Vol. 11, No. 7, July 9, 2007
Iligan
City Mayor Lawrence Lluch Cruz (in photo, at left) and Vice Mayor
Henry Dy (in photo, at right) led other city officials in taking
their oath of office at the Anahaw Amphitheater last June 30. With them
were the ten councilors, namely Providencio Abragan Sr., Chonilo Ruiz,
Orlando Maglinao, Moises Dalisay, Jr., Ariel Anghay, Alfredo Busico, Voltaire
Rovira, Jose Zalsos, Bayani Areola and Simplicio Larrazabal III. The ceremony
was solemnized by Valerio Salazar, Executive Judge of RTC Branch 6.
Among the members of the 13th Sangguniang Panlungsod ng Iligan are 6 re-electionists,
1 returnee, and 3 newly elected councilors.
Meanwhile, proclamation of congressional winner is still on hold due to the continuing legal fight between GO Congressional candidate Vicente Belmonte and outgoing Lanao del Norte Governor Imelda Dimaporo, an administration-backed congressional contender. The legal battle between the two parties started when the alleged tampered Certificate of Canvass (CoC’s) from the municipal towns of Bacolod and Maigo were counted by the Provincial Board of Canvassers (PBoC), sparking massive protest from supporters and non-partisan sectors like NAMFREL and PPCRV. However, CoC’s from the town of Kauswagan was not officially tallied due to statistical impossibility as Dimaporo’s votes were found to exceed the actual voter’s turn-out.
Counsels of both parties now await the resolution from the COMELEC second division who will eventually decide who between Belmonte and Dimaporo will sit as the fourteenth congressman of the first district of Lanao del Norte and Iligan City.
Pilmico
is Iligan top taxpayer
The Iligan City Government recognized anew Pilmico Foods Corporation (in photo) as the number one taxpayer of Iligan for the manufacturing category. The award was given during the 57th Adlawan sa Iligan Commemorative Programme last June 16.
In another ceremony, Pilmico was acknowledged for its exemplary performance
in corporation social responsibility for 2006. Pilmico has always
actively helped uplift the local community through its community relations
projects. An Aboitiz flour milling company, Pilmico Foods Corp. has
been providing the Filipino people with high quality flour for over 40
years.
Yu-Go Nuptial
YU-GO
NUPTIAL. Wedding bells rang merrily for Emerson Yu and
Jennifer
June Go at the Sacred Heart Church, Cebu City on July 7, 2007. Emerson
is the son of Enrique Yu and Rosario Yu. The bride,
Jennifer, is the daughter of Jose Sam Go (Batch '67). Among
the 8 pairs of principal sponsors, the familiar faces were Dr. Fernando
Douglas Go, Patrick U. Go, Dr. Vivina Chiu Yrastorza, and Elizabeth
Gothong. Dinner reception was held at the Cebu City Sports Club.
ON
TO EUROPE. It seems Europe is becoming a favorite destination
among alumni globetrotters these days. Come October, our man in Sydney,
Leonardo
"Loloy" Tan (Batch '66) and his wife Leilian (in photo)
will go on a month-long tour of Europe. Their itinerary includes
England, France, Spain, Italy, Greece, Austria, Switzerland, Germany (in
time for the Oktoberfest in Munich), and Netherlands. After their
European swing, they will then proceed to the U.S.A. to grace a relative's
wedding. In all, Loloy and Leilian will be away from home in Sydney
for about 7 weeks.
Henry L. Yu, M.D., Batch '69
Memories in Songs
Certain songs do bring back particular feelings that mark certain points in our lives - as a grade schooler, a high schooler, a college student, a professional, etc., songs that bring back memories of people, places, times, and events, so that whenever we hear them either from the radio, TV, videoke, minus one, concert, carnival, mall, or anywhere else, we cannot help but be transported back in time to that era in our lives when we felt we're on top of the world being the young ones that we were. Here's a list of those songs:
Grade School (1959-1965):
Ave Maria = Que Sera Sera = Three Coins In
The Fountain = Affair To Remember = Some Enchanted Evening = Love Letters
= April Love = Tender Is The Night = Aldila = It's Now Or Never = One Way
Ticket = Crazy = Teenage Senorita = Sad Movies = Downtown = Oh Carol =
Rhythm Of The Rain = Walk Away = Before You Go = Born Free = Hard Day's
Night = Yesterday = Devoted To You = More = There's Always Me = Love Me
With All Of Your Heart = The End Of The World = I Understand = To You From
Me = Constantly = The Young Ones.
High School (1965-1969):
The Sound Of Music = What Now My Love = Mr.
Lonely = This Is My Song = Diamond Ring = Bus Stop = Black Is Black = I
Will Wait For You = Until It's Time For You To Go = Sealed With A Kiss
= Homeward Bound = Sitting In The Park = Together Again = Hey Jude = Cherry
Red = Sound of Silence = Softly As I Leave You.
College (1969-1973):
Traces = Close To You = Deep In My Heart =
The Way You Look Tonight = I Only Have Eyes For You = To Love Somebody
= Words = I Started A Joke = Bridge Over Troubled Water = The First Time
Ever I Saw Your Face.
Medical Student Years/Postgraduate Internship
(1973-1979):
Masquerade = Can We Just Stop And Talk A While
= Mr DJ = Top Of The World = We've Only Just Begun = You've Got A Friend
= Betcha By Golly Wow = I Just Don't Wanna Be Lonely = Let Me Try Again
= It's Impossible = Saturday Night Fever = Rainbow Connection = One Day
= Mahiwaga = Honesty = Can You Read My Mind.
As far as I'm concerned, the above list of songs brings forth a memory or two whenever I hear them. What about you?
Bacolod,
ara
na ako ya (here I come)! That's what I exclaimed to myself in
my half-baked Ilonggo as our Air Philippines aircraft approached Bacolod
City. One can tell if one has reached Bacolod by the sight of Mt. Kanlaon
looming in the misty distance. Considered one of the most active volcanos
in the Philippines, Mt. Kanlaon is only 36 kms. southeast of Bacolod.
It's been more than ten years since I last visited this capital city of Negros Occidental. Business appointments brought me back to this city last week and I made good use of my spare time re-exploring this city where "ang kwarta namon amo lang ginapala bala."
I always make it a point to visit the public plaza whenever I visit a city. Nestled right in the heart of the city, the plaza offers a vantage perspective of life in every city. Like many Philippine towns and cities, the centerpiece of Bacolod's plaza is its gazebo (in photo). It's apparent that this gazebo (or what they also call their bandstand) was erected as a stage for aspiring musicians. Around the gazebo's parapet are inscribed names of music luminaries, like Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn, and Wagner. Fronting the plaza is Bacolod's main church, the San Sebastian Cathedral. Built in 1876, the cathedral symbolizes the typical Spanish town where churches are erected in front of the public plaza. The cathedral is a magnificent edifice made of coral stone and lime with elaborate Greco-Roman columns.
Noticeable at once to the visitor in Bacolod are its clean and wide streets. Most streets consist of no less than four or six lanes, leaving ample parking space available wherever you go. During my stay I did not encounter a single traffic jam around the city. Traffic here flows smoothly and pedestrians walk along the broad sidewalks with ease and in leisurely pace.
Manokan Country (famous for its chicken barbecue) at the Reclamation Area and Pala-pala (renowned for its seafoods) are still drawing the crowds. Many of the Pala-pala vendors at the back of the provincial capitol have been evicted in the government's effort to maintain sanitation in the area. As a result, many of the Pala-pala mainstays have since moved to 18th Lacson St., now the city's main dining and entertainment hub. Most trendy cafes, boutiques, restaurants and bars are situated here. The country's major fastfood chains, like Chowking, Jollibee and McDonald's, are open 24 hours daily along Lacson St. Also located here are some of the city's notable restaurants, such as Inaka Restaurant & Sushi Bar, Bob's Cafe, and Bar 21 Restaurant which serves one of the finest steaks in town. This gourmet restaurant is simply called Bar 21 because it's located on 21st Lacson St.
It is apparent that Lacson St. has outpaced the Goldenfields Commercial Complex in Singcang as Bacolod's center of entertainment and night life. People still flock to Goldenfields nightly but the place is no longer as vibrant as it used to be. Most of the outlets here consist of girlie bars and discos, KTV pubs, barbecue joints, and coffee shops. While strolling around the complex one night, I was approached by a pimp who, in faulty English, offered me a girl for P800. He must have mistaken me for a foreign tourist. I responded in the vernacular, "Di lang ako to, damo ang chicks doon sa amon sa Cebu bala." To which he persisted, "Ah, taga Cebu pala kayo, Sir, sige ... P400 na lang." I politely declined. As I walked away, I thought maybe if I told him I was from Bacolod he might have slashed the price further by another 50% to P200. Which was not entirely impossible considering the current economic difficulties. But that's another story.
The main attraction at Goldenfileds is the Casino Filipino. San Miguel beer at the Bacolod casino is relatively cheap, at only P35 a bottle. A jazz band provides live entertainment in the casino but the impromptu attraction on the night I was there came from a gay gambler. He (or she?) would shriek and scream each time he won at the blackjack table, to the amusement of everyone in the hall. He was betting in gay abandon, so to speak.
Bacolod boasts of a number of elegant yet affordable hotels. Among them are Luxor Place (formerly Bacolod Convention Plaza Hotel), Sugarlandia Hotel, L'Fisher Hotel, and Casino Filipino Hotel. Topping the list is L'Fisher, located on 14th Lacson St., where its dinner buffet costs only P380 per pax. It has a spacious lobby where a pianist entertains guests nightly with music from the 50s and 60s.
If Cebu has its Gaisano, and Cagayan de Oro has its Limketkai, then Bacolod has its Lopue. Lopue's Mall is the city's pioneer homegrown mall. However, after years of dominating the shopping landscape, Lopue's now faces stiff competition with the entry of giant malls like Robinson's Place and Gaisano City. The latest entry is SM City Bacolod, which opened only last March. I spent an afternoon touring both the West and the East Wings of this new squeaky clean, two-storey mall. After an hour or so, my feet stopped working. I had to seek refuge in one of the mall's cinemas to rest my feet and, hopefully, to snatch a quick nap. But I soon realized that it was impossible to catch a sleep inside the theater since it was showing "Transformers" which came with lots of explosions and ear-shattering sound effects. Still it was an hour well spent, given the fact that I have not been to a cinema for almost ten years.
My travel to Bacolod was supposed to be a business trip. But having lots of free time left enabled me somehow to rediscover a city renowned for its azucarera, and adored by many for its puto, piyaya and barquillos.
Igdono U. Caracho, Batch '66
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