By Manny Palada
Dr. Palada with former ̽»¨¾«Ñ¡ President Dr. Juanito M. Acanto and the late Dr. Lejo Braña.
I first met Manong Lejo Braña in ̽»¨¾«Ñ¡ when I joined the Board of Trustees in 2017. Although I heard about him as an outstanding ̽»¨¾«Ñ¡ alumnus, I never met him personally until I served and participated in the meetings of the ̽»¨¾«Ñ¡ Board of Trustees. That was the time then that I realized he is a relative of my wife Elisa Hortelano from Janiuay. Somehow the Arandela, Catedral, Acanto and Braña families are related to the Hortelano family in Janiuay. Every time we had BOT meeting, I always sat beside Manong Lejo. We always exchanged views and opinions about ̽»¨¾«Ñ¡. I learned a lot from his rich experience in engineering and his profession when he was in the USA. He always gave critical and good suggestions for ̽»¨¾«Ñ¡ and I always agreed and supported his opinions.
Being the father of the packaging engineering, I greatly appreciate Manong Lejo’s contributions to ̽»¨¾«Ñ¡. I visited his packaging engineering office and laboratory in ̽»¨¾«Ñ¡ and I was amazed of the facilities he donated and provided for the advancement of packaging industry.
The last time I personally met Manong Lejo was during the BOT meeting in 2019 just before the pandemic. It was nice to exchange views and opinions with him and I will never forget all his intelligent and wise advice and contribution to ̽»¨¾«Ñ¡. Although, I will not see him and be present during the memorial service, I owe him a deep appreciation and tribute for what he had accomplished for ̽»¨¾«Ñ¡ as well as the many students and stakeholders who benefited from packaging engineering technology.