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By Roger Suminguit (Batch '73)
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LCHS has announced its enrollment schedule for school year 2001-2002. Enrollment for old students is set on May 2-4. Entrance exam and interview for new students or transferees: May 21-22. Enrollment for new students or transferees: May 23-25. Regular classes will begin on June 4, 2001. For more information or inquiries, please see Elizabeth David, Head of Elementary Department, or Normita Alivio, Head of High School Department. Meanwhile, summer classes are now ongoing at LCHS. Classes offered in the LCHS Summer Enrichment Program are Foreign Language (Chinese), Reading Advancement, Math Improvement Drills, and Filipino Advancement, from April 16 to May 16, 2001. NEAT and NSAT enrichment, May 7-25. Also offered are Swimming Classes, Art Workshop, and Classical Guitar Lessons.
Wang
off to Kentucky
By Terry Racines (Batch ’67)
Joy Honeylet Dy Wang (Batch '96), daughter of Johnny and Chiok Hian Dy-Wang (Batch ‘69), graduated from the University of San Carlos in Cebu last March 2001 with a degree in E.C.E. Joy is hired by Lexmark International of Cebu City and will be sent to Kentucky, U.S.A. for a two-month training together with 28 other recruits in late April this year.
Groundbreaking
set on May 6
By Janet Lee Tan (Batch '69)
The officers and members of the Resurrection of Our Lord of the Chinese-Filipino Catholic Community of Iligan City (formerly The St. Michael's Filipino Chinese Catholic Community) are pleased to announce the groundbreaking ceremonies of its Formation Center and Chapel on May 6, 2001. The site, situated near LCHS in Pala-o, was bought last year from the heirs of Dr. Uy for P2 million. Religious dignitaries and the Chinese Filipino Catholics in Iligan are invited to grace the occasion, which will begin with a concelebrated mass to be officiated by Bishop Emilio Bataclan. The Community is led by Rev. Fr. Daniel Sormani, C.S.Sp., community priest; Henry Siao, chairman; Edwin Co, president; Richard Sy, internal vice president; Liza Ang, external vice president; Beng Hong and Shirley Vy, secretaries; Henry and Juanita Siao, finance; Alexis Natividad, catechism; Pacho and Elaine Bartolome, liturgy. Council members include Joy Chastine Co, Rudy Co, Elena Lim, Jose Lim, Calixto Tan, and Janet Lee Tan. The first phase of the Center is expected to be completed before the end of the year through the generosity of kind-hearted people. Please contact any of the members if you wish to offer any amount of donation for the completion of this ambitious project, which will be the first chapel for the Chinese Filipino Catholics in Iligan City.
(Editor's Note: Correction on news item, "LCHS Honor Roll," in our April 9, 2001: Jane Dale Racines is proceeding to Manila to study at the Ateneo de Manila University, while Sheila Vy is going to enroll at the La Salle University, Manila.)
Alumni
news roundup
"Tracers" this week scooped up a few quick updates of
interest to LCHS alumni. James Y. Gaite, now a successful
dermatologist in Cebu, is one of the owners of the Yo!Latino Bar.
Yo!Latino is situated among the cluster of trendy bars and classy bistros
in Cebu's newest and most popular entertainment hub fronting the Waterfront
Hotel in Lahug called The Village. Tracers spotted a recent hometown
visitor in Iligan. She's Virginia Ngo (Batch '67), a prominent figure
in women's volleyball at LCHS in the 60s. She now lives in Ubay, Bohol,
with her husband and children. While in Iligan Virgie had a dinner get-together
with her batch mates organized by Terry Racines (Batch '67) last
April 16. Sy Beng Gui (Batch '57), owner of SBG Mercantile, held
a grand birthday party last April 15 in Iligan. Some 200 guests and
family members graced the occasion. Spectrum staffer Peter Dy
(Batch '66) and his wife Mansueta are back in Iligan after spending several
months with their children at their home base in Edmonton, Canada.
Peter arrived home last April 15 in time to provide reinforcement in the
campaign of his brother Henry Dy (Batch '64) for vice mayor of Iligan
in the forthcoming May 14 election. Tracers enjoins all fellow alumni
to help Henry Dy in his campaign. His victory will be the pride of
LCHS.
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Life's
Journey
By Henry L. Yu, M.D. Batch '69 ![]() |
We All Started That Way
A 79-year old lolo sits down comfortably on his favorite rocking chair listening to some old songs, while the lola does some needleworks. A 59-year old father reads the newspaper while sipping his second cup of coffee. The mother prepares a hearty breakfast of longganisa, danggit, scrambled egg, and fried rice while humming her favorite tune of “Matud Nila.” A 26-year old fine lady readies herself for her office while Junior cleans his magenta red Honda Civic. It’s now a quarter before 8:00 in the morning and everybody’s busy attending to their day’s agenda – the maid to the market, the lavandera washing clothes to catch up with the sun’s gleam, little Pepe eating hurriedly, while Pilar plays jackstones and Nena with her Barbie dolls.
All these are common sights that we see in a typical Filipino family day in and day out. But what we see is only the present. What about their past? What were they like years before? How did they go about the daily rounds of life and living? Yes, today, we see them as they are. But once upon a time, they too were just like anybody else who came into this world after being delivered from the womb of their mother who painstakingly bore the rigors of a nine-month pregnancy. They entered school. Met classmates and made friends. Learned their ABC, 123, and other such nursery rhymes and songs. They graduated from the elementary, high school, then college. They worked, earned, and saved for the future. Then they decided to marry that one person who has made their heart go a-flutter. They became parents themselves. And the rest is history.
Truly, WE ALL STARTED THAT WAY. Some walked thru the rough roads of life, while others rode their way to school with chauffeur in uniform. Others wear name brand apparels while some contend themselves with clothes in all their faded glory bought from the “ukay ukay” area somewhere. Regardless of what we have become today, all of us passed thru that stage called childhood – innocent, carefree, noisy, naughty, alive and kicking. Now, take a look at the way a person walks, talks, laughs, or acts. That typical stance is still there, right? What we are today we owe it to our past – our upbringing, our orientation, the environment where we grew up from, the neighbors we played with, the school we went to, the classmates we loved and fought with. We are what we have been. Some of us may have gone thru a lot of hardship and sacrifices along the way which has made us better persons, while some whose meals were served on a silver platter turned out to be black sheep or shame and scandal in the family.
Challenges in life have poked such great influences as to what we have become today. Whether you are a top executive or a laborer at pier 4, a good looking print ad model or somebody whose face only a mother can love, we all share the same things in common, like: the need to eat, to move our bowels, to sleep, to drink and be merry, to get sick, and to be problematic as problematic can be, with certain dilemmas in life which sometimes come by the dozen either simultaneously or one after the other, thus leading us to nowhere, not knowing what to do, no solution but to end life once and for all. But who among us in this world has no problems? Ah, there are a lot of them somewhere out there, sleeping in heavenly peace, lying down with eyes closed forever without the breath of life. Would you like to join them or would you rather continue livin’ la loca vida amidst turmoil, chaos, pandemonium, labor strikes, and rallies? Life is like taking a multiple choice type of exam where we have to follow instructions carefully, choose only the best answer, erasures not allowed, and cheating will be dealt with accordingly.
Have you ever thought of how lucky and blessed we are even amidst heavy downpours, flood, brown-outs, and other such temporal inconveniences? The mere fact that we are able to wake up and see the dawning of another day is enough blessing to thank God for, to witness the sunrise, rainbows, bluebirds in the sky, and the refreshing wind blowing right into our system.
So, as we take another step towards life today, let us all remember
that we are not the only ones with problems. For always, there are those
who have more, just as there are those who have less because they now know
how to face them, made calloused thru experience. As we climb the ladder
of life, there will always be lessons to learn from. Wake up to the realization
that, afterall, “Life is what we make it.” So it’s all up to us – whether
to take it or break it. But if I were you, I’d live every minute of life
fully, joyfully, with thanksgiving and a song in your heart. Definitely,
life is beautiful.
Straight
from the Heart
By Marie Janiefer Q. Lee Batch '87 ![]() |
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Summer Getaway
Summer has officially started. With the temperature here rising each day, one can never avoid thinking of a place to run to just to get out of this simmering heat in the city. A few weeks ago when I started feeling like a butter in a frying pan, I knew that summer is inevitably here. Summer of 2001.
If you’re thinking of a cool place, I mean a place cooler by a few degrees compared to the rest of the Philippines, and Baguio seems too far and could be too crowded this time of year, why not try Tagaytay?
Tagaytay is a place just an hour and a half away from Manila. If you’re trying to figure out what is there in Tagaytay that we used to discuss in Social Studies, well, it’s Taal Volcano, a small volcano in the middle of a lake. I know this is nothing exciting if you’re looking for an adventure this summer vacation. But if being in a crowd all year round is giving you some dizzy spells and headache then go there and just laze around the whole day.
Before, we used to just drive up to Tagaytay on a lazy Sunday afternoon just to get some fresh, cool air since we didn’t know what else to do there until somebody told us that we should take the kids to the mini zoo at the Residence Inn. So we did just that. Then later we learned that it’s fun to stay overnight there, and enjoy the feel and the sight of real fog. So two weeks ago when the whole Metro Manila was experiencing some blackout for hours and hours, we decided to find refuge at Tagaytay. And we came home learning a little bit more about the place and loving it even more.
We were thinking that if we couldn’t get a room anywhere we would just sleep in a tent and enjoy the free and natural air condition. But luck was on our side on that moonlit night. We decided to try this resort we passed by on the highway, the Villa Estancia. There we got a room for the night. As we were led down to where our room was, a whole new facet of Tagaytay unfolds before our eyes. The rooms or cottages are located in a slope overlooking the lake. And that night with our path just guided by the moonlight, it was like stepping into an enchanted place. I had to look at the name of the resort again to make sure it wasn’t Villa Enkantasia.
All we could see were those tiny lights of the little towns around the lake, aside of course from the millions of stars above. While walking towards our cottage, I was thinking that being almost midnight, I hoped that this was all real and not some tricks played on us by some night fairies out there. Or that we were not hypnotized by those crickets or whatever was making all those noise that very still night.
All night long I couldn’t wait for the morning to come so that we could explore the rest of the resort. After a hearty breakfast via room service, we started out by visiting the pool. It was so inviting that we decided to give in. We spent the rest of the morning just soaking ourselves in the pool. I just realized that what seems like a small inn from the highway is really a big resort. It seems like what we saw from the road was just the tip of the iceberg.
So this summer, if you need a nice and quiet place away from the sound of the city, try visiting Tagaytay. I’m sure you’ll love it there so much so that you wouldn’t want to leave the place either. And by the way, it’s not really that expensive. Our room at Villa Estancia cost us only P2,800.00 for a night, and this includes free use of all their facilities.
And just a reminder: Since you should pass through Manila first before
going to Tagaytay, please don’t forget to give me a call. Your trip won’t
be complete without saying “hi” to me.
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moody
BLUES, 14221
By Ernesto L. Yu, M.D. Batch '65 ![]() |
ZIP 2 NEW DREAMS: With Spaceship Spectrum circling in orbit under the compass of TGIF cosmonaut Henrio, what a break to restructure the title of my byline with a proportioned mix of alphabets and numbers. Yes, 14221 is Williamsville's (a suburb 20 minutes by car from Buffalo) postal code. I have always been mesmerized by numeric anatomy, especially the enticing curves in #2: Got 2 eyes, ears, nostrils, elbows, hands, feet and 2 ... never mind! Number 2's sway cultivates sensations that make me so alive. A series of 2s should shape me in a sort of a pumped-up Rocky, ready to show off stiff and hard blows to the smooth sky. So, hear ye, hear ye, Dateline Buffalo is officially nailed down to Forgotten Land, whether it has your nod or I hit a false note. Moody Blues, on the other hand, aptly projects my habit of flooding a column with random sweet nothings and idle talks out of the mood and the blues that lift my pen. Can't extract the bundled dreams in the mating of vowels/consonants and math derivatives?
Swing your mood with my blues just outside Buffalo.
DEFROSTING ICED DINOSAUR: Fittingly, a worn-out scent deserves a new hit of aromatic potpourri. Henceforth, I will depart from my traditional style of juggling literary entries. A breather from the old grind. Positive bonuses? Less taxing to a gray matter that exhibits a melted cheese texture and an effortless way to dress main ideas in skimpy details: less sentences, less thinking, less deadline chasing. Moreover, I would appear like a dug-out inhabitant from the ancient dinosaur era, bulked up with sparkling brain power even if, in truth, my memory has become a culture medium for laughing molds.
At least, I still remember the next move when armed with spoon and fork.
SINGING BEAR FOR BEERS: With less drives spent squeezing columnists’ butts for their biweekly promise of paragraphs and punch lines, former Spectrum marvel Charlie is like a hunchback who is suddenly relieved of its anatomical distortion, ambulating in breezy strides, as erect as anyone frequenting Cebu’s karaoke joints. Just visualizing the troubleshooting he has to tack on his back - hustling to grab the freshest hometown press releases, compounded by regular contributors blanking out in the last minute - is enough disaster to color his hair gray. I won’t be stunned if he’s been spotted in a cave of beers, looking like a hibernating bear warmed by the yeasts in the brew. After four solid years of hard labor in the Spectrum camp, the guy rightfully deserves a slice of heaven.
Barmaids, watch out. The hunk is ready to eat!
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Briefs
from Down Under
By Leonardo "Eddie" Tan Batch '66 ![]() |
Crouching Martial Arts, Hidden Love Story
A month ago, we had the Oscar Award from Hollywood. What amazed me was the phenomenal success of the Chinese martial art movie, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." I watched this film during the Christmas holidays late last year. I had to travel quite a distance as this movie was only exhibited at certain cinemas specializing in ethnic pictures. But a few weeks later, this movie with a confusing title was shown in more theaters in all the suburbs due to public demand.
Except for the new computer-aided camera tricks, this martial art movie has nothing new to offer. It has the same flying acrobatics with one sword-woman against the entire village. Wang Yu did the same a generation ago. But what makes "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" so appealing to all the viewers, even to the westerners, is its hidden plots of a couple romantic love stories. Remember the top grossing “Titanic”? What makes it so successful was not the great maritime disaster but the rebellious romance of Leonardo di Caprio and Kate Winslet. This is the very same winning formula for the now immortal “Gone With The Wind.” It was not about the American civil war but the love story of Scarlett O’Hara and the two leading men. I wonder if this "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" would have been more successful had they titled it “A Love Before Time” as the same title of the song sang by Coco Lee for the movie.
Speaking of movies, there was quite a furor over the banning of the controversial Filipino movie “Live Show” which won some awards and acclaim in the film festival around European cities. Where do we draw the thin line between the freedom of expression of arts and pornography? I have not seen the picture yet. But with the free publicity the film was given through all the media, for sure some video of it will be coming our way even here in down under Sydney.
Personally, I prefer pornography than violence. Please don’t categorize me as a “dirty old man.” But pornography, when presented in a good art form, is just plain sex which is very natural. Is violence natural human behavior too? I was really aghast when I saw the movie “Hannibal.” As if my intelligence was really insulted. Imagine a man eating his own brain! Such film should be banned.
One of the words that we often hear these days with the mad cow and the foot and mouth disease in Europe is the word “quarantine.” And I was quite fascinated when I learned how it did originate. It was coined during the bubonic plague or the Black Death epidemic in the year 1346. The “doge” or duke of Venice, in order to protect his city from the plague, called his council for a meeting to find measures as to how their water city be spared. They came up with the idea of putting some check points to screen the afflicted. But how long will these check points last? A month? A year? Then someone in the council suggested 40 days as equal to the days when Jesus Christ was fasting in the wilderness. 40 days was adopted. In Italian language, 40 is “quarentina.” So check points of diseases became “quarantine” in English language.
Although, I am a couple of weeks late, I would like to welcome and congratulate our new editor - Dr. Henry Yu. My absence in the last issue was not a snub on the new Spectrum boss but it was just physically impossible for me to write after my little accident. I missed a couple of concrete steps and I went flying to the solid cement ground spraining my right hand. Dr. Dolittle from Florida sent me a very timely advice last week as I celebrated my 52nd birthday. And that is to slow down. Yes, my mind thought I am still that quick but my body is no longer that fast. So I had the fall. This column won’t be complete if I don’t give my salute to Charles Sy, the founder of this newsmagazine now circulating throughout the world, for a job well done. This Spectrum is his baby and it must be very difficult to part as editor after so many years. Must be just like a proud father giving away his beautiful daughter on her wedding day.
Greed
By Cle S. Estrera Jr., M.D.
CIM 1972
“I’ve been rich, and I’ve been poor. Believe me, rich is better.” -- Sophie Tucker
The Webster’s dictionary defines greed as a selfish desire beyond reason. The problem with this definition is that, what is beyond reason in one person could be within reason in another. It’s like the old saying, “One man’s food is another man’s poison.” So how are we to determine? Greed, like love, is a human emotion, actually more like a passion, that generates energy and drives a person to achieve more and more of what that person wants. It’s a good motivating factor. Don’t we all have the selfish desire to make as much money as we can and become rich? For the honest among us, of course, we do. That’s why we work so hard for more money because money can buy the many wonderful things and the pleasures in life. And that’s why we invest part of what we make in the stock market, real estate, business ventures, time deposit, savings account, etc., so that our money will make more money for us to secure the comfort of our future and the joy of growing old. What do you think of those deep-sea divers doing at the bottom of the ocean risking their lives? Certainly, they are not there with a desire to make a flower garden, or play hide and seek. They’re there looking for treasures and hopefully make a lot of money out of their find. Is their desire reasonable? To them, absolutely.
Thus there’s nothing wrong at all with having greed to motivate and drive us to achieve more, improve the condition of our life, and live in comfort, convenience and contentment. But like any other human emotion, we should never allow it to carry us away. Greed has a gravity all its own, and it doesn’t hesitate to pull us down into its insatiable center. Indeed problems arise when we get carried away with greed. We’ll lose sight of the purpose of life as having fun, being kind and loving, growing and giving back to others. Instead, we’ll see the purpose of life as the collection of achievements and the accumulation of possessions. And we’ll see money not as a tool for the fulfillment of our dreams, but as a symbol of prestige and power to dominate others. When greed becomes the command and control, more often than not, it ultimately leads to shame, misery, losses, disappointments, and even destruction, the way it has led Erap out of the Malacañang Palace to a justice court one of these days for prosecution.
For many years, many psychologists believe that Wall Street is driven primarily by greed. When the technology or dot.com stocks kept going up in the 1990s like they would go nowhere but up, people kept buying them despite the Fed Chairman’s warning of “irrational exuberance”. But it’s hard to feel like you’re doing wrong when you’re doing exactly what everyone else was doing. Greed represented the collective wisdom of the crowd. So, many people got carried away buying those stocks whose shares had gone up way beyond the companies’ future earning calculation. These companies have yet to make money. In fact, many of them were losing money. Then it happened – the stock market sunk like the great Titanic and is still bobbing beneath the sea looking for the bottom. To put it in another way, the dot.com bubble bursts. For many investors, it was like saying Superman is sick. America’s tech stocks – the hope and hype for the future are crushing about like wounded ducks. Many investors have now accepted the notion that the plunging market is the aftermath of an uncontrolled greed. Greed has not only led into wiping out the investors’ previous profits; it has also led to the erosion of their investment capital.
Anyway, let’s consider the story of the rabbit and the bear.
Once upon a time, there was a frog that lived in a lake all by himself. A local witch had given him special powers. One day, he finally ventured out of the lake to get his first glimpse of the world outside. The first thing he saw was a bear chasing a rabbit and so he called out to them and asked them to stop. Then he said to them: “I am a magical frog and since you are the first two animals I have ever seen, I am going to grant you both three wishes. You will each take turns using them and you have to use them now.”
The bear went first, “I would like for every bear in this forest to be female except for me.” A magical sound was heard and it was done.
Then the rabbit calmly said, “I would like a helmet.” This confused both the frog and the bear, but a magical sound was heard again followed by a flash and there, a black helmet appeared.
It was the bear’s turn again and seeing what has just happened, greed took control. “I would like for every bear in the neighboring forest to be female.” A magical sound was heard and it was done.
The rabbit went again. “I would like a fast motorcycle.” Both the frog and the bear wondered why the rabbit didn’t just ask for a lot of money with which he could buy himself a motorcycle and more. But a magical sound was heard and then a flash, and there, a shiny black Harley-Davidson appeared all of a sudden.
This time the bear has gotten carried away further with greed and could hardly wait to take his last wish. “I would like for all the bears in the world to be female except for me.” Once again a magical sound was heard and it was done.
The rabbit then put on his helmet, started up his huge-engine Harley, and said, “I wish the bear is gay.” And the rabbit took off with his Harley like a bat out of hell.
My Very First Article for the Spectrum
By Jonathan Mark N. Te
Batch 1996
The above title would probably sound like a student’s composition for a literary assignment to be submitted to Mr. Arsub Varquez. But it is what it is, my very first article written for the LCHS Spectrum. I have never done anything like this before, although I once wrote a poem that found space in the Spectrum sometime last year but which probably has never been noticed.
I have several writing experiences though. Deep in my heart, I call myself a poet, writing poems whenever any idea comes into mind. Back in my elementary school days, I used to participate in poetry contests, but never got the chance to win. Nevertheless, they were such great experiences that helped build my character and attitude towards contests. These days, I write poems about my frustrated love relationship -- a typical topic for a poet like me.
I once joined the staff of The Plumblossom, the official student publication of LCHS. It was my first time to experience how it was like to be a journalist. Back then, we had a journalism workshop. But young as I was then, I never gave that workshop my serious attention. I thought then that news articles could be written just like that, mixed with normal conversational expressions. Big mistake, because I was asked to write and rewrite my very first news article until it became our adviser’s piece and not mine. The publication continued for several years but I got discouraged at my performance that I only lasted for one school year.
I have one bright spot regarding writing though. As a student of Silliman University here in Dumaguete City, I once joined an Essay Writing Contest way back in 1998 which was participated in by only four contestants, including me. The topic was about Nutrition. I joined the contest simply because I thought I had the chance of winning at least the third place with the number of participants that joined. Luckily, or unluckily for me, I won the first place. This small achievement has since then become a centerpiece of my resume.
Today, I get a fresh start with my writing. My audience may probably be more critical than before. But it doesn’t matter. These are my thoughts. These are my opinions. And I want to share them with all the rest of my fellow LCHS alumni all over the world.
As I promised before, I would be writing something about Silliman University
and the happenings here, specially this year when it is celebrating its
Centennial Year and there sure are a lot of things to write about which
should be of interest to a lot of our readers. So, stay tuned then.
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BATCH
1963
Elsa Ang, Cebu City, tels. 253-6368, 412-6312; Catalino Benolerao
(deceased); Ursulina Bernardo, Excellent Hardware Co., 810
Reina Regente St., Binondo, Manila, tels. 217340, 211876, Easycall: 869111,
e-mail: linaesteban@starnet.ph; Samuel "Sam Bin" Dy; Jesus
Dy, 10432-16 Ave., Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6J 5N9, e-mail: Jesus.Dy@reg.gov.ab.ca,
tel. (780)-435-2607;
Dy Siok Ching, Jouil Marketing, Capitol Site,
Cebu City; Romeo "Chung Bing" Go, Manila; Virginia Hoy; Cristina
Lim, Cagayan Pacific Hardware, Osmeña Blvd., Cagayan de Oro
City, tel. 725-172; Ong Ching An (deceased); Godfrey Siao
(deceased); Leoncia Sy, Blk. 8 Lot 8, Aquamarine St., Golden
Village, Cagayan de Oro City, tel. 722-784; Manuel "Aki" Tan, Iligan
City; Miguela L. Yu (Ong), Guadalupe, Cebu City, tel. 256-1494;
Lelisa
Wong; and Flora Uy (deceased). (Next issue: Batch
1964)
The
boys of Batch '66