Back issues: 4-15-97|4-23-97|5-01-97|5-11-97|5-19-97|5-26-97|6-02-97|6-09-97|6-16-97|6-23-97|6-30-97|7-14-97|7-21-97|7-28-97

Dy Pico Passes Away

Jose C. Dy Pico passed away at the age of 83 years old last July 29 in Cebu City. He was laid to rest on Aug. 2, 1997 at the Cebu Memorial Park. He is survived by his wife, Mrs. Singuan Siao Dy Pico, and children, Betty Jean, Lily Grace, Edward, Robert, Alexander and Deborah Ann

Transport Strike in Iligan

Some 4,000 workers and drivers virtually paralyzed Iligan's transportation last July 28 as they held a mass strike in protest against the increase in prices of commodities brought about by the devaluation of the Philippine peso. Banks and offices remained closed while classes in schools were suspended.

New Road Over Baslayan Creek

Construction of a new access road is now underway over the Baslayan Creek that will soon enable commuters in Iligan City to cross directly between Quezon Avenue and Aguinaldo Street.

The road involves the construction of a concrete roadway over the Baslayan creek linking the premises of the former Canton Restaurant on Quezon Avenue with the old bridge on Aguinaldo street. The project, costing P5.4 million, is a project of the city government undertaken by the Ilicon Corporation.

LCHS Batch '83 Home Page

LCHS batch of 1983 recently launched their home page on the World Wide Web. The page is lodged with the LCHS alumni main home page hosted by Weblink-Iliganet. Designed by Johnny T. Chen, the home page contains a list of 1983 batch members and group pictures of the class in high school and grade school taken at the old campus. The home page is accessible through the LCHS alumni web page on this URL: http://www.iligan.com/~lchs/alumni.

Top Tunes of Yesteryears

I may not be born a good singer but I do appreciate good music. All through the years, I've been a listener of beautiful songs, most especially those of yesteryears. Even when I was younger, I always tended to appreciate the old favorites of my uncles and aunties who were then in their 20s. This was during the great era of the 50s. Somehow, their choice of songs were the ones imprinted in my young mind, plus the songs taught to me by my Uncle Cresing (most notably, It's Now or Never) coupled with the fact that Pasing's Grocery (that's our store cum residence) was situated on Washington St. (now Aguinaldo St.) right in front of Hamilton Dept. Store which used to spin songs of the era to attract customers.

Looking back through this sentimental journey, I attribute my being a song lover to these factors, somebody who can easily relate the songs with certain events at a certain time. Added to that, my hobby of buying songhits books since the grade school years and even up to now that I am a father of one daughter and one girl, ages 9 and 6, respectively. This is one way of keeping up with the changing times, and along with time, the changing trends in music, foods, places and ways of relaxation, the lingo of the young generation, etc.

I remember the year 1955. I was then a lad of 3-going-4 (the youngest child then in our family. Evelyn, my sister, was born when I was already 9 years old in 1961). Brought up in a simple and peaceful environment of the 50s. I got all the love and attention of my family, my uncles and aunties, cousins, and family friends. Indeed, I had a very beautiful childhood. And it is always such euphoric feeling remembering those beautiful memories of the distant past when the world was simpler, when playing hide and seek, patintero, jolen, lastiko, etc. would be enough to make our day. We didn't have brick games, Ninja Turtles, Ghostbusters, the computers, or the Tamagochi then.

Also a "baby boomer" (one born between 1946 and 1964) himself, a friend provided me a copy of Billboard's Number One Hits for the year 1955. And I would just like to share them with you, with the hope that when you read the titles of such songs, you will also recall the events that transpired once upon a time in your life in the year 1955. So sail along with me on this sentimental journey as we reminisce the songs of yesteryears...

Among the many beautiful songs which were top hits in 1955, I single out the following as memorably familiar: Sincerely, Love is a Many Splendor Thing, Autumn Leaves, the Platters' My Prayer and The Great Pretender; and Mario Lanza's Santa Lucia, Granada and Ave Maria. Perez Prado's Cherry Pink and Blossom White became a familiar tune in Iligan when the Sheum's Circus from China came to town in 1960. It was a regular musical accompaniment of one of the troupe's acrobatic acts.

Fuertes and Campugan

Where are Fidel Fuertes and Pedro Campugan now? For many years they taught Grade VI and Grade V, respectively, at LCHS. They are best remembered as strict disciplinarians and proficient mentors. Both have endeared themselves to the heart of every student who came under their tutelage. Anybody with latest info about Mr. Fuertes and Mr. Campugan is requested to share it with our alumni through this section.

Iligan: A Muse in the Twilight
(First of Two Parts)
By Charles O. Sy (Batch 1967)

A trip to Iligan is both a trip down memory lane and an odyssey of pleasant discoveries. Recent developments have ushered in a string of changes to Iligan since I last visited the city in 1992. A lot of its old vestiges have likewise remained intact.

Traveling along the Cagayan de Oro-Iligan Corridor one knows one has reached Iligan when the sights of thriving industries begin to loom up ahead. One catches a good glimpse of giant mills like Pilmico and Alsons still spewing smoke signals over a picturesque Iligan bay. A few new structures, like the Petronas Gas and the Alsons Training Center, have likewise been added to the flourishing industrial frontier.

Pala-o Perks Up. Along the city's two main thoroughfares, Quezon Avenue and Aguinaldo Street, the scenes have remained pretty much familiar. A few new structures have replaced the old ones. Though the tartanillas have since vanished from these main arteries, the Iligan landscape still retains its characteristic laid-back ambience. The more dramatic changes are rather evident in the bustling uptown area of Pala-o where new business outfits have sprouted by leaps and bounds.

New novelty and curio shops, fastfood outlets and dainty cafes, and an array of business outfits continue to paint a new vista in Pala-o. Jutting out of the skyline is a multi-storey edifice that houses the Iligan Day Inn Hotel, the city's newest hotel that has replaced the old Maria Cristina Hotel as the favorite venue for seminars and banquets. In the same building is the Venus KTV Bar, one of a few similar pubs that have recently flourished in the uptown area, where many a male resident seek to unwind after a long day's work. There one sings to one's heart's content till the voice cracks, or dawn breaks, or the GRO yields, whichever comes first. The same edifice also houses the Shakey's Pizza, which up to this day since its opening is drawing crowds to its parlor.

Bustling Economy. The burgeoning Iligan economy inevitably also gives rise to the spiralling costs of real estate. The long stretch of Quezon Avenue from the downtown area extending up to Pala-o now fetches anywhere between P30,000 to P35,000 per square meter. Such bullish prospects have drawn the entry of key property players into the fray. Pryce Properties Corp. has started site development works on the Celdran estate along the Tubod highway to transform it into a first-class commercial and shopping center. The same company has likewise developed a new upscale memorial park, the Maria Cristina Gardens, in the suburbs of Sta. Filomena, featuring 4x8-meter lots that command no less than P20,500 a piece. And the price is said to be steadily escalating. Clearly, being interred in style these days does have its price.

New landmarks have likewise mushroomed in Tibanga, where once the only centers of activity were the campus of the MSU-ITT and the Mindanao Sanitarium. Now a new multi-storey edifice has risen that will soon give the city its first scenic elevator. New entertainment outlets have also proliferated to give the area a discernible semblance of nightlife, among which are karaoke pubs like the Gunzi KTV Bar.

New Eateries. New tastes and changing eating habits of Iliganons have given birth to an influx of new eateries in different parts of the city. Such venerable dining institutions of long ago, like the Canton and Oriental restaurants, have since been replaced by new entries like the Pagoda Restaurant and Ocean Pearl Restaurant along Quezon Avenue; Shanghai Restaurant on Fortaleza street; JY Dimsum House in Pala-o; and the Oro Macau Dimsum on San Miguel street.

Yuppies as well as the more fashionable diners these days troop to the more continental hang-outs like the Patio Alejandra on San Miguel St., and the Raymund's Bar and Restaurant on corner Roxas and Zamora streets. A few oldtimers, however, continue to lord it over up to the present like the Liong's Restaurant and Hona's Restaurant, a long-time favorite noted for its native cuisine. (Continue next issue)