UPLB parish gets blessing

At the height of the Liberation, some 80 Los Baños citizens were herded into the Catholic college chapel of the University of the Philippines campus in Laguna to be executed by furious Japanese soldiers. Six decades later, a different kind of invasion has destructively crept into the area. The church sacristy and practically the entire parish grounds have been invaded by subterranean termites but due to lack of funds, administrators had to endure the infestation problem for years.

The college chapel was built in 1927 inside the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) dedicated to St. Therese of the Child Jesus (a doctor of the church who incidentally never attended university). The chapel burned in flames during the Second World War and was rebuilt into a shrine and baptistry. Beside it, a bigger, open structure similar to the Catholic church in UP Diliman, was inaugurated in 1971 to continue serving the town and the college faithful.

The Little Flower of Jesus must truly be looking after her parish because in 2005, pest control firm No Ka Oi Philippines, Inc. and Dow AgroSciences offered the church a free termite treatment for one year using Sentricon System. No Ka Oi is an authorized operator of Sentricon, and provides termite and pest control services in Guam, Saipan, Marshall Islands, Japan, Taiwan and the Philippines. Company president Marcelino Lazaro Jr. is a former student of retired UPLB professor Dr. Benjamin Cariaso. No Ka Oi Philippines, Inc. holds office at Richville Corporate Center Commerce Ave., Ayala Alabang with contact numbers 850-4880 to 81.

An expert in medical and veterinary entomology, Dr. Cariaso was tasked to supervise the termite treatment of St. Therese parish. According to him, Sentricon is very effective against Philippine Milk Termites, the most destructive species in the country. Besides feeding on cellulose usually found on wood, paper and garments, this type releases a milky, acidic secretion from the head that can destroy cement and corrode weak points of metal. Whenever its population increases and needs additional space, it builds secondary nests usually in the ceiling and you have a house taken possession of by millions of diligent termites.

These creatures also create tunnels in electrical systems that cause short circuits. Dr. Cariaso says that the most serious case reported to him was when a contractor that set up a million worth of cable system was sued by a major establishment for his failure to inform the client about the danger of termites tripping the electrical network. Horror termite stories abound he says; there’s even an unverified story from abroad about a wooden prosthetic leg infested by dry wood termites.