Internet Newsletter of the Alumni of Lanao Chung Hua School Vol. 4, No. 9, July 24, 2000, Iligan City, Philippines 10 DAYS TO GAH All set for grand homecoming By Teresita Racines (Batch '67) All is set for the 1st LCHS Grand Alumni Homecoming (GAH) on Aug. 3-5, 2000. After months of preparations and marathon meetings, LCHS-AA officers and the various GAH committees are now poised to roll out the red carpet as alumni from different parts of the world begin their journey home starting this week. Aside from those who registered themselves in advance, many more are expected to show up and register for the GAH on site come Aug. 3. Among the latest additions to the advanced registration list, as of July 20, 2000, are: Fernando Chin; Antonio Chan; Alexander Samson; Aida Andaquig;  Ester Tan; Dionisio Chiu; Florentina Tan Sagario; Philip Lee; Elizabeth Yap Navera; Emma Yap Matiao; Benjohnson Siao; Marianilla Wong Sasil; Norma Siao; Joy Kathleen Siao; Mark Stanley Siao;  Sergio Siao; Helenita Sim Tan; Marciano Tan; Eddie Rodriguez; Bonifacia Co Go; Ursulina Bernardo Esteban; Cherrie Anne Lim; Remedios Ong Uy; Remedios Tan Wee; Charmaine Molo; Aida Chow Ipili; Joel Jo; Catalina Handumon Dagohoy; Kho Siok We; Sio Hua Vy-Tan; Arthur Y. Dy; Sy Chu Eng; and Florcita Tiuhuan Sy.

EDITORIAL STAFF Charles O. Sy, Editor Henry L. Yu, Associate Editor Correspondents: Iligan - Johnny Chen, Teresita Racines, Vinson Ngo, & Roger Suminguit. Cebu - Igdono Caracho. Metro Manila - Marie Janiefer Lee. Canada - Peter Dy & Mike Lee. Australia - Leonardo Tan. U.S.A. - Ernesto Yu, Alex Rodriguez, Aurora Tansiokhian, & Alfred Lai II. Founded Aug. 1, 1968. Published fortnightly since its revival on April 15, 1997. Distributed free on the Internet to LCHS alumni and supporters worldwide. Postal address: LCHS Alumni Association, Lanao Chung Hua School, Pala-o, Iligan City, Philippines. Website: http://www.iligan.com/~lchs/alumni/ For subscription, contact: Johnny Chen, Tel. No. (063) 221-3883. Email: johnchen@iligan.com For submission of manuscripts, Email: charlesy@cnms.net

All roads lead to Iligan City for the Grand Alumni Homecoming starting next week.  Most alumni in Cebu, led by area coordinator Roderick Ngo, are set to leave for Iligan via Cagayan de Oro on Aug. 2, Wednesday, aboard M/V Our Lady of Fatima of the Cebu Ferries Corporation, at 8:00 p.m.  Others, travelling by air, may book themselves with Asian Spirits, from Cebu via CdeO, on the 9:30 a.m. flight, on Aug. 3.  A few others will leave ahead of time by taking Cebu Pacific Air on Aug. 1, from Cebu via CdeO, on the 8:10 a.m. flight.  Meanwhile, alumni from abroad have started arriving home.  Spectrum staff member Mike Lee (Batch '66) arrived in Iligan from Edmonton, Canada, last July 18 together with his family (accompanying photo at right shows Mike and his two kids).  Greg Dy (Batch '59) arrived in Cebu from Chicago, U.S.A., last July 21 for the PMAAI convention, of which he is the convention chairman.

Go-Debalucos nuptial in Cebu
By Igodono Caracho (Batch '66)

Jonna Marie Debalucos and Gerry Go were married last July 8 at the Sacred Heart Church, Cebu City.  Jonna Marie is a dentist and daughter of Nicomedes "Kim Huat" Debalucos ( Batch '66) and Lucia L. Debalucos.  The bridegroom, Gerry, is the son of Alfredo and Luisa Go of Cebu City. Among the dignitaries who stood as principal sponsors of the newly-weds were Councilor Henry Dy and Esterlita Dy. Reception followed at the grand ballroom of the Montebello Villa Hotel.

OBITUARY
Francisca Handumon passes away
By Alfredo N. Lai (Batch '59) & Igdono Caracho (Batch '66)

Francisca Sy Handumon, grand matriarch of the Handumon clan in Iligan City, passed away last July 18.  She was 94 years old.  She will be laid to rest on Sunday, July 23, at the Iligan Chinese Cemetery.  Her children are Vicente Handumon (deceased), father of Alex, Larry and Vince (all in the U.S.A.); Shiela H. Moreno (Iligan City); Jaime Handumon (now residing in Cagayan de Oro); Roberto Handumon (Jasa-an, Mis. Or.); Lilia Handumon (Iligan); Virginia H. Te (Iligan); and Melania H. Wong (Iligan). Alex Handumon is scheduled to arrive in Iligan on July 22, while Larry will arrive on July 25.

Alumni whereabouts

"Tracers" paparazzi squad spent a few trips hitching along with the recent GAH campaign in Cebu and Iligan.  The trips reaped a harvest of fresh info on alumni whereabouts. LCHS-AA past president Calix Tan (Batch '57) recently spent a vacation in the U.S.A., where he visited his sister Aurora Tansiokhian (Batch '58) in Bunn Hill, Upstate New York.  Aside from being a doctor and a columnist of the Spectrum, Aurora is also connected with the medical corps of the U.S. Armed Forces with the full rank of colonel. That makes her the highest ranking LCHS alumna in the military service.  Currently away on separate vacations in the U.S.A. are Conchita Te Ong (Batch '61) and Charito "Un Huy" Go (Batch '61).  Remember Remedios Tan-Wee (Batch '64), elder sister of Pablito and Marciano Tan, et al?  She lives  in Cotabato City, where she manages Airtime Ticketing, Travel and Tours.  Her husband was the late Lorenzo Wee, with whom she has 4 children, 3 boys and 1 girl.  Anyone in need of digital services can contact Brendon Vy Co,  son of Sio Eng Vy-Co (Batch '59).  Brendon is connected with a high-tech outfit called Animadigimagic, University of San Carlos Technological Center, Talamban, Cebu City.  They do linear editing, multimedia (interactive CD, enhanced CD, etc.), comic illustration, audio recording, 3D/2D animation, web page design, and VHS to CD conversion. Our congratulations to Jimmy Co Kepte on the blessing and inauguration of his new Kepte Commercial warehouse at Pala-o, Iligan City, last July 16.

Thanks for the visit
Sun, 09 Jul 2000 17:32:59 +0800

I really appreciate your visit along with the GAH officers at my office at the Cebu Eastern College last June 24, and for updating me with the latest news of LCHS alumni. Thanks so much for including me in the Spectrum mail list.  --Kho Siok We, former LCHS Chinese faculty member, Cebu, Philippines, ksw@pacific.net.ph

All of us here in Cotabato City were ecstatic to hear that we will be holding a Grand Alumni Homecoming on August 3-5, 2000. It is so amazing that we can rekindle anew those unforgettable activities we once shared with one another at LCHS. Jet load of thanks to those who work so hard to make this event come true! Honestly, this long awaited Grand Homecoming is indeed so exciting and worth a journey.  See you all very soon!  --Remedios Tan Wee (Batch '64), Cotabbato, Philippines, airtime168@hotmail.com

Editors On Leave
Spectrum editors will be on leave during the week of the GAH from Aug. 1 to 6.  There will be no issue of the Spectrum on Aug. 7.  Our issues for the month of August will be on Aug. 14 and 28.  These two issues will feature our coverage of the GAH, including news round-up, commentaries, evaluation and photos of the three-day festivities.

Special Reunion Issue
The Spectrum will have a Special Reunion Issue on July 31, 2000.  This issue will be reproduced in printed format by the GAH Secretariat for distribution to all GAH-registered alumni as part of their GAH kit on Aug. 3, 2000.

GAH Message Board
The Special Reunion Issue features a  "GAH Message Board."   Alumni who are unable to attend the GAH are invited to post their greetings on the occasion of the GAH or messages for fellow alumni at the GAH on this message board.  Address your messages to: charlesy@i-cebu.com.ph, and indicate the following heading "For GAH Message Board" on the subject line of your email.

Spectrum Staff Reunion
The Spectrum staff will have a get-together on Aug. 3, 2000 at a luncheon to be tendered exclusively for the Spectrum by the LCHS-AA officers and directors at 12:00 noon at the Cheradel Suites.  All staff members are enjoined to attend this gathering.  This will be the first time for many members of the staff to meet each other in person.  Staff members will also have the opportunity to exchange ideas with the LCHS-AA officers on their involvement and experiences in the Spectrum. We will also share our vision and plan for the Spectrum in the years up ahead.  Regular contributors of the Spectrum will also be invited to this affair.

By Ernesto L. Yu, M.D., Batch '65

If you leisurely browse through the English language, there is a good statistical probability you'll score a hit that keeps on throbbing with the words "Stolen Moments." This lovely pair could bog you down in predictable sentimentality if you equate the catch phrase to an unrehearsed chirp of love in the afternoon or a coincidental whistling of the same cooing serenade in the park . On the other hand, the two words can tap into the upper limits of your fear threshold and manufacture a quivering jelly out of your manic energy if you are abnormally susceptible to spine-tingling terms like "hijack" and "ransom notes."

At any rate, depending on the mood swing of your hormone clock, stolen moments is an inseparable duo that is here to linger and be an active terminology particle in our daily vocabulary. Unquestionably, it is a by-product of fresh lingos that currently flood our new millennium psyche.

Our Grand Alumni Homecoming is a downright model of such harmony between an adjective and a noun. For those of us who love to pine for the exuberant remnants of the LCHS past, the wondrous yesterdays that we temporarily shove off the shelves due either to diverse personal goals or good/cruel circumstances, our reunion soups up a pot of stolen moments for everyone to soak into and sigh, "Yes, this is the life I have been missing!" It is the tantalizing flash in time when we can sieve the charred ashes of wonderfully charming tales under the LCHS banner of shimmering sun and glowing moon, to learn to cherish the rhythm in the rain, to distill poetry and melody out of the plain verses and lyrics of genuine handshakes and hugging hellos, to affix back into loveliness the vital ingredient "love" that makes breathing worth the cycle of inhale and exhale. It is the day in the sun for those bored-to-the-bone-with-daily-little-deaths who harbor an unflagging craze for memoirs.

Personally, it is a marker in my life where I revisit the old heavens for the army of angels I left behind: teachers, buddies, heroes, sweet pals, drool-only inspirations who intermittently inject social dazzle and infuse healing warmth to my reveries of the last 35 years. It is the ultimate "now" to stretch to each of these remarkable souls, while time stands still, the singing rainbow that they composed and sprinkled into my skies and the difference they implanted into my orbit that molded me into what I am today. It is a segment of a daydream where I can amble with species (endangered, extinct, never mind) of my Stone Age along the ancient familiar marching echoes that, once allowed to pulsate, would invariably saturate the airwaves with cracking noises of arthritic joints and smokers’ coughs. Furthermore, it is a phase where I can trade intro remarks with a breed of younger alumni who reigned the LCHS campus just when I evaporated from the rock'n'roll clouds with the Beatles. Likewise, it is the click of a new beginning to accept welcome whispers from the crawling babies who later populated our alma mater when I was already engrossed in cadaver dissection in med school as a hobby.

For the privilege to be exposed to such stolen moment, I can only wish that a chance encounter like this just don't melt away without imprinting enduring footprints, traces that will make me yearn, against anything else in this world, to make a habit of "flying back south" even if it demands almost a day of tormenting hops from one airport to another and nauseating doses of motion sickness. After all, traveling back to my dear birthplace in Iligan is not entered in my book as another summer vacation trip.

It is a stolen moment to come home.

By Marie Janiefer Q. Lee, Batch '87

Three's a crowd but two's company.  That's how I see most of the bestfriend pairs in our time. I don't know if it was "opposites attract" thing because most of the pairs I remember were really opposite from each other in one way or the other. There's the quiet and noisy, tall and short, fat and thin pairs, to name a few.

Among the bestfriend-pairs are Chester Dy and Warren Lim. They were one of those thin-and not thin tandems. I can still remember when we were in elementary school how inseparable Chester and Warren were.  They would bike together, they were perennial partners for badminton doubles, and they went to the same tutor after school. Though they fought, too, which was always a very tearful event, they would manage to make up instantly afterward.

On weekends they would still be together.  They would go to our house and teach Joan and me how to ride a bike.  Those free lessons not only taught us how to ride a bike finally, it also gave my sister Joan the taste of swimming in the "canal" in front of our house, aside of course from the skinned knees and elbows that we've collected during those free sessions. It was very unforgettable.

The other pair would be Romeo Sy and Benedict Co, or Meo and Bonbon to us.  They were the tall and not-so-tall, noisy and quiet team. Meo was the silent type while Bonbon was the not-so-silent type. Meo was the tall one while Bonbon was the not-so-tall one (I'd rather not use "short" because I know he must be taller than me now). Back in high school, wherever one went the other one would always be nearby.  If Meo always had calculated moves, Bonbon on the other hand moved without calculation. Whenever we had our "mopit" writing time, expect the unexpected from Bonbon.  If you haven't seen a person with "o-bak" all over his face, then you should have been in our class.  Some times it was even all over his white polo. We would just look at him helplessly sometimes because he would have more "o-bak" on himself than on the "tai-khai."  And since he would never run out of things to say, we were already finished and he would still be at the starting position. I always wonder how the two of them got along.

The other pair would be William Cua and Ernest Uy.  They were another of those noisy-quiet duos. They were always together and they would always fall for the same girl. Much as I wanted to write down the names of the girls that used to occupy a special place in their hearts, I'd rather not or they might kill me during the reunion. Wonder how I came to know about this?  Secret!

I wonder how these pairs maintained their friendship all through these years. I sure hope that they've managed to strengthen their bond even if distance has come between them.  Come reunion time it would be my chance to see for myself how their friendship has withstood the test of time.

By Leonardo "Eddie" Tan, Batch '66

It is quite unbelievable that what was first discussed here in the Spectrum about 3 years ago is now coming to reality. Yes, it was part of the great anticipation of the magic millennium year of 2000. Why don't we celebrate the year 2000 with the first ever LCHS Grand Alumni Homecoming? That was then just a dream shared by a few writers and readers of this news magazine. Then there was a long deafening silence about the idea. I thought it was to be just like that - a dream. Then early last year, we realized that the grand reunion 2000 will become a reality after all when the LCHS-AA officially accepted the idea. And the beat goes on!

It was as if only a few weeks ago when I suggested to Charles Sy that we include a countdown by the weeks on our Spectrum web page. The idea was immediately accepted by our editor. I calculated the weeks then to be around 72 weeks more to go. Now it is only less than 2 weeks away, and we are almost there! The excitement is building up day by day!

History will be written during the August 3-5, 2000 grand affair. In its 60 years of existence, our alma mater has changed its name a few times and transferred its campus to about 3 different sites. Yet we never had a Grand Alumni Homecoming until in two weeks' time. This will be a great chapter in LCHS history, when we all will have a 3-day party with all our old friends and classmates from every corner of the globe. When will we have another chance like this?

What makes this Grand Alumni Homecoming very special is its distinction of being The First. As the years go by, there might be a second, a third, and many more with an interval of 5 years. The succeeding homecomings might become a better affair than the previous ones, but the first one will always be first in our hearts.  Like many of our "first time" experiences in various stages of our life, it will forever be unforgettable.

I will always remember my first bicycle. I still long for my first car. The thrill of my first airplane ride. You still cherish your first kiss. And how can you ever forget your first love?

So, to all those who are coming home to Iligan, let us now share two of my old favorite songs: "All my bags are packed, and I'm ready to go..." and "I took a little trip to my hometown..."  May God bless us and grant us all a very safe and wonderful trip back home!

By Aurora H. Tansiokhian, M.D., Batch '58

Medley: a mixture of tunes or themes.  And, this is my medley.

The Grand Alumni Homecoming is fast approaching.  I wish the attendants fun, joy and good will.  I would have loved seeing kin, renewing friendships, meeting the Spectrum staff, the chance to wear a formal gown and to dance the night away but it is not going to be.  My congratulations to the winners of the outstanding alumni achievers award.  We are all winners in our own ways.  To be able to laugh, love, and live well in spite of the hardships and failures of life, is to be the type of WINNER that really counts

A cherished childhood memory was when I lived with the Khos in Iligan when I attended Chinese Kinder I and II. Kho Sian (Phek Yong) was the principal and his wife, Eng Sian was a teacher.  He was an artist and a lover of plants. She was a delicate, refined, brainy beauty and was my mother's good friend. I remember Eng Sian cleaning my ears and removing a huge wax ball. How my ears ached after that major procedure! I remember the children: Ayong who became my cousin's wife, Gong Koy, Gong Gia (Luis), Wee-Ya, Bina, and An-an. Belated thanks for the kindness and for the memories.  MJP was right when she said, "what one loves in childhood stays in the heart forever."

Congratulations to Alfred Lai II.  After the Master's degree, do not stop.  Go for Ph.D..

News flash from Forbes (July 3, 2000)!  At last, medical science brings some equality to the bedroom. Men have the Viagra pill.  Women now have the Love Machine: a device (Food and Drug Administration approved) to help women with sexual dysfunction which includes a failure to become aroused, pain during intercourse, or extreme vaginal dryness.  It is called Eros Clitoral Therapy Device, invented by C. Hovland, an electrical engineer.  It works by increasing the blood flow to the clitoris.  The device, available only by prescription, looks like a computer mouse attached to a miniature funnel.  It is essentially a battery-operated vacuum.  The suction causes the area to fill with blood.  It is particularly effective with post-menopausal women.  Some consider this as the second sexual revolution, the first was the birth control pill.  The Eros CTD empowers older couples to continue their sexual relationships.

The machine retails for $360, but unlike Viagra, I would think it is reusable and under strict hygienic conditions, may even be loaned to a friend. A community love machine! Horrors.  But first, we have to be comfortable with the word clitoris.

Enough!  Enjoy the party.  And till next time.

By Henry L. Yu, M.D., Batch '69

Webster defines a novena as "a Roman Catholic nine days devotion." It is nine days more to go before our Grand Alumni Homecoming. So, I call on all LCHS alumni, here and abroad, to join me in this novena to St. Michael the Archangel, patron saint of Iligan, and all the other saints and angels.

DAY 1 - that there will be peace and order in the City of Iligan where our First Grand Alumni Homecoming will be held. We invoke upon you your mighty shield of protection from anything that will harm us.

DAY 2 - that there will be no typhoon or storm that will spoil the party of some hundreds and one who will be attending the big event. Grant us all a safe and sound trip towards the city of our youth.

DAY 3 - that the program of activities will be followed in a well organized manner. Grant that everybody will be game enough to participate in all the activities, for the sheer fun of being together again, in fellowship with one another.

DAY 4 - that we will be able to meet and reunite with our classmates, schoolmates, teachers, and friends in an environment-friendly atmosphere where one would treat each other the same way as when we were students, devoid of pride and prejudice. Grant us to be humble at all times.

DAY 5 - that we will all be happy and proud of the achievements of our outstanding alumni instead of being envious of what they have become thru the years. Grant us to accept the reality that for always there are better people than us.

DAY 6 - that we can still play the games of our youth with much vigor and enthusiasm, minus the arthritic pain and other age-related symptoms of getting old and weary. Grant us the secret of growing old gracefully.

DAY 7 - that we will always be grateful for our teachers who have made us what we are today, showing them the same honor and respect as when we were still their students. Grant us a thankful heart too for all those who have been part of our youth.

DAY 8  that we will enjoy every minute of the three-day affair, savoring the Iligan air and breeze, of fellowship and camaraderie from among all those of us who will be attending, regardless of profession or financial status. Grant us to accept everybody as part of one big happy family, being children of the same God as everybody's God.

DAY 9  that all of us will go back to our respective places of residence with much pleasure and happiness, bringing with us truckloads of fond memories that will last a lifetime. Grant us all a safe and sound trip back home.

All these we ask thru your intercessions, O dear St. Michael the Archangel, beloved patron saint of Iligan, the city where we are heading for our First Grand Alumni Homecoming. May God's grace, mercy, and peace be always with us. God bless us all as we celebrate this momentous event in our life as LCHS alumni. Amen.

The forthcoming Grand Alumni Homecoming will usher in a host of indoor and outdoor activities.  Hereunder are a few tips on stuffs that LCHS alumni may bring along with them to the GAH, the better to make their participation in the festivities an enjoyable experience.

Booth Fair.   Old photographs, basketball uniforms, school band uniforms, scout uniforms, majorette uniform, drama costumes, pennants, trophies, caps, medals, autograph albums, artworks, scrap books, theme compositions, class records, test papers, old notebooks, song books, elementary music book, Philippine Reader textbook by Camilo Osias, book straps, 45-rpm & 78-rpm records, vintage bikes, play things, gimmicks, and all the relics and memorabilia that summon everlasting images and fond memories of our glory days at LCHS.  They will all have a place for display for each batch at the Booth Fair & Exhibit at the LCHS gym on Aug. 3, 2000.

Sports & Games.   Sport buffs will do well to pack a few sport gears in their luggage, such as golf sets and tennis racquets for a few games of golf at the Iligan Country Golf Club or lawn tennis at the Bacayo Lawn Tennis Court.  Rubber shoes, topsiders, sport shorts, sweat shirts, blue jeans, and t-shirts should also come handy for a few rounds of bowling at the Midtown Bowling Lanes, and childhood games at the LCHS grounds, such as jolen, takyan, samparay, kundisi, patintero, antolihaw, bikaka, sagudsod, jackstones and tug-o-war.  A few pills of muscle relaxants in the luggage will do no harm for those of us with occasional arthritic spells.

Picnic Gear.  A tour of Iligan's famous landmarks and a picnic at Timoga spring are set for the whole day of Aug. 4, 2000.  For this, a few stuffs should come handy for the occasion, such as swimsuits and swimming gear, goggles, sun shades, caps, sun block lotions, bermuda shorts, t-shirts, sandos, sandals, rubber shoes, beach towels, and such other casual get-ups to make for a cool adventure to Iligan's great outdoors.  A bottle of serogan, alka seltzers, or anti-diarrhea pills should give some peace of mind for alumni with sensitive digestive system. Failing in this, there's always the local manghihilot who can work up some tricks.

Medical Doleouts.  Alumni physicians can do a great deal of help by bringing home a few free medical kits and stuffs to supplement the LCHS-AA donation of medical supplies to the Iligan City Government as a show of goodwill on the occasion of the GAH.  Donation is scheduled on the occasion of the turnover of a school building, courtesy of Councilor Henry Dy, to Barangay Suarez, Iligan City, on Aug. 4, 2000.

Gala Night.  This is the time to dress up for the occasion.  It's a formal dinner and grand ball in the evening of Aug. 5, 2000.   So have your formal attire ready.   Coat & tie or Barong Tagalog for the gents, and formal evening dress for the ladies.  Kids are not invited to this formal affair.  So you can leave them comfortably at home in their pajamas.

C'mon ya'll - Let's join the fun
   and meet old pals.
Take a break
   from daily chores.
Worry not
   about the fee
      having fun is worth the pay.
Worry not
   about the peace.
      God will take care of the place.
Pack your things
   and c'mon down.
GAH is here for us!
   heep heep, hurray!

It took me awhile to decide if I wanna fly 22 long and boring hours, and spend big bucks for the trip to attend the forthcoming GAH, considering the fact that we just took a 7-night Western Caribbean Cruise in March and paid my daughter's orthodontic braces this month. Well, I just have to close my eyes and go for it! I'm never worried about the peace situation in Lanao because I believe in the power of prayers and faith in God.  I figured if it's my time to go, it's gonna happen anywhere, anytime. Besides, It would be great to take a break from this daily hectic schedule and meet old classmates, friends and teachers, and to see my hometown again after all these years.

I'm packed and counting the days! SEE YA'LL!

I remember when we first transferred to Iligan from Ozamis City. The means of transportation around the city were the coney, sambar and the tartanilla. The tartanilla was the king of the road since it did not have a designated route to observe. It could take the passenger door to door, unlike the other two which had fixed routes.

When I was in college my friends used to tell me that if I was going to miss Iligan, I only had to go to Sanciangko St., where I could get to see, smell and hear the familiar hoofing sound of the horses. Though I had not done that, everytime I passed by Sanciangko St., Iligan always comes to mind.

Tartanillas are an environment-friendly means of transportation. They do not emit smog and horses' waste can be used as an organic fertilizer.  It's sad to note that people had to move faster so they opted a faster means of transportation -- the jeepneys.

For all balikbayan alumni who are taking their kids along with them for the Grand Alumni Homecoming, this is a time to let their kids have a taste of the tartanilla ride. Maybe they could say that they are in a Wild West movie.

Lincoln Not The Mercury.   Life has not been designed to be fair so that if we go through life expecting it to be fair, then we will have or we already had many sad disappointments. This reminds me of a man whose disappointments kept filing up on him that he finally gave up in frustration, went outside, looked up to the sky, and shouted at the top of his lungs, "WHY ME!!!!.." Immediately a voice from above shouted back at him, "WHY NOT!!!!..." Why not, indeed.

The pain in our life comes from many sources. Sometimes the source is as mundane as spilling coffee or catsup on our shirt, or breaking a glass or a plate while washing dishes. Yet we often allow it to get into our nerves, irritate us and as a result, we snap at our children, wife, husband, or anyone we can take our irritation on. Instead of rising above such petty irritant, we allow it to get the worse of us. And instead of just laughing it off or humoring our way out of the situation, we lose our sense of humor and those around us have to suffer and endure our grumpy behavior for no good reason. Worse, particularly when it comes to children, the emotional wound we inflict on them out of our own irritation doesn't heal easily.

Abraham Lincoln was a great believer in laugh-at-yourself-situation humor. Once Lincoln attended a reception in his honor. Upon arriving, he placed his hat on a chair, open side up. Shortly after, a robust lady headed straight for the chair and sat on the hat. Lincoln saw what happened and rushed over. But it was too late.

Realizing what she had done, the woman got up and handed Lincoln the remains of the hat. "Is this yours?" she asked.
"Yes, it is, Ma'am, but I wish you hadn't done that. I could have told you my hat wouldn't fit you before you tried it on."  (To be continued)
 

FACTS & FIGURES

Basic data of Iligan City

Strategically located on the northern coast of Mindanao facing Iligan Bay and bounded by the provinces of Bukidnon, Misamis Oriental, by the two Lanao provinces of Central Mindanao and by Cagayan de Oro City, Iligan City ...

• is a City of Waterfalls with 20 waterfalls to boast;
• is the site of four hydro-electric plants of the National Power Corporation with a total generating capacity of 467-MW and servicing the entire island of Mindanao;
• is home to 10 major industries;
• is site of the Industrial Estate from Suarez to Bacolod, Lanao del Norte;
• provides the major arterial link between Cagayan de Oro City and Zamboanga City;
• has 38 barangays.

(Data culled from Iligan City Brochure produced by the Iligan City Tourism Office)