Lonbisco Kids

Remember the two transient students in LCHS elementary school back in the early 60s?  The brothers Juanito Tiu and Benito Tiu?  We called them the "Lonbisco Kids."  They hailed from Cebu and spent a couple of years at LCHS during their father's stint as manager of London Biscuits Company in Iligan.  Juanito, also known as Tiahn-Tsu, is now employed as manager of the Lee Garden Restaurant in Cebu City.  The younger brother, Benito, also known as Tiahn-Tsehn, lives with their mother in Inayawan, Talisay, Cebu.

Dateline Buffalo By Ernesto L. Yu, M.D., Batch '65  Ernstyu49@aol.com

Basking in the sensual glitters, gossamer illusions and vaguely degenerate air of this Nevada funhouse for the Cebu Institute of Medicine Alumni reunion (we are the Silver Jubilarians), I can't dismiss the concept of documenting the poignant details and positive energies of my rejuvenating escapade in this immortally dubbed "paradise that never sleeps" and flashing to all LCHS web explorers the diary journals of my initial touchdown in this State of jackpot and insomnia.

4:35 AM - Sipping a double cappuccino in the lobby of Treasure Islands amid the dying fanfare of slot machine aerobics and barely mobile casino devotees. This unforgiving jet lag is really doing a number on my general well-being. Back in Buffalo, if I'm frantically huffing and puffing at this early dawn, it is either I'm massively pumping blood products or orchestrating caesarian section dramas in the OR.
5:00 AM - Spotted a schoolmate who appeared as white as nicotine fog and as hairless as the moon. He elected to gravitate on the mattress rather than join me in a robust round of caffeinated idle talks. Must have been poked big-time by uncle BJ (Black Jack) to drag along a cadaverous pallor.
5:45 AM - Another hit of designer Italian coffee, courtesy of a leggy brunette. Is my heart racing erratically because this brewed potion is laced with heaven-knows-what or is the arrhythmia due to this wispy sweetie whose casual, then hearty, conversation evaporated in a blur when I recited the untold joys of overhauling his right chest prosthesis?  Oh well, Vegas' Tom-turns-Tammy pickup artists can't swallow gingerly medical-oriented feedbacks!
7:00 AM - Breakfast in a mountain of larded-up calories (eggs, bacons, ham, cheese of all grades) with unlimited refills for, practically, the price of nitroglycerine ($1.59). How can you succumb to hunger strike with all these inexpensive culinary temptations, servings of heart attack on a plate?  False alarm: a heavyweight matron almost turned dusky blue from shrimp cocktail. She gladly embraced my recommendation to gobble the sea critters one tail at a time as this is no jaw-locomotion derby.
8:30 AM - Verna, freshly buffed from scheduled shower, gracefully tangos her appetite to the buffet paradise.  Narrated the near-death crisis of the chubby Martian (clown-wide mouth!), Verna reflexly decelerated the drumbeat of her skilled mastication muscles. More squirming comrades,  more denuded foreheads plunging headlong into the food court, at Pac-Man break-neck velocity.
9:10 AM - Fourth trip to the fat farm (who's counting?).  In case an earthquake rams by,  I'm rock-heavy and stone-solid  (Sure!).  Previous choking victim wobbles by my table to return friendly tap to slow down.  I blurted out, "Discipline your own intestine, fatso!"
10:45 AM - Forced out of cafeteria in spite of kneeling appeal for one final homage to the Weight Watchers' graveyard and no-cost offer of standby help for any gagging hippos and whales.
11:30 AM - To poolside sightseeing tour (oh no, not Tammy again!). Debated silently which posteriors are structured by lasers and fortified with hormones and which slabs of meat are genetically molded.  Compelled to abandon water sport arena by possessive spouse after flunking the sobriety test to uncross my eyes.
11:59 AM - In pajama. Doubled my dose of anti-hypertensive pills for a l-o-n-g siesta with all the stunning swimming pool mademoiselles and nymphets, prancing wildly in my mind. Let me dream in peace, love. (To be continued)
 

Briefs from Down Under By Leonardo "Eddie" Tan, Batch '66 edtan@idx.com.au

I just did not understand then when over a decade ago I told my friends that I would be heading for Australia, and immediately their first reaction was: "Be careful; Australia is a racist country and the people practice discrimination."  I was advised to think twice before migrating here. But here I am on my eleventh year and I would like to say how lucky I am to have come here to a very beautiful country with its wonderful people.

From time to time, the issue of the level of immigration will come to the limelight and then fade away. It is argued that although Australia has a land mass almost as big as China it has only a population of around 18 million. To get this country moving, we need more people. And more people means more people coming from overseas. Australia will perish from the face of the earth as a nation as it has a negative population growth. Most people here love to have cats and dogs than to have children. According to them, children destroy their lifestyle or are too much a burden to their carefree life.

But an independent Federal Member of Parliament, Ms. Pauline Hanson, two years ago delivered her maiden speech at the Federal Parliament that changed forever the political climate in Australia. Her speech stirred the whole nation. She spoke of something which no other politician in this country dared to speak openly. It was about Asian migrants. She said she doesn't want Australia to be Asianized. Of course her speech brought severe attacks from all the leaders from the Government, the opposition and the minor parties. And the various ethnic organizations condemned her views. The Asian migrants started to feel they are not welcome to Australia after all.

As usual the leaders of the major parties predicted that Ms. Hanson will just fade away. Today Ms. Hanson is the leader of the third force with her One Nation Party hugging the limelight of all Australian news media - newspapers, radios and TVs. This followed her party's phenomenal success in the Queensland state election last month. Her party got 23 per cent of the total votes cast and 11 seats in the 90-seat state parliament. Never in Australian politics has a new political party been so successful in its election debut.  Her success was due to the support of many Australians who still dream of a country that will bring back the "white Australia policy" which was officially abandoned in 1972. These people want to redefine the Australian immigration policy by the color of one's skin. And the white supremacist movement here is growing day by day.

A Canadian white with his family who just arrived recently was accepted immediately as Australian. His being a Canadian was even unnoticed except for his accent. Whereas an Asian middle-aged man was asked where he learned to speak such perfect English with the familiar Australian twang. The Asian guy replied, "I ought to. I was born here and lived here all my life. I am a lawyer and I am a sixth generation Australian. My ancestors came here in mid 1800s from China."  What a contrast!

In one of her interviews, Ms. Hanson said that Australians should be consulted on the formulation of its immigration policy, in  much the same way as the owner of the house should have the right which visitors to invite. She received an instant rebuttal from a leader of the aborigines - the original Australian - that she was wroong. As aborigines did not invite the European white people but forced themselves to Australia and massacred thousands of his ancestors.

We are now at the dawn of 21st century. We are talking of globalization;  step by step dismantling the national barriers. Yet, Australia who wants to join ASEAN and claims to be part of Asia does not want Asians. These people are more vocal now. They called themselves the silent majority. How "majority" indeed remains to be seen.

There is a joke floating around: That Pauline Hanson's favorite movie is titled "101 Damn Asians".  I just hope she will remain a joke and fade away. The debate is getting uglier everyday. Is Australia going into the path of apartheid in the next millennium? I am going back home. I had already booked a seat on Philippine Air Lines. But where is the plane? PAL had stopped flying to Australia for a month now!

Sentimental Journey By Henry L. Yu, M.D., Batch '69 charlesy@durian.usc.edu.ph

Movies have always been part of our life, either as a lad, an adolescent, or even now that we have become adults.  They are one of the cheapest ways to relax, forgetting momentarily the problems of daily living.

Among the big four theaters as far as Iligan City was concerned in the '50s and '60s were: King, Queen, Century, and Premier.  They formed part of our childhood memories back in our hometown for almost half a century past.  These were the places we went to with our barkadas and classmates either after classes in the afternoon, or during Saturday afternoons, or during school hours when some of us would cut classes just to watch our favorite actors/actresses perform in the big screen.

King and Queen Theaters were owned by the Bagatans.  The former being located along Quezon Avenue, while the latter was at corner Roosevelt and Zamora Sts.  King usually showed Tagalog hits, while Queen catered mostly to Hollywood blockbusters.  In the '50s, orchestra rates were pegged at P1.00 while the balcony rates were at P3.00.  Century was located at San Miguel St. and was owned by the Gaites.  Premier was and is located along Cabili Avenue.  Obviously, among the four, only Premier has survived the passing of time.  It is still there, but for now it has become a third run theater.

The orchestra of King has this canteen located near the entrance.  It was where we bought peanuts, Kropeck, crackers, Coke, maruya, etc. The snack bar of Queen was at the lobby of the theater near the tiketera; so with that of Century and Premier.  With P5.00 in your pocket at that time, you could already have a relaxing session of watching the movies with matching snacks.  King was among the establishments gutted down in the big fire that hit Iligan on May 23, 1957.  But it has restored its building on the same site in due time until its closure in the '70s.

King was the venue of many a movies starring our favorite stars, like FPJ, Asiong Salonga (Joseph Estrada), Agent X-44 (Tony Ferrer), Agent Lagalag (Eddie Fernandez), Stella Suarez, Divina Valencia, the Sampaguita Stars '66, as well as those from LVN, Larry Santiago, Premier Production, etc.  Queen was the home of Hollywood stars like Charlston Heston, Elizabeth Taylor, Yul Brynner, Victor Mature, etc., while Century featured films of Jerry Lewis, Clark Gable, Lana Turner, etc.  Premier was another home for the Tagalog stars of the era.  All these four theaters had only electric fans to wipe away our sweat brought about by the summer heat, which we never gave importance to as we were much too focused to the wide screen with our favorite movie heroes performing the greatest actions of their lives.  Chinese films got the chance to be shown too during that time. They were usually shown either at Queen or Century.  (Continued next issue)
 

Dr. Do Little By Alex S. Rodriguez, M.D., Batch '65 alpacino_8@hotmail.com

My choice for this week is bronchial asthma or hubak because of the prevalence of this condition and the mental anguish that a patient and the family will go through. It is such a condition that is so dramatic that it will make one an instant hero or a useless M.D.

What is bronchial asthma or hubak?
1.  It is a disease marked by increased responsiveness of the trachea (wind pipe) and the bronchi to various stimuli resulting in widespread narrowing of the airways that improves either spontaneously or as a result of therapy.
2.  Status Asthmaticus is an intense, unrelenting attack that does not respond to the usual mode of therapy. This case sounds expensive because it is and needs hospitalization.

What is the pathophysiology of this disease?
There is bronchial hypersensitivity marked by reversible airway bronchospasm which causes increased mucosal edema; bronchoconstriction; production of viscous mucus which will eventually lead to increased mucus plugs; bronchial airway obstruction and overdistention of the lungs.
So you will see that at the start it is a simple reversible process thus the most imortant thing that one should remember is to treat it early rather than wait for it to get worse.

What is the incidence of this disease?
Asthma affects about 2-3% of the U.S. population and has a death rate of 1 per 100,00.  In about 50% of patients the disease begins before 10 years of age, in another 30% it occurs before age 40. During childhood there is a 2:1 male to female prevalence. This ratio equalizes during adolescence and thereafter.  Asthma is the most common chronic disease for children and adults.  (Continued next issue)

Dr. Do Little