AN ASSISTANT professor and scholar of Ateneo de Davao University (ADDU) achieved what has not yet been achieved by any doctorate student in the history of the University of San Carlos (USC) in Cebu City: to graduate Maxima Cum Laude.
The award is the highest in the USC graduate school and has near-impossible requirements: a GPA of not less than 1.07, comprehensive exam average scores of not less than 95 percent, publication in an indexed international journal during the course of the study, and presentation of the dissertation research in an international conference.
Christopher Ryan Maboloc, as assistant professor in Philosophy at the Addu, earned that distinction with a GPA of 1.06, a comprehensive exam average of 95.96, and four publications indexed under scopus, two in Sweden under the US based Philosophy Documentation Center, one in Israel under Springer, and another in India's Institute of Management under Sage.
Maboloc actually has ten works published in international journals from 2008 to 2017, and 11 in Philippine journals from 2007 to 2015. He delivered papers in conferences, seminars and lectures in the country and abroad 33 times from 1997 to 2017.
A graduate of AB Philosophy cum laude in ADDU in 1996, Maboloc has two masters -- one from Ateneo de Manila University for Philosophy, which he got in 2001, and a Masters in Applied Ethics from Linkoping University, Sweden and Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, Norway in 2008.
"ADDU granted me a scholarship, although they suggested that I should get one from Ched (Commission on Higher Education). I argued that Ched scholarships should be given to teachers, whose schools are not as well off as ADDU. I am thankful to Fr. Daniel McNamara, the former dean, for supporting my point," Maboloc said in a Facebook messenger interview.
Asked what sacrifices he had to make to achieve this feat, he was quick to attribute the sacrifices more on his wife than himself.
"My story is not extraordinary. I am inspired by the love that I have for my son who has autism and the sacrifices of my wife and daughter, given that I am often away," he said.
Maboloc is married to Mayet Asia-Maboloc with whom he has two children -- their eldest Marie Francoise and their son Kitt.
For the past two years, he was traveling back from forth between Davao and Cebu every week to fulfill his doctorate, leaving Davao on Fridays and returning home on Sundays.
"Sometimes, I stay in Cebu during certain weekdays to do more readings and finish my papers. I only sleep for four hours at most, spending most of my time doing various other things," he said.
Aside from teaching, he writes a column for a national daily and helps young teachers through USC's Social Ethics Society, and attends to the concerns of the techvoc school he has put up in his "barrio."
"USC actually has a policy that dissertations should be finished in two years minimum. I had to ask for an exemption from the acad vice president. I defended my proposal in July and I started researching and writing in September. I was writing about social justice and autism. I have an autistic kid. Since I no longer have to do acads in Cebu, I stayed in Davao and accompanied my son to his daily therapy together with my wife. While waiting, I do the readings and writing. Then it continues as soon as we arrive home and at early dawn," he said.
It was last November when he had the opportunity to present his dissertation proposal to a group of bioethicists in Malaysia. It was also there when he finished the final chapter of his paper.
He only has words of gratitude for his dissertation adviser Dr. Charito J. Pizzaro and is awed by Monsignor Dennis Villarojo and Fr. Ramon Echica.
"There is no greater thrill than getting a 1.0 from very learned teachers," he said.
"I am inspired by the thought that scholars from Visayas and Mindanao, while doing their studies here, can actually raise the standard of research by publishing in indexed international journals," he added.
Looking back, he attributes the discipline imposed by his father, Artem Maboloc, while he was growing up to have had a major role in how he focuses on the tasks onhand.
"I consider the strict discipline of my father when I was young as crucial in my growth as a person - one that has helped form the right attitude - which I consider as necessary both as an academician and as a responsible father to my children. Just as I believe in my own potential, as a teacher I also have faith in the abilities of my students," he said.
There will definitely be others who will follow Maboloc's footsteps, but he will always remain as the first in USC's rosters forever.