Cezar T. Jo, also known as "Tsuan-Neh", passed away last Sept. 11, at the Mindanao Sanitarium, Iligan City. He was 68 years old.

He was the owner of PX Auto Parts and Cezar's Palace Barbershop in Iligan, and Zarpaz Auto Supply in Cagayan de Oro. He is survived by his wife, Paz Martin, and three children, all of whom are LCHS alumni, namely Nelson (in CdeO), Dennis (a doctor), and Grace. He was the elder brother of Maria "Iyay" Jo-Cu of J & K Hardware, Agripino "Loloy" Jo, Ramona Jo-Yu, and Ramon Balian, among others. His remains now lie in state at the Cosmopolitan Funeral Homes, Iligan City. Interment is set at 1:00 p.m., Sept. 15, 1997. This is the second tragedy to hit the family this year after their residence was destroyed in a fire that struck Iligan last July 16.

Guardson Siao is Iligan Labor Arbiter
By Teresita Racines (Batch '67) & Alicia Cu-Go (Batch '79)

Atty. Guardson Siao, is now a labor arbiter of National Sub-Regional Arbitration Branch of the National Labor Arbitration Commission (NRLC) in Iligan City. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the LCHS Alumni Association.

Guardson's wife, Atty. Norma V. Siao, is now Prosecutor II of Iligan City. The Siaos have two daughters, Elena and Olivia. Guardson recently underwent a triple heart bypass at the Philippine Heart Center. The operation, performed by Drs. Dy Bon Yok and Manuel Chua Cha Ku, was successful.

Grand-Air Offers Iligan Package Tour

Grand Air is offering an "Eco-Tour Package" to Iligan and Cagayan de Oro for families, corporate groups and barkadas.

The package includes round-trip airfare to Cagayan de Oro, entrance fees and land transportation to and from the Gardens of Malasag, a visit to MSU in Marawi City, and an overnight stay with breakfast at Tinago Residence Inn in Iligan. The assessment is 20% less than the regular rate for direct bookings. Package must be booked and purchased at least 8 days prior to scheduled departure.

Iligan-bound Ship Stalled at Mid-sea

Some 178 Iligan City-bound passengers spent several hours at sea when their ferry developed mechanical trouble after it left Cebu last Sept. 8 evening.

The ship's captain Phil Cuevas decided to turn back for Cebu after the M/V Our Lady of Montserrat got stalled about 6.8 nautical miles off Carcar, Cebu, past 1 am. However, it took the ship at least nine hours to return to Cebu port because it had to move slowly from the point where it's engine malfunctioned. 

Fidel Fuertes, a well-respected member of the LCHS faculty in the 60s, has retired from teaching. Prior to his retirement, he was a ranking official of the Department of Culture & Education (DEC). Alumni who get to meet Mr. Fuertes can easily recognize him as he still looks as young and healthy as ever. In fact he simply doesn't look his age. Up till this day, he still goes around town on his ever-reliable bicycle.

Lando Khu: From Tai-Chi-ism to Journalism

Fernando Khu (Batch '65) is not only a practitioner of the art of tai-chi, a traditional form of Chinese exercise. Unknown to many, Lando is now also into the art of writing. He now writes a column in the Masonic Vineyard, a monthly newsletter of the Masonic District No. 36. His column presents a light commentary on activities of the Masonic Lodges and their members.

The Spectrum welcomes Ernesto Yu (Batch '65), who starts his column "Dateline Buffalo" with this issue. He writes from his home base in Buffalo, New York, U.S.A., where he is an anesthesiologist. His new column, reminiscent of his column "Reverie" in the LCHS Spectrum of the 60s, presents poignant snatches of his views on themes of general human interests by combining his inimitable writing style with a merry mix of his trademark witticisms and medical symbolisms. 

but time is a fleeting moment
of meaningless lapses to race
triumphant or
doomed...it drifts
like seasons in cyclic pace...

Consequently, a sustained chorus of praise to Charles and brother Henry for hammering out a piquant strategy that invokes on a plodding march toward a leisurely pace of a previous "era", to scan the charming and haunting scenes that we all weaved together at LCHS.

Being a breed to pine for the quaint reminders of the past, the Spectrum's concept of cyberspace journalism is a gorgeous, fazzled perkiness to my search for the tranquility that is a real luxury of fast-lane urban life and to my jabbering tirelessly into the night for an antidote to a beastly modern world. Such endeavor should ripple of spooky excitement, conferring to each gray beard a shot to laugh wheezily about the scary flashback to aesthetic purgatory.

At our age, like toothless dinosaurs on the brink of extinction, when disheartening pathophysiologic modifications like osteoporosis and hormone deficiency circulate acidic aftertaste, one can almost wax nostalgic about the ebullient age of bebop and charades. In fact, only a confirmed grump with only vestigial traces of his humanity intact could shun away from this blatantly mawkish, plaintive cry and common touch empathy. Plausible as it sounds, this would be an opportune occasion, swept by a wave of genuine yearning of one's bittersweet primal evolution. A vetting process sprinkled with impassioned pleas for yesteryears' ephemeral moments: the lovely nonsense, disarming sentimentality, languid sweetness...and the outmoded remnants of the rapture and perils of adolescent hysteria and rapacious roaring. Hopefully, as a by-product, it will extend an alternate path other than one that slides ineluctably toward contrasty crossroad and eerie emotional resonance.

For time is but a fleeting moment.

(Editors' Note: Ernie Yu can be reached on his e-mail address: Ernstyu49@aol.com) 

The best way to the future is through the past. But this doesn't mean to say that we have to live in the past. Albeit we live in the present, there are times that our minds are drifted back to the memories of the past. This usually happens when we are not too preoccupied with the details of daily living. Such time when all one has to do is make a rewind of life's events just like rewinding the VHS and get a good glimpse of the glorious past. Our past, after all, is a treasury of memorable episodes in which are enshrined many of our first-time experiences. Yes, the first times are always unforgettable.

Now, do you remember such first times in your life? Do you remember your first birthday when you tried so hard to blow your one and only candle on top of your colorful birthday cake? And the usual tradition of having your baby hair being shaved from your tiny head?

Do you remember such TIMES IN YOUR LIFE - your first day in Lanao Chinese High School in the late 50s? That Kindergarten graduation where you wore your first white toga? The first Holy Communion. The first time you participated in the dance program held on stage at LCHS. The first time you recited the Panatang Makabayan after singing the National Anthem during flag ceremonies. The first time you learned to play the guitar or the Hohner harmonica of the good old LCHS. The first time you learned to drive a bicycle. The first time you earned your first few centavos by selling candies in class or shining shoes by the street corner. The first crush, infatuation, puppy love (you can call it any name you like). And what about your first puff of Champion menthol cigarette and your first time to taste San Miguel beer? Your first time to go bowling at Padilla Bowling Lanes, swimming at Saray beach or Timoga springs, playing badminton, chess, billiard, and other games of our era. And how about the first time you entered a movie house? Was it Century Theater or Queen Theater? Or your first dance with your crush at a jam session? Or your first trip out of Iligan? And would you remember your first class excursion to the Maria Cristina Falls when the place was still a lush virgin forest untampered by the march of modern technology?

If you ask me if I do remember all these, yes, I do. And it is indeed in remembering such TIMES IN YOUR LIFE that you are able to bring back the hands of time no matter how ephemeral or temporal. It is through this sentimental journey into the past that we pause and smile and wish we are that young again. Time swiftly glides away. The ticking of the clock. The pages of the calendar. The seasons coming and going. All these form the integral parts of the TIMES OF YOUR LIFE. There is no better way than to live each day as it comes along. We only live once, so better live it the joyful way.

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