Having been awarded in 1998 as the Most Outstanding MITEEA Alumni and in 2010 as the Most Outstanding Electrical Engineer Practitioner in the Philippine Industry, Mandy considers these as his biggest achievements. Indeed, education has a big impact in boosting one’s ascent from our present status and situation. And besides, hard work truly pays off. Any highly successful person when asked would always say that hard work and perseverance have brought them to where they are now. For Mandy, he admits having already fulfilled everything he wanted to do as an engineer.  To top it all, his best achievement was making it to the ASEAN Charter Professional Engineer Licensure in 2014. For more than 40 years, his work experiences revolved around the field of building and facility design and consultancy, construction, operations and maintenance involving various, plumbing and fire protection.

Mandy was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth, rather his story started from very humble beginnings. His was a rags-to-riches story that stemmed from a dream to breakout from the clutches of poverty through education. Engr. Armando Rivera Diaz along with his six siblings grew up in an impoverished community in Malabon, a municipality situated in the northern part of Manila. His childhood was a little deprived of comfort. Unlike any ordinary children of his age who are able to play as much they like, Mandy had to wake up every day at early morning to sell newspapers such as The Manila Times, and  The Manila Chronicle, as well as other food (‘Camote Cue’ and ‘Ice Drop’).  Before noon, he had to be back back home to prepare himself for school. His journey to school is a long way from Malabon to Manila where he studied highschool. He had to cope with scorching heat of the sun on hot days as he walked to school. Likewise, on rainy days he had to deal with the heavy downpour of rain, mostly getting himself wet and shivering. Those were the hard times, but as someone said it, “Don’t wait for good things to happen to you. If you go out and make some good things happen, you will fill the world with hope, you will fill yourself with hope.”

The struggles that Engr. Mandy had early in his life were not able to dissuade him at all from achieving his goals. Even when he knew that his parents could not afford to send him to a prestigious school in college, Mandy took the initiative to join the Marching Band of the Mapua Institute of Technology and become its full scholar. In life, hard work is not enough to guarantee one’s success. Perseverance is a value that must come with it. Fortunately, Mandy had a handful of these qualities which helped him pursue and accomplish his college degree as an Electrical Engineer in 1973. Ten years later, to continually improve his knowledge and remain ahead, he completed his Master in Business Administration (MBA) at the Colegio de San Juan de Letran. 

Now, being a distinguished and a respected Engineer in his field of work, aside from he has built an impressive lineup of various job posts as Principal Engineer and Partner of MEPF Engineers Co., President of Kang Haro Construction and Management Corp., General Manager of DON-MEPF Engineering, Board Chairman of Square D Construction and Development Corp., Trans Asia Construction and Development Corp., and MEPF Consultant of Rizhle Construction and Development Corp. Additionally, Engr. Mandy also handles MEPF Designs, Project Management, and does consultation works with different companies across the country. Despite of these series of workload however,  Mandy still manages to conduct seminars and serves as a technical resource person for directing guidelines for efficient building and lighting design, nuclear energy, and solar energy. No wonder, when once asked what the hardest part of being an Engineer is, Mandy replied, “As an Engineer, challenges are my everyday life.” He continued to remain active and involved in his field which was not simply for his own benefit but also because of his genuine effort to contribute to this discipline and make the most of it.

In the same way, advances in science and technology were well underway at the turn of the century which also meant innovations in designs, processes, and machineries.  Mandy was not one to be left behind for he kept himself enriched and relevant with the seminars and trainings which he attended locally and abroad. He took various Technical Training and Seminar on Instrumentation, Electrical, CCTV, Fire Protection System, Mechanical, Plumbing, Refrigeration, and Air- Conditioning. Mandy also traveled to different countries such as the USA- to train for Fire Protection Design and Maintenance in 1992; Japan- to learn Safety, Pollution Control and Engineering Standard in 1995, and; Germany- to learn UNIX System and APROL Software in 2002.

In a third world country such as the Philippines, opportunities in further learning have a big impact on staying up-to-date with new developments. “Education and training,” he says, “is very important especially on Plumbing Work.” Being the voice for advancements in the field of plumbing, Engr. Mandy has observed the sad state of this job which made him say, “Plumbing work in the Philippines has to develop faster. There are a lot of misconceptions about plumbing as a job of a journeyman…Nobody thinks that Plumbing Works need engineering skills.” He also suggested the vital amendment of the present law, RA 1378 (Master Plumber) and upgrade it to Plumbing Engineer. For one who has reached a big milestone in his career, Engr. Mandy hopes to pave the way for aspiring Engineers saying, “Do not stop to acquire knowledge and new technology.”