Published: June 29, 2014

Written by Oliver Samson

AFTER over 40 years in the academe mentoring students and holding key posts in several schools, Dr. Ma. Perla Hudtohan, PhD, enjoys her retirement days travelling abroad with her husband, reading books, doing crossword puzzles, and updating her web site with her own articles touching on family, health, well-being and other subjects.

At 71, she is still enthused by the same passion that prompted her to become an educator over four decades ago. After retiring in 2009 and a mild stroke in 2012, she began offering life coaching and tutorials in English writing, English speaking to foreign and non-foreign students, and professional writing.

Born in Iloilo during the war, Hudtohan was studied at Assumption College from grade school to college.

“That’s why I have an overindigestion of nuns and priests,” she said.

Hudtohan finished grade school in 1954, and high school in 1959, at Assumption Convent-Iloilo as valedictorian for both levels. She graduated summa cum laude from Assumption College-Iloilo in 1963 with a bachelor’s degree in Education, major in English.

Driven by passion to help in nation-building through education, Hudtohan, at an early age, held the candle for the young to facilitate them achieve enlightenment. This undertaking had contributed to her own development both as a person and as an educator.

“I started tutoring while I was still studying,” she said. “At the time, if you earned P20, you could buy a lot of things. You could buy a good pair of shoes.”

Hudtohan formally began teaching at age 19. She later obtained a Masters degree in Basic Management Program at the Asian Institute of Management in Makati in 1974, and a Master’s of Arts in Public Administration at University of the Philippines Iloilo in 1978.

She took up her doctorate in Education, major in Educational Management at the Philippine Women’s University in Manila, and finished it in 1991.

She complained, however, of the Philippine educational system favoring men to continue their mentoring passion up to the age of 70.

“It’s so unfair they allow men to teach until 70,” Hudtohan said. “But they want to retire women aged 60 to 65.”

Used to teaching “a lot of students” in the past years she facilitated her husband, Dr. Emiliano Hudtohan, turning 70 this October, who teaches students of Business Ethics and Family Work-Life Harmony at De La Salle University in Manila, College of Business.

“I could handle more than 50 students,” she said. “Sometimes I had 64 students.”

Hudtohan taught grade- and high-school students at Assumption Convent, her alma mater, right after graduating from college in 1963. She became the high-school principal of that school from 1975 to 1977.

Her teaching took a breather for five years after marriage to take care of their only child, Julie Anne, who is now a director at Unilever in London.

She was already 36 when Julie Anne was born. She used to have awful migraines, which disappeared after giving birth.

In 2001, she resumed teaching at Assumption College, in San Lorenzo, Makati, where she chaired the English Department and the Mass Communications Department. She also became the school’s college registrar.

Two years later, she taught English and Literature to Nursing and Hotel Restaurant Management students at San Juan de Dios Educational Foundation Inc. in Pasay City until 2009 when she stopped teaching.

Outside the academe, Hudtohan served as assistant to the CEO of Nina International Export and Trading Co. in Makati in the late 1970s. She was also assistant manager at Fun Fare Co. in Iloilo City.

She coedited the Asin at Liwanag newsletter of Our Lady of the Assumption Parish in Malate.

Her tours abroad included Wimbledon, Singapore, Amsterdam, Hong Kong, Ho Chi Minh City, Bangkok, Sydney, Rome, Paris and the Holy Land.

“Would you believe I have never been to America?” she said. “But I am very Western. All my books are Western. I like to order from Singapore, Malaysia and Australia.”

But she likes Australia mostly for its cuisine.

The microscopic traces of Ilonggo accent in her speech make her an interesting and jolly speaker in English.

“My routine is three crossword puzzles a day,” she said. “My main activity now is feeding my web site.”

Hudtohan loves reading. She prefers hard-copy books, which have spaces for her comments, over e-books.

She has her own Facebook account, but discourages her husband from having one because “for sure, he will join the complaints against the government and the church.”

She described Dr. Emiliano, whom her mother loved so much, “a very good cook.” She recalled her mother reminding her “Please do not do too much to your husband.”

“When he courted me, I liked him because he seemed he could solve any problem,” she said. “My husband thinks of the world, and I, believe in the power of the individual. He is very kind. He gets angry every two years or so.”

Hudtohan is brimming with ideas. When she puts her head on the pillow, ideas pop up, preventing her from falling asleep. She would turn the light on and start writing.

“When I write longhand first,” she said, “I continue with the computer.”

Hudtohan believes education should start at home. Their only child, who is still single, had learned to read from home when she was still young.

The child should also develop self-respect as early as possible, she said.

“Self-esteem should start right from childhood,” she said. “It’s very important. Young people become drug addicts because they do not have self-esteem.”

Hudtohan also believes that the child should be allowed to have a mind of his own. Early on the child should be trained to become independent.

Their daughter has been living alone since college. They did not allow her to watch TV until she knew how to read.

“Reading is important,” Hudtohan said. “It has to be the mother or the father to teach.”

She reminded her daughter that when the time comes for her to raise her own child, she should not teach about an “angry God” who is getting old.

Their daughter reminds them in return to eat their vegetables.

Hudtohan’s advocacy is to empower the individual, especially women. She uses her web site, now three years old and earned over 8,000 views, to push that goal.

 

In Photo: Dr. Ma. Perla Hudtohan, PhD, during interview in Manila. (Oliver Samson)

In the 90s I was diagnosed by an over-rated traditional psychiatrist to be clinically depressed. after 3 sessions with her I decided to spare my aunt the trouble of bringing me to her clinic somewhere outside Makati.

God in his scheme brought me to a young psychiatrist who eventually married a favorite cousin on my dad’s side. He made me think of a legacy I could leave the world.

Yesterday in an interview by Oliver Samson of the Business Mirror, I was again led to reflect on my life. I realized I could easily squeeze in time for research. I lead a leisurely life in a self-imposed isolation on the 37th floor of a condo with a nice view of trees, the sea and the mundane traffic at Taft Avenue.

I fished out a favorite book “Instant Emotional Healing” which I used in the 90s when I had a voice problem. i am now trying to explain, Primarily to myself, why in less than 2 weeks Mary Jean Netario Cruz’ magic magi spray has improved my walking.

The most relevant statement from “Instant Emotional Healing” is: “when certain crystals are struck sharply, causing them to vibrate, they bend bend then snap back to their original shape, generating an electric charge.”

I suspect crystals hardened in my left thigh, hip and knee after my mild stoke in 2012. The ionized magi spray must have penetrated my skin to act on the crystals thereby allowing me to lift my left leg a bit higher than my post attack level.

Following the protocol of ESM (Emotional Self-Management) if I tap at specific acupuncture sites I may experince even more improvements.

Here’s an inspiring thought: “But whatever the underlying disease or the nature of the disruption, when the flow of chi energy is restored, the body heals itself. As the famous humanitarian physician Albert Schweitzer remarked : “We are at our best when we allow the doctor that resides within to work.”

My mechanical intelligence must be low, but I have survived 70 years with it. I get a quiet zing each time I learn new tricks – new for me but surely not for the average person especially those younger than I am.

Months ago, I was thrilled when I was able to change the  clock setting of my old Nokia N73 all by myself with a lot of frustrations, of course. My Nokia N73 has been giving me a lot of problems but I dare not replace it because I have become so accustomed to it. Even my blind masseuse and masseurs are amused that I still use an old N73.

A discovery, made my Black Saturday an exciting day. I learned from the cashier of my beauty salon some functions to be used on Facebook. Imagine! I have been at the mercy of Fast and Furious posts on my news feeds for so long. I kept expressing my disgust on the comments portion but to no avail.

I learned from Ramil about a small arrow on the upper right hand corner of each  post – and all I had to do was to choose the option indicating I did not want to see the post. Fantastic! I spent an enjoyable hour or so scrolling and “banishing” all the posts from Fast and Furious especially the distasteful sexy comics-like posts. No offense to the many fans of Paul Walker. God bless his soul.

For around three years, circa 2006 -2009 when our daughter was assigned in Singapore, we almost had a second home there. I remember bringing in cans and cans of luncheon meat and numerous bowls of instant noodles. What an unhealthy diet. This must have contributed to my mild stroke in 2012.

I remember our amiable Chinese doctor warning us against the use of artificial sweeteners. I wonder why our Filipino doctors never made a statement about such.

Lately a female friend who came home from the United States proudly announced to me that she no longer has a problem with hypertension. And to think that her BP used to be higher than mine. Apparently, for years like me, she was taking medicines not compatible with her other conditions.

This set me thinking. Especially now that I have had sessions of acupuncture by a half-blind certified acupuncturist. Added to this I had a session with a knowledgeable blind masseuse who taught me a lot of what he learned from his microbiology course. He likewise told me stories of a medical doctor who also had acupuncture by my acupuncturist.

I am still under pharmacological healthcare but prudently I am inching my way towards alternative medicine. This time around, unlike in the 90s, I can’t afford to do away with my maintenance medicine. One thing for sure, I need to work on my attitudes, my fears and my anxieties.

Montessorri has self-correcting exercises with personal learnings without the the stigma of fear, shame, etc. In school so many years ago, perfection was the standard. Perfect quizzes, perfect behavior etc. At home it was a milder form of perfection softened by the love of our mom. In my childhood everyday was an adventure sometimes magical with my best friend, a neighbor. When not in my neighbor’s house or gardens I would be with my siblings playing group games that required number of members to be played. Definitely we were learning how to live harmoniously.

In Singapore in the 90s I was introduced to the Asian type of toilet without toilet bowls. I remember just staring at the porcelain hole on the ground. For one moment I entertained the idea that I had entered the men’s room by mistake. But I saw another woman as I entered.

It was so laborious, squatting and taking utmost care not to wet my capri pants. Nobody warned me about this.

In Sydney at McDonald”s near the Circular Quay, I witnessed how an attendant told a customer: “This is a store, not a hotel. We don’t have a men’s room.” I don’t remember the term he used for toilet or comfort room. But I was surprised at the classification of McDonald’s as a store.

Christmas and New Year in Sydney both fall in summer months. But I remember wearing a cardigan as we packed ourselves near the Opera House on New Year’s Eve waiting for the fireworks to greet the New Year. BYOB. I learned that this is the acronym for bring your own bottle.

At  the Victoria Building in Sydney is the famous rest room. A white woman frantically turned the top of the knobless faucet only to be surprised when the water gushed forth. I was proud of myself; our daughter oriented me to such an ingenious facility, a self automated faucet.

In Hongkong I was embarrassed when I laugh at the sign in Tropical Hut “Take Away”. It i the British fothe American “Take out”.

In Indonesia, when my husband was a lecturer, I committed a faux pax. I raised my fist to cheer for women empowerment. Luckily our host, the mayor, chose not to pay attention.

When I travel, I thank God for the resources that allowed me to travel but I assume a humble attitude because you can never know what or who you will encounter. I believe everybody does his/her best according to his/her level of consciousness.

“Everyone has a lens through which (he views) the world. Religions, philosophies, therapies, authors, speakers, gurus, and candlestick makers all perceive the world through a particular mind-set.” Joe Vitale