Chiu, Blanco Head LCHS Student Gov't

The present crop of LCHS student leaders is headed by Debbie Jane Chiu and Peter Blanco.

This year's officers of the LCHS Senior Student Government are Debbie Jane Chiu, president; Sally Vy, vice president; Caroline Sy, treasurer; Jerumae Lee, auditor; Minnie Noreen Dy, secretary;  Joan Ling, PRO; Christian Levi Sun and Broderick Go, sports managers; Ronald Samson and Oliver Siangco, peace makers; Judy Ling, muse; Anthon Louie Te, prince charming.  The advisers are Arnel Huilar and Conchita Cabanlit.

The Junior SG Officers are: Peter Blanco, president; Elbert Eslao, vice president; Suzanne Chan, secretary; Charlene Mae Ann Lim, treasurer; Sheila Darunday, auditor; Armi Leslie Te and Edwin Mark Go, sergeants at arms; Dave Dingal, PRO; Kevin So, prince charming; Apple May Uy, muse; Shane Louise Sun and Bryan Cenric Dy, sports managers.  The adviser is Cherylin Paquingan.

LCHS Alumnus Hosts SSEAYP Delegates

Constantino "Jonas" Sy (Batch '68) and his wife Terry recently played hosts and acted as foster parents to two delegates of the 24th Ship for Southeast Asian Youth Program (SSEAYP).

The delegates were R.I. Krishnan, 26 yrs. old, of Malaysia, and Rajaratnam Sadasivam, 27 yrs. old, of Singapore.  They were part of the 361 young ambassadors of goodwill who visited Cebu on board the Japanese ship of friendship, Nippon Maru.  The delegates were in Cebu Nov. 4-7 and stayed with their foster parents for a personal experience of Filipino culture under the SSEAYP homestay program.  Cebu was part of the program's 60-day goodwill tour of Asian countries.

CDO-Iligan, RP's New Industrial Hub

The Cagayan de Oro-Iligan Corridor (CIC) will soon become the heavy industry center of southern Philippines.  It will be the bulk supplier of industrial inputs and quality finished industrial products for the country and the Brunei Indonesia Malaysia Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BMIP-EAGA).  This is the projection of Sol Ladista Ante, a researcher of the Center for Research and Communication (CRC), in a recent study entitled "A Corridor for Progress."

In 1996, the CIC actual investment figure was the highest in the island group reaching P20.8 billion, four times the previous year's bundles.  In the same year, a total of P18 billion projects were implemented.  The CIC growth network comprises the cities of CdeO, Iligan, 14 municipalities in Misamis Oriental and 5 municipalities in Lanao del Norte.
 

LCHS School Paper Called "Plumblossom"
From: CBodionganRn@compuserve.com
Date: Fri, 7 Nov 1997 09:29:39 -0500

It is a great pleasure to reach you in this other part of the world.  Nice to hear from everybody.  Give my regards to Engr. Franklin Tan, of Iligan Electrical Supply, and to all my friends. Congratulations for publishing the Spectrum.  During our time (Class 1989), we initiated also the LCHS school newspaper called Plumblossom.

Carlo Bodiongan, Rn.,C (Batch '89), Kessler Care Center, Great Falls, New Jersey, USA

Nooks and Crannies of LCHS
From: fishers@cdo.weblinq.com
Date: Mon, 10 Nov 1997 16:47:27 +0800

Your write-up on the old LCHS auditorium was concise with a touch of humor; interesting anecdotes from the top to the bottom of the stage, to the drinking oasis outside and its excesses.  Interesting reading indeed not only for those who had experience in the hallowed hall, but also for those readers interested to know about LCHS in its early days. I hope to see more articles on the memorable nooks and crannies of the old LCHS.  Another article I hope to see in the Spectrum is about our Science Building. I think our laboratory facility was the best at that time in Iligan. Don't you think so?

Rene Tio (Batch '70), Cagayan de Oro, Philippines

Bringing back the Good Old Days
From: SyAlex@aol.com

Henry Yu's column "Sentimental Journey" in the LCHS Spectrum is among the best.  It puts a smile on my face every time I read the section...and it brings back the good old days.  Please include these names on the "whereabouts" page: Laureto Capuyan, Poncio Dingding, Aldo Caracho, Henry Kaw Hok, Venancio Alvarez Jr., Leonilo Leung, Letecia Chua, Carlina Dy, Cynthia Choa Tan, Emelita Lee.  Remember Baby Singco, Kim Huat, Siok Ting, Aida Chow & brother, Jim Sim, and our English teacher Nonela Wong...where are they now?

Alex Handumon, M.D. ( Batch '68), Burnham, Illinois, U.S.A.
 

As swift as a snap, I sneaked out of Iligan at the very end-point of puberty and never again sighed in the local dawn as a man.  At any rate, my gazing at the lusterless, black and white, grade six photos in the Web unscrewed the bolts of bundled memories that coated our innocent poses (is Alzheimer a diagnosis if you can't even identify yourself?).  Consequently, before my neural networks misfire another spark, let me exhale these 35-year old random notes about each member of our female brigade.  To Bonifacia Co: "Loved your parade"; Lydia Sy: "Silence is golden"; Kim-Hua Debalucos: "Miss your press releases"; Charmaine Molo: "Briefly exhilarating, forget me not"; Flordaliza: "What a name to hum"; Carmen Lee: "Need to breed your brilliance"; Norma Sy: "Too physically superior to ask out"; Carmen Chan: "A designer smile that installs perkiness"; Charie Chin: "Should have danced all night but the lyrics were as brief as the moment"; Mrs. Villaruel: "Tagalog vocabulary for all seasons"; Miss Baby Siao: "Inhaled remnants of your music keys at Silliman U".  And to schoolmate M.H.:  "Never recoup the requisite boldness to scan your heart for a space. Thanks to the dreams, anyway".

How about the macho squad? Comrades, you all vibrate in my robust neurons (one-third diseased, mildly assuming) everytime I have a lonely chat with Mr. Johnnie Walker.  Glad you made it this far in spite of our teen idol, Marlboro Man, and intoxicating buddy, San Miguel.  How about a cyberspace reunion?  C'mon, the 21st century is unfolding.

To Mr. Fidel Fuertes: I salute you, sir, for the army-like reshuffling and jarring bombardment of my mental faculties. I regard your disciplined brand of teaching as laced with solid challenges: the inoculation against the sheer terror of the number 75 (and its plus and minus derivatives), the sporadic phobia of swimming relentlessly against the tide, the touchy sensitivity to the insistent ticking of the clock...and the nauseating art of mocking pessimism.  Basically, if there was a trait that evolved out of this military drill, it was the skill to rapidly replicate a rebound--with an all-pervading air of wicked gaiety--with each humbling tumble and degrading slip.  A sound philosophical base in life.

And all these decades, sir, two everlasting warriors from your Philippine History course still blink in my world: Jose of the matchbox fame and Andres of the bolo ad.
 

With my job as a bank officer in the city, I therefore had to commute from Monday to Friday by electric powered train.  The closest train station from my home was just about half a kilometer away.  And the travel would take about 25 to 40 minutes depending on a fast train with limited stops or the slow one which stopped at all stations.

The train tickets are prepaid at the station where the trip commenced.  They are available in one way or back and forth.  Or weekly basis, monthly season, and annual passes.  However, due to cultural differences, the station masters here don't use the terms we are familiar with. I know of some Filipina friends here who were offended at first.  Imagine when buying a ticket, you would be asked by the station master behind the glass window: "Single?"  Many new Filipinas here would be embarrassed but still answered "No, I'm married!"  What the ticket seller really meant was "ticket for a single trip?".  And they never used the term "back and forth" but instead "return."

When I started working, I was quite impressed by men in their pinstripped suits with leather briefcases travelling with me on the same train to the big city.  I later discovered that most of the briefcases only contained a copy of the daily tabloid, a sandwich and an apple.  Many of the ladies would apply their facial make-up while on the train.  Quite a few of the commuters would appear still asleep; only to be awakened by a couple of Orientals who could not avoid talking so loudly to the point of becoming very annoying.

One time, I was travelling with two young Oriental-looking boys in their school uniform.  They must be brothers of around 8 and 10 years of age, and were seated together.  As the train was nearing the city, the people around me started to worry about the two kids as they were still sound asleep.  Most of the people in our car were concerned that these boys might miss their station.  A lady finally woke them up to the relief of everyone.

I learned that two Visayan ladies were seated beside a white balding man in his 50's.  The two ladies could not help making some uncomplimentary remarks about the man's lack of hair.  They were of course speaking in their own Visayan vernacular.  Imagine their surprise when he spoke in perfect Visayan: "Pa-agi-a inta-on ang opao."

As I travelled daily, I developed a habit of catching the same train, taking the same car and occupying the same seat.  I thought I had a lucky situation when almost everyday I was seated behind a very attractive young lady who would be joined by an equally young man in our next station.  They would greet each other with passionate kisses and embraces, followed by some necking and heavy petting.  These romantic physical display would go on till we reached the city. Most of the people on the train just ignored them.  I just pretended to read my Reader's Digest but kept on swallowing my saliva.  This went on for several weeks.  Then one day, the live show just stopped.  Maybe they broke up. It was liked Robert de Niro and Meryl Streep in "Falling in Love", only this was real life.
 

Tonight...
I shall scan the pages
of my memories.

Oh! those aches and joys of yesterday
were not all gone to oblivion,
but only fade away with the years.

How could I replay them in my dreams
when the change I see shows traces
of man-made damages?

And there...
I move back to time
of my childhood chime.

Oh! how I'd loved to dance or tread
and listen to the nearby chirps
under the evergreen shades.

With a song in the air I'd used to sleep
beneath the spell of nature's arm
in full display of its charm!

Today...
what I see are ruins
of man's gory deeds.

Oh! the havoc wrecked by your hand
has raped and striped off nature
from its wealth, even its lure.

The greens no longer give shelter
for the birds to find a home
nor bloom to adorn this land.

Tomorrow...
man will pay the price
of all nature's ire.

If the sun above will fail to shine
and chase its daily task the grind
then the earth no longer can hold life.

When the whole world runs in discord
like a dying man in his cot
his final grip is to call on God.

It was an opportunity that was too irresistible to pass up.  I, along with fellow Iliganon Roderick Ngo (Batch '70), was invited by a good friend to a business conference in Beijing.

And so one summer day in 1995 we packed up and headed for the world's third largest city.  We arrived Beijing in the evening of May 18, 1995 and were promptly escorted to the Beijing New Century Hotel.  After going through the check-in routine, we joined the rest of the delegates in a cocktail reception.  From the crowd I spotted the eminent columnist, Maximo Soliven, huddled at a table, engaged in a lively discussion with a group.  What a great coincidence to chance upon Max Soliven in this sprawling city of 11 million people over an expanse of 9.6 million square kilometers.  Small world!

It turned out that Max Soliven was the keynote speaker at the start of the conference the following day.  He spoke on the political and economic prospects of China.  As usual, he was in his best element regaling the crowd with his prognosis of China, punctuating his commentary with his witticism and broad knowledge of international affairs.

I later came to realize that this was no ordinary business gathering.  When it came time for the delegation to tour Beijing, we found ourselves in the company of  government dignitaries and top guns of the engines of Philippine economy.  Together with them,  we scaled the Badaling section of the Great Wall.  We visited the Summer Palace, the imperial garden of the Empress Dowager Cixi.  We also strolled along Tiananmen Square, and savored Beijing's famed Peking Duck.  We almost didn't visit the renowned Forbidden City because Rod Ngo, the only guy in our group who spoke literate Mandarin, quipped, "This city is forbidden!"

We were given a tour of several commercial landmarks, among which was a jar factory.  Our guides first led us to several halls where the jars were intricately handcrafted and then concluded the trip in an even larger hall where the finished products were up for sale.  Not a bad sales strategy.  The hum of jar grinders promptly shifted to the ring of cash registers here.  If America is the land of milk and honey, China may well be the land of tea and money.

After our Beijing tour during the day, it was time for the testimonial dinner in the evening.  This was no ordinary lauriat dinner.  This was an imperial banquet!  And the biggest surprise had yet to unfold.  Rod Ngo, our friend and I found ourselves seated at the presidential round table. Sharing the same table with us were Sen. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Congressman Limtuatco, Philippine Ambassador to China Romualdo Ong, Bishop Escaler, top honchos of the Alcantara chain of companies, Max Soliven and his wife Preciosa. Needless to say, while this was the most exquisite lauriat dinner I've ever partaken, it was also the least that I've ever consumed.

Holding court at our table was naturally Max Soliven.  He carried the conversation all throughout, mesmerizing us with tales of his travels.  The three of us, misplaced Iliganons, could only listen, overwhelmed and speechless with awe. When the conversation shifted to China, Preciosa Soliven, as refined and erudite as Max himself, spoke of how great an influence Confucius must have been to Chinese culture and its people.  "Mind you," Max Soliven butted in, "Confucius was a male chauvinist."  His philosophy influenced ancient China to relegate Chinese women to the background in society, kept constantly in the house to perform domestic chores, he explained.

"Maybe so," a voice came from my corner. "But it was Confucius' teachings that galvanized the Chinese character and solidified the Chinese family."  It was Rod Ngo speaking out of the blue.

"Confucius gave China its values of fealty, industry, and frugality,"  Rod elaborated in plain English. I saw Max in deep thought as he lit his cigar pipe, while the rest turned their ears to Rod's succession of spontaneous retorts.

The discussion rolled on and veered this time to the Great Wall of China.  Max displayed anew his knowledgeability as he regaled us with a running commentary on the wall's fabled history, adding his observation on the cruelty and barbarism imposed by Emperor Qin Shi Huang Di on his subjects. But before he could finish, Rod interjected, "But remember, it was this same emperor who unified China in the year 221 B.C., after which he envisioned the Great Wall to serve as China's fortress of defense against foreign intruders."   Now on a one-on-one collision course with  Max Soliven, Rod had kept the group in rapt attention as he unleashed his account of China's 5,000-year civilization and cultural heritage.  For some moment there, Rod was holding court and calling the shots.  The big names at our table were all ears.  So was Max Soliven.

The trip to Beijing was not just a trip of discoveries.  More than that, it was also a trip in which one night at a banquet a kababayan from obscure Iligan named Rod Ngo almost silenced the legendary Max Soliven.