IN THIS ISSUE: News | Editors' Notes | Column | Spectrum Staff Box

LCHS Enrolment Hits 300th Mark
By Igdono Caracho

Enrolment at LCHS hit past the 300th mark this schoolyear with 324 students.

Information gathered from Perfecta Uy, LCHS faculty member, shows that the high school department registered 50 students; elementary department, 156 students; kindergarten, 79; Nursery, 10; and special classes, 29.

The population is expected to increase further as the school was still processing late enrolments as of June 7.

Of the high school population of 50, First Year has 16 students (8 boys, 8 girls); Second Year, 16 (7 boys, 9 girls); Third Year, 11 (6 boys, 5 girls); and Fourth Year, 7 (all girls).

The population in the elementary department is broken down as follows: Grade I, 40 students; Grade II, 27; Grade III, 20; Grade IV, 29; Grade V, 22; and Grade VI, 18.

Kindergarten department: Kinder I, 35; Kinder II-A, 28; and Kinder II-B, 16.

The LCHS English Department is headed by Antonio Kapao; while head of the Chinese Department is William Tayunan. Mr. Tayunan was formerly with the Iloilo Chinese Commercial High School. The present Acting School Director of LCHS is Henry Siao.

3 Xiamen Teachers Join LCHS

Three new Chinese teachers from Xiamen, China, are joining the teaching staff of LCHS this schoolyear. They were reported to be arriving in Iligan on June 7. They will be handling higher Chinese language classes.

Enrolment at LCHS started last May 6 but as of last week late enrolees were still trekking in. Classes officially started last June 2.

The current tuition fees per semester are: P4,760 for Nursery; P3,620 for Kindergarten I & II; P3,865 for Elementary; and P4,715 for High School.

Alumni Ass'n Grants Scholarship
By Johnny T. Chen

The LCHS Alumni Association recently granted scholarship for this semester to two LCHS students.

The scholarship provides for 50% free tuition instead of full scholarship as originally planned. The reason was because the fund intended for the purpose was still insufficient for a full grant.

The Association's scholarship program was launched last year to aid deserving students of LCHS. Up till April this year the Association had been conducting a fund-raising campaign among various business establishments and concerned individuals who believed in the noble cause of the project.

The mechanics of the program is to place the principal fund in a high-yielding bank account. Interest earnings generated from this deposit will be earmarked to provide scholarship to deserving students of LCHS. The grant was supposed to officially start in the second semester of this schoolyear when substantial interests shall have accumulated to adequately fund the scholarship.

However, as early as this semester, the Association has already been receiving requests for scholarship despite the meager fund generated in the bank deposit. For this reason, the alumni Board of Directors decided to implement the program now instead of next semester, as originally scheduled, with an initial 50% scholarship grant to the beneficiaries.

3 LCHS Alumni Pass Board Exams
By Johnny T. Chen

Three more LCHS alumni recently turned professionals after successfully passing the board examinations.

Sharon Lim, who was an LCHS student until First Year high school, made it to the 12th place in the results of the recent CPA examinations. She is the daughter of Rosalia Chiong and the late Carlos Lim (Batch '67).

Rudyliza Soy (Batch '92) also passed the recent board exams for CPA, while another alumnus, Oliver Booc, son of Rufino Booc, successfully hurdled the Bar exams.

Dy Clan to Hold Grand Reunion

Families of the Dy Un Suy clan are all heading back home this month for their grand family reunion.

The occasion also marks the 90th birthday of the clan's grand patriarch, Mr. Dy Un Suy, on July 5, 1997. The twin affair is slated to be held at the LCHS auditorium.

Arriving home in Iligan from Edmonton, Canada this June 11 are Jesus and Melania Dy. They will be followed by Peter & Tita Dy and family on June 19, also from Edmonton, Canada.

Dr. Johnson & Irenia Dy, along with Dr. Greg & Mary Dy, together with their children, are scheduled to arrive in Iligan on June 29, from Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.

LCHS Directory

We are in the process of compiling a roster of LCHS alumni which, when completed, will form Spectrum's alumni directory classified according to batches for publication in our future issues.

In the absence of LCHS yearbooks, we just have to start from scratch, plus lots of help from fellow alumni.

For this reason, we are soliciting the help of our readers to provide us with their inputs. We need our readers to e-mail us (a) the names of their classmates as far back as they can recall; (b) the year of their batch; and (c) current postal or e-mail address of classmates, if available.

This is a slow, tedious process. But with the help of our readers, we are positive we can see this project through.

A Little Help from a Little Whiz

In case our readers are wondering who might be behind the job of diligently encoding our text inputs, designing and translating every issue of the Spectrum to html format for posting on the Internet, we wish to let it be known that the work was done not by your editors but by a 10-year-old computer whiz kid.

From the maiden issue up to our current issue, all text encoding, web page formatting and uploading of the Spectrum were done singled-handedly by a Grade-V class president of the Cebu Bethany Christian School. He is Derwin Dexter Sy, son of LCHS alumnus Nelson Sy (Batch '64). Those interested in web page authoring may browse another output of Derwin's works on his own home page at this site: http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/9490

Editor's Note:
Starting this issue, the column below will feature our sentimental past about the Iligan of yesteryears, as I remember it. Iligan will always be a part of life to me simply because it is the very city of my birth (Thursday, April 3, 1952); it is the city where LCHS is...and LCHS is the school which made me what I am today.

May 23, 1997 marks the 40th year since the big fire reduced the city of Iligan to a mass of rubbles in 1957.

I was then a lad of five. It was a simmering Thursday afternoon forty summers ago. I was with my family aboard a maritime vessel coming in from Dumaguete City. From the distance what greeted us as our ship approached the harbor was a cloud of dark smoke darkening the sky. A big fire was eating up the city, we were told.

Poor us! We disembarked only to discover that we no longer had a place to stay. Subsequently, like many other fire victims, we sought shelter at our alma mater (the unforgettable Lanao Chinese High School) which was to become our abode for a month or so. Soon after that we transferred to the new site of our grocery-cum-residence near the city cemetery. That was where I stayed for the rest of my kindergarten year in 1958.

In time, life returned to normal and so did our school days. I remember our lady principal (Haw-Tio Niu) touring us around Iligan's green scenery on board the ubiquitous, yellow-orange LCHS school bus driven by Nicomedes. Our lady principal would point to a particular animal, and we would chorused "Ah, neow si gooh!" ("Ah, that's a cow!") From her, we also came to learn such nursery rhymes as "Hau-Chiah Lai Loh" ("The School Bus Has Arrived") plus a few other equally memorable children's melodies.

1959 - I was in Grade One under Miss Tagaro. By this time we had moved to another new site of our grocery cum residence located at #63 Washington Street (now Aguinaldo Street). Jimmy Wong Ling was my neighbor, classmate and best friend. Along with other neighbors (the Jariols, the Bargas, and the Dys), we played jolen, lastiko, patintero, kundisi, tago-tago, basketball, and see-saw often with runny nose and shirt sleeves stained as we wiped our sweaty foreheads with them. These were the days when neighborhood chums like Peter Dy, Mike Ong, Charles Sy, the Rodriguez brothers (Boy, Jaime, and Alex), Jimmy Ling, Beng Hong Vy, Chiok Hian Dy, Charita Sia, Jesus Chan, would frequent our backyard to join us at play.

In Grade One, our class first honor student was Alice Ngo-Militante (now a pediatrician, married to Engr. Pete Militante of Cebu City); second honor was Adelfa Tan-Dy (now a businesswoman, married to Peter Dy of Manila); and I was the third honor (now an internist, married to Virginia Ting, with two daughters Hazel Valerie, 9 years old; and Hannah Victoria, 6 years old).

It often came to us as a big thrill to browse the roll of honor students with their corresponding grades prominently posted on the bulletin board outside the faculty office near the school bell. I still remember the names of honor students of the other classes then: Helen Ngo-Lim, Dy Sun Lay, Lucio Choa Tan, Wilson Lim, Teresita Siao, Vy Sio Tin, Elizabeth Lim, etc.

And who could ever forget our daily flag-raising rituals at the front yard of the faculty office? At the sound of the bell, all of us would troop to the flag ceremony area to the blaring tune of martial march emanating from the school's vintage phonograph. There we all assembled and stood single-file for the flag ceremony led by designated flag-bearers. After which would follow the Panatang Makabayan (Patriotic Pledge) and announcements.

Our school principal then (in the English Department) was Miss Amparo Villaruel (who up to now has remained unmarried and is residing in Dumanjug, Cebu). I do remember the dance numbers we performed during school programs. My constant dancing partner was Adelfa Tan-Dy. There was also Rosalina Tiu paired with Jimmy Wong Ling, Alice Ngo-Militante with Antonio Leo Te, and Chiok Hian Dy-Wang with Timmy Tan. We were the regular dance teams in our class. I remember that time when we were looking for a barong Tagalog and maong pants for our Sarung-bangge dance part. And where else would we go to shop for these items in those days? Padilla Quality Store and Oro Bonito. And for our shoes, there was the popular Dy Cham Shoe Store.

Our rehearsals were held on stage at the LCHS auditorium. There was also our Haw-Tio Niu on the piano while we did a chorus. I remember the choral group of Vivina Chiu, Virginia Handumon, Jesus Dy, Mila Yu, Ursulina Bernardo, Sio Tee Dy, Bonifacia Co, among others, singing "sepadidoda.." and the itik-itik folk dance of those students ahead of our class. From the school's Glee Club, under the baton of Ramonita "Bebe" Siao, songs like "Vaya Con Dios" and "Pahaloka Ko Day" became enshrined in our memories.