The Federation of Institutions for Marine and Freshwater Sciences (FIMFS) was organized on November 9-10, 1968 at Xavier University (XU), Cagayan de Oro City when Fr. James A. McKeough, SJ, then chairman of the Department of Biology of XU called a conference to discuss the possibility of forming a federation of universities to promote education and research in the marine sciences. Present at that meeting were Dr. Angel C. Alcala of Silliman University (SU), Dumaguete City, Dr. Paulina Pages of the University of San Carlos (USC), Cebu City, Prof.Domiciano K. Villaluz, Dean of the College of Fisheries, Mindanao State University (MSU), Marawi City, and Dr. Rosalina I. Zamora of the Ateneo de Davao (AdD), Davao City.
The group formed the Federation of Universities for Marine Sciences (Visayas and Mindanao) or FUMS, wrote the constitution and elected its first set of officers. Also in attendance at that first meeting were Prof. Gerarda G. Abanil of XU and Dr. Elvira O. Tan of the National Science Development Board (NSDB), who Fr. McKeough credited for suggesting the idea of forming a federation of universities for marine sciences in the Visayas and Mindanao.
The federation changed its name three times.In 1971 it became the Federation of Institutions for Marine Sciences (Visayas and Mindanao) or FIMS since Ateneo de Davao was not yet a university, and in 1975 it became the Federation of Institutions for Marine and Freshwater Sciences (Visayas and Mindanao) or FIMFS to accommodate members who were doing freshwater research. FIMFS dropped the phrase Visayas and Mindanao from its name in 2006 to open the federation to national membership.
In 1976 the federation formed a consortiumto share and complement each other’s resources in areas of common interests, and, with a supplementary memorandum of agreement in 1992 among eight of the federation’s ten institutional membersat the time, the consortium offered a graduate program in Marine Biology for the M. S. degree in 1992 and the Ph. D. degree in 2002.
In 2004,FIMFS published the first issue of its refereed annual journal, the Journal of Aquatic Sciences. Two years later, revisions in the federation’s constitution opened institutional membership to Luzon.
The Member Institutions and Year of Membership
By its 40th or Ruby anniversary in 2008, FIMFS had 21 institutional members. The institutions and their year of membershipare:
Charter members:
1. Ateneo de Davao University (AdDU), Davao City – 1968
2. Mindanao State University – (MSU), Marawi City – 1968
3. Silliman University (SU), Dumaguete City – 1968
4. University of San Carlos (USC), Cebu City – 1968
5. Xavier University (XU), Cagayan de Oro City – 1968
Institutional members:
1. Visayas State University (VSU), Baybay, Leyte – 1981
2. MSU- Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT), Iligan City - 1982
3. MSU-Marawi, Marawi City – 1982
4. MSU-Naawan, Naawan, Misamis Oriental – 1982
5. MSU- Tawitawi, Bongao, Tawitawi – 1982
6. MSU- Jolo, Jolo, Sulu – 1989
7. University of Eastern Philippines (UEP), Catarman, Northern Samar – 1994
8. Zamboanga State College of Marine Sciences and Technology (ZSCMST) – 1999
9. Palawan State University (PSU), Puerto Princesa City, Palawan – 2002
10. Western Philippines University (WPU), Puerto Princesa City, Palawan – 2002
11. University of Southern Philippines (USM), Kabacan, North Cotabato – 2004
12. University of the Philippines- Mindanao (UP-Mindanao), Davao City – 2006
13. Central Visayas State College of Agriculture, Forestry and Technology (CVSCAFT), Candijay, Bohol – 2006
14. Jose Rizal Memorial State College (JRMSC), Katipunan, Zamboanga del Norte – 2007
15. Cebu State College of Science and Technology (CSCST), Cebu City – 2007
16. Pangasinan State University (PgSU), Binmaley, Pangasinan – 2007
17. Holy Name University, Tagbilaran City – 2008
With 21 institutional members to date, the growth of FIMFS in recent years have been vigorous, to say the least.In the last ten years, it has practically doubled the membership it had during its first 30 years of existence.
The Founding Members and Institutions
The representatives from five academic institutions in the Visayas and Mindanao who founded the federation are:
Fr. James A. McKeough, SJ - Xavier University, Cagayan de Oro City
Dr. Angel A. Alcala - Silliman University, Dumaguete City
Dr. Paulina Pages - University of San Carlos, Cebu City
Dr. Rosalina I. Zamora - Ateneo de Davao, Davao City
Dean Domiciano K. Villaluz - Mindanao State University, Marawi City
The First Set Of Officers
Only five officers were elected during the first conference in 1968 at Xavier University, Cagayan de Oro City:
President: - Fr. James A. McKeough, S.J. (XU)
Vice President: - Dr. Angel C. Alcala (SU)
Secretary: - Dr. Paulina Pages (USC)
Treasurer: - Dr. Rosalina I. Zamora (AdD)
Auditor: - Dean Domiciano K. Villaluz (MSU)
The first Public Relations Officer (PRO), Prof. Pedro T. Escudero (MSU) would not be elected until 1973.
The Annual Conventions
Since its organization, FIMFS met annually except in 1969 and 1989 when there were two conventions in a year, and in 1976, 1988 and 1993 when there were no conventions held. The meetings were held to discuss and exchange ideas on the institutions’ research projects and plans, and to present and review research reports which increased in number from the handful of papers presented at the 1969 3rd Marine Science Symposium at SU to the 61 papers and 31 posters submitted for the 2007 39th Annual Convention at VSU. These conventions were hosted on a rotation basis among the different members.
Year Month and Day Institution Meeting
1968 November 9-10 XU 1st Conference (FUMS)
1969 June USC 2nd Conference
November 14-15 SU 3rd Marine Science Symposium
1970 June 21-23 MSU (Marawi) 4th Marine Science Symposium
1971 June 17-20 XU 5th Marine Science Seminar (FIMS)
1972 June 16-19 AdD 6th Annual Seminar
1973 October 12-14 USC 7th Annual Seminar
1974 October 10-12 SU 8th Annual Seminar ?
1975 October 9-11 MSU (Marawi) 9th Annual Convention
1976 -
1977 October 20-22 XU 10th Annual Seminar (FIMFS)
1978 October 16-18 AdDU 11th Annual Seminar
1979 October 18-20 USC 12th Annual Convention/Seminar
1980 December 22-23 SU 13th Annual Seminar
1981 November 13-14 MSU (IFRD)* 14th Annual Conference
1982 October 20-22 XU 15th Annual Seminar
1983 December 21-22 AdDU 16th Annual Convention
1984 October 25-27 USC 17th Annual Convention
1985 December 12-14 ViSCA 18th Annual Convention
1986 December 11-13 MSU-IIT 19th Annual Convention
1987 December 17-20 SU 20th Annual Convention & EZE-Fisheries
Workshop
1988 -
1989 January 19-21 MSU-Marawi 21st Annual Convention
October 24-26 MSU-TCTO 22nd Annual Convention
1990 December 12-14 MSU-Naawan 23rd Annual Convention
1991 December 5-7 XU 24th Annual Convention
1992 October 19-23 ViSCA 25th Annual Convention
1993 - (Silver Anniversary)
1994 October 17-20 MSU-Marawi 26th Annual Convention
1995 October 23-25 USC 27th Annual Convention
1996 October 19-21 MSU-Sulu 28th Annual Convention
1997 October22-25 SU 29th Annual Convention
1998 December 9-11 UEP 30th Annual Convention (Pearl Anniversary)
1999 October 20-22 AdDU 31st Annual Convention
2000 October 23-25 MSU-IIT 32nd Annual Convention
2001 October 17-18 SU 33rd Annual Conference
2002 October 17-19 LSU 34th Annual Convention
2003 October 16-18 ZSCMST 35th Annual Convention
2004 October 13-15 WPU 36th Annual Convention
2005 October 13-15 MSU-Naawan 37th Annual Convention & 10th Annual Zonal
RD&EReview and S&T Planning
Workshop of the PCAMRD Zonal
Center IV
2006 October 19-21 USC 38th Annual Convention
2007 October 29-31 VSU 39th Annual Convention
2008 October 27-29 USM 40th Annual Convention
____________
**MSU-IFRD hosted the 1981 Annual Conference as part of the MSU system. MSU-IFRD would become an institutional member of FIMFS in 1982.
Fourteen member institutions have hosted the annual conventions at least once. These institutions, the number of times and the year they hosted the conventions are
USC – 6 (1969, 1973, 1979, 1984, 1995, 2006)
SU – 6 (1969, 1974, 1980, 1987, 1997, 2001)
XU – 5 (1968, 1971, 1977, 1982, 1991)
MSU (Marawi) – 5 (1970, 1975,1981, 1989, 1994)
AdDU – 4 (1972, 1978, 1983, 1999)
VSU – 4 (1985, 1992, 2002, 2007)
MSU-Naawan* – 2 (1981, 1990, 2005)
MSU-IIT – 2 (1986, 2000)
MSU-Tawitawi – 1 (1989)
MSU-Jolo – 1 (1996)
UEP – 1 (1998)
ZSCMST – 1 (2003)
WPU – 1 (2004)
USM – 1 (2008)
___________
*MSU-Naawan (formerly MSU-IFRD), hosted the 1981 Annual Conference as part of the MSU system
Historical Accounts
In the 21 years from 1986 to 2006 there are 16 printed accounts of the early history of FIMFS in the available literature. They are found in eight FIMFS convention programs, five FIMFS convention proceedings and three flyers for the FIMFS annual conventions of:
1986 (19th) – in keynote address in proceedings
1990 (23rd) – in program and in proceedings
1992 (25th) – in message of FIMFS president in proceedings
1993 – inannouncent and call for papers (convention not held)
1994 (26th) – in closing remarks in program
1997 (29th) – in program and in proceedings
1998 (30th) – in first announcement and call for papers and in proceedings
2001 (33rd) – in program
2003 (35th) – in program
2004 (36th) – in 2nd announcement and call for papers and in program
2005 (37th) – in program
2006 (38th) – in program
Thirteen of these accounts are separate and anonymous historical accounts, one is part of a keynote address, one is part of a message of the FIMFS president and one is part of a closing remarks address. None of these accounts is entirely accurate.
In 1982, I was requested by Prof. Warlito M. Sanguila and Prof. Nathaniel C. Mendoza of MSU-IFRD, to write the history of FIMFS initially for the 1981 FIMFS annual convention proceedings but later, due to procrascination, for the 1982 convention. My 7-page mimeographed “Fifteen Years of FIMFS never got distributed or published. During the 15th Annual Seminar at XU, it was not included in the program and nobody asked for it, so I assumed there had been a miscommunication and filed the mimeographed copies away until 2006 when I gave a copy to then FIMFS president, Dr. Jose M. Oclarit who asked me for any old documents on FIMFS.
FIMFS’ Founding Date
FIMFS was founded on November 9-10, 1968. The incorrect founding year, 1967, which first appeared in a brief history of FIMFS in the convention program and proceedings of 1990 and which appeared as part of the FIMFS logo which was published for the first time in the 1992 convention program was apparentlydetermined by substracting the ordinal number of the FIMFS convention from the year the convention was held. This would have worked if the annual conventions were numbered as anniversary conventions. As it is, the federation’s conventions are numbered consecutively from the first conference. To complicate matters, there were two years (1969 and 1989) when two conventions were held within the year and there were three years (1976, 1988 and 1993) when there were no conventions held.
In his keynote address during the 19th Annual Convention of FIMFS at MSU-IIT in 1986, Fr. James A. McKeough, SJ recalled that he convened the first and organizational conference of the federation in the “summer session of 1968” which lasted “for several days.” Fr. McKeough remembered the year right but not the season or month of the year or the duration of theconference. On August 17, 2008, a Sunday, I visited Fr.McKeough at the Loyola House in Xavier University, Cagayan de Oro City. I reminded him that when I interviewed him and Prof. Gerarda G. Abanil in 1982 for the history of FIMFS I had been requested to write, both he and Prof. Abanil told me that FIMFS was organized in November 1968.
The date November 1968 also appeared in Fr. McKeough’s mimeographed president’s report distributed after the 6th Annual Seminar in 1972 at Ateneo de Davao, Davao City in which Fr. McKeough wrote “…our organizational meeting at Xavier University in November 1968.”
When asked why he said “summer session of 1968” in his 1986 keynote speech, Fr. McKeough said he could not remember the founding month, but summer “makes sense,” he said, since it is easier to gather people together during summer. Fr. McKeough then told me he will check the next office day, if the Department of Biology of XU have some records of that first meeting. On Wednesday, August 20, 2008 I was back at XU. Fr. McKeough had found a written report of the first FIMFS conference, not at the Department of Biology but in the library of Loyola House itself. He showed me on page 5 of the December 1968 issue of the Philippine Clipper, the Jesuit Newsletter, a one-paragraph account of the first federation meeting. The first two statements said:
“Xavier University was host to the First Conference of the Federation of Universities for Marine Sciences (Visayas-Mindanao) on November 9-10. Five institutions partici-pated, Silliman University, University of San Carlos, Ateneo de Davao, Mindanao State University, and Xavier.”
Fr. McKeough then searched for the report on the second federation conference which, he and Prof. Abanil told me, back in 1982, was held in June 1969. He found a one-sentence entry in the July 1969 issue of the Philippine Clipper which is reproduced below:
“Fr. McKeough, President of the Federation of Universities for Marine Science Development, is attending a meeting of the Federation members at San Carlos University to work out a cooperative research project with Silliman University, San Carlos, Mindanao State, and the Ateneo de Davao.”
In the November-December 1969 issue of the Philippine Clipper, Fr. McKeough found a one-sentence reference to the third meeting of the federation which is reproduced below:
“Fr. McKeough participated in a Marine Science Symposium at Silliman University on Nov. 14-15.”
FIMFS FIRSTS
A. First institutional member accepted:
VisayasState College of Agriculture (ViSCA) – 1981: MSU-IFRD (14th Annual Conference)
B. First institutional member from Luzon accepted:
Pangasinan State University – 2007: VSU (39th Annual Convention)
C. First convention with original research reports presented:
1969 (November 14-15): SU (3rd) Marine Science Symposium
D. First convention with papers in freshwater studies presented:
1970 (June 21-23): MSU (Marawi) (4th) Marine Science Symposium
E. First convention with papers by students:
1970 (June 21-23): MSU (Marawi) (4th)Marine Science Symposium (3 from XU: Louella Rabuyo, PacienciaSia and Richard Tompkins)
F. First convention with a guest paper presented
1971 (June 17-20): XU (5th) Marine Science Seminar (by Mr. BinarKvaran,
FAO/UNDP/SF Deep Sea Fishing Development Project in the Philippines
G. First convention charging registration fees:
1978 (October 16-18):AdDU (11th Annual Seminar)
H. First bound proceedings (mimeographed):
1970 (June 21-23): MSU (Marawi) (4th) Marine Science Symposium
I. First bound proceedings with printed cover (contents mimeographed):
1971 (June 17-20): XU (5th) Marine Science Seminar
J. First printed proceedings (Program, abstracts of papers and list of participants):
1984 (October 25-27): USC (17th Annual Convention) (without page numbers)
K. First printed proceedings with handwritten page numbers:
1986 (December 11-13): MSU-IIT (19th Annual Convention)
L. First printed proceedings with printed page numbers:
1987 (December 17-20): SU (28th Annual Convention)
M. First convention program with FIMFS logo:
1992 (October 19-23):ViSCA(25th Annual Convention)
N. First official revision of FIMFS logo
2007 (October 29): VSU (29th Annual Convention), G. A. Res. No. 07-09
O. First printed program with abstracts of papers:
1994 (October 17-20): MSU-Marawi(26th Annual Convention)
P. First issue of Marine Science Bulletin (mimeographed):
1978 (July 31) – (Lasted for a couple of issues)
Q. First issue of quarterly FIMFS Newsletter (printed):
1982 – (October): XU (15th Annual Seminar) (Lasted for more than a couple of issues)
R. First issue of FIMFS journal (Journal of Aquatic Sciences)
2004– Journal of Aquatic Sciences vol. 1, no. 1 (Without page numbers on pages)
S. First issue of FIMFS journal (Journal of Aquatic Sciences) with page number on pages
2005 – Journal of Aquatic Sciences vol. 2, no. 2 (no vol. 2, no. 1)
T. First Poster presentation:
1985 (December 12-14):ViSCA (18th Annual Convention)
U. First simultaneous sessions for paper presentation:
2001 (October 17-18): SU (33rd Annual Conference)
V. First separate session for student paper presentation:
2006 (October 19-21): USC (38th Annual Convention)
W. First Best Paper Award:
1992 (October 19-23):ViSCA(25th Annual Convention)
X. First Best Poster Award:
1995 (October 23-25): USC (27th Annual Convention)
Y. First separate Best Paper Awards for professional and student categories:
2006 (October 19-21): USC (38th Annual Convention)
Z. Start of Consortium Graduate Program:
1992 (March) – M.S. (Marine Biology)
2002 – Ph. D. (Marine Biology)
The FIMFS Presidents
Seventeen FIMFS members have served as president of FIMFS to date, first to serve being Fr. James A. McKeough, SJ who served as president from 1968 to 1973, not 1968-70 as stated in the foreword of the Journal of Aquatic Sciences, vol. 1, no. 1. These FIMFS members are:
1968-73 - Fr. James A. McKeough, SJ (XU)
1973-75 - Dr. Angel C. Alcala (SU)
1975 - Fr. Enrique Schoenig, SVD (USC) [Acting President]
1975-77 - Josefina G. Flores (AdD)
1977-79 - Prof. Rodolfo B. Gonzales (SU)
1979-81 - Prof. Warlito M. Sanguila (MSU-IFRD)
1981-83 - Prof. Dulce R. Dawang (XU)
1983-85 - Sr. Julita S. Ruelo, SSpS (USC)
1985-87 - Prof. Eduardo P. Ortega (MSU-IIT)
1987-89 - Prof. Nathaniel C. Mendoza (MSU-IFRD)
1989-94 - Dr. Paciencia P. Milan (ViSCA)
1994-96 - Prof. Gil J. Lumasag (MSU-Naawan)
1996-98 - Dr. Hilconida P. Calumpong (SU)
1998-01 - Dr. Patria Rosales-Apao (MSU-IIT)
2001-02 - Prof. Roy Olsen D. de Leon (SU) [Suceeded Dr. Apao]
2002-06 - Dr. Jose M. Oclarit (MSU-IIT)
2006-09 - Dr. Filipina B. Sotto (USC)
As FIMFS stands at the threshold of its 40th or Ruby anniversary, it is the responsibility of the present group of officers and all the members of FIMFS to work together, to inspire each other towards greater excellence, to make FIMFS stronger, bigger and better. Perhaps it is the present group of young people who will finally bring to realization that remaining unfulfilled dream of the FIMFS’ founding fathers – that elusive cooperative project.
Acknowledgments
The following FIMFS members provided information and materials for this paper. From Xavier University: Fr. James A. McKeough, SJ, Prof. Gerarda G. Abanil, Dr. Dulce R. Dawang and Prof. Anita S. Mabao. From MSU-IIT: Prof. Buenaflor D. Jimenez, Dr. Jose M. Oclarit, Dr. Ephrime B. Metillo, Dr. MalouSasil-Orbita, Dr. Dorothy G. Lacuna and Prof. Angeli A. Valera.
