Dr. Aresio M. Agbong began from humble beginnings years before he became the man he was today. He's no stranger to early life hardships. After all, Filipinos are known to be hardworking and resilient, overcoming life's challenges and daily battles by going above and beyond to fight poverty and for survival, he walked miles and miles before he could reach his school, suffered hunger, exhaustion, and had to do hard physical labor just to get by. With the help of his father, he supported his three younger siblings. He was a struggling young man anxious for a better life, so he looked for cheaper housing, food, and clothing options.

Dr. Aresio earned his degree in Bachelor of Arts in English in Ateneo De Davao University, Master in Education Management in University of San Agustin and earned his Doctorate Degree in Philosophy in Guimaras State University. He was married to Dr. Janice G. Agbong for 36 years and was blessed with five beautiful children, Dr. Iris Jane G. Agbong-Coates, Ms Irene Mae G. Agbong, Mr. Ivan Romeo G. Agbong, Ms Ivory Grace G. Agbong-Ocon, Maed and Ms. Isabella Francoise G. Agbong.

Dr. Aresio worked as an insurance consultant, ghost writer, educator, kids apparel vendor, had his house rooms rented, vegetable seller, tutoring services, and farmer for years and profited greatly. This prompted him to pursue his dream of establishing an educational institution in Mati City, Davao Oriental, with the mission of commiting to providing excellent and accessible education through teacher training, acquisition of updated and state-of-the-art facilities, establishment of operational systems, procedures, and services toward the formation of responsible and morally upright graduates.

On the surface, Dr. Aresio M. Agbong, the founder of the Mati Polytechnic College INC, Colegio De Caraga INC and Cateel Institute of Arts and Technology was an accomplished educator with over 50 years of experience in the technical-vocation and tertiary education sectors. He always ensured the viability of all his assets. He was so efficient at his job that he considered himself a "workaholic". He has the ability to take unhealthy situations and transformed them into healthy and thriving ones. Because of his skills, he can produce productive and long-lasting results for all his employees, students and other stakeholders.

He supervised, coordinated, and catered three non-profit schools for 30 years. People trusted and appreciated his judgements, and his opinions were highly valued. He did a lot for the community through his community outreach activities such as free education for the poorest among the poor and indigenous aspiring students, feeding programs for malnourished children, medical dental program at the Provincial Jail in Mati City, tree planting in coordination with the office of DENR, handing out clothing, school and art supplies at Macambol area in Mati City, medical supplies, water and food packs during Yolanda, and hygiene kits during the onset of COVID-19. No monetary assistance given by the government, Dr. Aresio used his personal money to aid the poor and the needy. His works were acknowledged by the Department of Social Welfare and Development Region XI for three consecutive years now.

Before he passed away at the age of 65 in 2020, one thing that Dr. Aresio taught all of us was "Nothing is impossible. With hard work, faith, and perseverance you can do anything and everything. All it takes is your pure heart and guts to achieve glory.”