nostalgia 2

If you don't have enemies, you don't have character.

PAUL NEWMAN (Won Oscar. Another 36 wins & 47 nominations )

Be like a duck. Calm on the surface, but always paddling like the dickens underneath.

MICHAEL CAINE (Won 2 Oscars. Another 25 wins & 36 nominations )

introducing…. THE FRESHMEN

Not everyone is meant to make a difference. But for me, the choice to lead an ordinary life is no longer an option.
-Peter Parker (Spiderman)

We all love this time of the school year when new faces tirelessly flash their youthful smiles. In our University Town where everybody seems to know everyone, people-watch is a favorite pastime. The school opening is always the perfect time for this slow-paced city’s no. 1 entertainment which has an added venue, the Portal West corner. We hear ourselves or overhear someone ask, “Who is that pretty face?” or “Oh another hunk, from Manila? Fil-Am?” Up-close one gets to hear a foreign student whine. “It’s humid here… “ or “The pedicabs are noisy!” Then, an LTCFTC (looking Tirso Cruz, feeling Tom Cruise) with a British accent exclaims, “People here are always looking at me,… makes me feel paranoid.”

But beyond the face value – our everyday entertainment, we want you to know that some of the new members of our beloved community are bound to make a difference with their potentialities:


MARIA ELVIE ANN BARTE graduated valedictorian from Basay National High School. With this honor, she is presently enjoying two scholarships while pursuing a degree in Business Administration at Negros Oriental State University. She is confident that her being a Class Math wizard will help her achieve more in college.
She hopes to work in a famous bank someday somewhere in Taiwan or in Japan. The film "The Passion of the Christ" has been her inspiration. She shared, “The movie is really touching and it reminds me of who I really am! It's taught me to share unconditional love. It also helped me realize that I am very worthy because someone died for me to be saved. And with that, I must live my life by touching other lives for me to be very worthy in the eyes of God.”

Her big crush is the actor Wu Chun of Brunei who became a huge film star in Taiwan. “I love his sense of humility…,” Elvie was almost non-stop in introducing her film icon.

Lynn Francine Batalan is very proud to have spent “my high school years in the bosom of Foundation University.” It is the school where “I learned to experience life to the fullest and discovered a lot of myself.” She was president of the Ushers and Usherettes Club, an exposure that made her realize that at FU, they “open their arms as wide as they can for all the students to have fun and experience new things….”
The organizations like the Buglasayaw Dance Troupe, the Science Club, the Debating Club and Peer Counselors Club were important exposures that led her to achieve two honors: the Valedictorian of Class 2008 dubbed as the “The Visionaries” and a beauty title Miss Teen Dumaguete 2007. These two “are also my memorable moments and treasured experiences in my high school life.” The Accountancy student, still at FU, wants “to see myself as a banker working in offices either private or public firms.” But first, she knows that she will have to work hard to have excellent academic records to ensure a good performance in the CPA Board Examination.


Negros Oriental State University’s GLYSA JADUCANA graduated valedictorian from Santander National High School. This Education student who is majoring in Mathematics complained,” My generation is more complicated and is harder to understand.” She read and seriously followed the teachings of Jose Rizal and she wants all the other young people to know that “Life is sometimes cruel therefore we must be strong enough. We must choose wisely because it is our choices that tell us who we really are….”


When this Dallas-born chinito expressed he doesn’t like walking around the wide expanse of Silliman campus, I quoted Barack Obama to cheer him up, “If you're walking down the right path and you're willing to keep walking, eventually you'll make progress.” BRYCE KING, a science quiz bee champ from Xavier School, is taking up Marine Biology. He said there’s just “…too much lawyers, too many businessmen, too many nurses….” The young environmentalist is hoping to make an Al Gore-kind of impact in his own humble way. The grandson of philanthropist Angelo King had sent college applications around the globe and was accepted by universities in the US, the UK… and in Manila but chose to study at Silliman, “I really think this is the best environment for Marine Biology.”

ELLEN MAE ELTANAL graduated from Sta. Catalina Community School as the Class Valedictorian. “The honor made my family happy and proud… because of it I was given the chance to study in this very wonderful university town.” A Bachelor in Secondary Education major at St. Paul University, Ellen wishes to help the less fortunate acquire a good education by becoming a teacher who is well-respected as a master of her field. She observed that “Living in a modernized world, our generation now is somehow a bit lazy. Doing things are done instantly, we are very much influenced by the westerns to the point that we don’t focus on our own values and culture.” But she believes that with “dreams to help the family and be able to help others,” the young generation can still make a difference. She loves Oprah Winfrey who as world icon, “influences us to learn living each day with hope and leaving the past behind.” She notes that Oprah has “really proven that there is always hope no matter how difficult the situation is.”


A talent search winner, an editorial writing finalist, a Christian Youth Fellowship president…. A long line of achievements for this Mass Communication freshman at Silliman University. ANTON EMILIO SANCHEZ belongs to the third generation of Sillimanians from the Sanchez family of the City of Cabadbaran in Agusan del Norte. His father Marvin, a fraternity Grand Chancellor during his students days is the brother of 1980’s campus beauty Joy Sanchez-Bobon ( Miss Biz-Ad who won the Miss Silliman first runner-up title in 1981) and who is among Dumaguete’s most successful entrepreneurs with her Sta. Theresa fastfood and other enterprises. Anton, a son of Dumagueteña Anne Marie Arnaiz, recalled his first week here, “My first week was probably the worst.... I became very shy and so insecure. I have never been this far from my parents, and being deeply attached to my family I was really really homesick...” His Tita Joy came to the rescue and gave him survival tips that ended with: gain back your confidence!

JELA MAE TANILON is the Salutatorian of Foundation University High School Class of 2008. This Accountancy student who is loyal to her Alma Mater found her first week in college as “Bad! Everything is new to me. I’m having a hard time adjusting…. I’m not used to have different classmates in different subjects. But I hope I’ll be able to surmount these as soon as possible.” She shares an observation that “Our generation is into modern technologies that are perceptibly, making us lazy. From brooms to vacuum cleaners, from hand washing to washing machines, and from books to surfing the net. It’s not always bad doing research in the internet, but we also have to comprehend that computer information is revisable and can be changed from time to time. Sometimes, computer facts are even mocked by some experts.” She is worried about the tendency to simply “copy-paste” things in life for it takes people away from the value of reading and understanding the truth. The film “The Freedom Writers” has inspired her for “aside from being a true story, the movie depicts new generation teenagers who made an enormous change in their lives.” Jela would like to remind her fellow students that the opportunity to be in college is valuable: “never quit. Love what you are doing. Work with full dedication. Never be afraid of failures.” She shares wisdom from Charles Lamb, “Pain is life—the sharper, the more evidence of life” to stress the value of perseverance.

THE RETURN

A VIEW OF WATER IN A LAKE
by Edith L. Tiempo

How strange to hang suspended―
Our boat sitting on the water
Is a point in space;
Up, down, and around:
A deepness and a vastness of blue.
The soul flees its suspension
In upward tropism to the light;
Divinity in the heavens
Required no less: Lift,
Fly, elevate; the sky is ever
The hovering home.
Still, we transcend in nostalgia and in loss,
Foreswearing the earth,
Its mud, trees, color, its unyielding mass
And all that the body knows of heat and life;
So arch down and around, us, sky,
Blue sphere that is infinite height,
Infinite depth.
Wrap all of earth around:
Here, where water is heaven, fallen,
Water, no more a reference for earth.
Blue in the deep is permeable,
A membrane we can fall into;
Who needs the upper regions now?
Curved world of heaven under water,
Keeper of ultimate promises,
Vessel of the ceaseless mortal
Dreaming of foreverness,


Below the frail suspended hull,
Far below the swaying outriggers,
And the caulked and barnacled bottom―
Hoarding now man’s peace and his salvation,
The sky―deep, and inverted―waits.

May 10 marked the first weekend for the fellows of the 47th National Writers Workshop and that day, I led them to conquer the Twin Lakes: Balinsasayao and Danao. I know that this secret wonder of our island will always inspire artists for it is a spiritual journey to go on a boat ride around the lake or take a trek around Balinsasayao towards Lake Danao.

At the Twin Lakes, nature’s poetry runs with lines of peace and healing. Arlene Yandug of Xavier University wrote a poem after the trek:

Along the edge between you and the forest
I tread the silence-worn path of stones.
Stones precariously linked like my verses….

I have been here so many times but each visit is amply rewarded by gifts of inspiration. My artist friend, the late Kennedy Rubias, lived here for many months but he never got to any point of boredom. In fact, it was here that he created on canvass a kubo on an endless expanse of green – an image of joy, and a rare piece. We all know that Rubias’ brushstrokes were always dark and bloody.

From the same journey with the fellows, I made some lines of introspection and asked one of the fellows, Lawrence Bernabe of UP Visayas, to finish what I begun. My poem Coming Home now has a sense of completeness when Lawrence worked to give it a second stanza:


COMING HOME

Navigate the self for the second time:
Let the painted carapace melt like a mirror
Rafting into its river of faces and stories.
Relieve the humbled feet in still water.
On an unnamed rock, the green is blue
When the drowned end
senses the mossy comfort
The innocence of beginnings becomes
A new point of departure.

On an unnamed rock, the blue and the green
Becomes the mossy ground I stand on.
When I stepped into the river
(My feet never more sure of the cold)
The water carried me home.


The journey to the Twin Lakes and other wonders like the walk under lines of acacia trees, the wisdom from the Bleeding Heart dove in CENTROP, poetry and music at The Catacombs, the blue dream in Antulang, the frolic in Bacongham, the pan de sal siesta in Bravo Golf, nostalgia in Café Antonio, Hayahay reggae, high life in Atelier Aguila, stories on canvass in Mariyah Gallery, The
Forest Camp’s coolness, the green wall in Sariland, the mild rafting in Amlan’s Alma
Riverside and the crossovers to Apo Island, Siquijor, and many more – all these help define the uniqueness of Dumaguete’s National Writers Workshop, the nurturing institution of Philippine Literature with founder National Artist Edith Lopez Tiempo and daughter Rowena Tiempo Torrevillas as anchors. I consider the workshop’s return to the English and Literature Department of Silliman University as destiny as it moves towards its 50th year.

Bayanihan dancer recalls night with Paul Newman

By Tina Santos
Inquirer
First Posted 01:19am (Mla time) 07/04/2007

MANILA, Philippines – “I felt like I was floating on a cloud the entire evening,” said Veronica “Veth” Elizabeth Atega-Nable [my first cousin - mojo ]of Paco, Manila, describing how she felt on the night she was crowned Miss Fil-Am Queen of the former Subic Naval Base on the fourth of July, 46 years ago.

With the honor came a once-in-a-lifetime chance to meet—and hold hands—with famous Hollywood actor Paul Newman who was her escort.

“I was tongue-tied for a moment,” Nable said, recalling the first time she came face-to-face with Newman whom she described as “very warm and friendly” and “has the lightest blue eyes I’ve ever seen. I felt like I was the luckiest girl on earth,” she added.

Nable, who won the title at the age of 23, said the chance in a lifetime came as a complete surprise to her.

She recalled that she was enjoying her summer vacation in Agusan del Norte when she got a call from Manila informing her that Rear Adm. Charles Duncan, then Subic base commander, and members of the 1962 Fil-Am Fiesta Committee had chosen her to be the queen of the Fil-Am fiesta to be held inside the American base.

“It was completely unexpected because I had not made any effort nor dreamt of succeeding popular movie star Gloria Romero, the title holder in the previous year,” said Nable, who is now 68.

“I was very excited and flattered they chose me, especially when I was told that Mr. Newman would be my escort.”

She later learned that the Agusan governor had submitted her name to the committee. Before that, she represented Region 10 in a nationwide search for Miss Philippines.

“And in Bayanihan perfomances, I didn’t know that they were observing me,” she added. Nable was a member of the original batch of the Bayanihan Dance Group, the country’s national folk dance company.

Perfect

“It was a perfect evening,” she said, adding that she was wearing a white beaded terno with a long cape and elbow-length gloves made by Pitoy Moreno. “There was Paul Newman beside me, a crown on my head, my colleagues at Bayanihan and famous local and Hollywood celebrities like Shirley MacLaine entertaining my court.”

Her court included movie stars Amalia Fuentes, Lourdes Medel and Adorable Liwanag.

But the parade that preceded the coronation night was equally thrilling, Nable said.

“A handsome Navy officer, who ‘won’ his escort duties in a raffle, stood beside me in the Queen’s float, holding an umbrella over me. It rained but it did not dampen the gaiety of the kilometer-long parade,” she recalled.

She said her stint as Miss Fil-Am Queen paved the way for other opportunities for her, including modeling stints and being on the cover of several magazines.

After her reign, Nable again focused on one of the things she loved doing most: Dancing.

She joined the Bayanihan at 19, while taking up nutrition at the Philippine Women’s University on Taft Avenue, Manila, which organized the dance troupe.

“I was recruited to form the first Bayanihan Dance Group,” she said. Nable added that being a member of the Bayanihan “fulfilled my love for dancing and allowed us to show our countrymen and the world the beauty of our dances.”

The Bayanihan, whose members have been touring the world as cultural emissaries for the Philippines, is celebrating its 50th anniversary this October.

“Life after Bayanihan revolved around marriage and family, another beautiful and fulfilling experience,” said the girl who gave it all up to marry Horacio Nable. “I stopped being active in the Bayanihan when I got married. But I have not stopped dancing yet.”

...and the winners are....

Beauty is only truly irresistible when it shows us something less transitory than itself; when it makes us dream of that which charms life beyond the fugitive moment which sees us. It is necessary for the soul to feel it when the senses have perceived it. The soul never wearies; the more it admires, the more it is exalted.
- Baroness Barbara Juliane de Krüdener

Along Langheim Road afterward, an Art Appreciation student who was in the audience confided that the evening had made her smile, since she could still feel a bit of excitement after watching the Grand Night of the Search for the Silliman University Adventure Envoy 2008 held on May 2 at the Shaw Memorial Pool —that is, excitement from the new ideas in a summer beauty pageant. That was an echo of LINWEL’s brilliant choreography in the opening number inspired by the music of the hit production High School Musical. But ultimately a bit too colorful and too vibrant that it overshadowed the other succeeding numbers. Even the entrée of the show which had the danceable “Good Morning Baltimore” from the musical Hairspray came too slow with the high energy that was in the “We’re All In This Together” entrance of the aspiring envoys. It was the perfect salvo for a poolside event for it captured the spirit of summer. The explosive opening movements had every detail in place, with a surprise splash here and there from the varsity swimmers who made the pool dance with the music. As the candidates made their entrance, vibrant colors from light blooms were constantly on display.
The main portion of the pageant adopted the American Idol format with three judges in interaction after every talent presentation. Stage actress MARIA LUZ COLE HAVRANEK playing Paula Abdul made the expression “fabulous!” the favorite summer punchline for she was so generous in showering every contestant with “Fabulous! fabulous!.” Even the audience chorused to join her in the “fabulous” exclamation. But when it was PATRO APURA’s turn to share a sexy dance number, Maria had to add “you’re awesome! And girls, what a great body!” The audience responded with “fabulous!” Apura was awarded the best in talent. Havranek also liked RICKY DE LA CRUZ when he heartbreakingly delivered Kieth Urban’s “Tonight I Wanna Cry”, and aside from ‘fabulous,’ she pointed out Ricky’s potential in acting. But singer QUDDUS RONNIE PADILLA who was playing Simon Cowell expressed being “bored” by the performance. Quddus dared to be the evening’s most hated man when he told the popular handsome aspiring envoy MICHAEL CRISTOBAL, “Singing is not your talent.” Maria came to the rescue, told Michael that “you are a good performer. That was fabulous!” The audience had their best moment when it was GERALD HONGAYO’s turn. His moderate style of singing an OPM lovesong did not get an overall star rating from the judges but the swirling along of his intense interpretation made him a heartthrob that night. Quddus had to go with the screaming crowd after an initial critical remark, he ended his comment with “… but the audience loved it, and that’s the most important, an entertainment value….”
The judges were gentler with the lady aspiring envoys. Youth organizer and leader builder DAVE SACEDA who was the Randy Jackson of the night told JESSICA DE LOS SANTOS who gave a sing & dance number that she has grown into “a beautiful woman.” Maria stood up to lead the audience into another “fabulous’ moment making the talent portion really full of fun. As expected, Quddus gave the praises a descending scale when he told Jessica, “your dancing is just OK.” But Quddus was generous with positive lines after the elegant performance of DAISY SARIO. Dave noticed the beautiful costume in the ballroom dance of CANDICE JAYARI, Maria agreed with “fabulous” but told the young lady to work on her confidence level. LUZ CATAN’s lustrous voice came into view, with a slow-moving performance that got the nod of the two judges but to Quddus, “…you failed to capture your audience….”
There was never a dull moment from the sports to swimwear portions to the music of Moulin Rouge and Lady Marmalade. The goodlooking bets were all in shine! shine! glory. More gorgeous work in the direction as the gown portion came to the music of Enchanted. Like gems shining even with the when the audience’s attention span dwindled towards midnight, the end part was still one of the highlights of the evening.

At the finale, I realized that what was appropriately apocalyptic in this summer event was the venue-the poolside gave the night the needed glimmer with the ramp that was like floating across the blue waters - courtesy of the SU Buildings and Grounds’ creative-hardworking hands. And there were more: MATTI HESCOCK, MARK FERNANDEZ, ERI KAJIKAWA and JUN VILLAMERO - four hosts of the pageant who did so well in making sure there was adrenaline flowing in every climax, they have successfully ushered the audience to work overtime in the 3-hour run, but the lasting image was one of great refinement of a supermodel in two costume changes: Miss Hescock – simply elegant and beautiful. Jun was always effective without a little unbridled chaos in creating laughter. Nevertheless, when lovely-like-summer Eri joined animated Jun, the two sounded like the aural equivalent of two striking contrasting colors. And the discovery of the evening was Mr. Fernandez with his handsome hush to Matti’s mouthful. As hosts, they were all winners! The show was to become another CLAUDE RAMOS’ direction masterpiece: lovely textures alternating with moments of great smooth flows and the compelling use of music and dance twists from contemporary musicals. Another winner was the leadership of NADI ORILLANA in the production; under her are ranks filled with new players who can seemingly do anything. The heavenly moments could still be placed in higher quality ranges but as a new event in this university town, the Adventure Envoy search truly made history! The grand winners are: Patro as Silliman’s first Adventure Envoy and Jessica with the Miss Silliman Summer crown. And with their wins is the sense of satisfaction from the people behind and the audience that loved the show.
The Winners are:
Best in Sportswear PATROCINIO B. APURA III
Best in Swimwear JESSICA FRANCE M. DE LOS SANTOS
Cuttin' Loose Best Evening Presence RICKY LOUIE A. DE LA CRUZ
Cuttin' Loose Best Evening Elegance CANDICE CECILE ARBON JAYARI
Best Stage Performance PATROCINIO B. APURA III
Best in Talent PATROCINIO B. APURA III
Infinity Portrait’s Vibrance of Summer 2008 PATROCINIO B. APURA III
Infinity Portrait's Summer Smile 2008 JESSICA FRANCE M. DE LOS SANTOS
Infinity Portrait's Face of Summer 2008 MICHAEL ANGELO D. CRISTOBAL
@ Random Talkshow Best Male Guest MICHAEL ANGELO D. CRISTOBAL
@ Random Talkshow Best Female Guest JESSICA FRANCE M. DE LOS SANTOS
Miracle Mile's Wisdom of Summer 2008 RICKY LOUIE A. DE LA CRUZ
Aoda’s Mr. Summer Fitness 2008 GERALD A. HONGAYO
Living Café Best Fitness Advocacy 2008 DAISY JANE A. SARIO
Miracle Mile’s Wisdom of Summer 2008 RICKY LOUIE A. DE LA CRUZ
Expressions’ Summer Sweetheart 2008 CANDICE CECILE ARBON JAYARI
Pinkaholic’s Miss Portal West Fashion 2008 MARIA LUZ V. CATAN
Mister Dunut’s Pure Energy 2008 PATROCINIO B. APURA III
FilProducts' Best Speaker JESSICA FRANCE M. DE LOS SANTOS

Miss Silliman Summer 2008
JESSICA FRANCE M. DE LOS SANTOS









Silliman University Adventure Envoy 2008
PATROCINIO "Poodie" B. APURA III

MULTI-RACIAL IMPACT

wherever i go in this country even in my hometown, the local people will always think of me as a foreigner. taxi drivers struggle with their english language to get me to a destination.
in america, i always get the question or the airport check on my being 'arabic.'
one time in a hotel in subic, i got a vip welcome for being mistaken as among their visitors from morocco.
i was a mexican during a guitar festival in San Antonio, Texas.
two students from jordan approached me for they were hoping i come from the same origin.
one lady from new york stopped while having her morning jog to check if am jewish.
while being a ninong in a baptism in batangas, the old folks were asking if i belong to Senator Recto's family.
in palawan, a lady doctor mistook me as a son of her spanish family friend.
in davao, an indian store owner asked me about my father's business in bombay.
a doctor in an optical clinic informed me that i got blue pigments in my eyeballs but i insisted they are all grayish dark brown.

so, what's the real score?
it's all because of my great grandfather: Rev. Father Pedro Garcia, a mooric-looking Spanish priest from Barcelona plus the tribal Manobo lineage of my grandmother Juana Beray Noja.
And my mother's father Gabriel Rañua Badajos from Camiguin Island had spanish and chinese lineage on both sides.
Thanks to all of them, I seem to naturally belong to an international arena, at least visually.

ANGELS OF ADVENTURE

People don't notice whether it's winter or summer when they're happy.
--Anton Chekhov
Love is to the heart what the summer is to the farmer's year. It brings to harvest all the loveliest flowers of the soul.
--Billy Graham

Summer in slow-paced Dumaguete can lead our young people to boredom and perhaps to ‘unhealthy’ ways of entertainment if no avenues are opened to keep them busy. Summer is a time for them to release the energies which have been long-stored up for many of them are usually just glued to TV and computer games. To be mobile or physically active is the only way for them to have a healthier young life. Through the years, I have mounted channels for fun and fruitfulness so that the youth will have their own harvest of summer memories.

If one goes beyond the usual, Dumaguete could be a discovery for it’s a perfect place to celebrate the joys of the summer season. When I am just around here during summer, my restlessness leads me to mount the following: special tours and night events for the fellows of the National Writers Workshop at Silliman, the other summer I had a culture and art tour around Dumaguete for public school teachers, my Fine Arts Appreciation class had a taste of organizing an event by producing a show for a local artist, had ushered kids to a multi-media workshop, brought teens on a trek around the twin lakes, we had speech improvement sessions with out-of-school-youth, guided foreign photographers to cover historic churches around the Visayas, led families from Manila and abroad to discover the ‘secrets’ of Negros island and a lot more.

This summer, all my ‘natural’ resources are poured towards the mounting of the Search for the Summer Adventure Envoy, a youth-oriented event produced by the Silliman University Physical Education and Athletics Department. I find it exciting to be working with the two dynamic ladies: Athletics Director Meriam Merced Ramacho and P.E. Chairperson Audrey Claire Cabio-Tuballa, and the different varsity teams. We actually have a two-fold purpose for mounting this reality-TV inspired event: to give young people a new avenue for expression and to raise funds for the SU-UP Dual Meet.

Launched in a very successful dinner-for-cause last February, the aspirants are left with two more challenges to tackle: the Amlan Adventure Race on Sunday, April 27 and the talent showcase during the Grand Night on Friday, May 2 at the Shaw Memorial Pool. The challenges in this contest are inspired by two hit TV shows, the Amazing Race and the American Idol. The local contestants were featured guests in the @ Random talkshow of FilProducts and models in a fashion show that featured the collections of Portal West popular shops Il Primo, Mixed Berry and Ajar’s.
The eight finalists will be in Amlan today for a race in this budding adventure tourism capital of Oriental Negros. Hon. Bentham P. de la Cruz, the cool mayor of Amlan, himself a mountain biker, facilitated the planning of the activity for the Sillimanian young envoys. The race will include boating from the parola to the sand castle shore where they will have two options, skim boarding and sandcastle building. The Sillimanians will then hop to a habal-habal ride. The long day will be capped by rafting at the cleanest river of Central Visayas, the Amlan River.

The final 8 in the Adventure Envoy Search could be crowd-drawers with their looks, talents and vitality. Table tennis varsity team player 15-year old CANDICE CECILE ARBON JAYARI, fresh from her high school graduation, takes a break from her summer gardening to take part in this cause-oriented event. The 5’6” tall Candice is the sweetheart of her new college friends in the competition for she is simply adorable.
College of Education governor DAISY JANE A. SARIO who loves the latest craze in sports, frisbee, tries hard to keep a balance between her participation in the search and her summer job responsibilities. The dusky beauty hopes to make use of the exposure to encourage young people to “quit smoking, save money and lives.” This call is echoed by another bet, student nurse PATROCINIO B. APURA III or Poodie to friends, who is an active member of the SU volleyball varsity. The hunky prince of sports who also shines in basketball and soccer considers the event as a channel to promote a healthier lifestyle for young people.
Tall, dark and handsome GERALD A. HONGAYO of the Silliman Stallions
takes time to be part of the event to improve on his human relations skills. The 6’1” tall engineering student thinks of basketball as a way to be cool, but the event will bring out a different side of him the moment he goes on stage – it’s a way for him to gain more confidence.
Being among the Top 3 in the recently-concluded Miss Teen Philippines Dumaguete search, 17 year old student nurse JESSICA FRANCE M. DE LOS SANTOS is facing much pressure being compared to Gretel, her sister who was crowned Miss Silliman in 2006. The friendly France is charting her own set of glories, and being part of the Adventure Search is her way of relaxing from academic pressures. This graduate from the PETA Theater workshop really loves performing on stage, and sharing her talent for a good cause has her dedicated 100% to the search. The adventure side of the event is a new twist in her life in sports which so far has been devoted to badminton.

Student leader RICKY LOUIE A. DE LA CRUZ loves adventure. This Information Technology student has covered it all from swimming to fire dancing but he wants more. The event will also be an opportunity for him to explore possibilities as a performing artist. Being an officer of the Student Government, the program will provide a rewarding experience to him of extending help to his fellow students.

Another bet from the College of Education is MARIA LUZ V. CATAN. Luz stands 5’6” tall and considers basketball as her favorite. The event for her is a way to see a world beyond the realm of a student teacher. It will be an exploration to bring more colors to the modern classroom – a challenge in today’s educational field. The pressure of the adventure is actually pushing her to watch with much care the twin dimensions of her youth: health and fitness.
Dancing is a good exercise but it’s not enough to keep a fully-toned physique. One who can attest to this is dancesport artist MICHAEL ANGELO D. CRISTOBAL. This Business Management student regularly goes to the gym, in between dance sessions, just for body toning. He has badminton and swimming as variations for the mobility to have total impact on his ‘machine.’ Joining the Adventure Envoy search will be a showcase of Mykx’s harvest being a fearless fitness enthusiast.

These 8 angels of adventure will inspire many of us to go into a major investment in health and fitness. “Start ‘em young!” – this is what the Search for the Silliman University Summer Adventure Envoy is all about. Two more angels are behind them, Chairperson Naddie Orillana and Creative Director Claudio Ramos, to ensure a total entertainment that captures the vivid colors of summer on the Grand Night, May 2 at the Shaw Memorial Pool. We will all be there!
(Solos courtesy of INFINITY PORTRAIT studio in Dumaguete.)

Thank you very much for all your support. More power and may GOD bless you!

nostalgia 1

“If you haven't cried, your eyes can't be beautiful.”
Sophia Loren (Italian film Actress, 1934)



"A person has to keep something to herself or your life is just a layout in a magazine."
Grace Kelly (Countess Grimaldi, the wife of Prince Rainier III of Monaco, 1954)

SELF-PORTRAIT... beyond narcissism!

ageless and ever evergreen
Among the entries in the Life's Little Instruction Book that I have followed year after year was that of taking pictures of the self as part of the celebration of one's birthday. And I have pledged to do this more often before any facial line will grow deep as I age. This year, I decided not to wait for the 31st of May to have the annual pictorial. I had to take the shots before I said goodbye to my hair with tri-color rugged glam. I have to decided to have a military flat-top cut to welcome the heat of summer.
It could be narcissism but it's more than just self-love: it's a celebration of LIFE lived with much colors and fun fun fun twists....

PERSIAN FASHION INVASION

“There is so much talk about Lily as a seasoned and articulate model, I thought that would be a good switch for me as the past 10 years of fashion week it's been about a different kind of hype.”
Charlie Brown (Fictional character from the comic strip created by Charles M. Schulz, Peanuts.)

It was in the 1970s when we had the first Persian “invasion” here in our University Town. Then, a political crisis in their country stopped them from coming to study in our city’s pride, Silliman University. In 2003 the Iranians started to grow in number again, becoming the second largest group among the 22 nationalities presently represented at Silliman (the welcoming colors near the Gate of Service are to celebrate the international presence in the campus by the sea).

Looking through the old yearbooks, the students from Iran then were not as fashionista as the present generation. The Iranians today go around town with statements from GQ and their simplest fashion expression would be the glamrock of today’s Hollywood icons. One or two of them present a glimmer of metrosexuality every Friday or Saturday night in El Camino or Why Not.

It was not really surprising news for me when I heard that an Iranian student from Silliman University won a national fashion contest advertised in Metro fashion magazine. I have actually worked with some of them in fashion shows mounted by Maria Havranek of Cuttin’ Loose. I feel proud that Pooyan Hasan Poor, one of the models we had at the Café Antonio fashion launch last year, is now one of the new faces of
Ray-Ban Philippines after having won the Ray-Ban Rockstar Model Search 2008. Happy to be chosen in the finals at Warehouse 135 Makati, a popular gimmick place, last April 5, Mechanical Engineering junior student Pooyan is thankful to the force behind
the glory: his girlfriend Ann Margarette Viente, a senior Mass Communication student of Silliman who was the photographer of the fashion profile they submitted through e-mail. Ann’s lovely self-portrait also had her in the Top Ten finalists. But it was her shot of her handsome boyfriend in a soaring animation that got the nod of the judges. The portrait that captured the win means a lot to Ann for it could be her launchpad to a possible career in fashion photography.
So proud of their achievement, I took time to have the goodlooking couple in an interview:
Mojo: Back home in Iran , did you have experience in modeling?
Pooyan: No, because situation in Iran is much different compared here in the Philippines.
Mojo: Beauty concepts vary from culture to culture; what is your concept of a male beauty?
Pooyan: For men, it’s not enough to just have good physical looks; what makes the package complete is the power of mind and good personality.
Mojo: Were you popular with girls back in high school?
Pooyan: Yes, I guess.
Mojo: How was the Ray-Ban experience?
Pooyan: I’m happy that I was able to represent Silliman University and Dumaguete City in the awarding night because some of the people there were not familiar with our place.
Mojo: Ann, do you consider yourself an experienced photographer?
Ann: I’m not that experienced. I started delving into photography in 2005 –it was purely experimental. I never had formal lessons in photography. I greatly rely on my own artistic instincts. It’s a combination of a skillful hand and an imaginative mind.
Mojo: What's your preference, being the subject of the photo or being the one behind the camera?
Ann: Both. However, it’s often hard for me to just plainly follow what the photographer would instruct me to do. Once I’m into it, I just can’t help but inject my own ideas. On the other hand, I also love photography and I totally enjoy doing it especially if the subject can portray my desired concept well. I may be a perfectionist at times, but I’m easy to work with.
Mojo: Do you have plans of becoming a professional photographer?
Ann: Yes. Hearing people’s appreciation of my works is actually the main aspect that convinces me to push through with this.
Mojo: You are a beautiful Filipina, but does one have to be as beautiful as you to be a good subject in a shoot?
Ann: We are all beautiful. Picking a model for a photo shoot would basically depend on the theme. Anyhow, I always work on making my subject feel comfortable during each shoot.
We say thank you to Pooyan and his friends from home for the added handsome presence in our University Town. But our Iranian friends could actually be the ones who are more thankful that Dumaguete’s welcoming public has an eye for culture and fashion – and in this Ray-Ban glory, we also thank Ann for such an excellent representation.

RONNIE’S RHYTHM

“It's the heart afraid of breaking that never learns to dance. It is the dream afraid of waking that never takes the chance. It is the one who won't be taken who cannot seem to give. And the soul afraid of dying that never learns to live.”
Bette Midler

Dance is poetry when its measure is not too heavy for the imaginary wind that carries its every movement. This is what I always see in an excellently executed art that runs close to music or flows with it as a cultural component.
One of the biggest delights in the school year 2007-2008 for this University Town is the visibility of the newly-revived Silliman Dance Troupe, now known as the Silliman University Kahayag Dance Troupe. From its first revival concert to the triumphs in two international festivals in China, Kahayag has not failed to give the expected poetry in movement. Its distinctive rhythmic choreography is a creation of Ronnie B. Mirabuena, Silliman University’s Director of Dance.
Ronnie’s ability to create beautiful rhythm in his choreography was noted in Manila during the Douglas Nierras Choreography Clinic on March 24 to April 7 which was attended by dance teachers from all over the country. His Panata, a piece on the deep spirituality of the Filipinos during Holy Week, won for him the Best Choreographer honor. Douglas Nierras, who was a recent visitor to Dumaguete with his group, The Powerdance, for a concert at the Luce, was specially proud of Ronnie’s achievement.
Ronnie who considers dance teaching as his ministry, is not actually a new force in the country’s dance world. With Folk Dance as his specialization, he practically spend all his teenage years exploring dance traditions as a student at the Philippine High School for the Arts in Mt. Makiling, Los Baños, Laguna. In 1994, he was a dance performer in A Cultural Visit to Brunei, a production sponsored by the Filipino Community in Brunei. He was exposed not only to performance for he was lights designer in school productions like the ballet “Saot, Bayle, Sayaw” in 1999. On the same year, he represented the Philippines in the Citta di Erba Eurofolk Festival in Italy. As a college student, he served as president of the Philippine Normal University Folk Dance Troupe in 1997 to 1998. With his very active participation in the student cultural life of his school, he managed to be a consistent awardee for academic excellence. Graduation from the country’s leading universities in Teacher Education with degrees in Social Science Education and Physical Education led to more opportunities: he was a workshop trainor/facilitator of the CCP Sining sa Eskwela held at Iloilo National High School in 2002, a Philippine delegate to the ASEAN Art Youth Camp in Myanmar on the same year and a lot more.
His long journey with dance finally found a major destination: the Silliman University Kahayag Dance Troupe. It is the Christian dimension of the University’s mission that led Ronnie here to Dumaguete. His well defined faith is always reflected in every visible rhythm – actually a dance praise to the Great-Giver-of-all-talents.

BEAUTY and RONA

By plucking her petals, you do not gather the beauty of the flower.”
Rabindranath Tagore

Every person on the face of the Earth has a gift.
For some this is revealed spontaneously,
others have to work to find it.
Paulo Coelho

Many of us in this University Town are drawn to the reality TV show Pinoy Big Brother aired on ABS-CBN’s Channel 2 and Studio 23 because of two reasons: BEAUTY Gonzalez and RONA Libby, both 16 years old .

In the April 1 episode, the two teens from Dumaguete got major exposure in the High School Graduation Day surprise. Rona was given a special graduation event inside the Big Brother House together with two other high school graduates, Robi of Ateneo de Manila and Jeriel of the Lamb of God School in Davao. The principal of the Dumaguete Science High School, Dr. Orlando Cadano took part in the ceremonies that included the awarding of the diploma and a special speech of commendation. Dr. Cadano joined Rona’s mother, Rose in presenting the young talent a medal of excellence in the Performing Arts. Rona is a familiar face for she is one of top three winners in the Miss Dumaguete beauty pageant and had been active in the high school debating team.
Beauty received the graduation cap of Jeriel and this came as a moving gesture from a new friend who knew that Beauty, who is now a freshman Business student at Silliman University, never experienced a high school graduation ceremony due to a “scandal.” Segment host Luis Manzano mentioned a bit about the scandal but without the details. High School classmates of Beauty at SLS Don Bosco would probably know but I did not bother to research. There is too much digging up of young people’s sad stories in this TV show. I have known Beauty as one of the headturners of the Silliman marching band. She is well-loved among her friends for her natural sense of humor.

Both were given a chance to show their talents as part of the reality challenges, Beauty in a baton twirling challenge and Rona in a debate on “Sino ang mas matalino: Babae o Lalaki?”

Beauty won the baton twirling challenge but it was not the win that people were talking about the day after. People were talking about her “ilok (armpit) monologue.” Dumaguete has been divided since Beauty’s first day in the Big Brother House; many are delighted for she’s consistently very frank and “bulgar” with ‘punchlines’ usually expressed in the Visayan language like “patilaon nako ni siya sa akong ilok” (I will let her lick my armpit). Many have disliked her for the same reason. On Rona, many are proud for she speaks flawless English and even her Tagalog is considerably good. But they were also disappointed in one kitchen scene where she seemed clueless on how to go about cleaning a fish and it was Josef, a student from La Salle, who was teaching her how to do it – an interesting irony on the rich-poor stereotyping.

Like the noontime hit Wowowee, the Pinoy Big Brother show’s popularity banks on real-life ‘dramas’ from the live narrations. I just wish that any “display of dirty linen” would be edited-out. In most cases, however, these are the moments that bring a TV show to high ratings in terms of audience share. Television’s intrusion into the young individual’s inner being should be controlled for this is evidently an exploitation. But today, no one seems to have the power to put an end to this crazy twist in our popular culture.

LYCAR’S LEADING

Now, when people are dying, you don't really look at who's offering the help. You take it. The first issue should be to help the people.
-Benazir Bhutto

Sons are traditionally expected to follow in their fathers’ footstep but today we see more daughters giving justice to their fathers’ struggles and aspirations. The late Benazir Bhutto was known as the "Daughter of the East" for her leadership was greatly inspired by her father’s heroism and of other Asian men like Gandhi who bravely fought for their country’s peace and freedom.
In our country’s business world, the prominence of Shoemart (SM) Malls is attributed to the great foundation established by the Chinese tycoon Henry Sy Sr. But when interviewed by Time Magazine, Mr. Sy quickly acknowledged the leadership of his daughter Teresita that brought SM to its present stature as Philippines' leader in the retail industry. It’s breaking a Chinese tradition of always giving the glory to a son. Mr. Sy is among Forbes Magazine’s 500 richest men in the world. The Sy family is worth US$4 billion, but current estimate of Sy's assets would total US$5 billion [Forbes 2007].

Silliman University’s Most Outstanding Student of the Year LYCAR ARMENTANO FLORES, a business management major, is proud to admit that she is “Papa’s Girl.” A great dimension of her being is greatly influenced by her father, Carlos Flores. Mr. Flores was always there in all of his daughter’s undertakings. He is Lycar’s most bankable elder and friend.
Even Lycar’s leadership is very much defined by her father’s wisdom: leading people begins with respect even of the most ordinary member of the organization. Building a young person’s confidence by opening avenues for growth is the aim in Lycar’s way of leading.
A not-so-pleasant kindergarten school experience taught Lycar an important dimension in the art of human relations. Her mother loved to dress her up for school. Classmates did not want her to join their games for she was all dolled up. Her neat dolled-up look with ponytail hairstyle led to her alienation. At an early age, Lycar knew how it feels to be isolated and rejected by would-be friends. This hurt amazingly became a positive force: she grew up with a sensitivity for others, and she became a welcoming angel to those who felt ignored.

Sincerity is evident in Lycar’s dealing with the people around her. Lycar always makes sure that the strangers in a group will get her attention. She is not afraid of rejection for her smile is from the heart and her intentions so pure – always in the spirit of caring for others.
In contrast to her childhood’s dolled-up fashion sense, Lycar sported a humble everyday presence which was felt by Sillimanians even before she became Governor of the High School Department. As representative to the Student Government Assembly, she was very visible in service-oriented programs. Lycar became even more known when she was elected Vice President of the Student Government on her junior year, and finally as President in her senior year. Everyone loved her on campus. Her gift of listening was also shared generously.
Goodness and obedience are two goals of her existence. In sharing these two valuable gifts, she achieved much. On her senior year in college, she was awarded the Most Outstanding Student of the Year honor for her leadership, service, and generous sharing of talent which included her being a member of the Mary Immaculate Choir. For scholarship, she achieved University Honor - the highest academic citation.
On graduation day, we witnessed the great moment of harvest as Carlos Flores proudly stood with Lycar who received the Magna cum Laude honor. It was not just a gold medal of honor; it was a manifestation of the glory in faith and love that made father and daughter withstand all the challenges that came their way. The same faith and love will be with Lycar as she leads herself to the realities in the world of career, of her desired entrepreneurship possibility with Dad and beyond.

Mojo's Poetry

DAYLIGHT DREAM

Eyes wide open as the earth prince
Awakes on realism beyond his canvass
The escape went within
As pain spells truth:
That a daylight dream is lesser
Than those born when eyes were
In shaded passion.



CARRIED AWAY

A headless frame became an open door;
My entrance into the rectangled persona
Was welcomed with worship
Of the unknown countenance.
No expectation from my end. –
Not even hope was there.

I was there for wisdom
Of gift from human nature.

There was leading towards a heart -
A loud drum like river over rock
Honest pounding was heard deeply
But it was not for long
Now, the river sound still flows
To become a lake of distant silence.



BEYOND TOUCH

A picture on screen beams with familiar sweetness;
I stop to connect with no wish to touch
And with no hope to hear wisdom from the silence
That was far.
You did question the distance. – Yet, I keep on.

I'm going for more
Now, the image floats with a little story
With no hope to touch – it’s too early to make dawn.
There is darkness in the present light.
Maybe its fear casting a shadow

MISS SILLIMAN: pride & joy... beauty from home

Miss Silliman 2007 SARAH JANE MARTIN with Bryne and Grace

Not a typical beauty queen, a Miss Silliman beauty is well remembered by those who were there in her moment of glory and beyond....


1946 the first queen was crowned with her eloquence in speech and writing - a pride and joy... she graduated Magna cum Laude in Education... and today February 9, 2008... I recieved a text message: "PATRIA OBSEQUIO - Gonzaga, the first Miss Silliman is with the Lord now - at the age of 84...." When she came for the 100th birthday of Silliman, she shared this recollection: 'My story begins in June of school year 1939-1940, when I arrived here, a trifle shy but anxious to start my college education. For my parents, there could be no other school but Silliman. They sent five of us to this institution.
I was registered as a resident of Oriental Hall. It being my first time away from home, I thought I was going to be homesick, but I didn't because everyone was friendly, going out of their way to make life pleasant... In 1946, the Student Government sponsored a beauty contest which was actually more of a popularity contest. Important consideration was focused on academic grades which were scrutinized at the Registrar's Office. The selection committee inquired about our extra-curricular activities. There were no interviews, no measurment of vital statistics, no parading around in swimwear. Had there been specific contest rules followed to the letter, I would not have made it to first base. Students cast their votes at the Silliman Bookstore. After the votes were counted, results revealed that I garnered the most votes so I was then declared winner.... Our roommates were jubilant over the results. They were excited hunting gowns for us to wear during the proclamation at the Assembly Hall. A kind friend, Merceded Mijares, loaned me her evening gown with a three-tiered skirt. During a simple program that evening, I remember vividly Henry Nicolas presented me as Miss Silliman 1946 after which he ginger pinned the sash on me. There was no crown or coronet, no scepter, no cape not even a bouquet of roses. Yes, only a sash but it made history!'


1952 crowned Miss Silliman was the President of the Christian Youth Fellowship and one of the founders of the Campus Choristers... a soprano who graduated Magna cum Laude in Biology... Dr. ELMIRA LAYAGUE - Johnson became an Outstanding Educator in the United States... in 2001, she was planning to come home - she e-mailed me on August 22, 2001: "I plan to go later in the year to dedicate the Layague Endowment Fund I have established for SU in memory of my parents." Her wish for home was never realized... on the same year, she had a fatal accident - she and her husband was in car that caught fire....

As a tribute to PATRIA and ELMIRA, here's a poem written by Miss Silliman of 1971 URDUJA BABAN - Santos who like them graduated Magna cum Laude with an AB English degree:

THOUGHTS IN THE SNOW

The snow is a lie.

I am now
a palm tree
in the snow.

My fronds droop
to my feet
of frozen marrow
starved of blood.

Someone said I
should try to walk
barefoot in the snow.

I know of this because
a dream in the snow
is always of a rhinoceros and rain,
of jackals weighing hearts against a feather.

Mine are of warm sand
and the sun riding waves at the beach.

A friend said I was lying
and I asked why.
"Because you are wilting."
he said as a leaf crumbled at his touch.

Perhaps it is not the snow
but me in the snow that is
a lie.

Another poem for them written by Elsa Victoria Martinez - Coscolluela, Miss Silliman of 1964 who like them also graduated Magna cum Laude. She finished a degree in Creative Writing in 1965 and an MA in 1973. A multi-awarded writer, after winning the Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for more than twenty times, she was instilled as a Hall of Famer in the Palanca Awards in 1999.

In Time Passing

in time passing, there are things you come to learn so well:
codes crafted by our fathers
and silences of our mothers as they spun
tapestries of their secret songs.

in time passing, you have broken through --
hurting past laws and language defining,
delimiting you to Other, Daughter, Sister,
Wife, and Mother: keeper of bones and beads.

and so you are all these: but always
you are more.

Adam's rib, apple-gatherer, candle-bearer:
Though you have plucked the forbidden fruit
Still, in time passing, you hold infinity
in your womb as from your blood and bone

lie the sole primordial source: revealing
there your awesome power --reaping
there a rich harvest of sons and daughters
all sprung from your marrow.

in time passing, though life has etched landmarks
and milestones upon your face, and your words
are weighed with mother-wisdom, you remain
stronger than light, gentler than rain.

early days with PHOTOGRAPHY

Our house is like part of the town plaza, among the beings frequently dotting the park specially on Sundays are photographers. They are what I have learned to call the click-and-collect cameramen. With them, a stroll in the plaza could be more-than just a memory when with and only if there's a few peso which they call "patinga" - a down payment. Manong Donio and Manong Ben would do the measured clicking to capture the moments with their aged boxes but still bankable tools. They have been my friends- my first mentors in photography.
It was Susan Sontag who said,"to collect photographs is to collect the world. Movies and television programs light up walls, flicker, and go out; but with still photographs the image is also an object, lightweight, cheap to produce, easy to carry about, accumulate, store." And as we store them in our family albums, pictures have this power to bring us home - to where our hearts could feel the blessing of nostalgia.
Today, no one could be as good as Manong Ben (Benjamin Montalban) when it comes to his manual "photoshop" touch. He could transform a humble barrio girl into a Nida Blanca. The black-and- white prints with his set of lowly colors were like Sampaguita Pictures' window preview. His studio,specially the dark room, was part of my playground. My childhood treasure collection included the empty black film containers.
When I had my first camera, the carabaos at the riverside were my first subjects. I did not even know the shots were to become my first landscapes.
Two years ago, Shalom of National Geographic and I went to cover the Holy Week celebration in Boljoon, the oldest church in Cebu island. These pictures that I took felt like home:

LUIS C: alone, myself, again away
from that other self in the city
On this piece of ancestor land
My pulses slowed, I am at peace

I have no wish but this place
To remain here in stopped time
With stars trembling on that water
And in the sky a brightness

Answering: I want nothing else
But this stillness filling me
From a pure darkness over the land
That smells ever freshly of trees

The night and I are quiet now
But for small laughter from aneighbor
The quick sweep of a winged creature
And a warm dog, snuggled by my feet.

Evangelina “Eve” Nobleza – Bokingo February 24, 1921-April 18,2007 A LEGACY OF ELEGANCE

This woman of elegance came from an era when an acquired privilege found itself curtailed by those in a position of authority particularly the conservative-churchy parents.

But having been educated in Silliman University during the time of the American missionaries, she has redefined her outlook in life: open-mindedness and sensitivity to others’ perception led her to a level of influence that was beautifully subtle.

Evangelina “Eve” Nobleza – Bokingo, professor emeritus in Home Economics, had much to share not just on good housekeeping but of building a more respectable image. Today’s dot-com ladies, who will usually conquer corporate chambers wearing fashion magazine replicas, could have taken lessons from Mrs. Bokingo, and would have developed some professionalism in their fashion sense.

Ma’am Eve’s legacy is much needed in the present altered world. Her former student Joy Arbolado-Kitane has one unforgettable lesson from the quintessential H.E. teacher: “… the universal law of 14 rules that when we dress-up for home, church, school, or any occasion for that matter, the number of visible items or colors in your person in one setting should not exceed 14. Beyond it, you are overdressed. Even the Queen of England follows this rule.”

I remember one time while Ma’am Eve and I were waiting in a lobby looking at people come and go, she whispered to me in a sad voice: “that lady with the choker really looks like she’s being choked as her neck is too short for such for an ornament.”

Fashion was not just an everyday lesson, it was a life lived and defined by modesty and humility.

On my freshman year in the dorm, we had an evening with Ma’am Eve where she taught us the basic things on social responsibility: our presence should not become a visual monster or an air pollutant within and beyond the dormitory.

She also reminded us on the importance of developing a “thinking process in English,” lessons on elegance in language and dignified professionalism.

Even Silliman First Ladies would be delighted whenever Ma’am Eve would visit the President’s Home (now called the University House). Her touch was always a bright wash of glory.

She often shared anecdotes of her precious moments with some of the pillars of Silliman: her unforgettable breakfast with Dr. David and Mrs. Laura Hibbard, the Rosel juice (made of pink petals) and the freshly-baked banana-oatmeal cookies – she learned first hand from Mrs. Dorothea B. Vernon, the Galilean fellowship of Rev. Douglas Vernon, Mrs. Ethel R. Chapman’s story of the ‘good pig’ and the ‘bad pig,’ the pressure from her Bible teacher Mr. Apolonio Molina to deliver a memory verse, Mrs. Edna Bell’s Christian Endeavor Society, Mrs. Metta J. Silliman’s rule for the students to speak only English and how she pushed Ma’am Eve to have her short story published in The Sillimanian, her confidence-building sessions with Mrs. Henrietta H. Glunz, the loyalty and friendship of her Home Economics teacher Miss Frances V.V. Rodgers, her membership to the Costume Ladies Committee in every theatrical production of Mr. William Hamme, her team work with Maestro Dr. Albert Faurot in production designs, the floral arrangements she did with Mrs. Bell and Thelma Appleton in the SU Church Aesthetics Committee, the tips on carpentry and furniture design she got from Silliman’s landscape architect Charles A. Glunz, and the wisdom on how to become a ‘real lady’ from the Dean of Students Mary Winternheimer.

All these and more were the defining moments in Ma’am Eve’s silent strength at Silliman: the rare elegance with her presence.

But the greatest elemental force was her gentleness that stemmed from her faith in GOD, the GIVER of all. Her encounter of Him had planted a seed of generosity and service.

Her home was always open for young people to experience a thanksgiving of a life abundantly blessed by GOD, not of financial harvest but of the joy in the beauty of HIS great faithfulness – this was her constant testimony.

She continued to demonstrate that rare elegance even in those six months she made the SU Medical Center her home, as she was suffering from physical pain. The aura of peace she projected was truly her gift to friends who came to visit.

Ma’am Eve’s faith in God was her ultimate-unfading ornament, and it was always in the right place: within her heart.

SISTER JOSELINE’S JOURNEY with BUTTERFLIES

Everyone is like a butterfly, they start out ugly and awkward and then morph into beautiful graceful butterflies that everyone loves. Drew Barrymore

SUMMER SUN is here! School children will soon have their break and most of them will just be at home – not to rest but to keep themselves busy with uncensored television marathon, to play with plastic toys and break Mom’s favorite vase as they wrestle for the remote control.
Or they can take one sunny morning to explore the butterfly sanctuary at St. Paul University in Dumaguete and discover Sister Joseline’s beautiful journey with butterflies: every phase and every turn is a wonder, no ‘ugly and awkward’ moment, every step is full of wisdom.
The idea of a butterfly sanctuary came from the University President Sister Maria Nilda Masirag, Spc. The suggestion came as good news for Sister Joseline Lasala who is the head of the Maintenance Staff and the Physical Plant of St. Paul. Sister Joseline loves nature and had been wanting to build an eco-sanctuary since her earlier days at St. Paul Quezon City. She is happy that the dream has been realized in Dumaguete on October 28, 2006. Oriental Negros with its high bio-diversity is a perfect source for flora and fauna for a nature sanctuary within the city, and this made the project doable.

The St. Paul Eco-Sanctuary Park has butterflies as its first inspiration. Sister Joseline sent out inquiries to friends on how to start a butterfly sanctuary, and one responded with a down-load from the internet, providing a simple step-by-step process with details of the possible species that could be collected for a start. Sister Joseline has kept the original copy of the instructional material and is willing to share this with those who want to be God’s “co-creator.”
Sister Joseline’s research on butterflies has given her a lot of insights on life and its dimensions, all anchored on a spiritual connection. She has discovered that the word “psyche” actually means “butterfly” and is defined with the concept of the soul – its departure from the physical form as it flies to heaven like a butterfly.
Her observation of the complete metamorphosis from an egg to a caterpillar, to its pupa stage and eventually to its first flight as a butterfly is a life journey for Sister Joseline that has given her a lot of insights. She has learned the following lessons: the pupa stage gives points in zero-waste management; the presence of a butterfly is an indicator of clean air for its fragile flight cannot survive in a smoky space, today’s world is too toxic for a butterfly to enjoy total freedom; a person’s touch can guide a minute-old butterfly to enjoy honey on a dinner plate and to take its first flight on a chosen garden; life is so short for a flying beauty can only live for two weeks or even less; a specie of caterpillar needs a specific host plant but it can share the same nectar plant with other species the moment it becomes a butterfly – a lesson on unity-in-diversity. These are just examples of many lessons from Sister Joseline’s journey with butterflies.
This summer a regular morning visit to the sanctuary will lead children to discover the butterflies of the season: the white-winged with striking black in the middle is the Catopsilia florella but the female can have yellow wings; Catopsilia pomona are the yellows with black upper edges; Catopsilia scylla is white with black edge and yellow on the hind wings; the caterpillar on a camote top will soon become the regal Hypolimnas bolina which would have purple to deep blue shades in its wings; lovely as the sunshine with its brown-orange wings and dotted in white on the fore is the Cethosia biblis. There will be more as the heat of summer leads other species to lay eggs on their respective host plants. Sister Joseline’s assistant Joefel Amor who enumerated the scientific names is proud to say that, “one visit may be rewarded with seven species.”
After her wonderful journey, Sister Joseline who is originally from Siargao Island, has become an angel for the environment. Hopefully, her call for everyone to be God’s co-creator will take wing and bring this University Town to an awareness that like butterflies, we can be without the sting that harms the beauty of our world.

Mama's LOVE & LIFE

News soon spread about my Mama Mening’s passing. Friends and relatives came. People noticed the growing number of floral offerings. Flowers where overflowing for this woman who really loved flowers. Maximina Minerva Rañua Badajos - Atega was known for her garden of orchids, roses and other unique collections – and for her endless charitable work. The chapel where she was honored was overflowing with floral arrangements, and when she was transferred to the big church, more flowers were offered, the others had to be placed in lines outside the sanctuary. Near her white coffin with silver trimming where two regal clusters of her favorite blooms, the Waling-waling. More orchid arrangements surrounded the casket: vandas in shades of gold and purple and dendrobiums in white and violets. She had them all and they all seemed like they were joyfully blooming to honor a dear friend.

It made me wonder how a daughter of a fisherman could gather all these touching ways of respect?

My mother, born on June 4, 1921 in Kauswagan, Cabadbaran, Agusan del Norte was an ordinary woman who made choices that gave her an ‘extra-ordinary’ life. Being the daughter of a farmer-fisherman from Camiguin Island, she knew the value of hard work and learned to be independent, for her mother died when she was still 4 years old. She chose to study in the town proper where education was of better quality even if she had to take long walks everyday to and from her barrio. To have money for lunch she would sell boiled camotes to her well-off classmates who would sometimes exchange their sandwiches with jolly Mening’s camote variations. On weekends, she would work in her father’s coffee farm, where she formed her great love (actually, more like an addiction) for any form of coffee drink, and in the evenings she would go fishing with her Tatay.

After graduating from grade school, she left her town to study in the big city. She spent her first two years of high school in Davao City, but World War II sent her back home. The lovely young Mening caught the attention of the Japanese commander who was assigned in Agusan. She made use of the special attention by asking the Japanese officer to build a classroom for children near her father’s coffee farm. Sunday school for children kept my mother busy during the war. With their closeness, the officer also made sure that my mother’s family would be protected, and the assignment was a pleasure to the Japanese soldiers for my mother had rewarded them with a share from the coffee harvest. Mama Mening’s special connection made her secret mission easy to undertake: help the Filipino guerillas with supply of food and medicine. She was able to save many lives, among them a woman who was almost raped by the Japanese soldiers; there were around 40 young Filipino men facing execution and her commanding voice had stopped the death sentence; families who, assured of protection, crossed the Agusan river…. She was a war heroine.

The mayor of Cabadbaran during the Japanese occupation was Virgilio, the handsome son of the town’s wealthiest land owner, Don Andres Atega. A bachelor, Virgil was very popular among the ladies, and he would visit them from barrio to barrio. He heard of three lovely sisters in a coffee farm and he decided to visit them. His eyes were not on the beautiful face of the very confident Cecilia, nor on the very shy Crisanta, but they were on the lovely pair of legs, the loveliest he had seen, belonging to the youngest of the three, Maximina. He also loved the simplicity of this woman whom others fondly called Mening. To give his visit a sense of purpose, he requested the three ladies to organize a benefit dance that would be held in the town plaza. On the evening of the event, Mening was asked to sing a song in tribute of the young mayor. Mening with her “Mutya sa Buhat” number instantly became the young mayor’s sweetheart.

The love that bloomed was strengthened by their secret mission during the war: they used their influence to help the Filipino guerillas.

After the war, Virgil decided to take up Law at Silliman University. The Japanese commander offered Mening a trip to Japan and asked her to become his wife, but she turned these down. Mening went to Agusan National High School in Butuan City to finish her secondary education. Her classmates would always remember Mening’s talent in theater, a Best Actress awardee in school plays. To support her schooling, she applied as assistant cook in a restaurant. For her college education, Mening went to Manila and took up a Teacher Education course at Philippine Christian College. To attain her college goal, she served as a cook at the UP Medical School canteen and on weekends she would accept laundry from the American missionaries.

Virgil had somehow forgotten Mening and found a new love at Silliman. Mening tried to keep in touch through letters but Virgil never responded. A female cousin of Virgil was the one updating Mening and explained that Virgil was too busy with campus activities: debating team member, student government president, work student at the Treasurer’s office, etc.

In 1949, Mening was graduating from college when she got a surprise visit from Virgil who had just finished his Law studies at Silliman and was in Manila to prepare for the Bar exams.

Virgil found her sleeping in her small room and she was surrounded by the laundry she just finished ironing. Truly a “Mutya sa Buhat”! Virgil was so touched by the lovely portrait of a hard working woman unfolding before him. He awakened her by touching her hand and instantly asked her to marry him. Mening was shocked but managed to gather her senses and say yes in a very shy manner. It was easy to say yes to her one and only love. However, Virgil was asked to find a husband for her best friend Aurora as they had a vow to be married at the same time – Mening and Aurora dreamt of a double wedding. Virgil sent a telegram to his friend Mariano Causing, a military officer based in Cagayan de Oro, about the beautiful Aurora. The handsome Mariano right away flew-in and joined Virgil in Malate’s Café Adriatico. It was a love-at-first-sight for Mariano and Aurora which ended in the realization of a dream wedding. With the pastor at the chapel of the Union Theological Seminary in Manila, there were only five of them inside the sanctuary. Mariano and Aurora witnessed and stood as sponsors as Virgil and Mening exchanged vows, and likewise, Virgil and Mening stood as sponsors for Mariano and Aurora. It was a simple ceremony for the two college seniors who were just wearing Sunday dresses with their grooms, Virgil in coat and tie and Mariano in military officer’s uniform. The reception cost them only twenty pesos for each pair – the four of them had a special dinner in Manila Hotel.



After graduation, the young Mrs. Maximina B. Atega went home with her husband Virgil to live in Cabadbaran, the town that they had always loved and together, as a teacher and as a lawyer, they served the people with faith and beyond….

A STRONG HEART

The text message I was hoping I would never receive finally came and I had to go home. My 86-year-old mother, Maximina Minerva Rañua B. Atega was hospitalized for she had aneurysm and was declared brain dead. My family had to make an important decision. Before the journey home, my heart led me to Silliman Church, and I witnessed the last part of the Bible Reading Marathon. I actually had a hard time concentrating as some friends tried to start a conversation with me. I decided to transfer to a pew where I could be alone. Filled with much anxiety over my Mama’s situation, I asked God to guide my family with His wisdom. At this time, it was a good friend; Ate Mayette Utzurrum who was reading the 14th Chapter of the Book of Revelation and I heard the 13th verse with this line, “…blessed are the dead who die in the service of the Lord….” I forwarded the verse to all my brothers and sisters – all ten of them. Just like me, my sister Joan found the verse to be a manifestation of God’s wisdom, and she was driven to tears as it was a perfect line that made us accept the truth and the honor on Mama Mening’s inevitable last moment.

It was in the morning of January 15 when Mama complained of a severe headache. My sister, Jemimah tried to help by giving her a gentle massage on her forehead but she was really screaming with pain and so, she had to call my sister Joan to get an ambulance. At the hospital, the doctor explained that the brain scan showed my mother’s very difficult state, the brain hemorrhage resulted in blood clotting up to her nasal cavity. He was honest about the possibility of Mama leaving us on that day. Jemimah right away communicated with all of us. My brother Andre also sent a text message, which was more definite with the doctor’s estimated time of “departure”: around nine o’clock in the evening. Guided by the verse, I agreed to the suggestion to let Mama rest by putting a stop to the breathing machine that was keeping her alive. My brother Gabriel told them to wait for him before a decision would be made. When he got to the hospital at around 1pm, I reminded him to consider my request for 3PM as ‘holy time’ for Mama’s final rest. God’s will prevailed when the attending doctor explained that there was no need to do anything for he was sure that Mama would definitely go with the weakening vital signs. With the text message of Andre being forwarded from one recipient to another, many were already at the hospital to support the family and to express their love for Mama. The evening came, and many more came to be with Mama who was still in ICU. As the forecasted time was coming closer, almost every member of the family was already there except for my sister Ruth who was having a hard time booking a flight from Los Angeles to Manila, my brother Samuel who reasoned that he ‘had important things to finish in the farm” and myself who was still at Silliman Church praying. I was set to take the trip home and was anxiously waiting for the sad news. I had accepted the possibility of not seeing Mama for one last time. Pastor Haniel Taganas gathered those who were at the Silliman Church Bible reading to join Pastor Jonathan Pia who was leading a circle who prayed for “…God’s abiding presence and strength…” for me and family. As they surrounded me, I was touched by the precious act of love in that moment that I felt so very far from home – first flow of tears finally came. I told Ate Mayette that I was blessed by the reading of the scriptures and pointed-out to her the wisdom in Revelation 14:13.

Nine o’clock came, and each member of the family present was given a time to be with Mama. One by one, they all went. But after the farewells, Mama was still alive and it was already beyond ten in the evening. Midnight had come and Mama was still alive! The doctor was saying that it was impossible and told my family that maybe she was “still waiting for someone to come.” They had one thing in mind, get Samuel and force him to be with Mama. At dawn, Andre drove to Samuel’s farm and successfully convinced him that it was time he should talk to Mama.

Morning of January 16 came and Samuel was finally with Mama in ICU. Samuel is a brother who had unresolved issues with Mama: he was a consistent 1st honor pupil from grade one until grade four when he was accused of stealing in a scout camp and Mama had scolded him in front of his friends, this later turned out to be a false accusation – from then on, he changed direction and explored the world of a ‘kanto’ boy. When his very emotional time with Mama ended, the doctor went to check the signs again; Mama’s heartbeat had gone down to 41 and blood pressure went zero. Everyone agreed, it was finally Mama’s time; and they thanked Samuel for taking the courage to see Mama. But Mama kept on and on. The afternoon came and another evening, Mama was still alive. The doctor made another examination and he told my brother Gabriel that our mother “has a very strong heart and it’s keeping her alive.” Then the doctor said, “Maybe, she’s still waiting for another one to come.” They told the doctor with certainty, “She is waiting for Moses who is on his way, our youngest is her favorite son – the one who never fails to make her smile.”

Jemimah had been updating me with every development through text messaging and every message led me to pray for God’s gift of peace for Mama. My mother kept on with the heartbeat count going from 42 to 41. I was already on a bus and was nearing home. When I got the message that she could be waiting for me, I cried like a child and begged God to just let her rest. But her strong heart was holding on. People were looking at me, probably thinking of a different love angle as reason for my tears.

At midnight, my brothers and sisters decided to rest at a nearby hotel. I arrived at the hospital at 1:30 AM and was ushered to the ICU by my nephews Macky and Krisver who volunteered to be with their Lola. I was the only one allowed to go inside Mama’s room. I was very calm as I entered and was in prayer. When I held her hand, her heartbeat went up to 43 and then to 44, then 45. I continued praying for peace. Heartbeat was back at 43. I started singing, “kumbaya my Lord, kumbaya… someone’s dying Lord, kumbaya….” I sang more of her songs and then, I read my sister Ruth’s text message to her, “…Mama, you don’t have to wait for me. Be assured that the legacy of a strong-willed woman will be always in my heart….” I planted a kiss on my mother’s forehead, put her hand on my face, combed her hair with my fingers… I kissed her again. Then, I prayed for God’s will to prevail. At 4:30 AM, the time she would usually start her mornings, Mama’s strong heart finally rested. I cried as I realized that indeed, she was waiting for me. My eyes were filled with tears for I felt the special touch of a very loving mother even at her final moment.
touch of a very loving mother even at her final moment.