Two years ago to this day, we went the National Kidney and Transplant Institute to visit Dr. Aloysius U. Baes who was confined at the hospital due to an illness. Little that we know that a few days later, Ochie would quietly pass away at the age of 58 on December 21, 2006. As a poet once said, it is not the manner of death that makes someone a hero, it is the meaning drawn from the struggles against the foe-- a hero serving the people to his very last breath.

Today, despite our deep sense of loss over the death of Ochie, we continue to celebrate the life of a man who has contributed much in the service of the oppressed and exploited people, full of significance and relevance to the Filipino people’s struggle for national freedom and democracy. Last year, his name was added on the wall of remembrance at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani in EDSA.

A scientist through and through, he studied chemistry not only of elements and compounds but also the chemistry of society-- the complex interaction of Philippine society, working hard to change the current situation towards a better future for the oppressed majority. Ochie was an environmental chemist and teacher by profession, and a people's scientist at heart.

As a student leader and cultural worker in the days before Martial Law, he was one of the prominent founding members of Samahang Demokratiko ng Kabataan (SDK, Democratic Organization of the Youth) at the University of the Philippines in Los Baños, Laguna and the nearby communities. As an activist during that period, he was one of those who faced incarceration in Marcos' jails.

Yet Ochie was not one to let the walls of prison contain him, as he composed various political songs that are still being sung today. He wrote the lyrics for “Mutya” and composed songs such as “Huwad na Kalayaan” among many others.

Afterwards, he briefly taught at UPLB before he went to the US to get his PhD in 1982. He worked among the Filipino community there in support of the struggle here in the Philippines. He continued to do this even when he transferred to Japan to do research.

We were fortunate in AGHAM to have Dr. Aloysius Baes as one of our founding members and as the convenor of the AGHAM Laguna chapter in 2000. He was key in formulating the five concerns that a scientist could work on to make science and technology serve the people's welfare-- the protection of the environment, issues concerning public utilities, ensuring food security and self-sufficiency, promoting scientific and mass culture and advocating national industrialization. He was also a founding member of the Center for Environmental Concerns-Philippines (CEC-Phils) in 1989, its Managing Director from February to October 2003 and board member since 2002 until his death.

He also clarified that the people themselves are the primary advocates of making science and technology serve the interest of the people. He has also deepened our sense of environmental awareness driving home the point that the struggle for the environment is the struggle the people.

While serving as a professor at the UP in 1990, Ochie's joint researches with his students exposed the adverse environmental and health impacts of the Calaca coal-fired power plant in Batangas. He was also part of the national campaign against the military toxic wastes in the former US bases in Subic and Clark. He also helped initiate a series of field visits and community education in 2003 to the direct impact areas of the Marcopper and Placer Dome mining operations in Marinduque, encouraging the people and local government officials to pursue their campaign for environmental justice, rehabilitation and a mining moratorium in the island.

Later, as Rapu-Rapu Fact Finding Commission (RRFFC) member, Ochie worked to scrutinize the controversial Lafayette polymetallic flagship mining project and helped expose its negative consequences and flaws. The RRFFC recommended the termination of the project.

Dr. Baes never faced the dilemma of “scientific neutrality” because he never ceased to be a genuine scientist: objective and inquisitive, and yet clearly knowing where he stands in the objective reality of our society. He carried this standpoint in clarifying scientific issues through his expertise and his insightful explanations always explaining the effects to the people's livelihood and welfare despite the frequent obfuscation of the wrongdoers.

Ochie serves as an inspiration for all of us to take the standpoint of the people in our daily practice as scientists-- to always make science and technology serve the people. His memory will always be cherished and his life always worthy of emulation: Ochie Baes, Scientist for the People.