Reynor Calzado: Would-be priest becomes Navy innovator
By MARIA ALTHEA TEVES, abs-cbnNEWS.com/ | 04/09/2009 8:38 PM
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Never in his mind did Reynor Calzado imagine that he would one day serve in the military. As a little boy, he always wanted to become a priest. He devoted his life in preparation for priesthood. He served as altar boy in their parish from elementary to high school. He also joined Bible studies and Holy Week activities.
But it was not meant to be. “I did not even pass the exam to be in the seminary,” Calzado told abs-cbnnews.com/Newsbreak.
Set on becoming a priest, Calzado had no back-up plan. He decided to take a two-year technical vocational course in computer programming in 1987 thinking that it was “the demand of the future.”
Even then, the future he had in his mind did not involve being the military. It was his cousin’s husband, who was in the navy, who encouraged him to join.
Calzado completed his military training in 1991. His first assignment was in the Subic Naval Base. Encouraged by older peers who saw his potential to be an officer, he enrolled at the Columban University taking up Computer Engineering that same year.
He did not finish his course, however, due to financial constraints. Being the eldest and only working member of his family, he had to give his paltry salary of P2,300 to his sibling who had symptoms of leukemia.
He tried to go back to his studies the following year but had to stop again because his youngest sibling had an inborn heart enlargement. Calzado said it was his responsibility to pay for the medical bills. “It seemed like it is not what God has planned for me,” he said.
Not disheartened, Calzado decided to use what he learned from his vocational course to serve the military the best way he can.
In April 2008, he developed the “Philippine Navy Ships and Yards Management Information System,” a database system that helps the navy monitor vessels near real time. The project helped the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) save money.
This turned out to be the beginning of a promising career. In 2001, the AFP sent Calzado on a scholarship to take up a computer automation system repair course in Fort Gordon, Georgia, USA. Graduating at the top of his batch, Calzado found himself suddenly in demand. A lot of computer companies abroad, including CompUSA, tried to hire him.
“If I were materialistic, I think I would have given in. It would provide my family a better life, but it can wait,” after he retires from the military he said.
He refused the offers, however. It was the AFP that opened doors for him, Calzado explained. “I owe the AFP what I have learned. My service is for the AFP.”
Besides, though it was not his first choice, Calzado has become comfortable with his career in the military. There are similarities between being in the army and being a priest, he explained. “Both are vocations involved in serving the people. “As a soldier, I protect and preserve the country’s sovereignty. The AFP is mandated to protect and defend the nation from internal aggression and external attack,” he said.
Currently a record clerk of the Assistant Chief of Naval Staff for Ships and Yards at the Philippine Navy Headquarters and Headquarter Service Group Duty Office, Second Class Staff Sergeant Reynor Calzado has been in the AFP for 19 years.
On March 26, 2009, he, along with nine others, was honored at the Malacañang Palace as one of The Outstanding Philippine Soldiers (TOPS).
The future is bright for the 38 year-old Calzado. No less than Aniceto Sobrepeña, president of Metrobank Foundation, Inc. and member of the final board of judges of TOPS, offered to personally recommend him to telecommunications companies Smart and Globe.
But for now, Calzado wants to focus on his responsibilities in the AFP. “Maybe when there is already a new batch of TOPS awardees, I am going to retire,” Calzado said.
The Outstanding Philippine Soldiers (TOPS) is an annual search by the Metrobank Foundation, Inc., together with the Rotary Club of Makati-Metro, to honor excellent soldiers from the AFP. Awardees have met the criteria of having excellent “professional and personal ability, contribution to the AFP and community involvement.”
