Internet Newsletter of the Alumni of Lanao Chung Hua School Iligan, Philippines, Year 5, Issue No.19, Dec. 17, 2001 FOR A NEW CHAPEL RLCFCC holds "Dinner for a Cause" By Belinda Cu-Lim (Batch '82) The Resurrection of the Lord Chinese Filipino Catholic Community (RLCFCC) held a "Dinner for a Cause" in Iligan City last Nov. 25. The P500 per plate affair was the Community's first dinner show to raise funds for the construction of a chapel and formation center. The site of the proposed center is situated at the vicinity of LCHS in Pala-o.  Henry Siao, president of the RLCFCC Foundation, Inc., delivered an impressive extemporaneous speech before the show. The program was a balanced presentation of songs and dances. The kids entertained the crowd with the "Kao San Ching" folk dance while members of the Filipino Chinese Catholic Youth presented their interpretation of the song "The Mission." True to the word "fashion crazed" were members of the Filipino Chinese Catholic Singles, a new group formed under the spiritual direction of Sr. Emma Uy, daughter of the late Angge Uy.  The P500 per ticket donation, which covered meal and show, was worth every cent. Even if we were not the best, everybody gave his best!  Where else could one see LCHS-AA president Vy Beng Hong sing and dance, twice, wearing a yellow ruffled shirt and looking every inch like a perfect D.I?  Only in this Community!

EDITORIAL STAFF Henry L. Yu, Editor  Correspondents: Roger Suminguit, Teresita Racines, Vinson Ngo & Johnny Chen (Iligan); Igdono Caracho (Cebu);  Marie Janiefer Lee (Manila); Peter Dy (Canada); Leonardo Tan (Australia); Ernesto Yu & Aurora Tansiokhian (U.S.A.); and Charles O. Sy, Editorial Consultant Founded Aug. 1, 1968. Published fortnightly since its revival on April 15, 1997. Distributed free on the Internet to LCHS alumni & supporters worldwide. Postal address: LCHS Alumni Association, Lanao Chung Hua School, Pala-o, Iligan City, Philippines. Web site: www.geocities.com/lchsspectrum Spectrum welcomes articles, news reports & comments from LCHS alumni, students and readers. For contribution or subscription, contact: Roger Suminguit, tel. 221-2422; Teresita Racines, tel. 221-3253, or Henry Yu, Suite 101, Visayas Community Medical Center, Osmeña Blvd., Cebu City 6000, Philippines; E-mail: hvty@skyinet.net

Henry C. Dy, (Batch '64), in photo, was elected again as member of the Board of Governors of the Philippine National Red Cross.  The election was held at the Manila Hotel last Dec. 7. Out of 20 candidates, nine were elected to the Board, including Henry Dy who placed 6th among the winners.  Among the others elected were Gen. Canatoy, Secretary Roilo Golez, Congressman Zubiri, Mrs. Pagdaganan, Philvoc Director Punongbayan and Allan Lee. Henry, a former Iligan City councilor, is chairman of the Iligan City Red Cross. Last Nov. 12, he led Iligan Red Cross volunteers in distributing relief goods to victims of the flash floods in Camiguin, Misamis Oriental.  He is also the president of the Lanao Filipino Chinese Chamber of Commerce.

Guardson Siao attends frat reunion

Guardson Siao (Batch '58), in photo, attended a reunion of his college fraternity held on an evening punctuated with recollections of their university life 40 years ago in Cebu City.  The reunion saw over 50 members of the Omicron Delta Kappa Fraternity of the University of the Visayas gathered together with their respective spouses in celebration of its 40th anniversary at the Cebu Waterfront Hotel last Dec. 8. Accompanying Guardson was his wife, Iligan City prosecutor Norma Bajo-Siao. The fraternity counts among its members several notable personalities, like former senator Ernesto Herrera, PNP senior superintendent Hiram Benatiro, RTC-Lapulapu City judge Benedicto Cobarde, and NRLC-Region VII executive labor arbiter Reynoso Belarmino.

Zelda Chio comes home
By Teresita Racines (Batch '67)

Zelda Chio Ygsi (Batch '77) was in town last Nov. 23 for a two-week vacation straight from St. Joseph, Missouri., U.S.A. She was accompanied by her husband Alan Ygsi (of Cagayan de Oro City) and their two kids, Natashia and Troy. Zelda left Iligan in 1985 to work as a physical therapist in the U.S.A. Zelda's twin sister, Nanette Chio Hernandez, also of Batch 77, is now residing in Alcobar, United Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. She left last April 2001 to join her husband, Jimmy Hernandez, who worked there. They have two daughters, Honey and Heide.

OBITUARY
Maning Dy, Martin Uy pass away
By Roger Suminguit (Batch '73)

Manuel "Maning" Dy Acedo (Batch '50s) died of cardiac arrest last Dec. 10 in Iligan City.  He was 71 years old.  He is survived by his wife Rosela, and 8 children. Interment is set on Dec. 20 at the Iligan Chinese cemetery.  Earlier, Martin Uy, 65, husband of Aida Lim-Uy (Batch '61), died also of cardiac arrest last Dec. 5.  Martin and Aida were together with a Cebu group on a tour in Shanghai, China, when the incident occurred.  Martin Uy was president of Lim Bonfing Hermanos, Inc., Cebu City.  He is survived by his wife Aida, and children Mitchell Randolph, Winthrop Martin, Russell Esteban and Stephanie Diane.  He was laid to rest on Dec. 13 at the Cebu Memorial Park.

By Jian Leih C. Racines, 3rd Yr., LCHS

New LCHS CAT officers

New CAT officers of LCHS, Batch 2001-2002, were commissioned in fitting ceremonies at the sprawling LCHS grounds last Nov. 24.  The affair was graced by the presence of 2nd Lt. Francisco Balbutin as guest speaker.  The program started with a battalion formation, followed by the invocation and national anthem.  Bryan Cynric Dy introduced the guest speaker who, in turn, delivered an inspirational message.  Capping the ceremonies was a rifle presentation by 3rd year students.  The new commissioned CAT officers are: Jan Michael Cerna, Battalion Commander; Mark Erwin Go, S1; Franklin Khu, S2; Bryan Cynric Dy, S3; Jan Emmanuel Lao, S4; Joseph Harold Letigio, Alpha Coy Commander; Jefferson Chui, Alpha Coy Ex-O; Mikhail Ingemar Tolentino, Alpha 1st Platoon Leader; Heather Kizzia Chua, Alpha 2nd Platoon leader; Dan Alfie Baruc, Bravo Coy Commander; Garira Soriano, Bravo Coy Ex-O; Oileen Hettie Chiu, Bravo 1st Platoon Leader; Michael Lin, Bravo 2nd Platoon Leader; Manuel Guanzon, Band Officer; Armi Leslie Te, Medical Officer; and Jan Casper Lim, Color Officer.
 

Life's Journey By Henry L. Yu, M.D. Batch '69

All of us, young or old, rich or poor, have one thing in common which we are equal with all the rest of humanity. And this is the GIFT OF TIME – a time to be born, to grow, to go to school, to make friends, to be happy, to get hurt, to love somebody, to give life, to serve, to have a family, to be old and sickly, and a time to come back home to our Creator one day.  Someday.  As one author would put it,  “To live is to go on a journey; to die is to come back home.”

In our lifetime, we travel through life’s many journeys, either alone or in the company of friends and loved ones. Some may be smooth sailing, with less air pocket as we fly high, while other roads may be rough making us stumble and fall. As human beings, we have our own stories to tell and our personal histories to share – our past, our present, and the future that awaits us somewhere in time, at the end of a rainbow. We know our past because we have lived it. We know our present because we are living it at the moment. But the future is something we are not familiar with as it has yet to come. What it will bring, we don’t know exactly. Only God has the key and the answers. In His Time.

Yesterday, everybody was rejoicing and welcoming a newborn child that was us. We were given a name. We were fed with those “go, grow, and glow” foods. We went to school and made friends out of the many classmates we have. We learned our ABCs  and 1-2-3s, some dances and songs. We graduated from grade school, high school, and college. Then we applied for work and got employed. We worked, earned and saved, got married and have a family of our own.

Today, we are yesterday’s “Wednesday Child.” We have become parents who have to work, earn and save for the kids’ food, clothing, shelter, education, among others, the same things our very own parents worked so hard for when we were young. Today, we have friends who readily stand for and by us through thick and thin. We have neighbors who share with us life’s agony and ecstasy so much so that they have become like family to us.

But what about tomorrow? The future still has to come. Will it be as wonderful as “yesterday all my troubles seemed so far away” or as beautiful as “today while the blossoms still cling to the bough”? Will tomorrow be filled with sorrow? Will it be raining in our hearts? Oh, “the sun will come out tomorrow, bet your bottom dollar till tomorrow, there’ll be sun.”

And so life continues as we travel life’s journeys, along with the many lessons to learn from, people to meet, adventures to experience, challenges to face, and the many more things to do in a lifetime.

Yesterday was a time. Today is. Tomorrow will be. All these are God’s gifts to us. Let us rejoice and be glad for the GIFT OF TIME.
 

Straight from the Heart By Marie Janiefer Q. Lee Batch '87

I was so surprised when I learned from the E-group that the Spectrum might bid goodbye by the end of this month.  The child in me that still believes in fairy tales thought that the Spectrum will be with us forever and we'll "live happily ever after."  I just don't want to think that somehow we'll run into the words "the end."  Though in every story there are always these two lonely words at the last page.

The Spectrum has been like this imaginary "bridge" that connects our alumni from all over the world.  I've met lots of new friends through this newsletter who otherwise I won't be able to.  Friends who've now become an integral part of my life. Nice people whom, in normal circumstances, I won't get a chance to meet.  And I have to thank the Spectrum for that.  I'm sure this holds true to a number of other alumni too.

Like during the last GAH, who would have thought that Dok Ernie would get along with our group, which was composed of my sisters and cousins and friends.  Age-wise, we were decades apart but the newsletter was able to bridge that gap. Geography-wise we are all millions of miles apart.  Or when our man from CdeO Mr. Rene Tio invited us for lunch, a common friend of ours thought we were classmates.  Since we can talk as if we've known each other for ages, when in fact we only laid eyes on each other during that GAH.  And we only got to know each other when I first started out with the Spectrum.

Just like when I went to Cebu to meet with my sister Joan and cousins Charina and Cristina, Mr. Charles Sy, a.k.a. The Boss, took us out.  When my uncles learned about it they were surprised thinking what on earth would our high and mighty Boss have got to do with this bunch of noisy girls.  They were even more shocked when they found out that we all stayed out until the wee hours of the morning.

The Spectrum was able to open doors for me.  For someone like me who still feels like an alien here in Manila, the Spectrum gave me a home that goes anywhere with me.  It's like there's always somebody there with me and somebody there for me.  It has given me a sense of pride, a sense of belonging.  I wonder what will happen once this "bridge" closes its gates for me. I'll probably revert to someone whose world revolves around a small axis -- work and family, family and work.

I know that the friends I have will still be there after Spectrum but what happens to those who still haven't connected with their long lost friends?  Some people who are still out there looking for their jolen-buddies or their bike-mates would be deprived of the chance.  I know that without the Spectrum, I'd still get 24-hour text messages from Ms. Remee Wee.  But for those who still don't have a friend like Remee, there's no more chance. When I tell some friends that I text with Remee daily, I always get asked "how come" when we're batches away from each other.  And we haven't even seen each other before and after the GAH.

These are just a few of the things that the Spectrum was able to do for me. We have somehow eliminated the age factor and the distance factor.  We have become just one big group of friends. Friends who don't need to see each other but are still strongly bound together by this proverbial bridge.

Just like any bridge that has to stand strong amidst strong winds and be steadfast over troubled waters, I hope that the Spectrum will make it through another year, maybe another decade (?).
 

moody BLUES, 14221 By Ernesto L. Yu, M.D. Batch '65

Hey, You Never Know:   After an exhaustive process of reflection and deliberation, operating under a texture of a staggering brain, it distills down to this bare minimum of honest conclusion: Movies are collections of still moments that are made to move, with a complement of blaring stereo effects to breathe life into these projections. The verdict we arrive at in the final curtain, whether the generic weeper with a happy ending passed our better judgment to deserve a thumbs up rating or be classified as an outright crashing bore that should be highly recommended to our best enemies, depends on how these audio-visual frames waltzed in graceful steps with the dance patterns in our past and present lives and our unquenchable appetite for Snow White, Pretty Woman, and Indiana Jones. The prevailing logic on the ground goes, "If the film strikes a resonant chord with your inner harmony, it's sheer enchantment, a feast for the senses. If it dribbles a common bond with your bundle of emotional scars, it's a dead sleeper of a reel." Examples: The inner child in us pumps an amphetamine rush when we watch the mesmerizing magic and good-triumphs-over-evil assortment in "Harry Potter"; our hormonal juices circulate with carbonated freshness as we chew the thrill in the plot of a CIA operative being rescued amid rains of bullets and packs of suspense in "Spy Game".  Indeed, the reason why those screen smorgasbord become visual dazzlers and jolly good fun is because we get the privilege to witness our own daydreams and wistful thinking in vivid technicolor or feel the storyline snaking along our very own blood stream.  If you've seen "Serendipity" (do see it for the optimist in you), you will eradicate once and for all the distressing doubt that's nesting in your head (Is he destined to be mine in the later chapters or just a transient sideshow of a fairy tale?).  It is a film bred in the very bones of the "hey, you never know" philosophy:  that there is a set of happenings and reactions that is preformed; that things evolve because those pure pleasure or speckles of doom are all in your drawing board at birth; that sweet or sour, tasteful or bitter, days roll per molding of a Prime Mover from above.  For the hopeless romantic, this motion picture is a shimmer of hope.  Fate has ingenious ways of stringing coincidence, lucky charm and statistical chance as packaged in your star. Next time you shovel those theaters' popcorn specials on your face with consuming passion like there's no tomorrow, remember it is the spinning and thundering still moments that are teasing your heart, not the butter that was used to grease up your munchies.

See a movie. And enjoy your life unfolds in widescreen.

If This Is Goodbye:  Being strapped in a medical specialty (Anesthesiology) where life is oftentimes spread on the operating room in critical and deteriorating state, rendered more pathetic by the wallop of its horror stories; where every recourse has to be consumed and meticulously dissected even if blood and pulse have ceased to see eye to eye, it is a dagger-kind of unsettling days to observe our once-gushing-with-enthusiasm Spectrum hanging tough on dear life. The manner our head honcho, Charles Sy, rolled the dice in our exclusive E-group site, I can visualize his crumpled forehead in full emotional boil and utter disgust over the impending death of his baby project, whose "playful" resonance has sprinkled rainbows in the LCHS circle and made us all squeal in delight. Actually, our alumni web newspaper has made scores of school organizations green with envy! By all standard of success, The Spectrum had a good run during its heyday when it was ably sustained (news, feedbacks) by the very force it was conceived to rope, cage, update, persuade and cuddle. If this is indeed the end of the road for our gazette, I'd like to hand my sincere sorry note to anyone whom I misled in thinking that I still possess a fertile brain (quiz me on Geometry) and my gratitude to the few who ultimately extracted from my shadow a private secret that I'm a guy with a heart who has never learned to stop loving love. Moreover, if this is really the prelude to our going belly up in the fish tank, rest assured that I will never pull the trigger that will halt you from racing in my dreams. After all, on my days off, my mornings are for coffee and '70s hip hop sound, but my evenings are for drooling in the vibrant legacy of the past that lullabies the senses. With no journalistic circus to dedicate my soul, no more hurried moments spent pecking away at a word processor, what other routes should I pursue to relive the sensation of a stomach knot and the feel of flame licking my toes inherent in deadline writing?  I'll squat on my fat backside, watch the spectacle of clouds float by in silent amusement, and hauntingly wilt under the strain of the old rhapsodic refrain. That's what memory vaults for, isn't it? Wishing you a warm huddle with families and friends this Yuletide season. Hope you garner the requisite courage to accept the basic fact that when the clock strikes 12 on December 31, you have to grip with the awful truth that another year will have to be glued to our maturing age. No such thing as forever 32!

By the way, are we still on with our 2005 date?

By Doc Bunz,  Batch '82

When I was still a resident physician, I usually stayed in the pharmacy area, so I could see the patients coming to the E.R. (efficient gud ta). One duty day, a Muslim patient approached the pharmacy and inquired.  Muslim: "Naa mo ANTENNA?"  Pharmacist: "Antenna? Wala. Didto electrical pangita, pharmacy man ni."  Muslim: "Na, ang ako gi-pangita, na ... ANTENNA sa UGAT!"   Did the pharmacist sell to him an IVF (Dextrose) tubing?  Of course!

.

Sending my eldest daughter away for the first time was the farthest idea in my mind.  I had my apprehensions, fears and personal reasons why. What if she gets sick? The flights she has to take back and forth? Will she be safe and comfortable with her new company? Out of her own, she managed to take all her entrance examinations without even my assistance, which is not the usual way.  I even tried bribing her with a car just to make her stay in Iligan. The how's and what's drove me sleepless nights and were even bugging my head for sometime. Yes, as far as I am concerned, it’s definitely no, not for my daughter.  But somehow, the constant prodding and encouraging words  from my family and friends finally made me say yes. It even made me break my own rule: "When Mama says no, it’s no."

Just to assure myself that everything will be okay,  I personally went to Manila to check with the universities, such as La Salle, UP, and AdMU, and she decided to enroll at the Ateneo. Again, the next question is: Where will she stay?  It always pays to inquire from friends for help. Good  it took us only a few minutes to find one -- not as luxurious as expected but comfortable and modest enough for her safe stay. The relief of putting everything in place was very rewarding.

Personally losing her company for a better future was an immense struggle of my innerself.  The dream of being with her through womanhood was my cherished desire.  How will she learn cooking, house management and even self-development without her own mother at her side?  Putting everything at my end, not considering how my daughter would want her life to be, was very selfish of me. How I overlooked the thought of respecting her decision.

Needless to say, I made the right choice.  She may not fully learn the things I want to teach her, but she’s learning herself new things to the fullest.  This choice she made out of herself, as young as she is, she is learning fast. This made her learn to take care of herself more without me. Yes, this paves the way of strengthening our mother-daughter relationship.

The best choice a mother could give is her unselfish love for her children. Choices could be right or wrong but destiny is God’s plan. As I quote: “The future destiny of a child lies at the hand of the mother.”  I know I’ll still be encountering difficult choices in my life, but with the Divine Providence, it would surely be an effortless struggle.

My daughter, Jane Dale, is a freshman student of the Ateneo de Manila, taking up B.S. Psychology.

As we approach the end of the year, it is but fitting that we assess the current state of the Spectrum and what's in store for it in light of present circumstances affecting its viability in the coming year.

It is noteworthy that the Spectrum has continued to be blessed with the dedication of its pool of tireless columnists and a few correspondents who breathed life into the pages of the Spectrum with their regular inputs.  Without them, the Spectrum would not have survived this long.  Contributions from a few concerned alumni and loyal friends likewise offered helpful relief to what otherwise would have been a monopolistic endeavor of a chosen few.

While the commitment of the staff remained unwavering, the same could hardly be said of the alumni community in general whose nonchalance to the Spectrum's plea for involvement only served to dampen, instead of uplift, the spirit of the staff in its pursuits. From 209 at the beginning of the year, the current number of e-mail subscribers dwindled to 150.  Yet no visible efforts appeared to have been undertaken by the community at large to help the Spectrum enlist more alumni with e-mails for the Spectrum to expand its global reach on the Internet. How many among our alumni ever cared to share their fellow alumni's e-mail addresses with the Spectrum so that they could be included in its mailing list?  Over the last three years since the LCHS Alumni Association adopted the Spectrum as its mouthpiece and undertook its reproduction of hard copies for alumni in Iligan, the number of copies in circulation stood at only 30 or so.  Such dismal turnout is hardly commensurate to the time and effort spent by the editors in preparing each issue in the prescribed format for printouts.

The Spectrum's offer to involve LCHS students in the newsletter appeared to have hit a blank wall.  Somehow no serious initiative seemed to have been taken by those concerned to encourage the current crop of LCHS students to participate in what could have been a convenient training ground for their writing skills. Which raises considerable concerns on how exactly the Spectrum has penetrated the LCHS campus. It is not farfetched to surmise that until this day many students are not even aware that the Spectrum exists.

The flow of information concerning alumni and news relevant to the LCHS community, stuffs that provide the lifeblood of an alumni newsletter, was found wanting in quantity and regularity.  Only a handful of concerned alumni ever bothered to supply the Spectrum with much-needed inputs. Many others who have access to information concerning fellow alumni chose to remain passive readers, if at all, instead of active participants in sharing vital inputs with the Spectrum.  Many seemed to have overlooked the fact that hometown events, regardless of how trivial they appear to hometown alumni, are welcome news to their fellow alumni away from home. Every little bit of news from home concerning fellow alumni and the LCHS community is worth sharing with our readers. It is ironical that many among us readily exchange text messages on silly jokes and other inanities on their cell phones yet cannot find time to text tidbits of useful alumni info for the Spectrum.

It is evident that the Spectrum has not only lost its novelty, it may have outlived its purpose. The editors have been careful not to impose too much on its staff and contributors by allowing everyone the liberty to write as one pleases, whenever one chooses.  The moment one is made to perform a task out of pressure instead of pleasure, the rationale in producing the Spectrum is defeated.  Regrettably, such a moment has come.  It is time to accept the fact that the Spectrum and its staff have reached the end of the road. It may be best for the LCHS-AA to consider taking over the Spectrum from here on -- with a new staff from the home court.  Otherwise, we might as well prepare for its inevitable requiem soon.  (COS)