[Shown above is the SCHEDULE of the 2017 GROOVE CENTRAL DANCE STUDIO SUMMER CLASSES AND WORKSHOP. Classes start on APRIL 17, 2017 with RECITAL on JUNE 11, 2017 at the AFP THEATER. The studio is located at No. 104 13th Avenue, Barangay Socorro, Murphy, Cubao, Quezon City, Metro-Manila. The Admin Assistant and Secretary who minds the dance studio and attends to inquiries and phone calls at 0977-8371284 is Ms. Jerly Ortillada. ENROLLMENT IS NOW GOING ON!!!!]

 

For some time now the GC¹ has been buzzing—

That’s every summer time when classes start ceasing…

It’s FUN TIME for kids and adults alike,

Found that a gracious MOM do dance — ‘twas a surprise!²

 

 

 

 

The HIPHOP³ culture has invaded us all,

At the 2014 WHHI ⁴ , a Russian dancer made a call;

He encouraged the audience to learn  HIPHOP,

He even boasted that his MOM has learned a LOT!

 

 

 

 

In the US of A, HIPHOP has been PRAISED,

“It’s now the center of mega music & fashion industry”, State Dept. SAID;

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC for its part, it PRINTED…

“It’s world’s favorite culture…”,  it proudly NOTED!

 

 

 

 

Martha Graham⁵  wrote: “the essence of dance is the expression of man—“,

Even added: “’tis the landscape of  soul…”, with much elan—

Indeed, dancing is helpful exercising,

It improves the heart’s and lungs’ via

such conditioning!

 

 

 

 

Dancing increases aerobic fitness as well as muscle tone,

It even reduces osteoporosis & enhances coordination;

Thus, let’s all propagate this dance culture,

It swept all strata from the poor to those dressed in haute couture!

 

 

 

 

And so starting April 17, of this year—

HIPHOP dancing will be the focus; ‘tis not dear;

At the GROOVE CENTRAL in Barangay Socorro,

Enrollment is going on; reservation is okey too!

 

 

 

You can enroll at Coach VIMI’s⁶ class,

That’s the BASIC or the INTERMEDIATE, as well as the ADVANCE class–

VIMI’s Varsity Team of the LEGIT STATUS name,

Snatched SILVER at 2015 WHHI, it brought much FAME!

Another skilled HIPHOP Coach is that who’s called VON,⁷

He’s really a BONO in French it’s CES’T SI BON;

His HIPHOP classes are the HOUSE & HOODZ styles,

You’d truly love them as VON dances with a smile!

CHIPS BELTRAN⁸ too is a coach who’s so SASSY,

He’s HEAD COACH of UPEEPZ, that won in Sydney at AUSSIE;

He’ll truly entertain you with much of his VERVE,

And all his students would never go unnerved!

Or enlist with Coach MJ ARDA⁹ of the A TEAM,

Whose style is truly EXCELLENT and CLEAN;

As the A TEAM really is so much force and passion,

Surely, it could bring much… more laurels to our nation!

 

 

 

Your toddler can list up for BALLET,

That’s with Coach TINA¹⁰ and my kid ALEE¹¹;

…Or those KIDS who want to dance for a start,

Coach CHESKA¹² could put them on the right track!

 

 

JJ GUSTILO¹³ on the other hand teaches NEWSKOOL,

A brand of HIPHOP which really is COOL;

And JJ is the Head Coach of the ALLIANCE¹⁴ Team,

The RP Team which bagged BRONZE, with much esteem!   

 

 

 

 

You can learn under Coach SHAYNA¹⁵, ‘tis TRUE,

Her DANCE CLASS is named PROJECT GROOVE—

And in the end– will meet at Fort AGUINALDO¹⁶,

That will be the much-awaited RECITAL with much HULLABALOO!

 

 

CHEERS and GOD BLESS unto the GROOVE CENTRAL DANCE STUDIO!!!!

 

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[Legend: 1 – GC is the acronym for the GROOVE CENTRAL DANCE STUDIO located at No. 104 13^th Avenue, Barangay Socorro, Cubao, Quezon City, Metro-Manila.

2 – I actually got surprised to see my friend, Ms. IDA TIONGSON, who is an executive and business consultant of the Lucio Tan Group of Companies. We chanced upon each other at the GC Dance Studio one day while she did a dance training while I checked on my daughters: Shayna, Cheska and Alee who are dance coaches thereat. I just then realized that HIPHOP dancing was IDA’s secret for her innate aura of elan, agility, flair, confidence and éclat.

3 – Hip hop is a subculture and art movement developed by African-Americans from the South Bronx in New York City in the late 1970s. While people unfamiliar with hip hop culture sometimes use the expression “hip hop” to refer exclusively to hip hop music, hip hop is characterized by anywhere from four to nine distinct elements or expressive realms, of which hip hop music as well as hip hop dance are the principal elements. Indeed, it brings pride to all of us Filipinos that our Philippine hiphop dance teams are beating even the Americans (from where it originated actually n New York City, USA) in HIPHOP dancing.

4 – WHHI is acronym for WORLD HIPHOP INTERNATIONAL CONTEST. Thus, at the World Hiphop International Contest held in Las Vegas, USA in August 2014 (which was attended by me and my whole family), the team captain of the RUSSIAN Hiphop Team, who was about in his early 20s;  announced on stage during the FINALS, that his mother was into HIPHOP dancing also as he called upon the audience to learn HIPHOP too.

5 – Martha Graham was an American modern dancer and choreographer. Her influence on dance has been compared with the influence of Picasso on modern visual arts, the influence of Stravinsky on music, and the influence of Frank Lloyd Wright on architecture.

6 – VIMI is Coach VIMI RIVERA and is the Team Director of the LEGIT STATUS DANCE TEAM which Varsity Dance Team won 1^st Runner-Up in the 2015 WHHI held in San Diego, CA, USA. The LEGIT STATUS Dance Team has been joining and competing at the WHHI for a couple of years now since 2009.

7 – VON is Coach VON ASILO who was formerly the Creative Director of the UP STREET DANCE TEAM which was declared CHAMPION under their team name THE CREW in the 2012 WHHI held in Las Vegas, USA.

8- CHIPS BELTRAN is the Head of the UPEEPZ Dance Team which won as CHAMPION in the 2016 WHHI held in Las Vegas, USA.

9 – MJ ARDA is Coach Michael Jordan Arda who is Team Director of the A TEAM, the CHAMPION of the 2014 WHHI held in Las Vegas, USA.

10 – Coach TINA is CRISTINA VALDERRAMA who is the Head Coach in BABY BALLET.

11 – ALEE is Ma. Winnalee E. Young, my youngest daughter, who is Assistant Coach in BABY BALLET.

12 – CHESKA is Ma. Wincheska E. Young, my middle daughter, who teaches KIDS HIPHOP.

13 – JJ G. SAN JUAN is the Head Coach and Team Director of the ALLIANCE Team.

14 – The ALLIANCE Dance Team like the LEGIT STATUS Dance Team is composed of dancers from different schools in the metropolis and it has been joining and competing at the WHHI for some time now. The ALLIANCE Team bagged the BRONZE medal during the 2016 WHHI held in Las Vegas, USA.

15- SHAYNA is Winshayna E. Young, my eldest daughter, who teaches the PROJECT GROOVE HIPHOP class.

16 –  Fort AGUINALDO is the Fort Aguinaldo Theater located within the Camp Aguinaldo grounds where the RECITAL for the 2017 SUMMER CLASS & WORKSHOP will be held on June 11, 2017.]

 

[I have started to focus on writing FUN-RHYME BLOGS about my fraternity (i.e. the PI OMICRON) and our partner-sorority, the DELTA PI OMICRON, particularly about members thereof who have carved out a niche in their respective fields and/or professions. This is to drumbeat interest too, in connection with the coming PI OMICRON NATIONAL CONVENTION which is being spearheaded by our PI OMICRON ALUMNI ASSOCIATION INTERNATIONAL PRESIDENT, Brod Bert Somera. The NATIONAL CONVENTION is slated to be held on December 15-17, 2017 in Legazpi City in Albay. Thus, this serves as ICE-BREAKER BLOG to honor our gracious, elegant and pretty sisses of the DELTA PI OMICRON….Manay LOLIT SOLIS is our sorority sister being a member of the UP DELTA PI OMICRON SORORITY. Most of the new sisses of the DELTA PI OMICRON FRATERNITY cannot seem to accept the verity that Manay LOLIT, now so “SOSI” and RICH, and who has now turned into a marvelous star-maker is sorority sister of the DELTA PI OMICRON. Manay LOLIT started out as a movie-scribe and she would almost do arm-twisting techniques to insure her stories would see print. As a movie-scribe, Manay Lolit was once described as possessed with a pen which is mightier than the sword, in many sense. The late veteran-journalist, TEDDY BENIGNO, once said that: “…AT ANY WAY YOU LOOKED AT LOLIT, SHE LOOKED LIKE A MINI-PATTON TANK POSITIONING ITS GUN TURRET FOR A BELCH…”!  Manay LOLIT, the PI OMICRON FRATERNITY and the DELTA PI OMICRON SORORITY wish you GOOD LUCK and  MORE BOUNTIFUL BLESSINGS! “HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOO to my crush, bing martinez” SAYS LOLIT!]

 

It was my recruitment to the PI OMICRON FRATERNITY¹,

Which made me an acquaintance AND friend of this PERT LADY²;

That was in 1967 in the Diliman COMMUNITY³,

This story that I’ll reveal is a bit JUICY⁴!

 

LOLIT was a bit brobdingnagian⁵ that TIME,

As our other sisses then were petite and just FINE;

And LOLIT dressed up then a bit low⁶ and LOOSE⁷,

You’d even think then that she’s just downed some BOOZE⁸!

  

Because of her size — the joke that just CRACKED,

Was she’ll be PI O’s front-liner⁹ who could give a big WHACK;

In case there’ll be a rumble versus a bellicose FRAT¹⁰ —

LOLIT really looked like a tomboyish BRAT!

  

But LOLIT was indeed caring and a loyal FRIEND,

She actually was the go-between between JAMEL¹¹ and his GIRLFRIEND¹²;

If there came a spat between these 2 LOVERS,

LOLIT was helpful with the closed LOUVERS¹³!

  

Eventually LOLIT’s stint at UP got CONCLUDED¹⁴,

And into the silver screen, she saucily INTRUDED¹⁵;

Thereafter she became topnotch TALENT MANAGER,

LOLIT quickly zoomed up as though pursued by an OGRE¹⁶!

  

But SERENDIPITY indeed works FANTASTIC,

For after 27 years, I met up with LOLIT—

It was the FILMFEST FIASCO¹⁷ in NINETEEN NINETY FOUR,

She was devastated … ‘twas such a  HEAVY DOWNPOUR!

  

As we got reconnected and got always in TOUCH,

I got her to talk with our mutual “KA-BATCH”¹⁸ —

That epic talk which got held in BULACAN,

Brought LOLIT back to her poise… indeed ‘twas well DONE!¹⁹

  

Eventually, LOLIT became my sosi ²⁰ KUMARE,²¹

As she served as godmother to my daughter ALEE²²;

I gifted her even with a cute POMERANIAN,²³

Which  I personally brought to her FAIRVIEW TAHANAN²⁴!

  

But the secrets I learned from my sosi KUMARE,

Perhaps she’ll allow me… if not I’ll say SORRY;

Her secret crush then whose baiting eyes she ADORES,

Is no other than Brod BING²⁵, past Prexy of surgeon-DOCTORS²⁶!

Anent the FILMFEST SCAM in NINETEEN NINETY FOUR,

LOLIT confided to me while looking so DOUR;

“If GABBY only said …”I’m sorry”…to ME…

…we’d have continued our friendship until ETERNITY…”²⁷

 

[Photo above shows Brod Bing Martinez, the secret CRUSH of Manay LOLIT, with his vaunted BAITING, nay TANTALIZING eyes. HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAW, manay LOLIT!] 

happy birthday to you Manay LOLIT!  

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[Legend: 1 – The UP PI OMICRON Fraternity where I belong is a university fraternity which was organized in December 15, 1963. Our sorority sisters like Manay LOLIT belong to the DELTA PI OMICRON Sorority.

2 – PERT LADY would mean attractively lively and cheeky; CHEEKY means impudent or irreverent, however in an endearing or amusing fashion.

3 – The community referred to is the UP Diliman community.

4 – JUICY is used is this BLOG to mean somewhat enjoyable and interest-arousing as well as amusing.

5 – BROBDINGNAGIAN – Well, I know that Manay LOLIT is too lazy to consult a dictionary and as the word BROBDINGNAGIAN appears too classy, she will surely feel content with the word. But the word is here used to intimate the verity that Manay LOLIT was relatively huge then as compared to our petite and svelte sisses. Well, not too HUGE but a bit HUGE.

6 – LOW would mean the dresses Manay LOLIT wear then had those seemingly low neckline and her cleavage seemed to be peeking out.

7 – LOOSE means really LOOSE, as though the dresses were veritable hand-me-downs from a larger member of Manay LOLIT’s clan. That’s the reason too perhaps why the neckline appears too low.

8 – BOOZE means liquor.

9 – FRONTLINER is a term used then during our UP college days as member of the Frat who is either immense, muscular or a martial arts expert practitioner and who will occupy the frontline of a seeming phalanx in case of rumbles with other fraternities.

10 – FRAT means FRATERNITY.

11 – JAMEL is Brod Jamel Lucman who was the PI OMICRON FRATERNITY’s Grand Omicron for school year 1967-1968. Grand Omicron was the appellation given to the head or the leader of our fraternity, the UP PI OMICRON FRATERNITY.

12 –  Brod Jamel’s girl friend then was Ms. Josefina Ruiz who is endearingly called JOY. I cannot distinctly remember whether or not Joy was a sis but that Joy was a friend of Manay Lolit. And as the hang-out then of the sisses of the DELTA PI OMICRON Sorority was the female comfort room located at the Pavilion 1 of the Palma Hall near the Chemistry Department, Joy would almost always be with Manay LOLIT inside the sanctuary of that female comfort room.

13 – LOUVERS refer to the window at the female comfort room at the Pavilion 1 of  the Palma Hall used by the sisses as hang-out. Most brods have girlfriends who are sisses and communication between them if those sisses are busy studying inside the CR is through notes written on slips of paper which is being passed unto them through the window of the CR from a nearby area actually the lawn along Roces Street corner Quirino Street. This note-passing eventually became most convenient when there is a lovers’ quarrel between a particular brod and a particular sis. In those days, most brods have girlfriends from the DELTA PI OMICRON sorority.

14 – I do not personally know whether Manay LOLIT graduated in UP as at the time we met, I was on my 2^nd year while she was on her 4^th year already. When Brod Jamel eventually went underground as he became Commander Jungle Fox of the BLACKSHIRTS, the armed group of the Mindanao Independence Movement (following the start of the Mindanao Rebellion of 1970); Manay LOLIT became scarce too and I surmised that she has already graduated from UP.

15 – Word got around that Manay LOLIT would persist in convincing the newspapers and the tabloids to use and print the stories that she would write down as movie scribe-reporter and such tactic would be aptly described as INTRUSION of some kind. Sorry Manay LOLIT…

16 – Ogre is used her in this BLOG jocularly. Ogres in myth and folk tales refer to a variety of brutish hominid monsters, uniformly large and unpleasant and typically cannibalistic or predatory towards normal human beings, infants and children. Thus, the usual reaction is to zoom away and fast when pursued by an OGRE.

17-The FILMFEST FIASCO refers to the mis-reading of the names of the wrong winners (instead of the actual winners) which happened during the 1994 Metro Manila Film Festival scandal. It was purportedly manipulated by Manay Lolit as she wanted her TALENT, GABBY CONCEPCION to be announced as winner, by hook or by crook.

18- Our “KA-BATCH” which means actually BATCHMATE during those college days was no other than former RTC Judge Felixberto T. Olalia, Jr. whIch is the full name of Brod Jun Olalia. Brod Jun was the very first brod who became part of the country’s judiciary initially as MTC Judge and eventually as an RTC Judge. It was coincidentally upon the sala of Brod Jun Olalia into which the court case filed by then Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim against Manay LOLIT, in relation to the FILMFEST FIASCO; was raffled off. It was Brod Jun who encouraged me into writing as he was himself a writer during our college days in UP. He was really actively involved too in writing then. Brod Jun taught me too the basics of good grooming and he was my helpful seatmate at our UP Law freshman classes (he would open up his book for me to glance while our Law Prof was not looking during recitations).  I set up a meeting sans the knowledge of Brod Jun which meeting was held at the resort place then of my father-in-law, Antonio S. Evangelista, in Villa Evangelista, Bulacan, Bulacan. I was swayed to this chivalrous gesture as Manay LOLIT was truly devastated then. I invited Brod Jun to come as sort of an advance birthday celebration of his inaanak, my only son, WALTER ANTHONY. I truly admire Brod Jun, as despite his affinity with Manay LOLIT; he convicted Manay LOLIT in accordance with the pertinent law. In any case, Manay LOLIT felt assuaged having met Brod Jun in such an informal and casual setting, allowing her to pour out her emotions unto a fraternity brother. 

19 – Manay LOLIT was convicted but sentenced to a not-too-harsh penalty by Brod Jun and was granted thereafter the privileges under the country’s  PROBATION Law.

20-  SOSI is a variation of the Tagalog slang word SOSYAL which is a colloquial adjective, a Filipino Language slang, describing a person who is classy, or someone who is  wealthy; and Manay Lolit has indeed become relatively CLASSY and relatively WEALTHY.

21- KUMARE is a Tagalog word which refers to a compeer of the female gender; actually the godmother of a child.

22 – ALEE is my youngest daughter whose full name is Ma. Winnalee E. Young and is currently a freshman student at the ATENEO taking up a course in Management.

23 – Pomeranian is a breed of a toy dog. When I gifted Manay LOLIT with the Pomeranian which she named PAPA, Manay LOLIT was already owner of a kennel of about 20 toy dogs then, many of which were of the Pomeranian breed.

24 – TAHANAN is actually Filipino term for HOME. Manay LOLIT actually lives at No. 16 Antler Street in North Fairview, Quezon City, Metro-Manila.

25 – Brod BING is Dr. Gabriel L. Martinez who is a surgeon with clinic at the UERM. Brod BING was the former President of the Philippine College of Surgeons.

26 – Prexy of the surgeon-doctors is the President of the Philippine College of Surgeons which Brod BING held in 2016.

27 – It was alleged and it would seem that Manay LOLIT promised to his TALENT, GABBY CONCEPCION, that she will make GABBY win the 1994 FILMFEST award for Best Actor. It was alleged too that GABBY has been dreaming and aching to snatch such an award. And Manay LOLIT being GABBY’s TALENT MANAGER, exerted her utmost best to achieve that dream which GABBY has been nurturing. When the FILMFEST SCAM was uncovered and Manay LOLIT got so devastated, Manay LOLIT got hospitalized for some time. This episode brought about a fall-out between the TALENT and the TALENT MANAGER. In one of our talks, as though reminiscing the past, Manay LOLIT confided that if only GABBY called or visited her at the hospital or sent her a GET WELL SOON card; she and GABBY could have maintained their friendship.]

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[My “Frenchy” beatnik-looking frat brod JONAHMAR AGUILAR SALVOSA is shown here at work daubing picturesque designs on canvass while sporting his usual naughty smile. Born into humble beginnings in the sleepy town of Calabanga in Camarines Sur, JONAH’s upbringing in an environment full  of nature’s bounty must surely have influenced him to explore art in all its splendid color. JONAH’s artworks engulf one’s senses with a harmony of color and brilliance that not any artist can just convey.  His mastery of the paintbrush, his expressive use of colors convey in the most impressive of ways his entire being – a complete oneness of man and his art. Just recently, JONAH championed his advocacy of BREASTFEEDING. He has in fact come up with a FACEBOOK account on this advocacy of his which features  diverse paintings showing mothers with their respective child while nursing their child via natural breastfeeding. I am writing this BLOG to memorialize those PI OMICRON brods of mine who have excelled in their chosen fields of profession. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BROD JONAH!]

 

 

 

If you’d come to see him in his NICHE,

He’d seem as though a saucy BEATNIK¹;

But mind you Mesdames/Sirs – he’s meek and truly PROLIFIC,

For he draws and stains… so quaintly MAGNIFIQUE!

 

 

 

He’s endearingly called JONAH,

Had painting engagements  and awards ala BONANZA²;

For a start, and as a teen – he won the SHELL PRIZE³,

And a saintly piece hangs at the VATICAN… ‘tis a SURPRISE…

 

 

When Pope John Paul II planned to come to R.P.⁴ in 1981,

A contest⁵ for San Lorenzo Ruiz’ image emerged, as gift for  Pope JOHN⁶;

A committee was formed and  thousands of artists PERFORMED,

JONAH’s name was always among qualifiers …in the list of the top NORM!

 

 

 

As there ensued some jockeying and LOBBYING⁷,

Some artists complained of a sting cum CONSPIRING;

The APOSTOLIC NUNCIO⁸ resolved the ISSUE,

And the contest re-started as a fresh joust ANEW!

 

 

It indeed was a pure SURPRISE,

As JONAH sans any backer, found it hard to SURVIVE;

The jousting and re-jousting was draining and STRESSFUL,

JONAH felt that his prospects got so NIL and so AWFUL!

 

 

But as some judicious deliberation had ENSUED,

And the protocol of the committee of ONE⁹ was PURSUED;

JONAH never thought that his piece would SCORE,

Though he knows that his piece,  was TRAVAIL D’AMOUR¹⁰!

 

 

 

And his piece now hangs proudly in a niche at VATICAN CITY,

Though he never had the chance to meet the HOLY SEE¹¹;  

For the Philippine envoy dreamt of bringing all of his CLAN,¹²

Regretfully — JONAH got bumped off at the VATICAN!

 

 

‘Tis JONAH’s show of humility and AMITY,

He did not want to make a fuss of that VERITY;

For the LORD up above knows it so TRULY,

It was JONAH — not the ENVOY who painted the quaint IMAGERY!

[Here are two (2) of the recently-posted breastfeeding paintings uploaded at Brod JONAH’s FACEBOOK account entitled 100 BREASTFEEDING FILIPINAS. This has been Brod JONAH’s advocacy and that, in the process of championing this cause, he has been enticing celebrities-nursing mothers to pose for a painting session to capture that unique motherly act of bonding with a child.]  

 

 

A VOTRE SANTE ET BONNE CHANCE JONAH!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BROD JONAH!

 

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[Legend: 1 – A BEATNIK refers to a person who participated in a social movement of the 1950s and early 1960s which stressed artistic self-expression and the rejection of the mores of conventional society; broadly, the term refers to a usually young and artistic person who rejects the mores of conventional society. Typical of a beatnik attire during the 50s and 60s, particularly for the male: a beatnik hat which Jonah sports in his photo above, relatively long hair, and a mustache or a goatee.

2 – Here is a listing of JONAH’s bonanza of awards:

* 2009 -MAIN PRIZE, 2009 Freedom to Create Prize.London,U.K.

* 2008 – 2nd Place Winner, 1st International Designers Network Club

Philippines. Pasig Photo Safari. Metro Manila

* 2007- Salute to the UNCEAN Outstanding Alumni for Arts. University of

Nueva Caceres. General Alumni Association Inc. Naga City

* 2004 – 3rd Place, Sculpture Category, Art Association of the

Philippines. Sculpture Competition

*  Top 5 Watercolorist for 2002 – 19th Kulay sa Tubig Annual

Watercolor competition sponsored by Gallery Genesis

* 1999 Millenium Oragon Award For the 100 Outstanding Personalities

of the Province of Camarines Sur in the Second Millennium

* 1999 Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Fine Arts 250th

Foundation Day Anniversary Calabanga, Camarines Sur

* 1995 Best Entry,1st Place, “Pamana” Lithograph Printmaking Category.

(1995 Art Association of the Philippines) Annual Art Competition,

Philippines

* 1984 Outstanding Bicolanos Awards University of Nueva Caceres, Naga City

* 1979 Outstanding Calabanguenos Award (Art) Calabanguenos of Metro-

Manila

* 1978 1st Prize, “First Filipino Saint” Art Competition- Trip to Rome –

Circulo-Romano Filipino and AAP

* 1975 1st Prize and Honorable Mention “Pamanang Ginto “On-the-Spot

Painting Tilt “Parks and Wildlife” –Trip to Belgium – Capitol Jaycerettes, Quezon City

* 1975 2nd Prize, Painting Category, AAP 28th Annual Art Competition

* 1975 2nd Prize, Caloocan Bantayog Jaycess On-the-Spot Painting Contest

* 1975 13 Emerging Artist Award, AAP . Club Filipino, San Juan, Metro-

Manila

* 1974 Celia Diaz Laurel Scholar (Painting) University of the

Philippines, Diliman

* 1974 Artist-in-Residence – University of the Philippines,

Baguio City

* 1973  Grand Prize Winner –On-the-Spot Painting Contest, Makati Rotary-

West

* 1973  Honorable Mention- On-the-Spot Painting

Contest ,Makati Rotary West

* 1972 Adiel Arevalo Scholar (Printmaking)

University of the Philippines, Diliman

* 1972 College Scholar, University of the Philippines, Diliman

* 1971 1st Prize, Children’s Museum and Library On-the-Spot Painting

Contest, Fort Santiago, Manila

* 1971 1st Prize -1st Annual Nayong Pilipino On-the-Spot Painting

Contest, Pasay City

* 1971 2nd Prize, Shell Philippines Annual On-the-Spot Water Color

Contest

* 1971 2nd Prize Annual Painting Contest, Shell Philippines

* 1971 2nd Prize, YMCA Annual Art Competition

* 1970 Artist of the Year Graduation Day, University of Nueva Caceres, Naga City

* 1969 1st Prize, Watercolor Contest Colegio de Sta. Isabel, Naga City

* 1969 Ist Prize, On-the-Spot Caricature Contest Ateneo de Naga-

Xavier Anniversary, Naga City

* 1968 Jahawarlal Nehru Gold Medal Winner Shankar International Art

Competition, India

* 1968 2nd Prize, On-the-Spot Water Color Contest St. Xavier

Anniversary, Ateneo de Naga

* 1966 1st Prize, On-the Spot Sketching Contest 18th Foundation

Anniversary University of Nueva Caceres, Naga City

* 1966 Outstanding Artist of the Year, Commencement Exercises,

Calabanga Central Pilot School

* 1965 1st Prize, On-the-Spot Painting Contest Provincial Boy Scout

Skill-0-Rama, Camarines Sur

* 1964 1st Prize, On-the-Spot Painting Contest Central Bay Meet,

Camarines Sur

* 1962 Special Talent Award Foundation Day, University of Nueva

Caceres, Naga City

* 1961 10 Outstanding Winners Uncle Bert Coloring Contest;The Manila Times

* 1961-1st Prize-On the Spot –Watercolor contest ,13th Foundation

Anniversary University of Nueva Caceres

3 – Since years before, SHELL has been organizing the ANNUAL SHELL STUDENT ART COMPETITION, and JONAH was among the yearly winner of this and other art competitions as though sweeping them all.

4 – R.P. is acronym for Republic of the Philippines.

5 – Following the canonization of San Lorenzo Ruiz as the First Filipino Saint, a painting contest was had for the best image that would present itself as the most fitting and most apt depiction of San Lorenzo Ruiz in acrylic paint.

6 – Pope John is Pope John Paul II.

7 – It was bruited about that some members of the committee were themselves rooting for their friends/favorites who have joined the contest for the FIRST FILIPINO SAINT ART COMPETITION, a painting contest to draw the most fitting image of San Lorenzo Ruiz, the First Filipino Saint.

8 – As the contest was also being co-sponsored by the Vatican, the committee composed of topnotch Filipino artists was abolished and the Apostolic Nuncio was constituted as a ONE-MAN COMMITTEE to determine the FIRST PRIZE winner. In both the adjudication first by the COMMITTEE, and the APOSTOLIC NUNCIO; Jonah was among the top qualifiers and Jonah was eventually declared FIRST PRIZE Winner.

9 – The COMMITTEE OF ONE was constituted by the APOSTOLIC NUNCIO himself.

10 – Travail d’amour is French which means “labor of love”.

11 – HOLY SEE is used here to mean the Pope though it would usually be a term referring to the whole jurisdiction of the pope (the word see is from the Latin for “seat”).

12 – The word that got circulated in the grape vine and as was affirmed by Brod JONAH himself, as he was awarded a trip to ROME and the fringe benefit of handing over the winning San Lorenzo Ruiz painting unto Pope JOHN PAUL II; the appointment as conveyed to him was for a 2:00 PM appointment with the Pope. The Philippine envoy was supposed to accompany him. But as the Philippine envoy wanted to bring the whole of his family to the meeting with the Pope, Brod JONAH never had that chance to kiss the Pope’s ring and meet him. Brod JONAH in the afternoon received a message that as there was a change of sked (10:00 AM of that very day instead of 2:00 PM), which purportedly prevented a quick communication, Brod JONAH got bumped off from that trip to see and meet Pope JOHN PAUL II. ]

[President RODRIGO ROA DUTERTE will be celebrating his 72nd BIRTHDAY tomorrow, March 28, 2017. As it has been publicized that it will be a quiet celebration for the President of our nation, I would just like to offer this FUN-RHYME blog as birthday gift for him – a FUN-RHYME blog that summarizes what I feel are changes that have made life more livable now in our beloved country. It indeed is a blessing to all of us Filipinos that a President has emerged in our midst — a President who has trained his sight and focus in the WAR on DRUGS at a time when it appears to be SOLVABLE still.]

 

 

Being an ARIAN¹ – our Prexy is AUTHORITATIVE and DETERMINED but is also LOVING,

That’s the reason perhaps why he acquired his ROMANTIC moniker;

But as he has now become the FATHER OF THE NATION,

He’d CARE and LOVE us ALL, till the world’s CESSATION!

 

 

 

Oh DIGONG², you’ve indeed sounded the GONG³,

You’ve made life livable in our nation for LONG⁴;

Those dimly-lit alleys and streets have now become passable⁵,

Those CHUNGKEES⁶ of yore have now become invisible!

 

 

 

 

‘Twas good that a Prexy like you has emerged,

For if not for your coming, the nation might be submerged;

To the wheeling-and-dealing of DRUG LORDS and the addicts,

Our nation will go flat in a downward helix!⁷

 

 

 

 

‘Tis in your unique stewardship too,

That the environment was cared for in toto⁸;

Now the mining companies have learned to comply,

Those rules …as GINA LOPEZ⁹ has herself made a FLY-BY!¹⁰

 

 

 

 

And the fish pens in the Laguna LAKE¹¹—

Has been there for long as rouge officers¹² seem to be in the TAKE;

The dismantling has benefitted the lowly FISHERS¹³,

The end has dawned upon the big-time FIXERS!

 

 

 

 

The genuine desire of DIGONG for the PEACE PROCESS,

Can be seen from the way, he extended his hand with EASE;

He has done away with much of the RHETORICS,

For he gave vent and focus to just the pure BASICS! 

 

 

 

 

In fact, he even released first those political prisoners —

‘Twas unprecedented –as though a misstep of GONERS;

But true sincerity indeed, begets TRUST and TRUTH…

Am sure, the PEACE PROCESS would truly be SMOOTH!

 

 

 

 

But the most starling development of ALL,

The regime of the ELITE has now reached a FALL;

For ELITISM¹⁴ has reared a much ugly head,

Every DICK and HARRY wants to be ELITE and be AHEAD!

 

 

 

 

Indeed, the flaw perhaps of the character of the FILIPINO,

Everyone wants to be part of the ELITISMO;

And the ELITE, as has been the usual trait–

Is to achieve financial superiority whatever it would take!

 

 

 

 

And those aspiring to be a STATESMAN, SO-SO,

And would want for a start, to become a POLITICO—

And as their usual dream is to be rich and be so ELITE,

Corruption would surely entice those lacking in spirit!¹⁵

 

 

 

 

With the advent of President DUTERTE’s brand of POLITICS,

It is now for the good of all — tinged with financial ethics;

Bribery is now a BANE and must all be DISDAINED,

As it would make the government coffers dreadfully DRAINED!

 

 

 

 

The emergence indeed of COMMON TAO DIGONG,

Would prove to be the model of the MASA of our NATION;

Now — they would know — if your love for your country is TRUE,

You really can rule as its leader; you’ll never be a P.R.U.E¹⁶ !

 

 

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

PRESIDENT RODRIGO “ROA” DUTERTE!

 

================================================================

[Legend: 1 – Having been born on March 28, 1945 which is under the ARIES ZODIAC sign; he is considered an ARIAN; and those born on March 28 are considered as AUTHORITATIVE and DETERMINED, among others.

2 – DIGONG is the endearing nickname of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte.

3 – It is said that the sound of a GONG is HEALING and TRANSFORMATIONAL. It is in this context that the word GONG is used being an instrument that creates SOUND.  

4 – Though Pres. Duterte has just served as President for less than a year, notable changes have been observed within the metropolis and the countryside especially the peace and order situation. People has truly felt security and safety in their homes and even in the streets especially at night.

5 – In fact, I have encountered a lot of people living in the metropolis, saying that the streets and alleys adjoining their respective homes have now become passable even at night as those places have been ridden of the customary drug addicts of yore.

6 – CHUNGKEE is a Tagalog street lingo which actually is a vernacular slang for DRUG ADDICTS. 

7 – HELIX is used here to mean a downward spiral thing, that would connote a fall, a decline; a draining, of sort.

8 – IN TOTO would mean IN TOTALITY. Indeed, before the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (“DENR”) would just be content in policing ILLEGAL LOGGING, and the like. But now under the stewardship of Pres. Duterte, Secretary Gina Lopez has adopted a strict stance in regulating the mining companies doing business in our country.  

9 – GINA LOPEZ refers to DENR Secretary GINA LOPEZ whose appointment as such has been recently confirmed by the Commission on Appointments.

10 – The FLY-BY referred to is the helicopter ride taken by Sec. Gina Lopez which gave her an aerial view of the devastation wrought by the mining companies in the provinces principally in Surigao. A video of this FLY-BY trip has gone viral in the INTERNET.

11 – LAGUNA LAKE refers to the Laguna de Bay.

12 – The grape vine has been fraught with rumors of grease money exchanging hands to allow the building of fish pens within the Laguna de Bay area.

13 –     FISHERS refer to the rural fishermen doing their livelihood by fishing within the Laguna de Bay area.

14 – Elitism is the belief or attitude that individuals who form an elite—a select group of people with a certain ancestry, intrinsic quality or worth, high intellect, wealth, specialized training or experience, or other distinctive attributes—are those whose influence or authority is greater than that of others; whose views on a matter are to be taken more seriously or carry more weight; whose views or actions are more likely to be constructive to society as a whole; or whose extraordinary skills, abilities, or wisdom render them especially fit to govern.

15 – SPIRIT  would refer to the moral fiber or ethical spirit that would be most helpful in preventing and/or discouraging a person from engaging in corrupt practices.

16 – P.R.U.E is a naughty acronym improvised in this FUN RHYME blog which means a POLITICIAN engaged in ROBBING and UNDERMINING the country’s ECONOMY.]

[This is the SECOND of the FUN RHYME BLOGs which I have written to honor PI OMICRON brods who have made a wholesome change in the FRATERNITY during their tenure and stewardship as one of the FRATERNITY’s leaders. This BLOG is to honor, but still with a FUN-RHYME twang, Brod JAMEL LUCMAN who was Grand Omicron of the UP PI OMICRON FRATERNITY in SCHOOL YEAR 1967-1968.   I am actually focusing ONLY with respect to brods who have been my contemporaries during my stint at U.P. Arts and Sciences (earlier referred to the as University College) as well as in U.P. Manila and finally, at the UP College of Law. It was Brod Jamel who weaned us out from the former label of the FRATERNITY as being too cautious and unadventurous into waging frat wars. We were a small group then of a fraternity and young too having been organized only in 1963; and, we were then much intimidated by the vaunted large number of members of those other university fraternities. But, when we were honed and trained by Brod Jamel Lucman to defend us from the usual bullying tactics of the “giant” frats then, it was quite a relief and a relish, as we were never again bullied.]

 

 

The long name in this BLOG’s TITLE¹,

‘Twas my nemesis –especially with the PADDLE²;

As for every letter contained  in IT,

Brod Jimmy ³ Lucman gave me a HURTING HIT!

 

 

Though at first I really hated him as MASTER⁴,

During my FINAL INITIATION Rites —but THEREAFTER;

I was proud and really admired JAMEL,

He’s a MARANAO⁵ warrior  — of the highest LEVEL!

 

 

 

JAMEL’s stint in U.P. was short and QUICK,

As he eventually gave in to his MARANAO CLIQUE;

Harshly oppressed by the rouge MILITARY,

The MINDANAO rebellion⁶ sparked in NINETEEN SEVENTY!

 

 

 

He became TOP HONCHO of the BLACKSHIRTS,⁷

The MARANAO rebels which attacked as though in SPURTS⁸;

It really was BASIC guerilla WARFARE,

The military was finding it hard to uncover their LAIR!

 

 

 

 

But as it was PEACE that he CHOSE,

And MARCOS extended his hand for a TRUCE;

Jamel voluntarily conceded and gave IN,

MARCOS welcomed Jamel into Malacañang’s INNER INN!

 

  

Looking back at Jamel’s contribution to PI O,

He made as proud and even LOCO⁹;

For he gave us courage as he showed his BRAVERY,

Our first FRAT WAR¹⁰ ended in a moral VICTORY!

 

 

And what has truly awed and amazed ME,

Is Jamel’s TRUE BRAND of LOYALTY;

He’s as LOYAL as the supreme KING’s EUNUCHS,

To keep the HAREM unspoiled and free from CROOKS!

 

 

 

But now as a mellowed and aging WARRIOR,

I accord much respect to JAMEL with added FERVOR;

Even if, ‘twas he who beat me black & blue during our FINAL RITES,

I’ll still doff my HAT to JAMEL and to all his WIVES¹¹.

 

 

[This CIRCA 2004 photo (also courtesy of Brod Nori Palarca) shows Brod Jamel P. Lucman  at extreme LEFT, taken during the 41st Founding Anniversary of the PI OMICRON FRATERNITY. Others in this photo are (to Brod Jamel’s LEFT) – Brod Pons Soriano (one of the 3 FOUNDERS of the PI O), Brod Bing Martinez (Past Prexy of the PI O INTERNATIONAL ALUMNI ASSO.), Brod Mon Mabilangan and Brod Sergs Peren (seated at extreme RIGHT).]   

 

AS-SALAM-U-ALAIKUM  Brod JAMEL LUCMAN and family!!!!

 

=======================================================================

[Legend: 1 – FATHATHON JAMELATHON PANGADAPUN LUCMAN is the full name that Brod Jamel Lucman would want to be addressed during our then initiation rites in the UP PI OMICRON FRATERNITY.

2 – The PADDLE is the usual instrument used in fraternity initiation rites and neophytes then are usually asked to assume a suggested position of almost squatting while cupping up both hands unto that place in the lower torso fronting the genitalia. The neophyte is usually whacked at his posterior part; hitting the upper part of the lower limbs just below the buttocks.

3 – JIMMY was the name endearingly used then to refer to Brod Jamel Lucman.

4 – During my FINAL INITIATION rites held at the La Vista home of the Late Brod Pete delos Santos in the last week of February 1967, into the PI OMICRON FRATERNITY; Brod Jamel Lucman was designated as the INITIATION RITES’ Master.  

5 – Brod Jamel Lucman is a member of the MARANAO or MARANAW tribe of Lanao del Sur. The Maranao people also spelled as Maranaw  is actually the term used by the Philippine government to refer to the southern tribe who are the “people of the lake” (Lake Lanao, earlier referred to as Ranao Lake in the Iranaon language), which is a predominantly-Muslim region of the Philippine island of Mindanao.

6 – The MINDANAO Rebellion of 1970 was proximately caused by the Jabidah Massacre when Muslim warriors (secretly being trained in Corregidor) who got recruited to eventually invade Sabah mutinied and by reason of this, they were massacred. The late Congressman Raschid Lucman of Lanao del Sur, who is  Jamel’s uncle delivered  a privilege speech in the halls of Congress charging former Pres. Marcos as having ordered the massacre. Eventually, the MINDANAO INDEPENDENCE MOVEMENT (“MIM”) gained support and thus, the rebellion broke out.

7 – Eventually, Brod Jamel Lucman became the top commander of the BLACKSHIRTS which is the armed guerilla group of the MIM. Brod Jamel Lucman then sported the nom de guerre  – JUNGLE FOX.

8 – In a guerilla-type of warfare, the guerilla unit will customarily do the offensive attacks in SPURTS by capitalizing on the SUDDENNESS of the attack.

9 – LOCO is used here to mean exceedingly enthusiastic.

10 – When the PI OMICRON Fraternity got engaged in its first fraternity war, it actually started out as a POW-WOW meet at the ascending walk leading to the VINZONs hall, actually the MID-NOON hang-out of the Beta Sigmans. Brod Jamel Lucman with a couple of brods (actually 3 other brods) wanted to talk with the BETA SIGMANS, as a brod was earlier mauled by the BETA SIGMANS. Though the POW-WOW talk started out as peaceful, a Beta Sigma member who just arrived (unknowing about the peaceful initiative to settle the fray) hit Brod Jamel Lucman with a flying kick from behind. As the brods were outnumbered –almost 10 to 1, Brod Jamel Lucman was forced to draw out his 357 revolver and hit 3 Beta Sigmans with just one gun-shot. All the BETA Sigmans scampered thereafter. This FRAT WAR compelled then UP President Carlos P. Romulo to mediate and in a meeting attended by the officers of both fraternities with then Cong. Raschid Lucman in attendance too {as Cong. Raschid Lucman required all able-bodied Muslims from the Quiapo Muslim center (most of whom were PI O members) to attend the meeting (about 5 bus loads of Muslims came)} and after the meeting; in a customary handshaking-gesture –the Beta Sigmans were outnumbered 5 to 1.    

11 – Being a Muslim, Brod Jamel Lucman is entitled to have FOUR (4) wives.]

 

 [This year marks the 50th year of my membership with our venerable fraternity, the PI OMICRON FRATERNITY, which was founded by equally venerable personalities in December 15, 1963. I became a member of the PI OMICRON Fraternity in the last week of February 1967, after I passed the final initiation rites held within the commodious lawn of the late Brod Pete de los Santos’ mansion along Ifugao Street in La Vista, Loyola Heights, Quezon City. As my contribution to the preparations being made under the able, competent and amiable stewardship of Brod Bert Somera, who is the incumbent President of the PI OMICRON INTERNATIONAL ALUMNI ASSOCIATION, for the NATIONAL CONVENTION to be held in Legazpi City, Albay on December 15, 2017; I will start a series of PI OMICRON FUN RHYME BLOGS to memorialize the sterling contributions made by those eminent and distinguished brods which brought about wholesome changes to the fraternity and to those who eventually turned and became civil servants in government, unto our country. I will start with the brods who were my contemporaries in UP Diliman.]

 

 

In compliance with a brod’s INTIMATION¹,

As it indeed has some valid MOTIVATION²;

I have now opted to start writing BLOGS,

To honor my illustrious and noted BRODS!

 

 

 

It’s  been 50 years now since THEN,

When I joined PI OMICRON³, one second SEM⁴;

‘Twas my classmate in San Beda HIGH⁵,

Ernest Tolentino⁶, who was lanky and a bit SHY!

 

 

 

The first BROD who made unto me a nice IMPRESSION,

Was this refined and tasteful PERSON;

His first name is FELIXBERTO⁷ with a JUNIOR,

He’s quite handsome, with quite sexy POSTERIOR⁸!

 

 

 

Jun’s⁹ posterior appeared then as firm and ROUND,

‘Twas perhaps the reason why a former UP Prexy’s child¹⁰ — just FOUND;

Her heart got entwined unto Jun’s WEB,

Ensnared for a while therein, sans any BLEB¹¹…

 

 

 

 

Jun was Grand Omicron¹² of the PI O¹³,

During those years the FRAT had a BREAKTHROUGH;

It was the times of the racy HIPPIE¹⁴ CULTURE, 

PI O staged HAIR¹⁵ and it was a BLOCKBUSTER!

 

 

 

For whatever mishaps that may have HAPPENED,

The showing of HAIR in UP was a big EVENT;

PI O became a byword  for spectacular theater-SHOWING,

Our fraternity raised its grade and it soon went SWELLING¹⁶!

 

 

 

I served as CHRONICLER¹⁷ during Jun’s TENURE,

Learned lots, as Jun was well-organized- with a deft work CULTURE;

Jun  was stickler for precise record- KEEPING,

‘Twas he who swayed me to be adept into WRITING¹⁸…

 

 

 

 

But what got deeply marked into my CONSCIOUSNESS,

Is the actuation that Jun showed in the BUSHES¹⁹;

We got into a rumble with the BETA SIGMANS,

In our “invasion”, a wrong encounter ensued as we ADVANCED,

Jun with Brod Oca²⁰ in his embrace– got BLUDGEONED!

 

 

 

Up to now, I still admire that show of LEADERSHIP,

Jun showed that he’s not just for fair-weather FRIEDNSHIP;

For the battering he received to cover Brod Oca, that NOON…

Was an act of OBLATION²¹ to which UP is KNOWN!

 

[This is a CIRCA ’68 photo (courtesy of Brod Nori Palarca) showing our venerable fraternity brother, Retired RTC Judge Felixberto T. Olalia, Jr. aka Brod Jun, on top at the last row. Others in photo are as follows: SEATED (L-R) Jimmy Cua, Oca Badillo, Gerry Santos, Dante Ferrer, Ed Jayme, & Wally Young. SECOND ROW (L-R) Bobby Brillantes, Ray Salazar, Don Battad, Popoy Valencia, Ces Angeles, Nap de Guzman & Pete de los Santos. STANDING (L-R) Nonie Alvarez, Dodet Ubungen, Boy Mayor, Pete Sawal, Freddie Tunac & Nori Palarca.]

 

CHEERS and GOD BLESS unto you Brod Jun and your family!!!!

 

=======================================================================

[Legend: 1 – It was Brod Rene Alhambra of the UP PI OMICRON FRATERNITY (UP Baguio Chapter) who intimated to me to write FUN RHYME blogs about our illustrious and noted brods who made a mark in their chosen fields. Brod Rene is the incumbent Executive Judge of the Regional Trial Court (“RTC”) judges in the City of Manila. The first name that was on his list coincidentally, is our brod, my UP Law classmate, Kumpadre and friend, Retired RTC Judge Felixberto T. (“Jun”) Olalia, Jr. Brod Jun served with excellence and much dedication first as MTC judge then as RTC judge both in the City of Manila. Brod Jun was PI O’s Grand Omicron in 1968-1969 and I server then as his CHRONICLER OMICRON. Brod Jun eventually became my classmata at UP Law. He is also the godfather of my only son, Walter Anthony Evangelista Young.

2 – When I came up with the idea of writing BLOGS, my original intention really was to write about FAMILY, FRIENDSHIP and FUN. Also earlier, I committed to Brod Bert Somera, the incumbent President of the PI OMICRON INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION that I will write BLOGS about our fraternity. I think that this would be a fulfillment of that commitment considering all the more that the PI OMICRON Fraternity will be holding its national convention in Legazpi City, Albay on December 15, 2017.

3 – PI OMICRON is the UP PI OMICRON FRATERNITY to which I belong and become a member in February 1967 and now, as an alumnus-member thereof.

4 – I became a member of the UP PI OMICRON FRATERNITY in the last week of February of 1967 and that was within the second semester of the school year 1966-1967.

5 – I graduated from San Beda High School in Mendiola, Manila in 1965. Thereafter, I matriculated in UP initially for a Civil Engineering course in June 1965.

6 – ERNESTO TOLENTINO was my San Beda High School classmate. He earlier got recruited to the PI OMICRON FRATERNITY and thereafter, Ernie recruited me to join the PI OMICRON. After that, I thereafter learned that Ernie and his family relocated to the U.S.A.

7 – FELIXBERTO TOLENTINO OLALIA, Jr. is the full name of Brod Jun Olalia. Brod Jun was the very first brod who became part of the country’s judiciary initially as MTC Judge and eventually as an RTC Judge.

8 – Brod Jun sports a round and firm-looking buttocks and most ladies then during our time, as far as I remember, find such a kind of male buttocks as sexy. Well, according to GOOGLE, females find males with nice posterior as suitable love partner.

9 – Jun is the nickname of Brod Felixberto T. Olalia, Jr.

10 – Jun secretly was into a relationship with the beautiful and gracious daughter of a former President of UP. Based on my talks with Jun during those days, he was into some kind of a platonic love affair with this dainty dame.

11 – Based too from the talks I had with Brod Jun, he dealt and took much care in adoring and showing much infatuation and love unto this fair lady and he took care of her in a manner that the apple of Jun’s eye never would have suffered even a mere blister on her fair skin. Eventually, Jun never married this dame but ended up marrying a fairer, more gracious and more beautiful lady, my Kumadreng Tita.

12 –  Grand Omicron was the appellation given to the head or the leader of our fraternity, the UP PI OMICRON FRATERNITY.

13 – PI O is the abbreviated reference to our fraternity, the UP PI OMICRON FRATERNITY.

14 – The HIPPIE culture, refers to that youth movement that started in the United States and the United Kingdom during the mid-1960s and spread to other countries around the world. The word hippie came from hipster and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into New York City’s Greenwich Village and San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district. The term hippie was first popularized in San Francisco by Herb Caen, who was a journalist for the San Francisco Chronicle. The origins of the terms hip and hep are uncertain, although by the 1940s both had become part of African American jive slang and meant “sophisticated; currently fashionable; fully up-to-date”. Hippies created their own communities, listened to psychedelic music, embraced the sexual revolution, and used drugs such as marijuana, LSD, etc.

15 – HAIR is an American Tribal Love-Rock Musical which was staged by the UP PI OMICRON FRATERNITY in the late 60s. It is actually a product of the hippie counterculture and sexual revolution of the late 1960s. Several of its songs became anthems of the anti-Vietnam War peace movement. The musical’s profanity, its depiction of the use of illegal drugs, its treatment of sexuality, its irreverence for the American flag, and its nude scene caused much  controversy. Hair tells the story of the “tribe”, a group of politically active, long-haired hippies of the “Age of Aquarius” living a bohemian life in New York City and fighting against conscription into the Vietnam War. The Philippine version however though still was Anti-Vietnam War was a similarly an anti-establishment play which virtually railed against the Marcos regime then.

16 –  After that spectacular sponsorhip and production by the UP PI OMICRON Fraternity of the “rock musical play” then,  recruitment and membership in the UP PI OMICRON Fraternity almost tripled.

17-The CHRONICLER post in the UP PI OMICRON FRATERNITY is actually the position of SECRETARY in an organization.

18- It was Brod Jun who encouraged me into writing as he was himself a writer. He was actively involved too then in writing. Brod Jun taught me too the basics of good grooming and he was my helpful seatmate at our UP freshman classes (he would open up his book for me to glance while our Law Prof was not looking during recitations).  Also I learned the basics of ACTIVE NATIONALISM from Brod Jun, as he is part in the advocacy of his father’s championing nationalism as well as in Jun’s  involvement with various nationalist movements within the university. Brod Jun’s  father, the Late Felixberto Olalia, Sr., was the well-respected labor leader of the famous KMU, which is the acronym for Kilusang Mayo Uno.

19 – At noontime on July 21, 1969, a Monday; we the members of the UP PI OMICRON Fraternity armed with lead pipes “invaded” the hang-out of the UP Beta Sigmans located at the eastern end of the Palma Hall. We were divided into SEVEN (7) groups of about SEVEN (7) members in each group. At that time, the UP Beta Sigmans were known to be expert karatekas and we then believed that if we engage them in hand-to-hand combat, we will get annihilated by their “could-be fatal” karate blows. I was with Brod Jun and Brod Oscar “Oca” Badillo and as we passed the Alpha Phi Omega hang-out (known as the GREEN HOUSE, actually a cafeteria covered with green-colored wire-mesh all around it), Brod Oca mistook an APO for a Beta Sigman. Brod Oca whacked the APO member and Oca was thereafter ganged up and mauled by the whole gang of APO members then at their hang-out. But Brod Oca was almost unscathed as Brod Jun embraced him and Brod Jun received instead all the blows and the kicks as they rolled around near the bushes adjacent to the grass-covered lawn at the vicinity of Pavilion 1 of the PALMA Hall.

20-Brod Oca is no other than Brod Oscar Repuyan Badillo.

21- OBLATION signifies a SACRIFICE, actually a PEACE-OFFERING. With this act of Brod Jun Olalia, receiving the blows and kicks meant for Brod Oca Badillo, Brod Jun virtually sacrificed himself and tried to assuage the anger of the APO members by virtually serving himself as some kind of a peace-sacrifice. And the symbolic imagery of such OBLATION has actually been memorialized as UP’s mark, in the OBLATION Statue fronting the Admin Hall in UP Diliman.]

 

 [I was swayed to do an ENCORE of this story about MANNY LOBRIGO, the patient who was under my Kumpadreng Bib Carilo’s care on Christmas Day of 2000. I actually got the whole story after I had a huddle with my Kumpadreng Bibs yesterday afternoon. INDEED, ADVERSITIES IN LIFE OPEN UP LOTS OF OPPORTUNITIES. MANNY is now pursuing a PhD degree at the KARL FRANZENS UNIVERSITAT in GRAZ, AUISTRIA. Thanks so much  to the love and generosity of MANNY’s sister and MANNY’s sister’s Austrian employer. As they say in AUSTRIA: “DU BIST DER MANN, MANNY!” (i.e. YOU’RE THE MAN, MANNY!]

 

‘Tis  virtually an ENCORE¹ of a recent BLOG,

But I’m amazed with inspiration; and it’s even a COG²,

The story about MANNY³, it’s truly DANDY,

I want to share it, to all my beloved Kumpadre!⁴

 

 

Days before CHRISTMAS in 2000,

MANNY  revved up his bike somewhere in Legazpi town⁵;

But a vehicular accident sadly ensued,

MANNY’s leg got fractured; it seemed KABOSH⁶!

 

 

 

Hence MANNY was flown to Manila,

An operation was sked — past those mañana⁷;

Dr. Carilo’s medical advice was upheld,

An amputation cannot but be withheld!

 

 

MANNY though thankful was then  despondent,

He thought his life has reached its last segment;

A miserable amputee by then, is he—

He seemed so much burden to his family…

 

 

A sis⁸ working in Austria was moved by sympathy,

MANNY relocated thereafter to Mozart’s Austria, a music prodigy⁹…

And even the sister’s employer was truly generous,

MANNY got educated — his  degrees¹⁰ have grown grandiose¹¹!

 

 

Weeks ago after flying in from GRAZ,¹² 

MANNY made a quick visit to a doctor who’s TOP-CLASS¹³;

Doctor was unaware that the guy was once under his care,

MANNY was then his patient, a tragic sufferer¹⁴ !

 

 

 

Indeed, adversities do happen in LIFE,

But all of those, come about to test if we’ve gone BLITHE;¹⁵

But all of those adversities do open WINDOWS; as a prize —

As every vent that appears to us brings us closer to CHRIST!

 

========================================================================

[Legend: 1 – ENCORE – This BLOG is a virtual repeat of FUN-RHYME Blog No. 81 entitled THE NURTURING AND CARING DR. NOEL B. CARILO aka BIBS. Though the subject of that earlier BLOG is Dr. Noel B. Carilo; the subject of this BLOG is Dr. Carilo’s then patient, Mr. MANNY LOBRIGO.

2 – COG is used in this BLOG to mean as an integral part. Indeed, the story narrated in this BLOG is an integral part of Fun-Rhyme Blog No. 81.

3 – MANNY is Manuel Lobrigo and the patient who was under Dr. Noel Carilo’s care in 2000 at the St. Luke’s Medical Center. Manny who is presently here in the Philippines is a TRIATHLETE and holds a Masteral Degree from the KARL-FRANZENS-UNIVERSITAT-GRAZ of Austrial Manny is currently pursuing a PhD degree from the same Austrian university.

4 – KUMPADRE is a Tagalog term which means COMPEER or friends or colleagues. In the Filipino setting, a Kumpadre actually is a friend who served as godfather in the baptismal rite of a child of the friend. 

5 – MANNY who was then driving a motorcycle figured in a vehicular accident somewhere in the highways of Legazpi City in Albay of the Bicol region in southern Philippines.  

6 – KABOSH means END or TERMINATION.

7 –  MAÑANA is used in this BLOG to connote procrastination. At the provincial hospital in Albay where MANNY was first brought for medical care; perhaps due to lack of the necessary expertise and equipment, MANNY was virtually left improperly attended. I was told by Dr. Carilo  that the open wound, a big gash on Manny’s leg which showed a horrendously crushed knee-bone/shin-bone; was even stitched up when the better option was to leave it open. Per Dr. Carilo, the leg was already gangrenous and if MANNY remained unattended for another day, MANNY would have expired due to SEPTIC SHOCK. There seemed some delay too in upholding the decision made by Dr. Carilo to do a leg-amputation; as MANNY’s close kin were all praying that the amputation be done as a mere last resort.

8 – Sis refers to MANNY’s sister who works as an OFW, actually a midwife/nurse in Austria.

9 – To achieve a rhyme, MOZART who is a music prodigy and a famous citizen of Austria was used to introduce AUSTRIA as MANNY’s second home after periods of depression following his leg amputation.

10 – Degrees refer to the college degrees acquired by MANNY at the KAR-FRANZEN-UNIVERSITAT-GRAZ in Austria.

11 – Actually MANNY’s college degrees have grown GRANDIOSE – first, with his Bachelor’s degree, then a Masteral degree and now, MANNY is working for his PhD.

12 – GRAZ is the capital of Styria and second-largest city in Austria after Vienna. MANNY acquired his college as well as post-collegiate education at GRAZ’s KARL FRANZENS UNIVERSITAT.

13 – Dr. NOEL B. CARILO is an orthopedic surgeon of the highest caliber. Dr. Carilo once served as President of the PHILIPPINE ORTHOPEDIC SURGEONS SOCIETY.

14 – MANNY was actually suffering during that period before he was operated on by Dr. Noel Carilo. The pain was actually exacerbated by the gangrenous state of the fractured leg.

15 – The term BLITHE is being used in this BLOG to connote to having been either carefree or careless or heedless.]

[The CLEVER, CREATIVE, LIVELY and COMMUNICATIVE, but SENTIMENTAL EDWIN P. DAIWEY, my fraternity brother and friend; is shown in the photo above. Brod EDWIN is happily married to the gracious and beauteous OFELIA LEYRAN ROSES, a former airline stewardess who is a native of Alfonso, Cavite.  The marital consortium of Brod EDWIN and his wife OFELIA have brought forth into this world, their only son, KARL CHRISTIAN R. DAIWEY who works as Manager for Mobilization at ACCENTURE with work assignment in Chengdu, China. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BROD EDWIN!!!!]

 

 

 

With flowing salt-and-pepper locks and bristle which EDWIN now sport,

EDWIN almost resembles the Chinese DESHUN WANG¹, of sort;

He has become a physical fitness buff,

Still sage and bright; he could write HAIKUs² off the cuff!

 

[The photo above shows the octogenarian DESHUN WANG, the hottest Grandpa in Beijing, China nowadays. The resemblance with BIRTHDAY BOY, BROD EDWIN DAIWEY, seems not much odd. Well, Brod EDWIN perhaps must turn much more hirsute to ascend to the title of becoming PH’s DESHUN WANG with such a sinewy and sexy physique.] 

 

Being an ARIAN — he is LOVING, ROMANTIC and SINCERE,

Am sure Brod Romy Matias³ won’t let go off his ROMANTIC moniker;

That would leave LOVING & SINCERE as Edwin’s signature TRAITS —

Brod Romy could hold on to his TITLE   and keep it in his CRATES!

 

 

 

EDWIN is a topnotch and excellent WRITER,

Snagged lots of awards, feathers unto his MITER;

He was NEDA’s ACE on Communications DEVELOPMENT⁴,

Wrote a lot of publications⁵ for our nation’s UPLIFTMENT!

 

 

 

EDWIN is a BAGUIO Boy and he truly loves NATURE,

Wont to savoring breeze and gallivants at lands of PASTURE;

Loves to snap those quaint SELFIES,

As though carving nice woodcraft with sharp-edged EPEES!

 

 

 

As a TRUE ARIAN too, EDWIN is never SUBMISSIVE,

He would not just accept a situation; he’s quite INVESTIGATIVE—

But when a consensus is born after much INVESTIGATION,

EDWIN will raise his hands up without HESITATION!

 

 

It’s an ARIES nature, to make sacrifices for his offspring,

It’s part of his character, and of his inner wellspring;

But more than that — he loves, adores his WIFE…

Perhaps would love her forever, even in the AFTERLIFE!

 

 

 

As those born in the YEAR of the SNAKE⁶,

They’re much DETERMINED– for FAILURE they HATE;

They’re CLEVER, CREATIVE and truly LIVELY,

They’re COMMUNICATIVE but SENTIMENTAL…well, that’s LOVELY!!!!

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BROD EDWIN!!!!

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[Legend: 1 – Mr. DESHUN WANG is an octogenarian Chinese from Beijing, who really was so determined at  avoiding mental and physical stagnation. For which reason; he explored new skills and ideas while devoting ample time to daily exercise. At 80, he walked the runway for the first time, and his physique caused a  national sensation. He takes obvious joy in subverting China’s image of what it means to be old. He was born in the northeastern city of Shenyang in 1936, one of nine children of a cook and a stay-at-home mother. At 14, a year after the Communist Party came to power in 1949, he began working as a streetcar conductor.

2 – HAIKU is a traditional form of Japanese poetry. Haiku poems consist of 3 lines. The first and last lines of a Haiku have 5 syllables and the middle line has 7 syllables. The lines rarely rhyme.

3 – Brod ROMY R. MATIAS is acknowledged as the MOST ROMANTIC brod during our college days in UP Diliman as members of the PI OMICRON FRATERNITY. Well, I am sure Brod ROMY would not want that TITLE as the MOST ROMANTIC brod wrested from him. And Brod EDWIN P. DAIWEY would surely allow Brod ROMY to continue holding on to that TITLE.

4 – Brod EDWIN P. DAIWEY retired as one of the top officers of the COMMUNICATIONS DEVELOPMENT Department of NEDA in 2013. NEDA is acronym for the National Economic Development Authority. The NEDA is the Philippines’ independent economic development and planning agency.

5 – Among the publications written by Brod Edwin P. Daiwey are as follows:

 Title:    Agrarian reform: sustaining productivity and improving incomes

 Source:  Dev Mag   26(1):10-15

 Date of Pub: 01/99

 Subjects:  LAND REFORM ; COMPREHENSIVE AGRARIAN REFORM PROGRAM

 Title:    Are we ready for the global trade wars?

 Source:  PG   9(14):26-27

 Date of Pub: 09/07/1998

 Subjects:  COMMERCE

 Title:    Clark, Subic bases eyed as towns of the future

 Source:  Malaya   8(363):1+

 Date of Pub: 01/15/1990

 Subjects:  MILITARY BASES

 Title:    Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP): doomed to failure?

 Source:  PFP   85(10):16

 Date of Pub: 03/05/1994

 Subjects:  COMPREHENSIVE AGRARIAN REFORM PROGRAM

 Title:    Decentralization and development : Letting the people in the grassroot chart their own future

 Source:  Phil Dev   17(3):7-12

 Date of Pub: 05/01/1991

 Subjects:  LOCAL GOVERNMENT–AUTONOMY 

 Title:    Devaluation : a prescription for growth?

 Source:  PFP   84(46):14+

 Date of Pub: 11/13/1993

 Subjects:  DEVALUATION OF CURRENCY ; MONEY

 Title:    Economic growth, not population control

 Source:  MT   34(214):A5

 Date of Pub: 08/08/1992

 Subjects:  ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

 Title:    Economy : shortcuts to growth

 Source:  PFP   85(28):14+

 Date of Pub: 07/09/1994

 Subjects:  ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

 Title:    Empowering poor fisher folk toward global competition.

 Source:  Dev Mag   25(6):26-28

 Date of Pub: 11/99

 Subjects:  FISHERIES

 Title:    Full speed ahead

 Source:  PFP   85(8):12

 Date of Pub: 02/19/1994

 Subjects:  ECONOMIC CONDITIONS

 Title:    Government lists priority programs for 1990-94

 Source:  Phil Dev   18(6):20-22

 Date of Pub: 01/01/1991

 Subjects:  GOVERNMENT PROJECTS

6 – Being born in 1953 which is the Year of the Water Snake,  Brod Edwin P. Daiwey (like all the other SNAKE people) is regarded as CLEVER, CREATIVE, LIVELY and COMMUNICATIVE but SENTIMENTAL.]

 

[My friend and Kumpadre, Dr. NOEL “BIBS” CARILO is shown in this photo doing the “THUMBS-UP” sign with his former patient MANUEL “MANNY” LOBRIGO. Seventeen (17) years ago, MANNY who figured in a vehicular accident in the province and who was then suffering from an OPEN TYPE III-C Tibia fracture was operated on by BIBS on a Christmas day. BIBS said that if MANNY would have been late for another day (the operation was done actually after 48 hours from the time of the accident), such could have cost MANNY’s life as MANNY’s leg was gangrenous already. After that successful operation, MANNY traveled to AUSTRIA and got educated therein. MANNY has just finished his MASTERAL and is now pursuing his PhD. Now, MANNY who just passed by BIBS’ clinic to thank BIBS, is actually a TRIATHLETE, while he is profuse with similar thanks to AUSTRIA’s excellent sports program. CONGRATS TO BOTH OF YOU…MANNY and BIBS.]

The name NOEL is absolutely enticing,

For it means CHRISTMAS with such  wondrous TIDING¹;

It even is derived from the name  EMMANUEL,

…which means “GOD IS WITH US”, ‘tis truly so well!

 

 

It would not be therefore surprising,

That my friend NOEL would be laboring;

On a CHRISTMAS day– if it is to CARE,

For a hurting patient, who could have been a GONER ² !

 

 

 

 

Indeed, my friend BIBS is NURTURING  and CARING,

“Tis as though the first letters of his names were put coinciding;

The N and the C are for NOEL and CARILO,

Even his surname CARILO fits with the word CARING too!

 

 

 

And a couple of days past, BIBS’ past patient arrived,

Not for consultation for he’s well and so ALIVE;

It was indeed so gratifying — said NOEL,

It fattened BIBS’ heart, it’s as though he uttered a magic spell³!

 

 

 

Seemed like magic; for Manny was with a broken shin-bone,

That was 17 years ago, when it seemed a hopeless condition;

As it was CHRISTMAS then, and a long HOLIDAY—

A time when most doctors would usually be FAR AWAY⁴!

 

 

 

 

When Manny emerged recently at BIBS’⁵ clinic,

It’s as though Manny never suffered a nick⁶ ;

Except for the lower left limb with a PROSTHETIC,

Manny could even pass as a champion- athletic!

 

 

But alas and ahoy; Manny is indeed a TRIATHLETE,

After the operation, he went to OSTERREICH⁷;

Educated therein up to his MASTERAL,

He’s now pursuing PhD, ‘tis so PHENOMENAL!

 

 

It is good to have a friend like NOEL,

He is a true physician of the uppermost SCALE;

He’s an EXPERT — and he’ll never ever forsake ANY ONE,

For he indeed, is a TRUE SON OF A GUN⁸!

 

YOU’RE THE MAN, KUMPADRE!

AS YOU HAVE INSPIRED A LOT!!!!

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[Legend: 1 – TIDING means NEWS and that WONDROUS TIDING on Christmas day is the birth of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

2 – It was the very word used by MANUEL “MANNY” LOBRIGO, BIBS patient who was brought for a surgical operation under BIBS’ care. Indeed, BIBS told me that if MANNY could have been one more day late, it could have cost his life (as he would have suffered from septic shock and he would have expired), as MANNY’s leg was then gangrenous already.

3 – BIBS said that when MANNY showed up at his clinic, a couple of days past; BIBS asked MANNY what was his problem as BIBS actually never recognized MANNY. In BIBS’ subconscious – it is as though he struck a magic wand, and in his inner vision, BIBS saw a quick metamorphosis  from the bloodied and gashed youthful MANNY of 17 years ago and the full-grown man teeming with confidence and pride of MANNY  today — a triathlete laboring hard for his PhD.

4 – FAR AWAY – usually during the Christmas holidays, most professionals such as doctors would schedule a family escapade or a trip either out-of-town or out-of-the-country to serve as time to unwind and relax and/or refresh.

5 – BIBS is Dr. NOEL B. CARILO’s  nickname.

6 – NICK is a gash or a wound. 

7 –OSTERREICH is the former name of AUSTRIA.

8 – SON OF A GUN is an exclamation or a noun in American and British English. It can be used encouragingly or to compliment, as in “You son of a gun, you did it!” Or may be used sarcastically, as in “You son of a gun, that’s not how you do it!” The Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary and Webster’s Dictionary both define “son of a gun” in American English as a euphemism for son of a bitch. Encarta Dictionary defines the term in a different way as someone “affectionately or kindly regarded”. The term is used in this FUN-RHYME BLOG as a compliment and as an affectionate and kind regard for my friend and KUMPADRE, Dr. NOEL B. CARILO, a savior himself like OUR LORD!]

 

 

[On Saturday, March 18, 2017; the ASPAC (acronym for ATENEO SCHOOLS PARENTS COUNCIL)  officers trekked to ANGELFIELDS Nature Sanctuary in Silang, Cavite for a TEAM BONDING escapade. The joiners among the EXECOM  were as follows: Prexy Doc Andy K. Tan, VP Katty Ngsuy Sy, Sec. Isa B. Concepcion, Treasurer Juliet P. Remorque and IPP Raul B. Panlasiqui. Board members who joined were: Mes. Tess Cordero, Rosalia M. Lim, Edna B. Natividad, Marylou D. Castillo, Cathy N. Perez, Malou Ozaeta, Emily dela Cruz; and Messrs. Nap G. Quejada,  and Joselito B. Reyes. Among the YEAR LEVEL Representatives, the joiners were: Mes. Cindy Franco, Rose Roque, Digna B. Gavina, Cynthia L. Ong; and Messrs. Andy F. Puen, Chris A. David and Wally T. Young; and last but not the least, ASPAC Secretary, Ms. Joan Nette Laurente.]

Itong araw ng Sabadong nakaraan,

Dalawampu’t dalawang ASPAC members ay naglaan;

Oras at panahon para sa naka-sked na TEAM BONDING,

Nauwi itong panimula sa masayang GROUP JUMPING!

 

 

 

Sa ANGELFIELDS Nature Sanctuary,

Isang EVENTS PLACE sa Silang, Cavite;

Sumugod ang ASPAC council members,

…ang mga ladies-parents mistulang naging GIRLS!

 

 

 

 

Wika nga ni Prexy Doc Andy Tan,

Parang nakawala sa kani-kanilang tahanan;

At sa animo’y tuktok ng isang HILL,

Naglundagan ang GIRLS nang GIGIL na GIGIL!

 

 

 

At hindi pa nasiyahan sa iisang LUNDAG,

Patuloy silang nagkakawag-kawag;

Animo’y mga pang-POCHERONG DALAG¹,

Kaya’t si RAUL^1a  ay nagutom kaagad!

[Ms. EDNA NATIVIDAD while doing a SOLO JUMP.] 

 

 

Matapos mag-lundagan ala GROUP JUMPING^1b,

Pumasok naman si EDNA² sa kanyang SOLO JUMPING;

Aba at may hamon pa kung anong lundag ang mas-mataas,

Kaya naman ang BOYS tumalon nang LAGASLAS!³

 

 

 

Nang inihain na ang BUFFET⁴ na pananghalian,

Una’y ang PRUTAS at LETTUCE salad ang syang nilantakan;

Ang galing na recado ang giniling na danggit⁵,

Si TESS⁶ at si DIGNA⁷   sa SALAD ay nagpa-ulit-ulit!

 

 

 

Masarap at malasa ang SALPICAO TUNA,

Kaya pati ako syang aking ini-UNA;

Nang inilabas ang CHEESECAKE na siyang naging special DESSERT,

Nilantakan naman ito ni CYNTHIA⁸ at ni NETTE⁹!

 

[At the ITALIAN cuisine restaurant, the BUON GIORNO RESTO.] 

Pagkatapos makapamasyal sa loob ng ANGELFIELDS,

At nadalaw na rin ang CASITAS¹⁰ sa may western fringe;

Nagmeryenda naman sa BUON GIORNO RESTO¹¹,

PASTA, PIZZA at PAN na masarap isawsaw sa PESTO!

 

 

Ang TEAM BONDING ng ASPAC na siyang IDINAOS,

Ginampanang TUNAY ng PREXY¹² na sobrang GENEROUS;

Naging matagumpay ito at pasasamaha’y naging BIBO¹³,

Sa susunod naman daw ay sa DAET¹⁴ ang syang DESTINO¹⁵.

[ASPAC Prexy Doc Andy K. Tan photographed with the ASPAC girls at the viewing deck inside the Food Park near the BUON GIORNO Restaurant at the Cavite Cliffhouse, Aguinaldo Avenue, Tagaytay City.]

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[Legend: 1 – POCHERONG DALAG is a delicious dish of stewed medium-sized and fresh mudfish with tomato sauce, saba bananas or plantain bananas, sweet potatoes and cabbage. The special cooking method of  this pocherong dalag dish is via frying the fish first before stewing it. By analogy, the ASPAC girls are deemed as MEDIUM-SIZED and FRESH, whatever that term means…MEDIUM-SIZED perhaps; but Atty. Raul B. Panlasiqui will surely OBJECT to using the term FRESH especially if that would include Ms. Cindy Franco…well, good Cindy is not in the photo…he,he,he…  

1a- RAUL is Atty. Raul Zosimo B. Panlasiqui who is ASPAC’s Immediate Past President and member of ASPAC’s Executive Committee.

1b- This craze of GROUP JUMPING where the JUMP is caught on camera (while the “jumpers” are up in the air) has somewhat become a trend in the metropolis.

2 – EDNA is Ms. Edna B. Natividad who is currently board member of ASPAC.

3 – LAGASLAS is a Tagalog term which means NOISY or not attuned or not so precise or not in complete harmony. The term is used here to describe the BOISTEROUS and AWRY manner by which the ASPAC Boys did their GROUP JUMP for  photo-taking. Andy Puen got caught as merely faking a JUMP…it was excusable as Andy was in fact nursing an injured leg. On the GIRLS side, Ms. Juliet Remorque was nursing a slight fever; but then when the JUMPING started, it would seem the FEVER jumped out of Ms. Juliet…he,he,he…  

4 – The BUFFET which was that lunch-buffet served and had at the Café Bernardo of ANGELFIELDS consisted of the following: ASSORTED FRUITS, ROMAINE and ANCHOVY SALAD, CHICKEN LEMONGRASS, TUNA SALPICAO, KARE-KARE and PARSLEY RICE. For the special dessert, it was CRÈME BRULEE and CHEESECAKE.

5 – The ground and almost powdery –toasted DANGGIT was used as ingredient for the salad. As I am unaware of the English equivalent of DANGGIT, I used the term ANCHOVY (i.e. DILIS) as the taste of both DANGGIT and DILIS is almost the same.

6 – TESS is Ms. Maritess  S. Cordero who is currently board member of the ASPAC. 

7 – DIGNA is Dr. Digna L.B. Gavina who is currently a Year Level Representative of the ASPAC.

8 – CYNTHIA is Ms. Cynthia L. Ong who is currently a Year Level Representative of the ASPAC.

9 – NETTE is Ms. Joan Nette Laurente who is the Secretary of the ASPAC.

10 – The COTTAGES at ANGELFIELDS are called CASITAS.

11 – BUON GIORNO is an Italian-cuisine restaurant situated within a virtual FOOD PARK at the Cavite Cliffhouse, Aguinaldo Avenue, Tagaytay City. The FOOD PARK features a viewing deck which affords the customers-guests a scenic view of the Taal Volcano and the Taal Lake from up and afar.

12 – PREXY is ASPAC’s generous President, Doc Alejandro “Andy” Tan.

13 –     BIBO is a Tagalog term actually, a corruption of the Spanish word “VIVO” which means LIVELY and FUN-FILLED.

14 – DAET – refers to the hometown of Atty. Marylou D. Castillo who is presently a member of the Board of Directors of ASPAC.

15 – DESTINO is a Tagalog term and corruption of the Spanish word DESTINO which refers to a DESTINATION. The term is used herein as referring to a tourist destination as Atty. Castillo made an open invitation, inviting the whole of the ASPAC to a holiday trip to DAET ( ASPAC’s next tour destination) as ASPAC’s next TEAM BONDING destination trip/escapade.]

 [Left photo shows the TROIKA of Marbella 1-seen at extreme left is ELVIRA (“ELVIE”) VALMEO, Administrator of First Marbella Condominium Association, Inc. (“FMCAI”), at middle seated is MARIA EVA “CHINGBEE” KALAW, the President of FMCAI and at extreme right is BAYANI “HERO” NITO, the Chairman of FMCAI. Right photo shows the TROIKA together with other officers of the FMCAI – Standing at middle is HERO, seated adjacent to each other at the right end of the dining table are: ELVIE and CHINGBEE. The photos were taken during the joint birthday celebration of the celebrants – the TROIKA which has made MARBELLA 1 to regain its past glory and fame. This FUN-RHYME blog is an advance gift to the TROIKA who will be respectively celebrating their birthdays as follows: ELVIE on March 29; HERO on April 1; and, CHINGBEE  on April 4. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ALL OF YOU!!!!]   

 

At first,  I got swayed to call them  MARBELLA 1 TRIAD¹ —

But it seems to me it would really sound BAD;

I hesitated too to call them a TRIUMVIRATE²,

It sounds too elitist and it won’t be APPROPRIATE…

 

 

 

Thus, I have chosen the apt word TROIKA³,

For it’s  anti-elitist, as it’s a word from RUSSIA;

Undoubtedly too, RUSSIA’s leader VLADIMIR PUTIN⁴ ,

Is acknowledged as MOST POWERFUL LEADER⁵…his name is truly IN!

 

[Bayani “HERO” Nito]  

Our Chairman BAYANI NITO who’s called as HERO,

Seems to me like PUTIN who’s been snapped like a VAQUERO⁶;

But more than that; HERO like PUTIN has that innate love for order,

And HERO truly works with much more ardor!

 

[Maria Eva “CHINGBEE” Kalaw]  

Our PREXY who remains to be truly SEXY,

Is a scion of the famous KALAWs, that’s our coy CHINGBEE⁷;

She has shown the same ardor and zeal,

Performing with efficiency  in FMCAI’s⁸ every deal!

 

[Elvira R. “ELVIE” Valmeo]

Our ADMINISTRATOR⁹ who has worked like a tractor,

Has hauled off the dirty/shady past and a couple of malefactor;

She has renovated the condo building with ZING,

Those who’ve seen the condo before, would now sigh: “’TIS AMAZING”!

 

 

  

Now the condo lobby is gleaming,

Even wondrous paintings¹⁰ are there adorning;

And the LIFT¹¹ too  has been replaced,

It has truly set Marbella 1 into modern pace!

 

 

 

The TROIKA of ELVIE¹²,CHINGBEE¹³ and HERO¹⁴,

Has made delinquency in arrears a NO-NO;

For the unit owners have seen the changes,

They’re now happy in fact, doing pleasant  exchanges.

 

 

 

The MARBELLA 1 community ought to know,

That the work of this TROIKA has enhanced MARBELLA 1’s value;

Let’s all be united in maintaining the ZEAL,

We must keep MARBELLA 1 clean & green with a SEAL¹⁵!

 

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU ALL…ELVIE, CHINGBEE AND HERO!!!!

[The overall superb performance of the aforestated FMCAI officers (i.e. ELVIE, CHINGBEE and HERO) would have not been made realizable/attainable if not for the dedicated service and industriousness of the FMCAI staff and the maintenance crew. Photos above show the maintenance crew together with the female office staff featuring Royda and Roselyn.]   

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[Legend: 1 – TRIAD is actually a term which means a group or a set of THREE (3) people working together. But currently, the term TRIAD has been used to refer to also, a transnational criminal organization that is based in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore among many other countries.

2 – The term TRIUMVIRATE originated in Ancient Rome, and it means a group of three (3) persons, actually men, when  the term was first used; holding power. In Ancient Rome, it refers to in particular ( the First Triumvirate ) which is the unofficial coalition of Julius Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus in 60 BC and ( the Second Triumvirate ) another coalition formed by Mark Anthony, Lepidus, and Octavian in 43 BC.

3 – TROIKA is a term which originated in RUSSIA and it means a group of three (3) people working together, especially in an administrative or managerial capacity. 

4 – VLADIMIR PUTIN is a Russian politician who is the current President of the Russian Federation, holding the office since  May 7, 2012. He was Prime Minister from 1999 to 2000, President from 2000 to 2008, and again Prime Minister from 2008 to 2012. During his second term as Prime Minister, he was the Chairman of the ruling United Russia Party. Vladimir Putin is Forbes magazine’s most powerful person in the world. Vladimir Putin has been named the world’s most powerful person for the second year running by Forbes magazine.

5 – Russian President Vladimir Putin topped Forbes’ list of the Most Powerful People. For all of those out there who thought it would have been US President Barack Obama, note that Obama is the runner up. What made Forbes magazine chose Putin as the Most Powerful Man in the world? According to Forbes, they follow a process: “The list represents the collective wisdom of top FORBES’ editors, who consider hundreds of nominees before ranking the planet’s 72 power brokers — one for every 100 million on Earth. We measure their power along four dimensions,” explains Forbes’ Caroline Howard. These are: (1)   Does the candidate have power over lots of people?; (2)  What are the financial resources controlled by the person?; (3) Is the candidate powerful in multiple spheres?; and, (4)  Does the candidate actively use his or her power?” While Putin may not possess the same financial resources or be as powerful in multiple spheres as Obama, there is little doubt that he is one of those individuals that has the ability to transcend man-made rules and boundaries.

6 – VAQUERO is actually Spanish term for “cowboy”. There was one photo which got circulated in the INTERNET where PUTIN was snapped riding a horse like a “cowboy”. In the Philippine setting, a “KOBOY” which is a corruption of the term “COWBOY” would mean friendly and sociable, which are those inherent traits of Bayani Nito aka Chairman HERO. 

7 – CHINGBEE is FMCAI’s efficient President, Maria Eva (“CHINGBEE”)  Kalaw.

8 – FMCAI is acronym for First Marbella Condominium Association, Inc. which is the condominium corporation required under the law to be organized to manage the affairs of the condominium community of the Marbella Condominium 1 (“Marbella 1”).  Marbella 1 is the very first condominium building which was built along Roxas Boulevard in Pasay City and inaugurated by former President F.E. Marcos in 1974. The Marbella 1 building was designed by world-renowned architect Leandro Locsin and that in putting up the structure, Architect Locsin adopted what he called as the FLOATING DESIGN. Indeed from afar, one would easily view the building as somewhat FLOATING as there are no supporting columns in its laterals.   I have been a retained counsel of FMCAI since 2000 but was cut short for a term, after a change of administration at the Marbella 1  community then. I eventually resumed acting as FMCAI’s Legal Counsel in 2012.

9 – ADMINISTRATOR is FMCAI’s Administrator, Madame ELVIRA R. (“ELVIE”) VALMEO.

10 – PIERRE PATRICIO, unit owner of Marbella 1’s Unit 712, has agreed to display his “wondrous” paintings at the Marbella 1 condo lobby for FREE. He is a contemporary painter, sculptor and illustrator from Western Visayas. The second of four siblings, he has shown interest in the visual arts scene from an early age competing in major art competitions throughout his elementary and secondary school years. He has been painting professionally since 1993. Having lived and worked as an expatriate artist in Greece, Germany, Ireland and Singapore, he has exhibited in major cities across Europe and Asia. Since his first exhibition in Athens (1995), his artworks have been showcased in venues such as the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (in cooperation with the National Centennial Commission) in 1998, the Philippine Embassy Chancery in Brussels (2000), the University of Hamburg (2002), the Kurhaus in Bad Homburg vor der Höhe, Hesse, Germany (2003), Museo Iloilo (2006), Bacolod City’s Museo Negrense De La Salle (2008), Dublin’s Hainault House (2010), Latvia’s Art Museum Riga Bourse and the Philippine Embassy Chancery in Stockholm (2011), Singapore’s The Arts House at the Old Parliament (2013) and Seoul’s The Space Gallery (2014).

11 – LIFT is another term for ELEVATOR.

12 – ELVIE is FMCAI Administrator Elvira R.(“ELVIE”) Valmeo.

13 –     CHINGBEE is FMCAI Prexy Maria Eva (“CHINGBEE”) Kalaw.

14 – HERO is FMCAI Chairman Bayani (“HERO”) Nito.

15 – SEAL as used in this BLOG would mean CLEANLINESS of Marbella 1 of that desired caliber, as that TOP QUALITY level of cleanliness.]

 [Left photo is that of JOHARI ISMAIL who took a selfie of himself inside a tourist bus during one of the NDCP’s class excursion to various destinations in the country. Left photo is the group photo taken before the badminton tourney held on March 12, 2017 (Sunday morning) at the Badminton Hall located at No. 6, 2oth Avenue, Cubao, Quezon City, Metro-Manila, Philippines.]

 

 

On Thursday, as I was presiding over the YOGA practice¹,

I saw JOHARI from afar as though a badminton novice²;

He looked as though a provinciano³ from his naïve looks,

Could be an ILOCANO or perhaps in a town up the boondocks⁴!

 

 

But when I was introduced to him,

I was amazed to know and learn;

He is a top military officer of Malaysia⁵,

Still young,  he’ll  have a future of euphoria!

 

 

 

And when he played and smashed the cock,

JOHARI⁶ was really strong, as hard as rock;

I played a round of singles with him,

The score was not even tied, ‘twas uneven!

 

 

And when we had our weekly tourney,

JOHARI emerged co-champ⁷, ‘twas an easy journey;

He was fantastic and truly energetic,

He’s a scoring machine, almost like scoring automatic!

 

 

 

 

And he loves our Filipino food,

He craves for cuchinta⁸, he said– it’s good!

And even eats our bread, the pan de sal⁹,

Lugs it in his  bag and offers it to a pal.

 

 

 

 

He’s a devout Muslim and prays at the mosque at Greenhills¹⁰,

And has travelled a lot– even at Bacolod up to the Victorias Mills¹¹;

He’ll stay for a year in our beloved country,

Schooling at the NDCP¹² honing his career in the army!

 

 

He’ll now be a regular player at the Hall¹³,

We’ll have a skilled player to add to our roll;

Thus, we’ll always have a quorum of FOUR,

For our doubles game, we’ll have a quick SCORE!

 

 

WELCOME JOHARI TO OUR CLUB AND THE BADMINTON HALL!!!!

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[Legend: 1 – Every Thursdays and Saturdays, I preside over a YOGA practice which I started about 7 years ago. It was a Thursday, on March 9, 2017 at the Badminton Hall located at No. 6 2oth Avenue,Cubao, Quezon City, Metro-Manila, Philippines when I first had a glimpse of him. The YOGA practice was being done at the eastern end of the Badminton Hall, actually at the inner court, as that inner court is reserved for YOGA practice  from 6:30 PM till 8:00 PM on Thursdays while badminton playmates are still few. JOHARI arrived while we were in the middle of the YOGA practice as he sat thereafter in one of the monobloc chairs located near the inner gate leading to the Hall.

2 – Novice means a BEGINNER.

 3 – Provinciano is a term which means coming from the province, a rural folk.

4 – Boondocks originated from an original Filipino word, BUNDOK, and which got assimilated into the English language and which means the hills or a rural area near the hills.

5 – JOHARI ISMAIL is a Lieutenant-Colonel with the Malaysian Army and is in the Philippines for schooling at the NDCP which college is located within the Camp Aguinaldo grounds. JOHARI started with his NDCP course in September 2016 and will graduate in September 2017.

6 – JOHARI is JOHARI ISMAIL.

7-  JOHARI emerged as co-champ with Mandaluyong City Fiscal, Wally Francisco as his team-mate in the team-pairing tandem.

8 – Cuchinta or kutsinta is a native cake made of ground rice and coconut milk. Cuchinta or kutsinta is actually a type of steamed rice cake  and is allied to puto. Puto is colored white while cuchinta or kutsinta is colored red or reddish-brown.

9-  Pan de sal is the usual  table fare bread in the Filipino household during breakfast.

10 – The Muslim mosque is located at the GREENHILLS shopping center at Greenhills, San Juan City, Metro-Manila.

11-  Victorias Mills is the VICTORIAS MILLING CORPORATION, a corporate entity which owns the sugar milling factory, which is located at Victorias City about 44 kilometers distant from Bacolod City in Negros Occidental. Earlier, and most coincidentally so, (even before I met JOHARI) my brother WILSON, who is himself a graduate and alumnus of the NDCP, and being the incumbent Chairman of the VICTORIAS MILLING CORPORATION; conveyed an invitation to the current NDCP class to visit the VICTORIAS MILLS, when the group had an excursion/field trip to Bacolod City in Negros Occidental. To this, JOHARI himself sighed: “‘TIS REALLY A SMALL WORLD!”

12 –  NDCP is the National Defense College of the Philippines. The National Defense College of the Philippines (NDCP) (Filipino: Dalubhasaan ng Tanggulang Pambansa ng Pilipinas) is an educational, training, and research agency of the Philippine government located inside Camp Emilio Aguinaldo in Quezon City, Metro Manila. It is responsible for providing continued and intensive studies of the diverse problems relating to national defense and security. It is under the Department of National Defense.

13 – HALL is the Badminton Hall consisting of TWO (2) badminton courts with wooden flooring located at No. 6 20th Avenue, Cubao, Quezon City, Metro-Manila, Philippines.]