Vol. 8, No. 24, March 28, 2005

Lanao Chung Hua School holds its 67th Commencement Exercises today, March 28, 2005, at 2:30 p.m. at the school gymnasium.  Gracing this year's graduation rites as guest speaker is Dr. Emmanuel M. Lagare, Ph.D., executive director of Information & Communication Technology Center of MSU-IIT.  Twenty-one students of the high school English Department will lead the ceremonial march of new graduates composed of 15 girls & 6 boys.  They will also take their Pledge of Loyalty as new members of the LCHS Alumni Association before LCHS-AA secretary Roger Suminguit.

Leading the honor roll among this year's graduates is Joni A. Ling, class valedictorian in both English and Chinese departments.  Joni Ling is the daughter of Jerry Ling ('80). She is also recipient of the Mercury Drug Corporation award for Best in Science & Mathematics.

The graduates are, 4th Year English Dept.:  Marah Michelle Q. Alivio, Ellen M. Bonggas, Sharleen Nicole S. Chan, Richelle Faette D. Dy, Kay Harriet S. Kuan, Katrina A. Lee, Giselle Mae S. Letigio, Joni A. Ling, Marianne Jo-Ann Y. Longcob, Pinky P. Onrejas, Ginnice Kristel N. Taongan, Dawne Margelyn Y. Tolentino, Ashley L. Uy, Janissa A. Uy, Claire Kathleen K. Yu; Ree Jay J. Alibanggo, Christian Jade R. Capangpangan, John Paul S. Gerona, Christian Deo V. Guinsad, Yves Isabelo V. Rico & Dalton C. Yap.  And 4th Year, Chinese Dept.:  Marah Mechelle Q. Alivio, Sharleen Nicole S. Chan, Richelle Faette D. Dy, Kay Harriet S. Kuan, Katrina A. Lee, Giselle Mae S. Letigio, Joni A. Ling, Marianne Jo-Ann Y. Longcob, Ginnice Kristel N. Taongan, Ashley L. Uy, Janissa A. Uy; Claire Kathleen K. Yu; and Ree Jay J. Alibanggo.

LCHS-AA hosts dinner for Batch 2005

The LCHS-AA Officers & Directors hosted a dinner for the graduating class of 2005 last March 27 at the Crystal Inn, Tibanga, Iligan City.  Invited as special guests were Robert Co (’66), President of the Lanao Filipino Chinese Chamber of Commerce, and Henry Siao (’56), LCHS School Director.   During the dinner, LCHS-AA President Henry C. Dy briefed the new alumni about the alumni association while Henry Siao and Robert Co each gave inspirational talks.

HONOR ROLL

Fourth Year, English Department:  Joni A. Ling, Valedictorian; Giselle Mae S. Litigio, Salutatorian; Claire Kathleen K. Yu, First Honorable Mention; Janissa A. Uy, Second Honorable Mention; and Katrina A. Lee, Third Honorable Mention.

Fourth Year, Chinese Department:  Joni A. Ling, Valedictorian; Claire Kathleen K. Yu, Salutatorian; Giselle Mae S. Litigio, First Honorable Mention; Ashley L. Uy, Second Honorable Mention; and Katrina A. Lee, Third Honorable Mention.

Loyalty Awards, Fourth Year Chinese Department:  Katrina A. Lee, Sharleen Nicole D. Chan, Richelle Faette D. Dy, Ashley L. Uy, Janissa A. Uy & Claire Kathleen K. Yu.

Grade Six, English Department:  Ann Catherine L. Co, Valedictorian; Reggielloyd F. Aguilar, Salutatorian; Sarah Grace B. Uy, First Honorable Mention; Chastine Gayle L. Co, Second Honorable Mention; and Diana B. Natividad, Third Honorable Mention.

Grade Six, Chinese Department: Ann Catherine L. Co, Valedictorian; Reggielloyd F. Aguilar, Salutatorian; Chastine Gayle L. Co, First Honorable Mention; Sarah Grace B. Uy, Second Honorable Mention; and Kento A. Fujimori, Third Honorable Mention.

Special Awards (Grade Six. English Department):  Ann Catherine L. Co, Best in Math, Science & Health, English, Filipino, Makabayan & Deportment Award.

Special Awards (Grade Six Chinese Department): Chastine Gayle L. Co, Deportment Award.

The Kindergarten II Graduation Rites were held on March 28, 2005 at 8:00 a.m. at the school gym. The graduates: Blanche D. Ang, Shekina T. Candol, Dana Clarisse L. Co, Erica Marie S. Cu, Josephine Hannah C. Dotillos, Vannezia V. Dy, Erica Raiza T. Dychutee, Michaela Mari M. Hsu, James Michael J. Asuncion, John Iverson S. Chen, Dustin Mitchell N. Daniel, Francis Dominic S. Dy Pico, Jake Joshua C. Lim, Mark Jefferson S. Lim, Kevin S. Nieva, Donald Edward B. Ong, Carlos Miguel A. Soriano & Ivan A. Uy.

Scholastic Awards Kinder II (English Department):  The Valedictorian is Dana Clarisse L. Co; Salutatorian, Erica Raiza T. Duchutee; Fist Honorable Mention, Blanche D. Ang; Second Honorable Mention, Shekina T. Candol and James Michael J. Asuncion.

Scholastic Awards Kinder (Chinese Department):  The Valedictorian is Shekina T. Candol; Salutatorian, Dana Clarisse L. Co; First Honorable Mention, Erica Raiza T. Duchutee; Second Honorable mention, Erica Mae S. Cu and Blanche D. Ang.

Special Awards Kinder II (English Department):  Best In Mathematics, Erica Raiza T. Duchutee; Best in Science, Reading, Filipino, Arts and Writing, Dana Clarisse L. Co; Best in Language, Michaela Mari M. Hsu; and Deportment Award, John Iverson S. Chen.

Special Awards Kinder II (Chinese Department):  Deportment Award, Michaela Mari M. Hsu.

Roger Suminguit, Batch '73

GAH LIST-UP.   Preparations for our 2nd Grand Alumni Homecoming are now in motion.  The solicitation of ads and sponsorship is now underway.  The registration is likewise continuing without let-up.  Our alumni are now starting to come forward with their pre-registration payments.  We are also updating our batch listing.  We enjoin the members of the 25th and 50th Year Silver & Golden Jubilarians to please start contacting their classmates about the forthcoming GAH and send information about their whereabouts to me soon.  Please email your info to:  lchsgah2005@yahoo.com or teboncho719@yahoo.com.

THEME & LOGO.  Our cheers to Cherrie Anne Lim-Mosqueda (Batch '90), in photo at left ,whose entry "LCHS: Looking Back & Moving Forward -- The Beat Continues" was chosen as the theeme of the 2nd Grand Alumni Homecoming slated on July 7-9, 2005.  She received free registration to GAH2005 as her prize.  On the other hand, the entry of Peter Dy (Batch '66), in photo at right, won the GAH2005 logo design contest.  A part of his design was adopted and incorporated with the design of the previous GAH and for that Peter received a 50% discount for the GAH2005 registration.

SOUVENIR PROGRAM.  The Souvenir Program for GAH2005 has been assigned this time to the GAH Secretariat chaired by yours truly.  And I'm pleased to report that our GAH Chairman Suniel Lim was able to enlist the help of Charles O. Sy in Cebu for our preparation of the Souvenir Program.  Charley, as we are all aware, is the founder and past editor of the Spectrum.  He was the driving force who conceptualized the much-acclaimed Souvenir Program of GAH2000.  Knowing the tremendous work that the Souvenir Program entails, he has agreed to assist us this time in his capacity as consultant.  We are looking forward to receiving his share of ideas and suggestions on the format and content of our new Souvenir Program.  Part of our plan for the magazine is a photo feature of the 1st GAH held on Aug. 3-5, 2000.  With Charley around to lend us a helping hand, we are hopeful we can come up with an interesting Souvenir Program.  We all know his "cali-beer."

BIRTHDAYS.  It was happy family reunion at the Pala-o residence of Santi Ong (Batch '70) as the family got together for a birthday dinner among intimate friends and relatives in celebration of the 90th birthday of Mrs. Ang Suan Em last Mar. 19. Dy Shek Tong (Batch '56) and Aurora Ong-Sy (Batch '66) came home from Cebu while Linda Ong-Galenzoga (Batch '72) sailed from Baybay, Leyte to join Santi Ong and Elita Ong-Lai (Batch '62) in Iligan for their mother's birthday.  Among the guests seen at the party were Fe Quimbo, Carlos Dy, Peter Dy, Chester Dy-Carlos, Shek Din Booc and family, Bonifacio Khu, James Khu and a few others.  Last Mar. 24, at 4:17 p.m., a healthy baby girl was born weighing 6.2 pounds at the Mercy Hospital, Iligan City.  The proud parents, Chester O. Dy-Carlos (’87 ) and Angelie Tan (’87), named her Carmila (coined from Carlos & Mila).  The baby is their third.  Her other siblings are Carl Andrei, 3 yrs. & 9 mos., and Chestine Ashley, 1 yrs. & 6 mos.  Looks like the Dy clan of Iligan is growing bigger every year.  No wonder I always see my good buddy Carlos "Bonnie" Dy grinning from ear to ear.  Congrats, Lolo Bonnie!

MORE DONATIONS.  LCHS-AA Director Alexander Chua (’60) recently received a cash donation of $200 for the LCHS Alumni Foundation from alumni Dr. Aurora Tansiokhian and Santas Tan-Seitz.  As "Tracers" reported in our last issue, Aurora and Santas were in Iligan to give their blessings to their niece Christine Tan's wedding last March 12.  Aurora Tansiokhian is a perennial donor and supporter to the cause of our association as well as the alumni foundation.  "Tracers" would have wanted to interview the visiting alumni while they were here.  Unfortunately, they stayed only briefly and had plenty of important matters to attend to.  We only had a chat with past alumni president Calix Tan from whom we learned about their arrival.   We have been missing Calix's presence in our board meetings for quite sometime now.  Maybe he is busy traveling in the countryside.

FRESH GRADS.  "Tracers" is happy to learn that John Paul S. Gerona, one of this year's LCHS high school graduates, is a consistent scholar of the LCHS Alumni Foundation, Inc. John is the son of Fe Soy-Gerona (Batch ‘72).  Likewise, our congrats to Jane Dale Racines (Batch 2001), former Spectrum contributor, who obtained her degree in Bachelor of Science in Psychology.  She received her diploma during the commencement exercises of the Ateneo de Manila University last Mar. 19.  Jane is the daughter of Julius Racines (Batch '69) and Evelyn Racines.  Evelyn and Terry Racines (Batch '67) were present at her graduation rites.

FOLK MUSIC.  Who says night life in Iligan is a bore?  People with an ear for folk music will certainly disagree.  Somewhere near the vicinity of MSU-IIT in Tibanga, there's a nice folkhouse called D'Zyr (read: desire).  The place, which is fully airconditioned, offers music lovers a refreshing waterhole to enjoy their beer with live folk music and acoustic guitar.  There one can unwind with relative ease while listening to such immortal folk songs as Cat Stevens' "Father & Son," John Denver's "Country Road," Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind," and many other such pleasurable folk classics.  The place is a favorite hangout of MSU-IIT students and yuppies.  Another place offering live folk music in town is Tatay's Grill, located in Hinaplanon.  This place offers a wide selection of seafood and native delicacies.  It has a lineup of homegrown folk singers to regale its patrons with a vast repertoire of folk songs.  Despite its distance from downtown Iligan, the place still draws a sizeable following every night.  Is Iligan experiencing a revival of folk music?  The answer, my friend, "is blowin' in the wind."

SUNDRY ALUMNI HAPPENINGS.  Kudos to Suniel "Boy" Lim (Batch '66) and Henry Siao (Batch '56) who recently received their White Caps thereby designating them as Inspectors Grand Honorary (IGH) of the Freemasons.  As such, they are now elevated to 33rd degree in rank.  From another corner in town, "Tracers" received reliable info that one of our well known bachelors-at-large alumni is preparing his wedding plan come June this year.  The prospective bride is a beautiful Chinese girl who works in a big insurance firm in Cagayan de Oro.  They have been seeing each other for almost three years now. Maybe his eldest brother, a very active Mason and also a bachelor-at-large, is quietly working for his weeding in the next few years.  Aha! Let's see if we can catch him for an ambush interview.  Walay likay-likay, ok?

Michael John L. Siangco, Batch '96

"Benevolence alone will not make a teacher, nor will learning alone do it.  The gift of teaching is a peculiar talent, and implies a need and a craving on the part of the teacher himself."

It's already mid-March and my first year as a teacher is about to end.  I am excited about the summer vacation because finally I can rest and pursue one thing I consider extremely important -- that is -- watch the movies I missed the whole year.  I can sleep late, wake up late, eat on time, and be with my family.  But then again, I know I would have to adjust to my new and empty schedule.  I would probably miss the school, the teachers, and maybe, even if I hate to admit it, my students.

Time was rather swift.  I couldn't imagine how I endured the school year.  I was a neophyte but some of my students were "well-known" in the guidance's and principal's offices (I think I need not elaborate on that).  I used up all my Mandarin, Fukien (Minnan hua), English, Filipino and even Cebuano in imparting the knowledge to them.  I supplemented them in their calligraphy.  I let them memorize the dialogues hoping that it will improve their diction and accent.  Aside from that, I struggled in adjusting with the people that I worked with, hoping that I was always pleasing to their eyes.  I can't afford to hear anything bad about myself, my inexperience should not be an excuse for my inefficiency.  Day by day, week by week, month by month ... I walked out from two different classes twice; I was furious as hell I hoped the earth would open and swallow me and my class, I was corrected by my students a couple of times also, I was embarrassed when I didn't know the answer to the question my student was asking.  I felt that I was an inefficient teacher because more than half of my class failed Huagi (Huayu); I felt I can't discipline my students, and so on ...

Amidst it all, I had a lot of realizations about myself and the world that I am in.  That teachers are actually heroes.  And teaching is not a so-so profession.  What you taught and how you deal with your pupils and students will really influence them in their lives ahead.  If a doctor is privileged enough to see the first moments of the birth of a child, a teacher can see the child "re-born" everyday as new ideas and concepts are introduced into him.  Being a teacher is something to be proud of, and the teaching profession is something to look up to.

Maybe I watched a lot of films I sound a little melodramatic already.  Hehehe.  Whatever it is, I still have a lot of catching-up to do!

Have a nice vacation to all of us, both teachers and students!

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

"Though we gotta say goodbye for the summer, darling I promise you this I'll send you all my love everyday in a letter, sealed with a kiss. Yes it's gonna be a cold lonely summer, but I'll feel the emptiness I'll send you all my love everyday in a letter, sealed with a kiss. I'll see you in the sunlight, I'll hear your voice everywhere, I'll run to tenderly hold you, but darling you won't be there. I don't wanna say goodbye for the summer, knowing the love we'll miss, oh let us make a pledge to meet in September and sealed it with a kiss."

Yo! It's one of the most popular songs during the fabulous 60's when we were the reigning teenagers, one which we used to sing when classes were ending, to herald the start of the summer. Oh, those were the days! Yes, long gone by, but definitely not forgotten. How could I? How could you? How could we?

The other day, I was browsing over old school yearbooks, souvenir programs, and some "faded photographs covered now with lines and creases", and you bet, the memories of yesteryears' glories, triumphs, and victories again kept coming back like a song's sweet refrain. Indeed, there's so much about our past to go back to. Wonderful flashbacks. A beautiful rewind. A reminiscence of an era gone by. A return to where we once were.

Then suddenly I realized, oh it's been 5 long years since we had the 1st LCHS Grand Alumni Homecoming in Iligan (the place of my birth, the place where I spent my elementary and high school years in a school known as Lanao Chinese High School). Four months from now, I'll be with my classmates, schoolmates, and the significant others. Again, we'll be singing our songs - "It's been a hard day's night, and I've beeen sleeping like a log" and other hits of the Beatles, Cliff Richard's Constantly, or Matt Monroe's Walk Away and Before You Go, among the many hits of our time when the world was a lot simpler, more peaceful, and less polluted. Again, we will be the jam session prince and princess dancing to the tune of Bus Stop, Black is Black, or doing the grind, elephant walk, and more.

Then again, I realized too, that it's been 36 long years since my high school graduation in 1969. Oh, just how fast time flies! What has become of that 17-year old graduate? "Yu, Henry". Present, Ma'am.

Nine months later
Forwarded by Alex Rodriguez (Batch '65), Miramar, Florida., U.S.A.

Jack decided to go skiing with his buddy, Bob. They loaded up Jack's minivan and headed north. After driving for a few hours, they got caught in a terrible blizzard.  They pulled into a nearby farm and asked the attractive lady who answered the door if they could spend the night.

"I realize it's terrible weather out there and I have this huge house all to myself, but I'm recently widowed," she explained. "I'm afraid the neighbors will talk if I let you stay in my house."

"Don't worry," Jack said. "We'll be happy to sleep in the barn. And if the weather breaks, we'll be gone at first light."

The lady agreed, and the two men found their way to the barn and settled in for the night. Come morning, the weather had cleared, and they got on their way. They enjoyed a great weekend of skiing.

About nine months later, Jack got an unexpected letter from an attorney. It took him a few minutes to figure it out, but he finally determined that it was from the attorney of that attractive widow he had met on the ski weekend.  He dropped in on his friend Bob and asked, "Bob, do you remember that good-looking widow from the farm we stayed at on our ski holiday up North?"

"Yes, I do."

"Did you happen to get up in the middle of the night, go up to the house and pay her a visit?"

"Yes," Bob said, a little embarrassed about being found out. "I have to admit that I did."

"And did you happen to use my name instead of telling her your name?"

Bob's face turned red and he said, "Yeah, sorry, buddy. I'm afraid I did. Why do you ask?"

"She just died and left me everything."

Igdono U. Caracho, Batch '66

Iligan Today

GRAND HOMECOMING

"A homecoming is a retreat to a time long gone.  A rediscovery of treasured moments.  A rebirth of recycled dreams."