional Office for Asia/Pacific in Bangkok, which easily made him the highest-ranking Filipino in the entire UN system.
UST made Victor its Most Outstanding Alumnus. The Jaycees in 1977 gave him a TOYM award, and Philippine Normal University and Leyte State University added two PhDs, honors causa, to his name.
Recognition comes in many forms, and there is none more genuine and treasured than recognition by one’s own peers. Ordoñez was one of the honorees in the Distinguished Lasallian Awards this year.
Ordoñez humbly dedicated his award to the people who were behind his formation. He thanked the teachers who became pillars of his Lasallian education. To name a few, they are Miss Alburo (Grade One), Brother Paul Hebert (Graduate School), Mr. Paras, Mr. Martinez, Mr. Fabella, Mr. Lara, Brother Frederick, Brother Francis, and his favorite - his Grade Seven teacher, Brother Fidelis. His college professors also had their share in Victor’s success: the now legendary Ariston Estrada, Waldo Perfecto, Mars Foronda, Brother Andrew Gonzalez, among others.
He also recognized the contribution of his professional colleagues. Ordoñez emphasized that he was lucky to have great bosses like Brother Gabriel and Brother Andrew of La Salle, Sixto Roxas in Bancom, Lourdes Quisumbing in the Department of Education, and Federico Mayor in UNESCO and to have been surrounded with outstanding teams, all of whom had encouraged him to live up to his potential and do his best in everything he undertook.
“I remember working as Director in UNESCO Paris and Bangkok with diverse individuals from over 35 very different countries and getting them to articulate coherent strategies and focus on specific goals in our campaign on Education for All. The aim was to lessen the 900 million illiterates around the world and try to put the world’s 110 million out-of-school children into classrooms or non-formal programs. They achieved a significant reduction in those numbers, until population growth erased some of their gains,” relates the former UNESCO director. “The simple fact is that if my teams had not been successful, I would not have been successful,” Ordoñez humbly recalls. “No one succeeds without a team. That is certainly true in my case,” he continues.
In the end, it was Victor’s exceptional determination that led him into being an educator, public servant, artist and achiever.
“I have had many kinds of jobs in many fields: education, banking, trade, movie production, international organizations, etc. I find the common element is management, that is, the ability to accomplish a specific task or goal, working with people, within a time frame and a budget. That skill served me well in all the above fields,” he says in a matter of fact manner.