Vol. 10, No. 21, February 26, 2007
An
alumni's son bagged the first prize in an annual nationwide science contest
after he presented his research that could help improve local sanitation
practices.
Alexander Edward Dy (in photo), a graduating biology student at the University of the Philippines (UP) in Diliman, brought home the Best Project of the Year award in the 2007 Bank of the Philippine Islands - Dept. of Science & Technology (BPI-DOOST) Science Awards. He is the eldest son of Dr. Arthur Dy (Batch '75) and Elizabeth Sy-Dy (Batch '75).
His research project focused on the development of a rapid detection kit for amoebiasis patients through salivary IgA. He chose it out of a fascination with the processes that sustain life, as well as an abiding interest in protozoa, or single-celled organisms that play an important role in controlling bacterial populations. Planning to follow the footsteps of his father who also graduated from UP Diliman, Alexander plans to obtain both MD and PhD degrees in UP. "I want to teach medicine in UP as well as to contribute to cancer research and live to see a cure, to eliminate the allergic reactions we can only suppress or prevent, and most of all, to develop a medicine that could cure drug addiction," said Alexander.
Outside academics, his interests include sports, scouting and military training, writing, culinary arts, and stamp and coin collecting. The BPI-DOST Award is the latest in a long line of successes for Alexander, who received his award last Feb. 20 at the Engineering Theatre of UP Diliman. The Science Awards were first handed out in 1989 by the BPI, which eventually partnered with DOST in 2004. Accompanying Alexander during the awarding ceremonies were his proud grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Dy Tiao Un.
Iligan city council chosen best Sangguniang Panlungsod
The
Iligan City Council was honored as "Best Sangguniang Panlungsod" for Highly-Urbanized
City Category in the whole Region 10 for the year 2006.
DILG City Director Meles Samporna confirmed Cagayan de Oro-based DILG-Region 10 Director and Regional Awards Committee Quirino Libunao’s message that evaluators saw how organized the Iligan City Council under Vice Mayor Henry Dy’s leadership is with its councilors in designated cubicles housed in its own legislative building. High impact resolutions and ordinances from regular sessions with a usual full attendance on deck gave the local Sangguniang Panlungsod an edge over the other contenders.
Evaluators for the regional category visited Iligan last February 1. DILG Iligan has submitted pertinent documents supporting the City Council’s nomination for the national level to the national evaluation committee. Mayor Lawrence Lluch Cruz proudly considers this distinction as another milestone for the City Government of Iligan being a standout among the note-worthy cities in the country.
A
trip down memory lane
Sat, 10 Feb 2007 11:22:35 -0700
There was a chapter in our early teens in Iligan when the beaches of
Saray and Kanaway were parts of our regular Sunday recreations. We
would simply hike our way from the city to the beaches of Saray and Kanaway
for a pleasurable swim. I distinctly remember that somewhere in Saray
we had to cross a narrow wooden bridge before reaching the shores.
Along the way to Kanaway, we walked through narrow paths lined with coconut
trees on both sides. There were only a few houses then. Last December
on Christmas Day, I decided to take a trip down memory lane. I tried
driving to these two memorable places of our childhood to see if the beaches
of Saray and Kanaway are still the same. But, to my dismay, everything
has changed. The wooden bridge in Saray has become a concrete bridge.
And there were houses all around. I couldn't tell any more exactly
where Kanaway is. Yet I drove on and ended up in a garbage dump site.
On my way back to the city proper, I tried to follow a new concrete road.
I ended up instead at the Mindanao Sanitarium Hospital in Tibanga!
--Mike Lee (Batch '66), Edmonton, Canada; email: mnmm@telusplanet.net
Ages
Sat, 27 Jan 2007 09:55:16
Ages are not dates in time but states of mind. Our duty is not
to add years to our lives but to add life to our years. Enjoy aging.
It colors our life.
--Susan de la Cruz, Iloilo, Philippines; email: iko1031@hotmail.com
Alumni balikbayans
NEW PRESIDENT. Alfredo "Chu-Tek" Sy (Batch '56) was recently elected new president of the Cebu Kinmen Association. Among the Iliganons who were elected officers were Dy Sheik Tong and Dy Tiao Un. The new officers will have their formal induction soon. The association's yearly induction ceremony also serves as a get-together party for all Kinmenians in Cebu City. Our congrats to president-elect Chu Tek!
WEDDING
IN PARADISE. It was a dream wedding on the renowned paradise
island of Boracay for Gregory James Dy and his bride Honey
of Manila on Feb. 24. Gregory James, or GJ, is the son of Greg Dy
(Batch '58) and Mary Dy. Needless to say, members of the Dy
clan descended upon this island paradise in full force. Johnson
Dy (in photo) and wife Irene flew in from Chicago, U.S.A.
while
Jesus Dy and wife
Melania jetted in from Mactan. William
Dy came in from Manila while Henry Dy and Carlos Dy arrived
from Iligan to grace the happy occasion. Others spotted at the wedding
were Cristina Deleste, Charina Yu, Angeli Dy, Jose Tan, Alex Dytian,
among others.
ALUMNI
BALIKBAYANS. Spotted flying in to Cebu City from California,
U.S.A. last Feb. 15 was Teresita Siao-Go (Batch '66), in photo,
together with her husband, Charles Go. Tessie, better known
in Iligan as Mei-Mei, came home to visit her father Siao Ching Tin
and sister
Rosie "Bian-Bian" Siao-Sy (Batch '60) who are residing
in Cebu City. Another recent alumni visitor from abroad was Rosalinda
Go (Batch '62) who flew home for a vacation in Iligan last January.
Rosalinda, a nurse by profession in San Diego, California, came home to
visit her father, now 98 years old. Rosalinda is married to Rudy
Arnaldo, a retired U.S. Navy officer. She left the Philippines
since 1968 to pursue her nursing career in America. Her homecoming
in Iligan last month turned out to be a happy family reunion as her younger
sister
Mathelde Go (Batch '72) also flew home from Saudi Arabia
where she is a nurse by profession. The Go family used to have their
residence right beside the old LCHS campus on Roosevelt Ext. Their house
was home to many transient LCHS students who stayed there as boarders in
the 60s and 70s.
MORE ALUMNI VISITORS. Another visiting alumni spotted in Cebu recently was Victoria "Un-Ling" Go (Batch '64). A practicing medical technologist in the U.S.A., Victoria breezed into town last Feb. 20 for a week-long vacation and to visit her sister Charito "Un-Hoy" Go-Sia (Batch '61). While in Cebu, Victoria had a happy get-together with her former LCHS classmates in Chinese class, Lydia Sy-Chona (Batch '65) and Victoria "Siok An" Kho-Chua (Batch '64). The three spent hours exchanging updates about their lives and families over dinner at the Tin Gow Restaurant of the Waterfront Hotel & Casino in Lahug. The family of Victoria Go used to share the same house with Rosalinda Go's family beside the old LCHS Roosevelt campus in the 60s. The family later moved to Manila.
NEW HOMES. It seems that the Guadalupe suburb in Cebu City is fast becoming a favorite residential enclave of LCHS alumni. The latest to move into the area is Charito "Un Hoy" Go-Sia (Batch '61) and her family. Their new house is located along Don Gervacio Quijada St., Guadalupe, just a stone's throw away from the house of Lilian "Siok Hun" Ang (Batch '57). Beside Charito's new residence is another new house occupied by her son who is married to the daughter of Virna "Kuan-Kuan" Sy-Oh (Batch '62). Other alumni residing in the same vicinity are Aurora Ong-Sy (Batch '66), Jose Sam Go (Batch '67), Charles O. Sy (Batch '67), Jane Sy-Limtin (Batch '70), Nelson Sy (Batch '62), and Henry Yu (Batch '69).
Henry L. Yu, M.D., Batch '69
High School Life, Circa 1967
1967. Where were we? What were we doing then? What were the happenings of that year? What were the hit songs, top grosser movies, popular brands of toiletries, apparels, foods, etc.? Do you remember that time in your life?
As for me and my classmates, the year 1967 saw us in our school uniform from Monday to Friday as 2nd year high school students of Lanao Chinese High School (LCHS) under Miss Teresita Maulas (Science) as our class adviser, and others like Miss Teresita Lim (Geometry), Miss Chona Serrato (English), Miss Catalina Daan (Pilipino), among others. The members of our class were: Betty Bernardo, Rodrigo Cayubit, Apolonia Chiu, Yolanda Chiu, Vison Chow, Chiok Hian Dy, Delia Dy, Mario Go, Benny Kao Hok, Leodegaria Lagrosas, Janet Lee, Using Lee, Castor Ong Lim, Jose Lim, Josefina Lim, Richard Lim, Jimmy Wong Ling, Felicitas Ly, Alice Ngo, Charita Sia, Proserpina Siangco, Julius Racines, Adelfa Tan, Edna Choa Tan, Leopoldo Tan, Timestocles Tan, Antonio Leo Te, Elson Velasco, Segundino Velasco, Beng Hong Vy, Rodolfo Yu, and myself.
1967. The graduating class then were the 4th Year students belonging to Class 1967, composed of: Joselyn Ang, Ramon Balian, Aldo Caracho, Dionesio Chiu, Aida Chow, Rudy Co, Abraham Edusma, Jose Sam Go, Melania Handumon, Rosalinda Kaw Hok, Elsa Lagrosas, Carlos Ong Lim, Lilia Lua, Lolita Lua, Lily Lueong, Virginia Ngo, Susan Ong, Teresita Racines, Alicia Singco, Charles Sy, Marcy Sy, Fena Choa Tan, Florentina Tan, Lucio Choa Tan, Josefina Tiu, Manuel Tiu, Lalita Uy, Alberto Yu, among others.
1967. We were crazy over autographs, penpal writing, biking, badminton, basketball, volleyball, jukebox, dancing the grind, soul, bye-bye, etc. during jam sessions, listening to radio dedication programs over DXIC and DXRI, having crushes, daydreaming, buying Song Cavalcade songhits, Graphic and Expressweek magazines, Wakasan komiks, 45 RPM records of the Beatles, Cascades, Cliff Richard, Gary Lewis and the Playboys, Lettermen, Everly Brothers, Petula Clark, Eddie Peregrina, etc., putting on Tancho, Old Spice, Mennen Skin Bracer, cosmetics by Fanbo, Kokuryo, eating Serg's and Goya chocolate, Ricoa flat tops, Fibisco chocolate crunch, Royco noodle soup, wearing jack shirts matched with water repellent tight pants, Custombuilt shoes, Spartan slippers, Vonnel, Banlon, fishnet stockings and Twiggy hairdo for the girls, watching those James Bond 007 movies of Sean Connery, Tony Ferrer as Agent X-44, Eddie Fernandez as Agent Lagalag, the movies of Stella Suarez and Divina Valencia, adoring the Sampaguita Stars '66 composed of Pepito Rodriguez and Rosemarie Sonora, Ramil Rodriguez and Shirley Moreno, Dindo Fernando and Blanca Gomez, Bert Leroy, Jr. and Gina Pareno, Edgar Salcedo and Loretta Marquez. Oh, just how we loved to listen to such songs as: As Tears Go By, Black Is Black, Bus Stop, California Dreamin', Devoted To You, Diamond Ring, Don't Sleep In The Subway, Homeward Bound, I Understand, Mr. Lonely, Sealed With A Kiss, She Wears My Ring, Sitting In The Park, There's A Kind Of Hush, The Jokers Went Wild, You Don't Have To Say You Love Me, ad infinitum.
1967. We were young and carefree. We were in high school. We were the reigning teenagers of the Jam Session era. We had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun. We were the young and the restless of the Yeah Yeah Vonnel Generation. And that was forty years ago.
The little boy observed that his grandfather was not allowed to eat with hem at the family dining table. Instead, his grandfather sat on the floor during mealtime, where he ate his food from a coconut bowl with his bare hands. When the little boy asked why his grandfather was not allowed to eat with them, his father answered, "Because grandpa is already old."
Several days later, the father noticed that his son was not in the house, so he went out to look for him. He found his son outside working on something. The father approached him and asked, "What are you doing, son?" The little boy answered, "I am making a coconut bowl." "What for?" the father inquired. The little boy replied, "I'm making this coconut bowl for you to use when you get old."
I would imagine that after regularly eating food from the silverware available, that you would have great difficulty in eating from a coconut bowl with your bare hands. But it is a possibility seriously worth considering, in the light of present circumstances.
So many of us are caught in the rat race, consumed only by the passion to acquire material wealth that we have conveniently forgotten some of our customs and traditions, like for instance, love and respect for our parents.
There was a time not too long ago when our parents were the centers of affection occupying the places of honor in our home. Today, they are confined in some obscure room more forgotten than remembered; instead of being recipients of attention, they have become objects of distraction. There are even plans of establishing, as what more so-called civilized countries are doing, homes for the aged, where we can exile our parents to prevent them from disturbing our lives.
Perhaps I am old fashioned, but it pains me to see how we have become thrifty in our love, stingy in our care, and niggardly in our concern for our parents' welfare. It seems that we are only interested in ourselves, in our own wants and in our own comforts, that we have closed our world to the needs of our parents, who gave us the greatest gift of all, our lives.
When was the last time you embraced and hugged your parents? Do you still regularly visit them? Do you still kiss their hands in affectionate greeting? Do you still remember their birthdays, their wedding anniversaries? Do you miss them? I feel that our parents are entitled to all the consideration we can give. We own our lives to them. We are what we are today largely because of them, because of their sacrifices, because of their love, because of their concern for our future.
In law, there is a doctrine called Stare Decisis. It is the Doctrine of Precedence. It simply means that we follow what has been done before. I am afraid if we are not careful, we ourselves might become victims of Stare Decisis, of precedence.
How would you like to eat from a coconut bowl? Our children learn from us. What we do, what we fail to do are recorded by their observant eyes and stored in their memory for future use. They will do to us what we have done to our parents.
Feel your hearts, search your conscience, and ask yourself this question: Have I done right by my parents? Whether you will sit with your children's family in their dining table or whether you will sit on the kitchen floor eating from a coconut bowl is all up to you. Remember, in failing your parents, you fail yourself.
[ABOUT THE AUTHOR. Joseph M. Baduel is a prominent corporate lawyer in Cebu City. He is the external vice president of the University of the Visayas. A past district governor of the Philippine Toastmasters, he is a much sought-after speaker in Toastmasters and corporate circles. Aside from his legal acumen, he is known for his wit and passion for family values and moral rectitude.]
Igdono U. Caracho, Batch '66
Sand Castle
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