Vol. 10, No. 23, March 26, 2007

In its effort to take the lead in the pursuit of excellence in promoting the best Peace and Order Council practices, Iligan City has once again earned the privilege to represent Region 10 in the nationwide search for the Best Peace and Order Council (POC).  Among its Peace & Order Council's accomplishments in support of its bid for the title are:

The city's POC has conducted regular meetings, mostly presided by the Mayor Lawrence Cruz as chairperson, with sectoral groups and the barangay chairpersons contributing to the POC’s efficiency and effectiveness.

The POC has mobilized the PNP, the City Prosecutor and the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology for the effective implementation of its programs. The Iligan City Fire Station took prompt action in cases of fire prevention and suppression. The Iligan City Disaster Coordinating Council and Emergency 811 responded without reservation to local calamities and extended help to as far as Leyte and Zamboanga provinces in the exercise of their duties. The POC has mobilized government offices and Criminal Justice System agencies and has organized Barangay Peace and Order Councils which are currently functional.

In terms of sectoral involvement and resource allocation, the POC has sought the participation of NGOs and civic organizations such as the Philippine National Red Cross, the Bantay Bayan Foundation, Incorporated, the Guardians Brotherhood, Incorporated and the Community Police Action Group for material and technical support. Financial support from the private sector amounted to PHP 52,000.  The Iligan City Police Office's 295-member workforce have completed 346 training courses/seminars and received 89 awards and 321 commendations. It has sustained its special forces: Special Operations Unit (the local equivalent of the SWAT Team) and the K-9 Unit.

In its anti-crime efforts, comparative crime statistics has cited a crime solution efficiency of 96.15% of all reported cases. To encourage further community involvement in its anti-criminality campaign, Text Kontra Krimen (7004276) was launched on July 31, 2006.  The Sangguniang Panlungsod of Iligan, conferred as Region 10’s 2006 Best Performing Sangguniang Panlungsod, qualifying itself for the National Finals for Highly Urbanized Cities, has adopted twenty-two (22) resolutions and four (4) ordinances related to peace and order.

Time
Sat, 24 Feb 2007 09:11:37

When you give someone your time, you are giving them a portion of your life that you'll never get back. Your time is your life.  That is why the greatest gift you can give to someone is your time.  Relationship takes time and effort, and the best way to spell love is T-I-M-E because the essence of love is not what we think or do or provide for others, but how much we give of ourselves.
--Susan de la Cruz, Iloilo, Philippines; email: iko1031@hotmail.com

Sun, 11 Mar 2007 15:08:33 +0000
Our heartfelt condolence to Juanita "Kheng Dian" Te-Jo and family for the passing away of Agripino "Loloy" Jo (Batch '60). I just learned about it today after reading the LCHS Spectrum. Call it coincidence, but I don't know why all of a sudden I thought about Loloy early dawn yesterday. Let's all pray for Loloy's eternal repose. God grant him eternal rest.
--Henry L. Yu & family, Cebu, Philippines; email: hvty@skyinet.net

Sun, 11 Mar 2007 11:43 PM
Our deep regrets to hear the sad news of Loloy's sudden demise. May he rest in peace. Our condolence and sympathy go to the family.
--Alex Rodriguez, Miramar, Florida, U.S.A.; email: alpacino_8@hotmail.com

Mon, 12 Mar 2007 21:22:46 +0000
My fervent prayers for the eternal rest of Uncle Loloy and sympathy to the family.
--Elsa Lagrosas (Batch '67), U.S.A.

Thu, 15 Mar 2007 10:52:41 -0400
My sister Santas (Santing) and I would like to extend our deepest condolence and sympathy to Kheng Dian and Kheng Giok on the death of their husbands.  Life is so unpredictable and so short.  May they somehow find some peace during this difficult and sad time. Loloy was our classmate. I remember his smile and his gentle manners.  May he rest in peace.  "When it is time to die, let us not discover that we have never lived." (Henry David Thoreau)
--Aurora H. Tansiokhian, M.D., Burnhill, N.Y., U.S.A.; email: atansiokhian@stny.rr.com
 

Next issue: Our 10TH ANNIVERSARY

Join us in celebrating SPECTRUM's 10th ANNIVERSARY on April 15, 2007 Address your articles or greetings to: lchsspectrum@yahoo.com

KINMEN LUNCHEON BASH.  It was a triple red-letter day for the Cebu Kinmen Association last March 18.  Kinmenians and their family members all gathered at the Cebu Grand Convention Center to celebrate three occasions simultaneously, namely, the 45th induction of officers, celebration of the Lunar New Year, and the annual get-together luncheon of Kinmenians in Cebu.  Leading the new set of officers is Sy Chu Tek (Batch '56) as president (in photo).  It was a well-attended gathering with members and guests occupying no less than 18 lauriat tables. Among the familiar faces spotted at the gathering were Dy Shek Tong, Nelson Sy, Charles Sy, Arthur Dy, Elizabeth Dy, Jonas Sy, Terry Sy, Rosie "Bian Bian" Siao-Sy, Ong Pek Lee, and Peter Sy. Capping the party was the raffle of cash prizes.  Our congrats to the association's new president Sy Chu Tek!

TOP GRADUATES.  The month of March ushers in a new batch of fresh college graduates among children of alumni.  Among those who graduated on top of their classes was Derwin Dexter Sy, son of Nelson Sy (Batch '62) and Josephine Sy.  Dexter, a consistent dean's lister at the University of San Carlos, graduated Magna Cum Laude in B.S. in Information Technology, at the university's 439th commencement rites last March 23.

BACK FROM SINGAPORE.  Spotted recently arriving back in Cebu were Jesus "Hesing" Dy (Batch '63) and his wife Melania.  Hesing and Melania spent a 6-day vacation in Singapore last March 12 to 18.  While in this island-state, they toured such famous spots as Sentosa Island, Jurong Bird Park, Clarke Quay, Singapore's Chinatown, Merlion Statue, and Night Safari, among others. It was their third visit to Singapore. Because of its renowned efficiency, cleanliness, and peace & order, Singapore is becoming a major tourist destination among Southeast Asian countries. A visit to Singapore is always a worthwhile trip la!  Back in Cebu, Hesing and Melania hosted an intimate dinner party in their elegant Mactan residence to welcome Spectrum columnist Marie Janiefer Lee (Batch '87), Carina Dy-Carlos Yu (Batch '91), and Carlos "Bonnie" Dy (Batch '58) who were visiting Cebu last March 24 (in photo below). Janiefer breezed into town from a quick trip to Tagbilaran. Carina came in with her husband Wilmond Yu and their two children. Carlos, on the other hand, arrived from Iligan to join daughter Charina Dy-Carlos Yu (Batch '85) and her son Lance Yu for a summer vacation in Hongkong on March 27.  Among the other guests present at the gathering were Roland Yu, Charles Sy (Batch '67) and Igdono Caracho (Batch '66).

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

Flashback: Iligan City. Summer of 1957.

"April love is for the very young, every star's a wishing star that shines for you. April love is all the seven wonders, one little kiss can tell you this is true. Sometimes as April day will suddenly bring showers, rain to grow the flowers for her first bouquet. But April love can slip right through your fingers so if she's the one don't let her run away ..."

Yup, that's Pat Boone over there singing one of the most popular songs in the summer of my childhood, circa 1957, fifty years ago. It was a hit song during that time, so popular that you'd hear it practically everywhere: from radio station DXIC, the jukeboxes of either Tan's Refreshment Parlor (fronting Century Theater owned by the Gaite's) or Nena's Luncheonette (along the public market in Washington St., owned by the Reston family), the amateur singing contests held Sunday nights at the city plaza sponsored by Purico, Cortal, etc., or from the four non-aircond movie houses like King, Queen, Premier, and Century. That song has been imprinted so deep in my memory that each time I hear it, I couldn't help but reminisce that particular era, somewhere in time: The short pants days, my yaya Takya who used to hum it while ironing the sundried clothes and I listened to "Dear Tiya Dely" over the bedside battery-operated AM radio, the games we used to play at the backyard (jolen, lastiko, bato-lata, patintero, kondisi, koti, karang-karang, tago-tago, pitikpitik, takingking, etc.), the memories of listening to Darigold Jamboree during lunchtime ("Hello! It's 12:00 o'clock high noon, welcome to Darigold Jamboree" and "Gusto ko ang gatas na Darigold, Darigold ..."), or hearing the neighborhood's radio drama in full volume during siesta, and waking up to the scent of freshly-baked breads (pan de coco, pan de leche, pan de agua, etc.) emanating from a nearby bakery. Oh, those were the summers of my very young life when the world was much simpler and more peaceful in many ways than one, when there was less of the more of this present world (less pollution, traffic, congestion, crime, rape, drug addiction, ad nauseatum).

The summer of my youth. It was a beautiful era gone by, but certainly not forgotten. For as long as there's life, there will always be those memories of yesteryears to recall, to reminisce, to remember, and to smile at the thought that once upon a time, I had such a wonderful childhood spent in the city of Iligan, my birthplace, in the summer of '57. Fifty years ago.

Remembering Kinabalu
By Melanie T. Lim
Cebu, Philippines

You should have seen me and my sister eagerly shopping for gear and asking for tips at this outdoor shop, regaling the sales crew with our plans to climb this majestic mountain that rose 13,435 feet when five minutes later, we couldn't even find our way out of the mall.  The situation was short of hilarious.

But I had my heart set on climbing this mountain and no force on earth could dissuade me from my plans.  The more my father told me how stupid the idea was, the more I fell in love with the romantic notion of the mountain and me against the world.

On hindsight, I realize I was mad -- so mad I even convinced nine other unsuspecting people to go with me on this climb.

I still believe until today that only by the grace of God did these people spare my life and not decide to slaughter me as a sacrificial lamb so the gods could manufacture more oxygen up there for us.

Mt. Kinabalu had been described as an easy climb where no mountaineering skills were required.  And indeed, the climb required no mountaineering skills.  It, however, required incredible stamina.  And unless your legs and lungs are made for it, it is a "death climb."

When I asked my friend Casey, who had climbed the mountain a few times before why he hadn't warned me about how hellish the climb would be, he smiled and said, "If I did then you would never have done it."  Indeed, ignorance can be bliss.

I did very little physical preparation for the climb.  I hardly trained.  I was, in fact, in my weakest physical state.  I relied mostly on my ability as a researcher to read as much about the mountain to prepare myself mentally and psychologically for the climb.  Before I set foot on Mt. Kinabalu, I had already climbed the mountain at least 50 times in my mind.

Still, I realize now that climbing Mt. Kinabalu was, theoretically, an impossible feat, made possible only by my determination and will to do it.  Kinabalu will always be, to me, a symbol of the triumph of my spirit.  Today, whenever I am faced with a force so formidable, I remember Mt. Kinabalu.  I remember my ignorance and my ineptitude.  But I also remember my passion and my perseverance.

If I can conquer agoraphobia and altitude sickness to realize a dream, I know I can do anything.

[ABOUT THE AUTHOR.  Melanie T. Lim is a Certified Public Accountant and a university professor in Cebu City (in photo). She is a past president of the Taipan Toastmasters Club. A well-traveled person, she writes a Sunday column for the Sun-Star Daily.  Writing is one of her great passions, the other two being traveling and doing housework.  She is a cousin of alumnus Roderick L. Ngo (Batch '70)]

Igdono U. Caracho, Batch '66