Mountain View College

Mountain View College is a private, co-educational, Seventh-day Adventist college in Valencia, Bukidnon, Philippines which was established in 1949. It was the second Adventist college to be established in the Philippines and the first in Mindanao.

Mountain View College (MVC) started as an extension division of Philippine Union College (now Adventist University of the Philippines) in 1949 with an enrollment of 100 students during the first semester and fifty-six students during the second semester of the 1949-1950 academic year on the island of Mindanao. The extension school temporarily shared a campus with Mindanao Mission Academy (MMA) at Manticao, Misamis Oriental. Upgraded to Philippine Union Junior College on February 28, 1952, the extension school was named Mountain View College (MVC) on April 22, 1952. On January 13, 1953, upon the recommendation of the Far Eastern Division (FED), MVC was renamed Oriental Missionary College; however, the name change was short-lived as on February 23, 1953, the college board, together with the FED officers, voted by secret ballot to change the name of the institution to Mountain View College. After MVC relocated from MMA to the Bukidnon site in the summer of 1953, the college opened its doors for student admission on June 15, 1953. Classes for the first semester of academic year 1953-1954 began with an enrollment of 157 students; 168 students enrolled second semester. Andrew Nathaniel Nelson founded and served as its first president.

Developments that Led to Establishment of the School

The earliest recorded presence of Adventist influence in Mindanao was in 1918 when C.C. Crisler, division secretary of the Asiatic Division based in Shanghai, China, reported that copies of Philippine Adventist literature were “finding their way to Mindanao.”¹ The first Adventist missionaries to set foot in Mindanao were a missionary couple from the United States, Ullysis Charles and Ellen Burrill Fattebert. A physician, Fattebert was the superintendent of the Cebuan Mission² station in Argao, Cebu, when he and his wife visited the cities of Iligan, Lanao Del Norte, and Marawi, Lanao Del Sur, during the summer months (February to early May) of 1919.³ This missionary couple visited Mindanao from their mission headquarters on the Visayan Island of Cebu, where they pioneered the work among the Cebuano-speaking people beginning February 15, 1914.⁴

In July 1919, the Fatteberts returned to Northern Mindanao and opened the new Mindanao Mission Station in the municipality of Misamis (now Ozamis City).⁵ In Misamis, the Fatteberts discovered that the mostly migrant people from the Visayan Islands were receptive to the Adventist message. A congregation at Cabungaan, Clarin, Misamis Occidental, was officially organized into a church two years later and was welcomed into the sisterhood of churches during the general meeting of the newly named East Visayan Mission (previously known as Cebuan Mission) held in Cebu City on August 24-27,1923.⁶

Migration⁷ from the Visayan Islands, relentless colporteur work, and aggressive pastoral evangelistic activities immediately followed the initial success of the Fatteberts in Northern Mindanao. From a congregation or two which started to sprout around the Misamis area in 1920, several congregations were added in Buenavista, Agusan del Norte, Camiguin, Sindangan, Dipolog, and even in Cagayan de Oro in December of 1925.

Encouraged by the rapid growth in Mindanao, the East Visayan Mission, which covered the entire territory of Mindanao at that time, fielded more evangelistic workers to reach the provinces surrounding Misamis. Under the coordinated leadership of Manuel Kintanar, the mission sent Ruperto Somoso to work in Agusan Province, based in Cabadbaran, Agusan Norte; Mamerto Yorac in the province of Bukidnon, based in Malaybalay; Alberto Cabardo in Lanao Province, based in Malabang, Lanao Del Sur; and Wenceslao Rodriguez in Zamboanga Province, based in Zamboanga City.⁸ The rapid conversion and growth of Adventism in Mindanao lead to a large influx of students to Philippine Union College—the only Adventist tertiary educational institution at that time.

In the 1940s, Philippine Union College (PUC) in Baesa, Caloocan City, (now Adventist University of the Philippines located in Silang, Cavite, popularly known as AUP) was the only tertiary educational institution owned and operated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church throughout the Philippines. The growing population of students at PUC was largely contributed to the influx⁹ of new young converts from all over the nation and particularly from the islands of Mindanao and the Visayas. The rise in enrollment during the last few years before 1949 found the facilities of the institution insufficient and the environment inadequate for training the youth in view of the educational philosophy espoused by the Seventh-day Adventist Church.¹⁰ PUC’s less than ideal environment and location¹¹ from the perspective of the ideal pattern and model,¹² its distance¹³ from Mindanao and the Visayas, and the fast-growing Adventist membership of the Philippine Union Mission (PUM)¹⁴ paved the way for the PUM leadership to open an extension of Philippine Union College in Mindanao at Mindanao Mission Academy (MMA) in Manticao, Misamis Oriental. At a meeting of educational leaders in Baguio City in early 1950, a permanent location in Mindanao for the new Philippine Junior College dominated the agenda.¹⁵

Founding of the School

Philippine Union College Extension Division, the first name of Mountain View College, started in 1949¹⁶ on the campus of Mindanao Mission Academy (MMA) in Manticao, Misamis Oriental, with Benito G. Mary as dean.¹⁷ Mary was tasked with directing the academic instruction and hiring a teaching faculty and staff of eight.¹⁸ This staff included P. R. Jimenez, M. N. Harder, B. T. Mary, E. E. Sumicad, J. C. Valdez, E. R. Valdez, V. C. Diaz, and C. E. Diaz. The PUC Extension Division was ably supervised by Andrew N. Nelson, president of Philippine Union College from 1946¹⁹ to 1952.²⁰ Mountain View College as an Extension Division of Philippine Union College, with emphasis on industrial programs,²¹ opened with an enrollment of 100 students, first semester, and fifty-six students, second semester, for 1949-1950.²² Programs offered included an education training certificate, Bible instructor, secretarial, and associate in arts.²³

The MMA location of the extension division was only temporary because the Seventh-day Adventist Church leaders and educational managers, particularly Nelson, were keen to find a school site that possessed the ideals of the Adventist educational blueprint.²⁴ A search committee²⁵ with representatives from the General Conference, the Far Eastern Division, the Philippine Union, and local leaders conducted a site search. Nelson, along with Wilton Baldwin,²⁶ Far Eastern Division education secretary, delegated by the Adventist leadership to spearhead the quest for a new school site in the Southern Philippines, left Manila and travelled via Philippine Air Lines, then by land in rickety jeeps, and finally simple bullock carts as they lumbered over rural stretches²⁷ in Mindanao. On one of their journeys of exploration, they passed a group of people resting under a tree who turned out to be Seventh-day Adventists, and who invited the two men to spend the Sabbath with them. This they did and were surprised to find a thriving church of two hundred earnest, agricultural members hidden away in the high central plateau of Mindanao, where their search was now concentrated. After keeping the Sabbath, they joined their fellow believers in prayer for the success of their search and retired Saturday night for a sound sleep. In the morning, Señor and Señora Valendez announced that they had been awakened at midnight and had been reminded of a place passed in their wartime days fleeing from invading armies. Nelson and Baldwin eagerly listened. After a wholesome breakfast of whole rice, Hubbard squash, bananas, papayas, and delicious, hot, homemade soybean milk, they set out to see the place they believed to be divinely revealed in those midnight hours.²⁸

It was on the cool, clear Sunday morning of April 30, 1950, that Nelson and Baldwin with the local Adventist leaders and members, Gabriel Abella Brones[sic],²⁹ Mariano D. Abesta, Francisco Salceda Madridano,³⁰ Pedro Claveria,³¹ Cezar Sacala, Marcos N. Pepito, Antipas Seedo Valendez,³² and Felomino Señedo Valendez,³³ first visited the site which answered their prayers to the very last detail. It possessed all the characteristics of an Adventist educational blueprint—a fertile farm of one thousand hectares (twenty-five hundred acres) where a large variety of crops could be raised; government land—because that was inexpensive; and a quiet, secluded place away from the noise and degeneracy of the cities, and yet one with a good approaching road. It was a place of peace and order, where there were no outlaws and no typhoons; plenty of water and well-distributed rainfall, with not too long a dry season; a place with ample, level building sites and with beautiful views of nature; a cool place, which is something to ask for in a tropical climate; and an extensive forest for lumbering, for beauty, and for quiet meditation and study. Finally, the property boasted a swift stream of water for hydroelectric power, which would save the college on operating costs.³⁴ Their joy at having discovered the perfect place for the new school overflowed into an impromptu meeting of prayer and thanksgiving. An Inyam tree on a plateau—called Kalatkat³⁵—marked the location of their celebration.

On January 18, 1951,³⁶ the executive committee of the Philippine Union Mission (PUM) met and approved a budget needed to start constructing the campus at Bukidnon. It was estimated that PhP 300,000 would be needed and the mission approved a budget of PhP 395,000 over two years.

The two-year finance program approved by the PUM included a gift of $5,000 from the family of Tirso Jamandre of Iloilo City, Western Visayas, which funded almost half of the initial 2,500-acre farm purchase acquired for $5 an acre (PhP 25.00 per hectare) on August 4, 1952.³⁷

In early 1951, Nelson facilitated the delivery to PUC of brand-new International Harvester equipment, including an L-160 stake truck laden with crates of farm implements, an L-120 pickup truck, a Farmall H tractor, a Farmall cub tractor, and a TD-14A bulldozer/tractor. Additional equipment included second-hand sawmill machinery and a Caterpillar engine prime mover. All of this machinery was for the new school site in Bukidnon. Two months after the delivery of this equipment, Nelson Bartlett and Virgil Bartlett, president and business manager of PUC respectively, brought the L-120 pickup truck and the Farmall cub tractor to Bukidnon with Carlos Griño as one of the drivers.³⁸ Overtaxed with his administrative functions as president of PUC, the PUC Extension Division at Mindanao Mission Academy, and the Bukidnon construction project, Nelson decided to leave PUC for the new school site with some of the equipment sometime before the end of 1951.

On December 23, 1951, the leadership of the Bukidnon project was advised by the Philippine government’s director of lands to immediately occupy the land recently vacated by squatters.³⁹ Thus, it was that on December 29, 1951, Nelson, Bartlett, Priscilla Jimenez, Segunda Jamandre, Benito G. Mary’s father Job Garcia Tanamal, and a teenage companion left Manila for Cagayan De Oro City—the seaport which serves as the entry point in Mindanao for those traveling to Bukidnon—aboard the big ship SS Carrick Bend. On the same boat were the Farmall H tractor and the L-160 stake truck laden with crates of farm implements.⁴⁰ On January 1, 1952, Nelson reported, “our tractors made their way to the site to begin farming operations.”⁴¹

Two weeks after Nelson and his party arrived at the permanent site of Mountain View College, ten boys dropped their classes at the PUC Extension Division and travelled to the new school site in Bukidnon. Arriving late in the afternoon of January 15, 1952, their first act was to look for a place to sleep. The boys had four options as to where to spend their first night and the rest of the nights—on the flat bed of the truck, in the pick-up, under the hut, or on the ground under the open sky—until livable temporary structures made of indigenous materials were built. One morning, one of the boys commented, “This is a colossal Frigidaire we are in.” Prof. V. L. Bartlett smiled and said, “Are you kidding?” When the boys were asked why they had come to the site, they chorused the same answer, “We have come to help build the college.” The ten boys were Reynaldo Billones, Peter Cabardo, Rudy Caspe, Vince Ferrolino, Benjamin Gevieso, Romeo Madrid, Gabriel Mendoza, Marciano Ramos, Antonio Somoso, Jr., and Victor Turado. Along with Job Garcia Tanamal and Virgil L. Bartlett, they were the first to hold the first vespers and Sabbath worship services in the new school site of Mountain View College.⁴² A few months later three ladies—Corazon Maquiling, Carmen Alamo, and Nellie Castellanes—arrived at the new MVC site to become the storekeeper and cooks for the new contingent of pioneers.

The leadership of the Bukidnon project purchased and installed a Corinth No. 2 sawmill in order to prepare lumber for construction. The first building, constructed of bamboo, was barely large enough to accommodate the twenty-five boys. Homes for the supervisors were quickly constructed of bamboo with grass roofs. A temporary bamboo chapel was likewise built, as well as tool sheds to protect the PhP65,000 worth of equipment. In August, as some lumber became available, a small cafeteria was constructed and room was thus made for the boys to sit down while eating.

On July 9, 1952, the first lumber came out from the sawmill. With the sawmill producing between 5,000 and 10,000 board feet per week, two dormitory wings, twelve classrooms, a cafeteria, elementary and high school buildings, faculty homes, and other buildings were built. In addition to producing lumber for the campus infrastructure, the sawmill also fulfilled orders for outside deliveries of lumber.

In early 1952, the pioneers planted corn, rice, soy beans, peanuts, and abaca (Manila hemp). They also raised all kinds of native garden products such as pechay (Napa cabbage), radishes, cabbage, and okra, as well as full-sized American tomatoes, Chinese peas, carrots, lettuce, and others. Their first abundant harvest of corn began in August 1952. Although this food sustained the pioneers as they build the campus, they also sold more than 1,000 pesos worth of it with much more grains worth 4,000 pesos left for the rainy days. They also harvested in the same year 1,000 cavans of rice (2,130 bushels) of palay (rice in the husk). The first crop of peanuts planted on January 15, 1952, produced 96 sacks. Another harvest of about 2,000 or 3,000 cavans of peanuts are anticipated during summer months of March and April of the following year. MVC had also purchased an abaca-stripping machine. On February 13, 1952, R. C. Hill cheered everyone for his agricultural expertise meant greater developments in the farm program of Mountain View College.⁴³

In 1952, Charles L. Martin arrived to install the first hydroelectric plant (Hydro-I). The Malingon Creek, with its several cascading waterfalls, was harnessed to provide the entire campus with much-needed electric power. The installation of the plant was completed simultaneously with the construction of the classroom buildings. After six years of incessant labor, Hydro-I was inaugurated on January 1, 1958. As MVC continued to grow and develop, the need for more electricity increased. A decade after the installation of Hydro-I, the volume of the Malingon Creek dwindled due to long draughts, denuded forest, and the increasing demand for electricity.

The need for more, stable electricity became critical when RA 5724—sponsored by Senator Rodolfo Ganzon of Iloilo—became a law on May 12, 1969, granting MVC license to operate an AM broadcast station—DXCR (1386kHz) radio station went on air on October 6, 1973. As foreseen, the tube-like Sparta transmitter lacked sufficient electricity to operate efficiently when dry seasons came. Therefore, plans were made and fund raising started to purchase and install Hydro-2. The Manupali River became the eminent source for the second power plant. However, not until Donald W. Christensen came as business manager could the groundwork for Hydro-2 be laid. It took twelve years to finish the Hydro-2 project. During the last stage of construction, the Quiet Hour Ministries made a donation, which hastened the completion of the power canal. According to Christensen, the Quiet Hour Ministries donation was the only donation for Hydro-2. On January 1, 1983, the Hydroelectric Power Plant-2 was commissioned. On the same day, DXCR inaugurated the Sparta 10,000-watt transmitter and commenced broadcasting twenty hours a day. DXCR became the most powerful station in Bukidnon at that time. In addition to the installation of Hydro-2, Christensen was responsible for the planting of hundreds of rubber trees before rubber sap became an international commodity in demand. Today, MVC greatly benefits from his providential foresight.⁴⁴

As clearing, cleaning, planting, and putting up temporary infrastructure for MVC were in progress, the Adventist leadership in the Philippines in counsel with the Far Eastern Division leadership worked earnestly to organize the new educational institution in Bukidnon, Mindanao.

On February 27, 1952, a joint special council met in Bukidnon, comprised of representatives from the board of trustees of Philippine Union College; the board of trustees of Philippine Union College Extension Division in Bukidnon; the North Philippine Union (NPUM, now NPUC) committee; the South Philippine Union Mission (SPUM, later divided into the CPUC and the SPUC) committee; and the Far Eastern Division (now Sothern Asia-Pacific Division) committee. The council members included M. C. Warren, G. de Guzman, R. C. Mills, V. L. Bartlett, W. O. Baldwin, P. D. Rocero, J. D. Cristobal, J. O. Bautista, E. A. Capobres, V. R. Jewett, B. G. Mary, A. N. Nelson, N. B. Vining, E. H. Capman, P. L. Williams, A. Z. Roda, V. T. Amstrong, P. B. Gonzales, C. P. Sorensen and A. V. Olson—the General Conference representative. After affirming the free and independent organization of each institution in harmony with the teachings of the Spirit of Prophecy, they recommended that a committee be appointed to give study to such a collegiate organization for the Philippines.⁴⁵ On the same day, the joint council appointed a sub-committee tasked with separating Philippine Union College and the Philippine Union College Extension Division into two separate educational institutions. The appointed committee was composed of the presidents and secretary-treasurers of each union, the three division officers, the division education secretary, the two union education secretaries, the college president, college business manager, and Dean B. G. Mary. M. C. Warren served as chairman and A. N. Nelson as secretary.⁴⁶

The following day, February 28, 1952, the sub-committee reported to the joint council, which unanimously voted to separate the two institutions (Philippine Union College and Philippine Union Extension Division) and naming the latter Philippine Union Junior College, although it would remain at Mindanao Mission Academy. Other decisions established a fiscal year and clarified governance.⁴⁷ A. N. Nelson and V. L. Bartlett were selected to serve as president and business manager respectively—they would serve both institutions concurrently, dividing their time equally, but work with the new separate boards at each location. Any major deviation to this plan was to be agreed upon by both boards.⁴⁸

On March 18, 1952, the full executive committee of the North Philippine Union Mission, headquartered at Pasay City, Manila; invited representations from the South Philippine Union Mission, based in Cebu City; and by invitation, R. L. Odom and M. G. Yorac from Mindanao, unanimously approved Nelson’s furlough itinerary with the stipulation that during furlough he makes a tour of Adventist colleges in the United States including Southern Missionary College, Oakwood College, Madison College, Emmanuel Missionary College, Union College, Walla Walla College, and Pacific Union College. His mission in doing so was to rally support for the development of the new college in Mindanao.⁴⁹

On April 21-22, 1952, the board of trustees of Mountain View College met for the first time in the headquarters of the South Philippine Union Mission in Cebu City.⁵⁰ Nelson and Bartlett each gave an update of the Bukidnon project. The board of trustees voted for the permanent location of the institution and the name Mountain View College, replacing the former Philippine Union Junior College name. It further voted that beginning July 1953, all college activities commence on the property of Philippine Union Mission Corporation of Seventh-day Adventists in the Municipality of Malaybalay, Bukidnon near Barrio Lurugan. Finally, the board also voted to ask the Philippine Union Mission Corporation of Seventh-day Adventists to grant powers-of-attorney to the president and business manager of MVC to sign legal papers in connection with property negotiations.⁵¹

The Mountain View College board of trustees met at the South Philippine Union Headquarters in Cebu City on July 15, 1952. At this meeting they voted to adopt the name Mountain View College as the legal name of the new college and to take necessary steps to update the charter. The following day, the executive committee voted to recommend to elect V. L. Bartlett to serve as business manager and treasurer of Mountain View College.⁵² The name, Mountain View College, was challenged by the Far Eastern Division, who proposed the name, Oriental Missionary College instead. While Nelson was still in the United States on furlough, the college board met on January 12-13, 1953, and voted to accept the recommendation of the Far Eastern Division.⁵³ However the name did not stick. A month later, the board of trustees, after a lengthy discussion on February 22-23, 1953, made a final decision by secret ballot confirming the new institution’s name as Mountain View College.⁵⁴

With the name finally settled and a new president elected, final preparations—including the cancellation of summer classes in 1953 on the MMA campus per recommendation of the Bureau of Private Schools⁵⁵—for the transfer of Mountain View College operation to the Bukidnon site now occupied the attention of the leaders of the school.

History of the School

The first semester of the 1953-1954 school year started on June 15, 1953,⁵⁶ with 157 students; 168 students enrolled second semester.⁵⁷ These students enrolled in the education training certificate, Bible instructor, secretarial, Associate in Arts,⁵⁸and the new associate courses in general mechanics, commercial science, and agriculture. All these courses were duly recognized by the Bureau of Private Schools of the Philippine government.⁵⁹ The curriculum required that all students work daily and that all the teachers participate in the work program by having a lightened teaching load accordingly.⁶⁰

Seven months after classes opened at MVC the first graduation ceremony took place in the school chapel on the evening of November 15, 1953.⁶¹ Twenty-three Seniors, stately garbed in their black caps and gowns, marched to the platform amidst the thundering applause of the faculty and student body. The class was organized by Bartlett. The officers included Casimiro P. Ranario, president; Jose Atil, Jr., vice president; Celia S. Lacson, secretary; Adelfa C. Vingno, treasurer; Tomas C. Llaguno, Jr., sergent-at-arms; Bernardo U. Donato; and Gabriel B. Mendoza, class pastor.⁶²

Mountain View College, beginning at the MMA campus, experienced steady growth. From 156 students in 1949-1950 (its lowest enrollment), it grew to 2, 271 students in 2018-2019.⁶³ The highest enrollment occurred in 2007-2008 with 4,922 officially registered students—this was at a time when nursing graduates were in demand worldwide.

When MVA moved to Bukidnon in April 1953,⁶⁴ seven of the pioneer teaching faculty and staff who had worked for the PUC Extension School on the MMA campus in Manticao were joined by new members of both the administrative and teaching faculty and the industrial staff.

From the teaching faculty and staff of eight in 1949, the human resources of MVC grew to 181 tenured administrative, teaching faculty, and support staff, twenty-eight contract employees, and nine retired part-time teachers as of 2019.⁶⁵

Degrees and Specialties

In keeping with the vision and mission of Mountain View College for academic excellence, the college has maintained recognitions, accreditations, and permits⁶⁶ from the Republic of the Philippines and the Adventist Accrediting Association (AAA) for all of its academic offerings in the graduate, undergraduate, basic education, and technical education and skills development programs. The School of Nursing has consistently produced top-scoring candidates in the Philippine Nurses Licensure Examination (PNLE) for many decades and maintained a passing rate which entitles the nursing program to continuous operation. The following are the curricular offerings approved and recognized by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), and the Department of Education (DepEd) of the Republic of the Philippines, and accredited by national and international accrediting agencies:

Graduate School:

Master of Arts in English and,

Master in Management

Undergraduate Programs:

School of Agriculture— Bachelor of Science in Agriculture majors in Crop Science and Animal Science, Certificate in Agricultural Science (Two-Year Course);

School of Arts and Sciences—Bachelor of Arts majors in English Language, Bachelor of Science in Applied Mathematics, Bachelor of Science in Biology;

School of Business & Accountancy—Bachelor of Science in Accountancy, Bachelor of Science in Accounting technology, Bachelor of Science in Accounting Information System, Bachelor of Science in Business Administration majors in Financial Management, Human Resource Management and Development and Bachelor of Science in Office Administration major in Office Management and Associate in Office Administration (Two-Year Course);

School of Computing—Bachelor of Science in Information Technology;

School of Education—Bachelor of Elementary Education, Bachelor of Physical Education, Bachelor of Secondary Education majors in English, Biological Sciences, Mathematics, Social Studies, Technology & Livelihood Education and Values Education;

School of Nursing—Bachelor of Science in Nursing;

School of Medical Technology—Bachelor of Science in Medical technology;

School of Theology—Bachelor of Arts in Theology;

Technical-Vocational—Automotive technology NC I and NC II (Two-Year Course);

Basic Education—Senior High School (Main Campus & Annex Campus), Junior High School (Main Campus & Annex Campus). When the Philippine Government has fully transitioned from a four-year to a six-year secondary education in 2016, Mountain View College enthusiastically took action to follow suit. The Department of Education (DepEd) of the Republic of the Philippines has permitted MVC to operate the Senior High School Program which offers 4 tracks and 9 strands/specialization. The tracks offered are: Academic, Arts and Design, Sports and Technical-Vocational Livelihood (TVL). The Academic Track includes General Academic Strand (GAS); Accountancy, Business and Management (ABM) Strand; Humanities and Social Sciences (HUMSS) Strand, and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Strand. The TVL track offers specialization in Automotive Servicing NC II, Caregiving NC II, Bread and Pastry and Cookery; Music and Sports specializations are also offered.⁶⁷

Accreditations

Mountain View College is recognized by the Department of Education (DepEd), the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and the Department of Justice–Bureau of Immigration (DOJ–BI) of the Republic of the Philippines. It is also accredited by the Association of Christian Schools, Colleges and Universities (ACSCU) Levels II and III, and achieved Level II accreditation by the Adventist Accrediting Agency (AAA), headquartered in Silver Springs, Maryland.⁶⁸

Awards and Honors

On February 1, 2016, the Province of Bukidnon, in its twelfth Sangguniang Panlalawigan fifth Regular Session, passed Resolution No. 2016-2741 naming Mountain View College as one of the Best School and Training Institutions for nurses in the entire country (Philippines).⁶⁹

In the same vein, on March 7, 2012, the same body passed Resolution No. 2012-1253 during its tenth Regular Session recognizing Mountain View College’s alumni—Mr. Gerald L. Pelayo, MD—Ranked 1st⁷⁰—and Ms. Jierell Mae Victor Saguinhon—Ranked 9th,⁷¹ respectively in the 2011 nursing licensure examinations.

Another MVC nursing alumnus who garnered the spotlight in the 2019 PNLE was Beryl Joshua Fernandez-Borja—the son of MVC teaching faculty members—who ranked third in the national examination.⁷² He was congratulated by the Sangguniang Panglungsod of the City of Valencia through Resolution No. 05-2019 during its first Regular Session on July 8, 2019.⁷³

Many more nursing alumni have achieved top scores in the PNLE since the Nursing Program of MVC started. The excellent national nurse licensure examination performance of MVC nursing graduates attests to the dedication and commitment of the teaching faculty to academic excellence and wholistic Adventist Christian education.

Significant Alumni and Faculty and Staff to World and Church

MVC alumni have served the Church across the Philippines, the Far Eastern Division, the Southeast Asia Division, and the world church. Among these graduates, Agripino C. Segovia, a former MVC president, also served the FED as executive secretary, and was a General Conference associate education director when he retired. Violeto F. Bocala, Alberto C. Gulfan, and Leonardo R. Asoy all served the SSD as president. Howard F. Faigao retired after serving as the General Conference publishing director. Among others presently serving in the SSD are Bienvenido G. Mergal, vice president for Nurture, Discipleship, Reclamation/Integrated Evangelism Lifestyle; Helen B. Gulfan, women’s ministries director; Rudy R. Baloyo, executive secretary; Daryl Gay A. Tanamal, associate treasurer; Lawrence L. Domingo, education director; Abraham T. Carpena (retired); Mamerto M. Guingguing II, communication director; Nelson V. Paulo, media coordinator and media ministry services; Sergie B. Ferrer (retired); and Jonathan C. Catolico (retired). Edwin C. Gulfan, former SPUC president, also serves as an evangelist in the Southern Asia-Pacific Division. Florante Ty is president of the Philippine Publishing House and Leonardo Heyasa serves the same organization as editor-in-chief. An MVC graduate, Remwil R. Tornalejo, also represents the SSD as an assistant editor for the Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. H. E. Bienvenido V. Tejano,⁷⁴ former NPUC health ministries director, has represented the Philippines as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Papua New Guinea and New Zealand.

In 1969, James Zachary, head of the Theology Department of MVC, organized the “Gymnairs—a group of students who have special skills in monocycling and other specialized skills for entertainment,” to create good will and public relations for the college. The group tours the different parts of the Philippines to advertise Adventist Christian education through gymnastics.

Zachary also organized the Student Missionary program—the predecessor of the Ministerial Seminar (MS) and the Socio-Economic Uplift Literacy Agricultural Development Services (SULADS),⁷⁵ which reaches towns, cities, villages, and to the hinterlands of Bukidnon and beyond for Christ. SULADS’ first two student missionaries were Dave Saguan and Peter Donton. After Zachary left MVC for the Far Eastern Division where he became ministerial secretary, the SULADS program was continued by Donald W. Christensen and Ephraim Baragona, MVC business manager and MVC foundation director, respectively, until the program was suspended for seven years due to unfavorable circumstances. However, upon the arrival of a new business manager Fred Webb, SULADS was revived with the reopening of five mission schools in collaboration with the MVC theology students. Daryl Famisaran with his wife, although uncertain of the SULADS’ funding, left his teaching work at MVC and dedicated himself to directing the fledgling ministry. In its present form, SULADS is a non-governmental organization whose primary program is to send para-teachers to the interior jungles of Mindanao to reach the unreached tribes with free education. It is duly accredited as a literacy services of the Department of Education (DepEd) Region X under the Alternative Learning System (ALS). In 1997, Famisaran received the award for the Most Outstanding Literacy Worker. While the SULADS of MVC was cited as the Most Outstanding Literacy Program of the Republic of the Philippines.⁷⁶

In 2016, SULADS became a subsidiary of SPUC with Benonie Llanto as its director for four months before his retirement. Ephraim L. Pitogo, SPUC Associate Global Missions Director, took the rein of leadership. At the time of writing, the SULADS program has spread all over the SPUC territory and other countries. It has been instrumental in giving degree programs, through MVC, to young people coming from the various unique cultural heritages of Mindanao.⁷⁷

Changes to the Physical Campus

Since 1949, fire has been an instrument of some of the major changes to MVC. On March 30, 1956, a fire razed the original girls’ dormitory, a second fire razed the former agriculture building, and a third fire destroyed the multi-purpose building. The fourth fire razed the sawmill building in 1982. On October 11, 1991, a fifth fire razed the entire administration building and the classrooms of buildings A, B, C, and D. The first classroom buildings were nipa-thatched shelters with no walls. The roofs were later replaced with tar papered boards, when the sawmill was still producing lumber, and still later, covered with galvanized roofing. The tar that prevented insects from attacking the wood for many years could not withstand the hunger of the blazing flame. When the footings of those buildings were laid on March 17, 1953, it had been said to be “temporary only for five years.” But those “temporaries,” which many MVC alumni came to cherish, remained in use until 1991.⁷⁸ Two more fires followed which razed the mini-mart and two faculty homes. All of these fires, seven in total, changed the physical structures of MVC. These facilities were all replaced with new structures reflecting the vision and mission of the college.

Recent changes to the campus are the completion of the fan-like Alumni Seventh-day Adventist church, which can accommodate a seating capacity of 5,000 worshippers. The two-story School of Nursing building now houses both the Schools of Nursing and Medical Technology. Modernization of the campus includes a brand-new gymnasium, two international dormitories (for men and women students), and the installations of sidewalks from the MVC’s main entrance to the administration building and from the administration building to the Alumni church. Housing options were broadened with brand-new housing units for married students and students who opt to stay in the housing units provided they have their parent/parents with them. Mountain View College Academy (MVCA) received its own building. New homes have also been built for faculty. Other amenities include swimming pools, gas station, the restoration of the airstrip at the Nick Plain, brand-new retiree housing units, Pioneers’ Hall, the president’s home, and the new structures at MVC Annex in Valencia City.

The impact of MVC upon the Adventist Movement in Mindanao is apparent in the growth of Adventist church schools and the establishment of Adventist churches throughout the entire province of Bukidnon and beyond.

Challenges and Issues School has Faced

After barely five months of operation in the Bukidnon site, MVC found itself in huge debt and could hardly settle its loans. Consequently, faculty and staff experienced hardship. Agricultural production was not yet sufficient and funding was scarce. Although the commitment and dedication of everyone were tested, no one quit.

On February 21, 1955, at 7:30 in the evening, a special meeting was convened by the South Philippine Union Mission and the Central Philippine Union Conference (CPUC) executive committee, and attended by representatives from the North Philippine Union, Far Eastern Division, and the General Conference to consider the financial challenges of the college. The institution was heavily indebted and, therefore, insolvent. Some members of the committee suggested selling half of the school property or closing MVC altogether. However, selling half of the property would include the Malingon waterfalls with its prospects for hydroelectric power and access to the forest concession. A lull in the discussion pervaded the meeting room when an elderly representative of the General Conference, Allen L. Ham, stood up and said, “Gentlemen, who among us in this committee has the power to close the school the Lord is building?”⁷⁹ A motion to raise the funds to free MVC from indebtedness was presented, and a combined budget appropriation intended for important projects and urgent financial obligations of Mountain View College, which include the full payment of the 1,024 (2,500-acre) hectares of land, was voted. The entire indebtedness of the college was paid by appropriations coming from the General Conference, the Far Eastern Division, and the South Philippine Union Mission.⁸⁰

Historical Role of the School

MVC has been foremost in sending missionaries all over the world. Its graduates have served the Adventist Movement from the local church up to the General Conference headquarters of the world church. Its nursing graduates have served in health facilities all over the world. Its teachers have served both private and public schools in the Philippines and abroad. Some have served as public servants, while others settled for private farming and other legitimate businesses. All these graduates have one common wish and desire and that is to “Shine On Till Jesus Comes.”

What Remains to be Done to Fulfill the Mission of the School

For more than seventy years, MVC has sought to fulfill the mission of “restoring in man the lost image of His Maker” by instilling into the minds of her students that every sinner born into God’s kingdom of grace is a missionary commissioned to “preach the Gospel into all the world until the probation of man’s salvation is over and Jesus comes.” This mission is translated across curricular offerings of MVC, which both affects the lives of the faculty members and the entire student body alike.

Administrators, faculty members, students, alumni, and Seventh-day Adventists believers familiar with the beginnings of MVC believe that the founding of MVC was ordained by God, and hence, the institution has a divine purpose. It is this core belief that remains so deeply rooted in MVC, which secures and ensures the college's future success. Its many industries, which include hundreds of rubber trees, cornfields, cassava plantations, palm oil and sugarcane plantations, and other sources of income, like the students’ matriculation, should all be wisely used in realizing her mission.

List of Presidents

Andrew N. Nelson, founder⁸¹

Philippine Union College Extension Division (MMA Campus, Manticao, Misamis Oriental): Andrew N. Nelson (1949-January 1952)⁸²

Philippine Union Junior College (MMA Campus, Manticao, Misamis Oriental): Andrew N. Nelson (February 28, 1952-April 21, 1952)⁸³

Mountain View College (MMA Campus, Manticao, Misamis Oriental): Andrew N. Nelson (1952) ⁸⁴

Oriental Missionary College (MMA Campus, Manticao, Misamis Oriental): Virgil L. Bartlett (1953)⁸⁵

Mountain View College, Mt. Nebo, Valencia City, Bukidnon: Virgil Louis Bartlett (January 1953-1955),⁸⁶ Todd C. Murdoch (1955-1963),⁸⁷ Irene Wakeham (acting, 1960-1962), Douglas K. Brown (1963-1968),⁸⁸ Agripino C. Segovia (acting, 1969-1970),⁸⁹ Donald R. Halenz (1970-1973),⁹⁰ Agripino C. Segovia (1973-1976),⁹¹ Bayani R. Arit (1976-1977),⁹² Eleazar Alburo Moreno (acting, 1977-1979),⁹³Anastasio B. Gayao (1979-1984), Gerundio U. Ellacer (acting, 1984-1985),⁹⁴ Jose D. Dial (acting, 1985-1986),⁹⁵

Remelito A. Tabingo (1986-1995),⁹⁶ Abelardo M. Era (1996-2000),⁹⁷ Jeremias A. Valleramos (2001-2004),⁹⁸ Norma Pasco-Lachica (officer-in-charge, 2004-2005),⁹⁹

Don Leo M. Garilva (acting, February to December 2005),¹⁰⁰ Daniel D. Dial (2006-2012),¹⁰¹ Don Leo M. Garilva (2012-2015),¹⁰² Hope S. Aperocho (officer-in-charge, January 2016-March 2016),¹⁰³ Gladden O. Flores (April 2016- ).¹⁰⁴

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Republic of the Philippines, Province of Bukidnon, Office of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan. Resolution No. 2012-1253 (11^th SP) (10^th Regular Session) A Resolution Congratulating Mountain View College for producing topnotchers in the persons of Mr. Gerald L. Pelayo—First Place and Ms. Jierell Mae Victor Saguinhon—9^th Place in the 2011 Nursing Licensure Examinations. Republic of the Philippines, Province of Bukidnon, Office of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, City of Malaybalay, March 7, 2012.

Republic of the Philippines, Province of Bukidnon, City of Valencia, Office of the Sangguniang Panlungsod. Resolution No. 05-2019 (8^th SP) 10^th Regular Session) A Resolution Congratulating Mr. Beryl Joshua F. Borja of Bagontaas Valencia City, Bukidnon for being the 3^rd Placer of the Philippine Nurses Licensure Examination held last June 2 & 3, 2019 at Cagayan De Oro City. Republic of the Philippines, Province of Bukidnon, City of Valencia, Office of the Sangguniang Panlungsod, City of Valencia, July 8, 2019.

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Notes

1. C. C. Crisler, “Unentered Regions: Mindanao and Sulu - ‘Moroland,’” Asiatic Division Outlook, March 1-15, 1918, 3.↩

2. L. V. Finster, “Philippine Island Mission,” Asiatic Division Mission News, January 1, 1915, 6.↩

3. Nanie L. Woodword, “Notes from Philippine Union,” Asiatic Division Outlook, December 15, 1919, 8.↩

4. R. C. Porter, “The Philippines” Asiatic Division Mission News, May 1, 1914, 2.↩

5. Ullysis Charles and Ellen Fattebert, “A New Mission Station in Mindanao,” Asiatic Division Outlook November 1, 1920, 3.↩

6. “From Mindanao,” Asiatic Division Outlook, August 15, 1921, 6; South Philippine Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. South Philippine Union Conference Centennial Book: 100 years of Adventism in the Philippines 1905-2005 (SPUC Compound, Upper Carmen, Cagayan de Oro City: South Philippine Union Conference, 2005), 31.↩

7. C. C. Crisler, “Changes Among the Moros of Mindanao and Sulu,” Asiatic Division Outlook, October 1 and 15, 1921, 11.↩

8. C. C. Crisler, “The Provincial Meeting in Cebu,” Asiatic Division Outlook, October 15, 1923, 4.↩

9. Andrew N. Nelson, “Pioneering a New College in the Philippines,” The Youth’s Instructor, March 17, 1953, 12-14, 17, 21.↩

10. George R. Knight, Reading Ellen White: How to Understand and Apply Her Writings (Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1997), 92.↩

11. Virgil L. Bartlett, “Mountain View College: Biennial Report,” (East Visayan Academy, Talisay, Cebu City: President of Mountain View College, February 22, 1953), 1.↩

12. Andrew N. Nelson, “Pioneering a New College in the Philippines,” The Youth’s Instructor, March 17, 1953, 12-3.↩

13. Virgil L. Bartlett, “Mountain View College: Biennial Report” (East Visayan Academy, Talisay, Cebu City: Mountain View College, February 22, 1953), 1.↩

14. Andrew N. Nelson, “Pioneering a New College in the Philippines,” The Youth’s Instructor, March 17, 1953, 12; Virgil L. Bartlett, Mountain View College: Biennial Report (East Visayan Academy, Talisay, Cebu City: Mountain View College, February 22, 1953), 1.↩

15. W. O. Baldwin, “Challenging Educational opportunities,” Far Eastern Division Outlook, 36 (June 1950): 6, 1-2.↩

16. Philippine Union College Extension Division in Mindanao, “Registrar’s Office Summary of Enrollment from 1949 to 1950” (Mindanao Mission Academy Campus, Manticao, Misamis Oriental: Philippine Union College Extension Division, 1949-1950), 2; Mountain View College, Office of the Registrar, Summary of Enrollment of Mountain View College formerly Philippine Union College Extension Division, Philippine Union Junior College, and Oriental Missionary College from Academic Year 1949 to 2019 (Mt. Nebo, Valencia City, Bukidnon, Philippines: Mountain View College, 2019), 1.↩

17. “MMA & MVC Join Fund-Campaign for the College in Bukidnon,” Vues: Official Organ of Mountain View College, Manticao, Misamis Oriental, January-February, 1953, 1; Andrew N. Nelson, “Pioneering a New College in the Philippines” The Youth’s Instructor, March 17, 1953, 18.↩

18. “Philippine Union College Extension Division Faculty and Staff,” The Views: Official Organ of Mountain View College, Manticao, Misamis Oriental, April, 1953, 1.↩

19. “Philippine Union College.” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, DC: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1946), 256. See also Seventh-day Adventist Yearbooks (1947), 256; (1948), 261; (1949), 278; (1950), 282; and (1951), 271.↩

20. “Philippine Union College,” 1952 Yearbook of the Seventh-day Adventist Denomination (Washington, DC: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1952), 261.↩

21. “Mountain View College Opens in Bukidnon Site,” The Views: Official Organ of Mountain View College, February 1954, 1.↩

22. Mountain View College, Office of the Registrar, Summary of Enrollment of Mountain View College formerly Philippine Union College Extension Division from Academic Year 1949 to 2019 (Mt. Nebo, Valencia City, Bukidnon, Philippines: Mountain View College, 2019), 1.↩

23. “Mountain View College Opens in Bukidnon Site,” The Views: Official Organ of Mountain View College, Malaybalay, Bukidnon, Vol. 1, No. 1 (February, 1954): 2.↩

24. Andrew N. Nelson, “Pioneering a New College in the Philippines,” The Youth’s Instructor, 17 March 1953, 12-13. See also, Ellen G. White, Fundamentals of Christian Education (Nashville, TN: Southern Publishing Association, 1923); Ellen G. White, Education (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1903); Ellen G. White, Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1911).↩

25. Andrew N. Nelson, “Pioneering a New College in the Philippines,” The Youth’s Instructor, March 17, 1953, 17.↩

26. “GC, FED Officials Visit MVC,” The Views: Official Organ of Mountain View College, February 1954, 1.↩

27. Andrew N. Nelson, “Pioneering a New College in the Philippines,” The Youth’s Instructor, March 17, 1953, 13.↩

28. Ibid., 15.↩

29. Correct family name or surname is Briones according to Michael Bacacao Caballero, first-degree nephew of the late Pastor Gabriel Abella Briones. Michael Caballero retired from the Adventist denominational work as associate treasurer of the East-Central Africa Division, Private Bag Mbagathi, Advent Hill, Ongata Rongai, Nairobi, Kenya. Interview by the authors, Mountain View College, Mt. Nebo, Valencia City, Bukidnon, Philippines, July 5, 2020.↩

30. Dixie Reambonanza Madridano, son of the late Francisco Salceda Madridano, telephone interview by the authors, Mountain View College, Mt. Nebo, Valencia City, Bukidnon, Philippines,December 8, 2017.↩

31. The complete name is Pedro Claveria according to spouses Michael Bacacao Caballero and Elnorie Claveria-Caballero. The couple worked and retired as denominational workers from East-Central Africa Division, Private Bag Mbagathi, Advent Hill, Ongata Rongai, Nairobi, Kenya. Interview by the authors, Mountain View College, Mt. Nebo, Valencia City, Bukidnon, Philippines, July 5, 2020.↩

32. Thelma V. Baliton, niece of Antipas Señedo Valendez and Felomino Señedo Valende, and former director of student finance of Mountain View College, telephone interview by the authors, Sayre Highway, P4-B, Bagontaas, Valencia City, Bukidnon, Philippines, October 18, 2019.↩

33. Mountain View College, MVCiana Pictures Collections, The Pioneers (College Heights, Mt. Nebo, Valencia City, Bukidnon: Mountain View College, 1949).↩

34. Andrew N. Nelson, “Pioneering a New College in the Philippines,” The Youth’s Instructor, March 17, 1953, 12-14.↩

35. Job Garcia Tanamal, Mountain View College the Miracle School: An expanded edition of MVC: A Pioneer’s Diary (Philippines: N. p., 2013), 38.↩

36. Executive Committee, January 18, 1951, 4. Philippine Union Mission, Luna Street, Pasay City, Philippines.↩

37. V. L. Bartlett, “Mountain View College,” Far Eastern Division Outlook, May 1953, 7.↩

38. Job Garcia Tanamal, Mountain View College the Miracle School: An expanded edition of MVC: A Pioneer’s Diary (Philippines: N. p., 2013), 32.↩

39. V. L. Bartlett, “Mountain View College,” Far Eastern Division Outlook, May 1953, 7.↩

40. Tanamal, 33.↩

41. Andrew N. Nelson, “Pioneering a New College in the Philippines,” The Youth’s Instructor, March 17, 1953, 17, 34; Job Garcia Tanamal, Mountain View College the Miracle School: An expanded edition of MVC: A Pioneer’s Diary (Philippines: N. p., 2013), 34; V. L. Bartlett, “Mountain View College,” Far Eastern Division Outlook, May 1953, 7.↩

42. Tanamal, 41-42.↩

43. V. L. Bartlett, “Mountain View College,” Far Eastern Division Outlook, May 1953, 7.↩

44. Job Garcia Tanamal, Mountain View College the Miracle School: An expanded edition of MVC: A Pioneer’s Diary (Philippines: N. p., 2013).↩

45. Special Bukidnon Council of Representative Members of the Board of Trustees of Philippine Union College, the Board of Trustees of Philippine Union College in Bukidnon, the North Philippine Union Committee, the South Philippine Union Committee, the Far Eastern Division Committee, and Elder A. V. Olson, General Conference Representative, February 27, 1952, 1. Philippine Union Mission, Bukidnon, Mindanao, Philippines.↩

46. Ibid.↩

47. Mountain View College Board of Trustees, April 21-22, 1952, 9. South Philippine Union Mission, Cebu City, Philippines.↩

48. Special Bukidnon Council of Representative Members of the Board of Trustees of Philippine Union College, the Board of Trustees of Philippine Union College in Bukidnon, the North Philippine Union Committee, the South Philippine Union Committee, the Far Eastern Division Committee, and Elder A. V. Olson, General Conference Representative, February 27, 1952, 1-2. Philippine Union Mission, Bukidnon, Mindanao, Philippines.↩

49. Executive Committee together with the invited representations from South Philippine Union Mission, March 18, 1952, 30-31. North Philippine Union Mission of Seventh-day Adventists, Pasay City, Philippines.↩

50. Mountain View College Board of Trustees, April 21-22, 1952, 1-3. South Philippine Union Mission Cebu City, Philippines.↩

51. Ibid., 2-3.↩

52. Executive Committee, July 16, 1952, 1. South Philippine Union Mission, Gorordo Avenue, Cebu City, Philippines.↩

53. Oriental Missionary College Board of Trustees, January 12-13, 1953, 21, 24. South Philippine Union Mission, Cebu City, Philippines.↩

54. Oriental Missionary College Board of Trustees, February 22-23, 1953, 25. South Philippine Union Mission, Cebu City, Philippines.↩

55. Mountain View College Board of Trustees, April 13, 1953, 25. South Philippine Union Mission, Mindanao Mission Academy, Manticao, Misamis Oriental, Philippines.↩

56. Virgil L. Bartlett, “Pioneer Work at Our South Philippine College,” ARH, January 7, 1954, 16; Mountain view college Board of Trustees, April 21-22, 1952, 2. South Philippine Union Mission, Cebu City: Philippines.↩

57. Mountain View College, Office of the Registrar, Summary of Enrollment of Mountain View College formerly Philippine Union College Extension Division, Philippine Union Junior College, and Oriental Missionary College from Academic Year 1949 to 2019 (Mt. Nebo, Valencia City, Bukidnon, Philippines: Mountain View College, 2019), 1.↩

58. “Mountain View College Opens in Bukidnon Site,” The Views: Official Organ of Mountain View College, Malaybalay, Bukidnon, February, 1954, 2.↩

59. Oriental Missionary College Board of Trustees, January 12-13, 1953, 22. South Philippine Union Mission, Cebu City, Philippines.↩

60. Mountain View College Board of Trustees, April 21-22, 1952, 7. South Philippine Union Mission, Cebu City, Philippines.↩

61. Job Garcia Tanamal, Mountain View College the Miracle School: An expanded edition of MVC: A Pioneer’s Diary (Philippines: N. p., 2013), 38.↩

62. “First Graduating Class Presented,” The Views: Official Organ of Mountain View College, February, 1954, 1.↩

63. Mountain View College, Office of the Registrar, Summary of Enrollment of Mountain View College for First the Semester of Academic Year 2020-2021 (College Heights, Mt. Nebo, Valencia City, Bukidnon, Philippines: Mountain View College, October 28, 2020), 1.↩

64. Job Garcia Tanamal, Mountain View College the Miracle School: An expanded edition of MVC: A Pioneer’s Diary (Philippines: N. p., 2013), 53.↩

65. Mountain View College, Human Resource Department. Mountain View College, College Heights, Mt. Nebo, 8709 Valencia City, Bukidnon, Philippines, 2020.↩

66. Government Permits, Recognitions, Accreditations and other Pertinent documents are on file at the Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs Office of Mountain View College. Mountain View College, Mt. Nebo, Valencia City, Bukidnon, Philippines.↩

67. Republic of the Philippines, Region X – Northern Mindanao Department of Education, Government Permit (Region10) No. 70, s. 2015 granted to Mountain View College to Operate the Senior High School Program at College Heights, Valencia City, Bukidnon. Region X – Northern Mindanao, Department of Education. Fr. Mastersons Ave., Zone I, Upper Bulalang, Cagayan de Oro City: Republic of the Philippines, 1; Republic of the Philippines, Region X – Northern Mindanao Department of Education, Government Permit (Region 10) No. 130, s. 2015 granted to Mountain View College to Operate the Senior High School Program at College Heights, Valencia City, Bukidnon. Region X – Northern Mindanao, Department of Education. Fr. Mastersons Ave., Zone I, Upper Bulalang, Cagayan de Oro City: Republic of the Philippines, 1; Mountain View College of Seventh-day Adventists, Mountain View College Academy, Mountain View College Academy Student Handbook (College Heights, Valencia City, Bukidnon, Philippines: Mountain View College of Seventh-day Adventists, Mountain View College Academy, School Year 2016-2017), 9.↩

68. Government Permits, Recognitions, Accreditations and other Pertinent documents are on file at the Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs Office of Mountain View College. Mountain View College, Mt. Nebo, Valencia City, Bukidnon, Philippines.↩

69. Republic of the Philippines, Province of Bukidnon, Office of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, “Resolution No. 2016-2741 (12^th SP) (5^th Regular Session) A Resolution Congratulating Mountain View College for being a Consistent Placer in the Nursing Licensure Examinations,” Republic of the Philippines, Province of Bukidnon, Office of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, City of Malaybalay, 1 February 2016.↩

70. Esguerra, Anthony Q. “Adventist Who Topped 2011 Nursing Board is 2018 Physician Licensure Exam Topnotcher.” Inquirer.net. March 15, 2018. Accessed on October 28, 2020. https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/975666/adventist-who-topped-2012-nursing-board-is-2018-physician-licensure-examtopnotcher#:~:text=A%20Seventh%2DDay%20Adventist%20student,with%20an%2088.17%2Dpercent%20rating.↩

71. Republic of the Philippines, Province of Bukidnon, Office of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, “Resolution No. 2012-1253 (11^th SP) (10^th Regular Session) A Resolution Congratulating Mountain View College for producing topnotchers in the persons of Mr. Gerald L. Pelayo—First Place and Ms. Jierell Mae Victor Saguinhon—9^th Place in the 2011Nursing Licensure Examinations,” Republic of the Philippines, Province of Bukidnon, Office of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, City of Malaybalay, March 7, 2012.↩

72. “PRC RESULT: June 2019 NLE Nursing Board Exam Top 10 Passers,” PRC Board News, June 21, 2019, accessed on October 28, 2020, https://www.prcboardnews.com/2019/06/prc-result-june-2019-nle-nursing-board-exam-top-10-passers.html.↩

73. Republic of the Philippines, Province of Bukidnon, City of Valencia, Office of the Sangguniang Panlungsod, “Resolution No. 05-2019 (8^th SP) 10^th Regular Session) A Resolution Congratulating Mr Beryl Joshua F. Borja of Bagontaas, Valencia City, Bukidnon for being the 3^rd Placer of the Philippine Nurses Licensure Examination held last June 2 & 3, 2019 at Cagayan De Oro City,” Republic of the Philippines, Province of Bukidnon, City of Valencia, Office of the Sangguniang Panlungsod, City of Valencia, July 8, 2019.↩

74. Republic of the Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs, “Philippines Embassies and Consulates General,” GOVPH, accessed May 3, 2021, https://dfa.gov.ph/index.php/2013-03-21-05-48-17.↩

75. The acronym was a play on the Manobo word sulads, which means for brothers and sisters. The Manobo are one of the many indigenous groups of the Philippines which particularly reside in the hinterlands of Bukidnon.↩

76. Job Garcia Tanamal, Mountain View College the Miracle School: An expanded edition of MVC: A Pioneer’s Diary (Philippines: 2013), 122.↩

77. Ephraim L. Pitogo, SULADS director, South Philippine Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, telephone interview by authors, Sayre Highway, Bagontaas, Valencia City, Bukidnon, Philippines,

    October 29, 2020.↩

78. Tanamal, 118.↩

79. South Philippine Union Mission Executive Committee in conjunction with the Mountain View College Board, February 21, 1955, 6. South Philippine Union Mission, Office, 356 Gorordo Avenue, City of Cebu, Philippines.↩

80. Ibid.↩

81. “Andrew N. Nelson obituary,” Far Eastern Division Outlook, June 1975, 16; Andrew N. Nelson, “Pioneering a New College in the Philippines,” The Youth’s Instructor, March 17,1953, 12-14.↩

82. “Philippine Union College,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1946), 256. See also (1947), 256; (1948), 261; (1949), 278; (1950), 282; and (1951), 271; “Philippine Union College,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1952), 261.↩

83. South Philippine Union Mission of Seventh-day Adventists, “Minutes of the First Meeting of the Board of Trustees of Mountain View College,” (Cebu City: South Philippine Union Mission of Seventh-day Adventists, 21-22 April 1952), 9; Special Bukidnon Council of Representative Members of the Board of Trustees of Philippine Union College, the Board of Trustees of Philippine Union College in Bukidnon, the North Philippine Union Committee, the South Philippine Union Committee, the Far Eastern Division Committee, and Elder A. V. Olson, General Conference Representative, February 27, 1952, 1-2. Philippine Union Mission, Bukidnon, Mindanao, Philippines.↩

84. Mountain View College Board of Trustees, April 21-22, 1952, 1-3. South Philippine Union Mission, Cebu City, Philippines; “To Ponder…,” The Far Eastern Division, February 1973. 3.↩

85. Oriental Missionary College Board of Trustees, January 12-13, 1953, 21, 24. South Philippine Union Mission, Cebu City, Philippines.↩

86. Oriental Missionary College Board of Trustees, January 12-13, 1953, 21, 24. South Philippine Union Mission, Cebu City, Philippines; “Bartlett to Sheyenne River,” Northern Union Outlook, July 17, 1956, 7; and “Mountain View College,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, DC: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1953), 260.↩

87. “Mountain View College,” ARH, November 29, 1956, 20; “Jean Murdoch obituary,” Canadian Union Messenger, November 15, 1973, 371; “God Expects Loyal Service,” Canadian Union Messenger, April 18, 1956, 1; and “Passing Visitors,” Middle East Messenger, Third Quarter 1960, 7.↩

88. “Mountain View College—Where Students Earn as They Learn,” The Far Eastern Division Outlook, November 1976; “Educators Ordained,” The Far Eastern Division Outlook, April 1965, 18; “News from Here & There,” The Far Eastern Division Outlook, April 1965, 20; “Brown Elected MVC President,” The Far Eastern Division Outlook, April 1964, 10; “From the Catholic Seminary to Mountain View College,” Far Eastern Division Outlook, October 1966, 12; and Douglas K. Brown, “The School of the Light,” Missions Quarterly, First Quarter 1967, 15.↩

89. “West Visayan Academy Graduates Large Class,” Far Eastern Division Outlook, July 1969, 8.↩

90. “To Ponder…,” Far Eastern Division Outlook, November 1971, 3.↩

91. Mountain View College Executive Board, March 21, 1973. South Philippine Union Mission, Bacolod Sanitarium & Hospital Conference Room, Bacolod City, Philippines.↩

92. Mountain View College Executive Board, August 10, 1976, 5. South Philippine Union Mission, Masterson Avenue, Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines.↩

93. Mountain View College Executive Board, March 1, 1977, 5. South Philippine Union Mission, Masterson Avenue, Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines.↩

94. Mountain View College Executive Board, March 20, 1984, 5. South Philippine Union Mission, Masterson Avenue, Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines.↩

95. Mountain View College Executive Board, December 2-3, 1984. South Philippine Union Mission, Masterson Avenue, Cagayan de Oro City.↩

96. Executive Board, December 5, 1990, 7. Mountain View College, Valencia, Bukidnon, Philippines.↩

97. Personal Service Record, “Abelardo M. Era, 1996-2000,” microfilm, 2.↩

98. Personal Service Record, “Jeremias A. Valleramos, 2001-2004,” microfilm, 2.↩

99. Mountain View College Board Meeting, January 25, 2005. South Philippine Union Conference, Masterson Avenue, Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines.↩

100. Mountain View College Board, January 25, 2005. South Philippine Union Conference, Masterson Avenue, Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines.↩

101. Board Trustees Meeting, December 20, 2005, 14. South Philippine Union Conference, Oliverio Conference Hall, Mountain View College, Valencia City, Bukidnon, Philippines.↩

102. College Board Trustees Meeting, December 20, 2012, 14. South Philippine Union Conference, Oliverio Conference Hall, Mountain View College, Valencia City, Bukidnon, Philippines.↩

103. Mountain View College Board of Trustees, February 3, 2016, 4. South Philippine Union Conference, Masterson Avenue, Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines.↩

104. Mountain View College Executive Board Meeting, March 28, 2016, 5. South Philippine Union Conference, Masterson Avenue, Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines.↩