Vol. 12, No. 10, October 27, 2008

LCHS is fortunate to be a regular recipient of scholarship grants, one of which is sponsored by the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce & Industry, Inc. on an annual basis. This year's batch of recipients is composed of Jethro L. Salig (Gr. 3), Shekinah T. Candol (Gr. 4), Aryel Dominic G. Lim (Gr. 6), Kenneth G. Nadayag (2nd Yr.), Maleika Andrea Q. Dy (2nd Yr.), Ma. Mercedes S. Gerona (4th Yr.). Each scholar will receive P10,000 for the whole school year.

Along with this program are the annual beneficiaries of the LCHS Alumni Foundation Scholarship Committee. They are: Hannah Gay D. Co (Gr. 1); Donald Edward B. Ong (Gr. 4); Chelsea C. Pagarigan (Gr. 1); Rex Addison G. Lim (2nd Yr.); Christian Allen A. Bruton (Gr. 2); Karen Christine S. Gerona (4th Yr.); Rojean Mae O. Acedo (Gr. 3); and Mack Vincent L. Siangco (4th Yr.)

The following criteria are guidelines for students who may avail of this grant: (1) Parent/s must be LCHS alumni; (2) Income status; (3) Scholastic standing.

ON TO SINGAPORE
Jim Ang bags ASEAN scholarship

Lanao Chung Hua School is proud to announce that Jim Darrell D. Ang (in photo) passed the rigorous requirements for ASEAN Scholarship sponsored by the Singaporean Government for this school year. Among the thousands who applied nationwide, only 11 passed the qualifications for admission.

Jim will resume his senior high in one of the prestigious schools in Singapore. Aside from the financial grant, Jim will receive free board and lodging, medical benefits and an annual stipend. He is set to leave in December 2008. So far, only two alumni managed to qualify for the ASEAN Scholarship, the other one is Dave Dingal of Batch 2001; he finished his elementary at LCHS.

Lorrainne Embay 8th placer in 2008 nursing board exam

Another LCHS alumna made it to the top ten circle of the June 2008 Philippine Nursing Board Examination. Dr. Lorraine Yu Embay (Batch '92), in photo, a second courser in Nursing and a practicing pediatrician, was 8th placer among the successful examinees.

Our congratulations to Lorrainne! We thank LCHS Alumni Association President, James L. Booc, for relaying this information to us.-- Christine Veronica "Jing" Uy.

Students converged at the LCHS gym to greet their teachers with fresh red roses during the celeration of Teachers' Day at LCHS last Sept. 26.

Peter Dy "enters" Canada election

Peter Dy (Batch '66) has thrown his hat into the political ring in Canada ... as election clerk.  He was called to duty for Canada's Federal Election last Oct. 14.  Being a dutiful citizen, he served as poll clerk in station No. 143 for Edmonton-Mill-Woods-Beaumont district.  He was on duty the whole day until the counting of ballots was completed at 8:30 p.m. of the same day.

Each poll station has only two poll clerks assigned to it. They weren't allowed to leave the poll station except for personal call to the washroom.  If one clerk is in the washroom, the voter has to wait until both clerks are present.  "Everything here is by the book," said Peter.  "No monkey business whatsoever. Or else we end up in jail."

Maybe Peter Dy will come home someday to teach our Comelec how to count the votes faster.

[Editor's Note: This page welcomes photos of alumni gatherings, reunions, meetings, celebrations, travels, parties, and other occasions.  Photos, with captions, may be emailed to: lchsspectrum@yahoo.com]

Christine Veronica B. Uy

TRIUMVIRATE.  LCHS continues to amass more victories in recent academic competitions. Our school's bankable triumvirate, namely Ann Catherine L. Co (4th Yr.), Jim Darrell D. Ang (4th Yr.), and Kenn Carlson M. Dy (3rd Yr.), once again proved their Math and Chemistry prowess when they bagged the First Runner-up in the 2008 Chemical Engineering Quiz Bowl sponsored by the Philippine Institute of Chemical Engineers (PIChE), Iligan Bay Chapter and Junior PIChE, MSU-IIT Chapter, last September 20. First Place went to MSU-IIT IDS.

CHEF WINNER. One of the interesting highlights of the Iligan Fiesta celebration at the city plaza was a cooking festival, "PINAKURAT COOKING CONTEST," sponsored by Petronas Gas, Rotary Club of Metro Iligan and the City Government. LCHS alumnus Christopher C. Bruton (Batch '94), chef of Mamee Noons' Restaurant (owned by Julius Racines, Batch '69), was adjudged Grand Champion for his winning recipe, "Hingos-Hingos."  Christopher romped away with a cash prize of P8,000.00.

MORE ON GERONIMO. Geronimo Bayani Sy (Batch '87), who was recently appointed assistant secretary of the Department of Justice, is a former prosecutor at the DOJ.  He started his legal career with the Justice Department in 1999. He obtained his law degree from the Ateneo Law School, and passed the bar examination in 1995. The bachelor-lawyer finished his masters and doctorate in law at UP. Aside from his new government post, he is also a contributor of Tulay (Chinese-Filipino Digest), and has a weekly column, "Here I Stand," in The Manila Times. Our warmest congratulations! May more alumni make it to our top government posts and make a difference!

TRIBUTE TO TEACHERS. In commemoration of Confucius Day which falls on September 28, all Chinese schools in the country celebrate Teachers' Day. At LCHS, this customary celebration has been long observed since way back in the days of the Roosevelt campus. Sometimes, the celebration has to be held earlier, especially if the 28th falls on a weekend. And so, last September 26, all LCHS students paid tribute to the teachers with a serenade, flowers and tokens. Later, the teachers were treated to a simple, get-together dinner with members of the school board.

Still high with the power of the Holy Spirit, euphoric with the experience of the recent World Youth Day, and still wrapped in the warmth of my foster parents' acceptance in Sydney, I was again embraced by another foster parents. This time by an imported family. Yup! From the Australian standpoint, they are imported because their genes originated from the Philippines.

For us Tsinoys in Iligan, Australia is synonymous with Leonardo "Loloy" Tan and family.

Sydney was still very cold when I stayed with Loloy and his family, but the hot Lasagna and homemade meatloaf more than compensated the coldness that crept under the doors of their cozy home.

I immensely enjoyed the company of Ahia Loloy (Yup! Nagka-instant ahia ko didto sa Down Under).  He may not be that good looking guy one usually meets in the streets of Australia (sorry, Ahia Loloy, for my candor) but as we started talking and exchanging gags, I realized how cute he is (uhmm, am still honest, not sipsip ha) and how generous this not-so-thin man is.

I don't know if just looking at me triggers Ahia Loloy's arthritis, but the days I was with them, he had arthritis. He had to call in sick and skipped work.  And this arthritis was relieved by driving me around Sydney. Ahia Loloy brought me to Blue Mountain, a tourist spot more than an hour's drive from the city, to see the Three Sisters Hills.

The second day of his arthritic day, we went "house shopping." We savored the beauty of Australian architecture and picked the house of our dream. I picked "Eclipse" and Ahia Loloy picked "Lily" (angid-angid ra sa Lilian, his wife, administrator and owner).

The third day of my sojourn, Ahia Loloy brought me to Wollongong to see a Taoist Temple. I had so much fun, specially the chiding we had during the ride. It serves as a foundation of a friendship between two persons -- a young one and a young once (aray! sssamot sakit ang arthritis).  I got to know him so much that I know he's got a tattoo where he sits that's similar to my husband's which reads "personal property of ..." in invisible ink though.

Lastly, one can see right away how generous Ahia Loloy is. By looking at his waist, one can tell that his motto is "No one should go hungry." And so he brought me to eat Dimsum (Oh! I love the rice wrappers); then another time, to eat congee with fried chicken. Then on my last night in Sydney, we had fried chicken with yam (sa amoy pa lang, mapapalaway ka na!), and finished off with fried ice cream. It was awesome!

I have so much to thank the people who made my visit to Australia possible (that's Fr. Dan Sormani) and one of the most unforgettable events of my life (my foster families, esp. Ahia Loloy). Thank you so much!

Igdono U. Caracho, Batch '66

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