Bernardino G. Bantegui

The career of Bernardino Bantegui, known as “Ben” for his colleagues, is an example of how an intellectually gifted person can rise to a position of responsibility. After obtaining his degree in geodetic engineering, he took the examination given by the government for US Department of State scholars in meteorology. He qualified and was sent to the University of Chicago where he obtained the BS degree of Meteorology. Next, he take his Masters in Industrial Management courses at the UP extension division in Manila and in Economics and Statistics from the American University in Washington DC.

After a short stint as geodetic engineer and instructor at the UP College of Engineering, Bernardino joined the Philippine Weather Bureau as a meteorologist/forecaster while concurrently being a professional lecturer in Mathematics and the head of the Mathematics Department of the University of the East.

He became a government official with his appointment as the director of Plans and Programs Development of the newly established Agricultural Credit and Cooperative Financing Administration.

When the National Economic Council was established, he was appointed director of the Office of Statistical Coordination Standards (OSCS) Director for 16 years. He would recall his participation in the historic Laurel-Langley Agreement discussions and in an international discussion in Bangkok on techniques in economic planning led by Professor Tinbergen, a Noble prize awardee in Economics.He was also able to publish books and articles in international journals on statistics economics and agricultural insurance, among others.

Ben served the Philippine government for 22 years and the United Nations for 23 years. Ben was a proud member of the Beta Epsilon.