What's in a Call Sign?

Before e-mails, cellphones, Facebook, and every other new communication gadget/media now – there was the VHF (very high frequency) radio. That was the tool to have and must have in communication specially for the FYEP guys. To be “officially” issued one was cool. Then comes your chosen call sign that will identify you in the airwaves.

Some of the call signs I remember were :

• Braullo – sounds like a muscular troublemaker - sure to confuse the enemy.
• Puffing Dragon – could he still be puffing like a dragon somewhere?
• Double S - now living near the Cayman Islands.
• Sikorsky – good choice, as he never stopped to hover over us.
• Wee Bill, RB, White Clouds – names too much of a give away, no use hiding.
• Skylon – only in Canada did I find out this is a tower at the Niagara.
• Pyramid Builder – the grand Kahuna.
• Anaconda – yikeees, scary
• Kitten –Is she still kitten up to now, even with 3 more kittens?
• TomCat – the original, before the Cruises.
• Jaguar – what’s with the cat family as call signs, anyway.
• Hunter – Aptly chosen call sign with all these animals running around.

Can we have call signs instead of usernames for Twitter?
Those call signs have so much better personality than the usernames we use nowadays, don't you think?

Yesterday's Technology

Today we easily complain "my computer is so slow". But how slow?

Remember those NSC days when...

• Minutes of meeting were carbon copied for distribution? (with the last copy almost unreadable)
• Graphs for management presentations were manually colored? (on overtime)
• The typewriter was the "word processor"?
• Documents for Manila were sent through travellers?
• Communication to Head Office was through a "talker", then later by "hotline"?

If NSC is existing today, do you think everyone will have an e-mail? How about access to the internet?

What other "fun" NSC technology do you remember?

Memoirs ni Manoy by EVCabrera - Part 5 of 5

LIFE AFTER NSC

Sometime in 1996 together with Mario Putong, we unexpectedly met Messrs JB Laraya and RS Narciso in Floro Cement Corporation in Lugait, Misamis Oriental. We had a very short kumustahan and the one statement said that day was “Boy, Mar, Sayang ang pinaghirapan natin.” That was the last time I met our two big bosses. In October of 1996 I was able to meet with PCB and we lunched together with our wives in Greenbelt, Makati. We have a very long talk together recalling the good old times and finally the same statement from JBL and RSN “…Sayang ang pinaghirapan natin.”

In July of 1996 I joined the organization of Jacinto Steel as consultant in their project study for a steelmaking complex using the COREX process. After 6 months I was called by Mr. Boy Siao to ask me if I was available. They needed me to come back to Iligan and be with NSC again on a contract basis. Franklin (Bobo) Siao at this time was the new resident manager and told me that the new owner Hottick wanted to see and prove that the plant and the people were still capable of delivering the required output both in quality and quantity.

On the first day of duty during an operations meeting, I was shocked to know that the Pickling Line # 2 was shut-down and Pickling # 1 was reconditioned and was presently supplying pickled coils to 5 Stand Tandem Mill. I immediately adjourned the operations meeting and went to the PKL # 2 where I met and discussed with Max Otadoy what really had happened. After the discussion, a resolution was formed. I told Rudy Alefante that Max Otadoy and Bert Orquiza are working together to make Pkl # 2 the supplier of HRC for 5-stand mill. For this, I consider Bert and Max the real heroes because in the month of July 1997, 5-stand tandem mill was able to deliver over 60,000 tons of good quality CRCs - a new record high being set at that time.

As I have said that I am known of being a “suberbiyo,” I frankly told Bobo Siao, “No way could I work harmoniously with Tom Gallanes”. Because Tom was the trusted man of the new owner, it was but proper for me to leave. When Hottick was out and NSC was under receivership I was again requested by Bobo Siao to come back in order to maintain the plant on shutdown. And so on June of 2000 once again I became an NSC citizen but the job had no challenge at all. When the politics became too much to bear and my attitude made me a square peg on a round hole, on February of 2001, I once again retired from NSC citizen with finality.

Years later, I came with my wife to Toronto, Canada as immigrants and be “dependents” to my five children, their spouses and nine grandchildren.

Memoirs ni Manoy by EVCabrera - Part 4 of 5

The NSC Years

1980 to 1990: I consider this decade as the best and happiest in NSC history.

In the later part of 1980, Mr. Jose Ben Laraya (JBL) took over the management of the National Steel Corporation. We in the lower management were interested and thrilled with the new name JBL. In my first presentation that I made to JBL which was related to power distributions equipment, I was ‘knocked-out’ in less than one minute because I couldn’t answer his question. I froze and when nobody in higher rank could bail me out I courteously said “I am very sorry, Sir, I cannot answer that question”. It was in the fourth presentation after a series of two more ‘knock-outs’ that I got my presentation fully approved. Of course, after Ms. Malou Leaño had helped me thru the instruction of JBL.

JBL’s general policy was decentralization of authority and responsibility - meaning you are authorized and accountable. Monitoring and control instruments were placed for effective top management. This was very good for us as far as I was concerned because it felt like I was really running and managing a business within a big business. If you are honest to yourself and you love your most precious name, even if you were a “suberbiyo” in which I admit I still am today, and with this policy which involves trust and confidence, I thought there was no room for failure.

Well, everybody who was once an NSC citizen knows that during JBL’s watch, NSC grew from a 300,000-tons-per-yr to a 2,000,000-tons-per-yr steel complex. But this was done through teamwork where members of the top management team were as follows (as far as I can remember): Messrs. Rolando Narciso, Jose Amante Jr., Manuel Sabalburo, Felipe Calderon, Antonio Valera, Policarpo Benitez, Joe Robles, Fred Ballesteros, Sixto Belen, Benito Mauricio, and the rest of middle managers from Iligan plant, Pasig plant and Makati head office.

As we progressed towards abundance, JBL instituted the Five-Year Expansion Program (FYEP). I was fortunate enough to be selected as part of this most ambitious undertaking. At this moment let me express my heartfelt thanks to a man which I consider as my second father and mentor Mr. Licerio E. Gedalanga “Sir, I salute you”. He is a man that is strict in standard setting but if, as I said, you are honest to yourself and hard working there is no room for failure to pass the requirements of this good man. I think ‘ang pinaka-suerte nga tawo ning kalibutana walay lain kon dili si Sanoy Suerte will readily agree with me. Dili ba, Sany Boy?’

For this FYEP, I was transferred to Makati head office under the office of Mr. Jose M. Amante Jr. (JMA) and was directly under the supervision of Mr.Licerio E. Gedalanga (LEG). We had the United States Steel Engineers as our consultants in this undertaking. My partners were Mr. Ralph Hammerstrom for rolling mills electrical equipment and related controllers and regulators, and Mr. Cecil Quintanales for high tension equipment and the related power distribution systems design. Mr. Manuel Sabalburo instructed me to be directly involved with the Pasig plant and communicate daily with Roland Narciso the electrical systems engineer at that time, over and above my responsibility on FYEP.

The progress of FYEP went very smoothly and the clearing and preparation of plant site in Iligan was managed by Mr. Topit Sanedrin. The whole community of Iligan was happy and very hopeful for the future. Everything was already in place and all is done such that the Japanese consortium of contractors, MARUBINE was ready to be mobilized. Unfortunately, on a Sunday afternoon in August 21, 1983, Ninoy Aquino was shot and killed as he arrived on a plane from Japan. Knowing this, LEG immediately said “Naluko na. Hindi matutuloy ang project na ‘to” That statement rang into my ears in disbelief. It turned out to be true when shortly the Japanese consortium spokesperson told us that they would temporarily suspend the mobilization for further study. ‘Sukad niadto ang mga Hapon nawala sama sa usa ka bula.’

The FYEP team and consultants were transferred to Iligan. We continued with the study of installing the 5 Stand Tandem Cold Reduction Mill, Pickling Line # 2, 2-Stand Temper Mill, New Electrolytic Tinning Line (because the Ferrous Stand ETL was transferred to Pasig), Billet Steelmaking Plant, and Hot Rolling Mill # 2. Another study was in place for the expansion of Batch Annealing Furnaces by using the dismantled Pasig Plant Annealing Furnaces and that of Southern Star Steel of Cortes, Bohol.

Before JBL had tendered his resignation in 1989 all those projects that I mentioned above were already operational with the exception of Hot Rolling Mill # 2 which was in construction and installation phase.

Mr. RS Narciso (RSN) took over the presidency in 1989 with Dr. Antonio Arizabal as Vice Chairman of the board. At this time, I did not really know what was happening on the top echelon of NSC although at the Iligan plant we still continued the undertakings of FYEP.

In 1993, we conducted the final guarantee run of Hot Mill # 2 where we were able to hit the guaranteed capacity and produced 98,700 tons of hot rolled coils.

Then came the privatization of NSC. The new owner, Weng Tiek took over the management sometime in 1995. In the beginning I was very hopeful of this new direction because of the plenty promises given to us by the new owner. The new President was Mr. William Leong - a good soft-spoken man as I have observed him during our one in one conversation.

Then the unexpected happened when I heard that RSN was already out of NSC. For me if I was a businessman and had invested multi-billion pesos, I should have retained him as a consultant even for just a year or two. He is a man who is very knowledgeable of NSC and at least this will secure the direction of the new management team. Then another curious thing happened. 500,000 tons of slab were purchased and stored in our slab yard which I thought was very abnormal.

With all these happening, I decided to avail of the announced “golden handshake” by Dato Chiong. I talked to Mr. William Leong about this matter. Hence at 56 years old, I retired my services from my most beloved NSC. By then, I became the most transferred man from 1989 up to April 26, 1996. Up to my exit, I was re-assigned in almost all areas: Maintenance of Billet Steelmaking Plant, Central Engineering, Maintenance of Cold Rolling Mills, Hot Rolling Mill # 1 Operations, back to Billet Steel Making Plant Operations and finally back to Hot Mill # 2 check out and commissioning and Operations (with exceptions to Infirmary and Finance areas).

Part 5 - Life After NSC

Memoirs ni Manoy by EVCabrera - Part 3 of 5

1968: INSTALLATION, CHECK OUT and COMMISSIONING OF COLD MILL

In August, 26 engineers and operators were sent to Japan for training in order to prepare to operate the new Cold Rolling Mills. Mr. Antonio Valera was designated to head the group with Mr. Rectorino S. Bate as his assistant. As far as I can remember the following are the members of the team: Messrs., Jorge Pacaldo, Orly Mendez, Joe Llanes, Remy Buitizon, Tibong Espenido, Rufino Gulocino, Hector Aldea, Moises Lagasca, Emil Buenaventura, Bill Bacareza, Andy Ocampo, Tom Babiera, Julian Tuboro, George Alcuizar, Louie Escudero, Joe Liñan, Epi Evangelista, and Johnny Ballares.

The group who were left behind in the plant started check out and commissioning activities in the month of October. Mr. PCB headed the Electrical group while Mr. LE Gedalanga headed the Mechanical group. There were 18 consultant engineers that closely and actively implemented the check out and commissioning process and we assisted them as their helpers/trainees.

1969 to 1973:

First quarter of 1969, the Japan-trained engineers and operators successfully operated the whole cold mill complex and was able to produce good quality and quantity of cold rolled coils, and tin sheets.

The Hot Rolling Mills was in the process of construction and installation and it had progressed smoothly. Check out and commissioning had started in the first quarter of 1970, and shortly thereafter normal operation and production were attained. IF Hynson, DN Cantal, and I were the early designated Electrical Systems Engineers. We were assigned to take charge of the whole IISMI complex. The resident manager at this time was AS Valera with RS Bate as Production Superintendent while PC Benitez, Jr. was the superintendent for Maintenance and Services. Unfortunately, the sudden slowdown of steel demand in the first quarter of 1971 forced the IISMI to shutdown. Because of this, majority of the employees were forced to leave and only retained a skeleton crew to maintain the plant on shutdown. Among those that were retained were the systems engineers, motor inspectors, millwrights and some helpers.

Then in the early part of 1973, Mr. Eduardo J. Rodriguez took over the management of the plant as the new President and CEO and selectively rehired the needed personnel to re-operate the IISMI complex.

In April of 1973, I with Eddie Soriano, Frank Lacida and Jovito Luis went to USSR as UNIDO fellows to study the technology of steelmaking at Zaporosthal Integrated Steel Mills, Zaporozhy City. I was assigned to study and concentrate on the automation and mechanization of iron and steelmaking process. Being young and aggressive, this part of my experience made my job very challenging.

In August of 1973, a team to technically evaluate the status of Southern Steel, Inc in Cortes Bohol was headed by PCB with myself, Larry Cortes and Nicolas Sevilla assisting. This Plant had been shutdown for almost 3 years prior to our inspection, and was eventually dismantled by an NSC team of engineers headed by Ricardo Ramas, Larry Cortes and Nicolas Sevilla.

Part 4 - The NSC Years

Memoirs ni Manoy by EVCabrera - Part 2 of 5

The IISMI Years

It was in 1968 that I joined the workforce of the Iligan Integrated Steel Mills (IISMI) as Electrician Leadman in the installation of the Electrolytic Tinning Line. My team in the initial stage was composed of only 4 including myself. With me was one welder (Ben Mangila), two Electricians (Getutua Santos and Pat Beniga). My field supervisor was Ric Virtudazo and our overall Job Supervisor was the late Mang Estong Malanum. In fourth week of January I was given additional manpower with Boy Cui, Delfin Cantal, Ramie Manseras, etc. with the instruction to complete the installation by Oct. 1968.

In this job the most difficult task was the installation of 144 bus runs of copper bars. With good team work we were able to finish the job 2 months earlier than schedule. ( Note that 20 years after, my good compadre Ramie Manseras became my boss in the initial stage of our Hot Mill no. 2 project. ‘Ang istorya sa among pagka-kumpare ingon ani: sa bunyag sa akong bag-ong anak adtong panahuna nga si Cristine (Bebot) gihangyo nako siya nga magpadrino’. Immediately he said “Nganong ako man bay nga daghan man ug dagkong ranggo diha?” Then I told him “Paminaw nako modako gyud kang tawo ning plantaha. Ug ayaw baya kalimot sa akong mga anak kon mahitabo na kay kon kalimtan gani nimo, sumbagon ko gayud tika”.)

I love IISMI very much because this is where I found the satisfaction of practicing my engineering profession, but I can never forget how difficult the application process was when you didn’t have the proper connection and influence (o hinigtan nga kanding). Imagine, ‘ingnon lang dayon ka, “walay bakante”’ The hiring office was outside the plant site and you were required to get a note from Mr. PC Benitez, Jr. who was inside the plant when in fact no outsider was allowed to enter. I was forced to disguise myself as a sales agent in a polo barong attire and requested the guard for entrance to see Mr. PCB. Then I introduced myself to PCB and because of my good credentials I immediately got the required note to support my employment application.

I immediately went back to IRD office but the guy was not impressed and asked, “Giunsa man nimo pagsulod sa planta?” “Ayaw nag labadlabara ang imong ulo niana bay, ako na nang problema” was my immediate response.

There were bad memories… but honestly, good memories dominate in my years with IISMI and NSC. I will write some milestones in these memoirs of mine - all things that I could remember.

Next Part 3 -
1968: INSTALLATION, CHECK OUT and COMMISSIONING OF COLD MILL

Memoirs ni Manoy by EVCabrera - Part 1 of 5

The Early Years

I am one of those Filipinos who’s lucky enough to survive the brutal bombings and killings of World War II. I can still remember a Japanese captain named Kiaraki whom I met when I was 3 yrs old. He liked me very much and loved to play with me almost every day when he was in Cebu City. He said my physical appearance always reminded him of his only son left in Japan.

When World War II ended I was 6 yrs old and started my primary and elementary education. This was the happiest period of my childhood life. I can still remember the girls who played with me who were very happy to have me as their leader in any kind of game. Because most of my playmates were girls, ‘nagduda ang akong lola nga bayot o bakla ko. Ha, ha, ha. Simbako uroy’. ‘Kay sipat man ko nga bata na-confirm sa akong papa nga dili diay ko bakla’ - that is why during my elementary years my father encouraged me to play baseball and football. …and of course I played the games very well… but basketball was more appealing to me – and I played the game until the age of 52. In fact I still played the game when our big bosses came to play in the NSC gym.

High school was the happiest and most enjoyable moment of my student life. I still feel it is - although I also enjoyed my college days.

In 1961 I earned the degree in Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering. After receiving my diploma, my father, mother and brother (Jerry Cabrera) went to Times Kitchen restaurant (in Cebu) to celebrate the happy occasion. It is at this moment that my father said to me “Dodong, you are now considered a professional and someday you are going to have your own family. Always bear in mind that it is much easier to succeed as a professional practitioner but very hard to succeed as a parent. Therefore always be the model by doing what you teach your children to do”.

After graduation I immediately worked as Airways Technician in the Civil Aeronautics Administration and was assigned in the Manila Domestic Airport for six months. Because electronics field is just a minor part of electrical engineering, I decided to go to Mindanao and worked as an electrician in the installation and construction of the Pillsbury Flour mills in Kiwalan, Iligan City. Having no experience yet my co-workers called me “sil-sil” engineer ‘kay ang dala-dala nako kada adlaw martilyo ug silsil ra gayud intawon’.

After 7 months, I gained enough experience and got hired by the General Engineering Construction of Cebu and got assigned to be the General Foreman in the installation and construction of the Hotel Magellan in Cebu City. Having completed the project I went back to Iligan and became the City Electrician as appointed by the City Mayor Camilo Cabili.

After serving the Iligan government for two years I was given the opportunity to join the workforce of Mabuhay Vinyl Corporation (MVC). It was in this plant that I almost had a fatal accident - just two days before my wedding day. Had it not been for the presence of mind of my boss Mr. Eliseo Bacolod, I would have been a goner. The lesson of that incident - always assume that electrical conductors and wires are hot or live.

I was not happy with my job in Mabuhay Vinyl. But then because of IBCI agreement of “no pirating of employees” I couldn’t jump from one company to another. So when I decided to quit Mabuhay Vinyl, I had to go back to Cebu and then joined the faculty of the Cebu Institute of Technology (my alma-mater) for one semester.

Part 2 - The IISMI years

26 years ago

Engineering Management Trainees - Batch 3

Hire Date : January 17, 1983

The Stats :
Florida, USA - 1
Pennsylvania, USA - 1
Ireland - 1
Toronto, Ontario - 2
Cebu, Philippines - 1
Iligan, Phillipines - 2
Manila, Philippines - 1
Cotabato, Philippines - 1
Somewhere, World - 2

Here's to 26 years of friendship!

Bowling Memories

This post was originally in my personal blog, but I received a comment which I like to share with Life After Steel readers. . . (para sa gimingaw sa Iligan)

* * * *

My post (with few edits):
We went bowling yesterday.
Bowling was a favorite activity of NSC employees before. Yes, before Facebook and blogs and chatting, there was bowling. Being new to Iligan and with nowhere else to go on Saturday nights, bowling was the coolest thing to do then. Some relationships even started in bowling dates. That was when bowling scores where written manually on a score sheet. When pins were picked up and arranged manually by small frail boys.

Bowling has changed. This time, all one has to do is throw the ball and your score is automatically recorded on the computer monitor. No more pinboys as pins are mechanically arranged. It has been a long time I played, yet it rekindled memories of Jackie Lanes, Shang-rila and Midtown Lanes. Those good old days in Iligan City where bowling was a favorite recreation and a dating technique. Any bowling memories?

Comment by Anonymous:
I doubt if any of those bowling lanes you mentioned still exist now. Years ago I went to play at Jackie Lanes. What I saw was a dilapidated place, with ceilings falling apart. We were the only ones there. 'Twas a sad sight as we've seen its glory days when it was always full and you have to queue for a chance to play. Anyway, I still insisted to play as I was excited to play again my favorite game. To our dismay---the lanes were rutted. You have to place the ball in such a way that it doesn't fall to the canals unnecessarily. Some of the pins were decapitated, for heaven's sake why it wasn't thrown away or replaced, I don't know. The balls were not round anymore and in different sizes, peppered with holes and cracks. Worst, after a game, the pinboys would rush outside for no apparent reason. We have to look for them and beg them to go inside. Finally, we were done and that was my last. Don't know if it's still there---the Jackie Lanes that was.
***

Is Jackie Lanes still there?

Where NSC Led Me

My NSC days was some of the best years that I can remember. It was during this time that I got married and started a family with a fellow EMT who later turned out to become my ex-GF. This was a time of so many things learned and experienced at work. The EMT experience allowed me to learn things that were not taught in school and even after the two-year EMT program things like Kepner Tregoe, 7 Habits, IT training, etc. gave me most of the tools I need at work after I left in 1997.
The reason I am now working in Michigan was because of my IT training and experience at NSC. There were a few important things that got me from working as a mechanical engineer and into computers.

1. Being part of the User Analysts program of ISD where I got formal training in program logic formulation and COBOL (yes, that's how old I am). It was free training but held only after office hours by Computrade instructors. I had to spare a few hours each night going through the training and this was also when my first child was born. Who can forget the anxiety felt when your first child is born and I had to agonize over being home soonest or preparing for the future.
2. I had to cajole and beg and ask friends like the late Vince Guanzon, Bobby Gopo, Eli Lopez and the rest of the computer guys at the 5-S TCM project team to understand how computers worked as well as the parts involved. I mostly borrowed time on their PC which was considered high-tech then. I was a complete newbie but was so into learning it because I believed computers were the future.
3. My stint at CORPLAN and eventually the spin-off MACSD allowed me to get formal training and get experience developing manufacturing IT systems.

This know-how allowed me to ride the IT boom in the US and be hired by an agency and deployed in Detroit in one of the Big 3. In a curious twist of fate, I am now working as an engineer again but somehow the skills I have learned since my NSC days are still being put to good use. I can definitely say and many here will agree that NSC developed its people to have confidence and equipped us with skills that allowed us to be gainfully employed even after NSC was gone. In some ways NSC felt like home. Sadly it is a home that we can only reminisce and talk about the happy memories that were formed there.

Bong S.

Steel in My Mind - JM Llanes

Hello PYCROs!!! That means “Partner You Can Rely On” an NSC program I still remember. I’m Jose M. Llanes, Jr., but people casually call me “Jun”.
I came across Life After Steel when I arrived in Toronto late October of 2008. I’m really happy to learn that there is still a place for NSC and its next generations. To know that there are people who initiated such and there are a lot of ‘YOUs’ out there who are part of it made me feel at home in this new place.
Although this is Life After Steel, what touches me more is Life During Steel. NSC played a great role in my life which was started by my late father Jose “Joe” Llanes of Bar Mill. I can still recall by heart the pride and excitement when he hauled our family of 10 to attend the Christmas Party at his work area. It was not just a mere party but an Open-House as well. In those parties, we witnessed how diligent he was with his NSC duties, and how proud he was of his contribution to that once great company.
The values of love for work and loyalty to NSC was instilled in me during those “early childhood industrial exposures”. Those same values brought me inestimable benefits when I was then hired by NSC after graduating college. I started at FYEP HSM2 Project as an Engineering Assistant with my long-lost-supervisor, Dodo Sawit. Up to these days, I can still dredge-up the slogan I used to say to myself as I crossed HSM2’s red-hot table rollers. That was “I will also make NSC proud of me, as how NSC was proud of my father.”
Today, NSC is just a thing of our past. But for those who were once part of it, it was not just a company, it was an identity. I relate NSC to several of my life’s milestones which I love to tell my children and others as well:

• My father was able to send all 10 of us to college thanks to NSC.
• Getting hired and working for the glorious National Steel Corporation was a dream come true.
• A difficult and sad time for me was leaving my beloved NSC.
• NSC was the standard I set when I worked for a company in Saudi Arabia.
• Being recalled and going back to work for Global Steel gave me hope.
• For the second time I have to leave NSC/Global Steel.
• I am now in Canada and applying for jobs. When I do get hired, I am sure I will still be comparing them to NSC.

Those seven twists-and-turns of my life always had NSC as the central axis. I am sharing this with everyone and they are now part of this site.
More power and let the spirit and values of NSC be shared with others.

Jun Llanes

The JBL Scrapbook

This is a copy of the scrapbook/binder created for JBL when he visited Toronto in 2004. Excuse the amateurish work, it was the thought that counts. Obviously this is no longer current and an update is in order. This is posted in line with the purpose of "parking" all things NSC in one place.

Photographs and Memories

This slideshow was created by Bumpy M. and was shown during the 2004 Christmas Party in Toronto. The pictures used were gathered from former NSC employees who have now migrated to Toronto, Ontario in Canada.

NSC MemoriesPhoto credits: JimTol, Cindy, Marivic L., Cristine, Ellen S., Evelyn N.