Students receive
‘bags of hope'

Students of the Bata Elementary School 1 in Brgy. Bata, Bacolod City, received about 1,000 “bags of hope” from Convergys firm recently, its press release said.

The school is a partner of the Convergys Bacolod 1 and 2 sites, whose previous CSR projects benefited the Bata National High School division, through the clean up and painting of its high school facilities.

The “Give A Bag of Hope” campaign, launched by Convergys Philippines in all of its sites in May, is a nationwide employee-driven program, that seeks to address the lack of school supplies, the press release said.

A bag contains notebooks, paper, pencils and crayons, among others, donated by the employees, who can also contribute in other ways. Aside from a monetary pledge and actual donation of school supplies, each successful referral also results to a “bag of hope” donated in the employee's name.

Convergys is empowering 60,000 employees in 34 sites across the Philippines to make a difference by giving “bags of hope” to children in partner schools, Ivic Mueco, Convergys Philippines country manager, said, adding “every new employee hired until July will also make a difference, as we will donate a bag of hope in their name.”

back to top

LCC honors
historian alumnus

Negros historian, Modesto Sa-onoy, received the Sor Evangelista De San Agustin Award from La Consolacion College Bacolod recently, for his loyalty and support to the school as an alumnus and former faculty, its press release said.

He completed high school in 1956, and holds a Bachelor in Liberal Arts degree, and an Education and Master Arts of Education in LCCB, where he also spent 17 years as a professor in the baccalaureate and graduate levels. He authored the historical account, “LCC Through the Years: History of La Consolacion College Bacolod”, a book published in 1993 for the school's Diamond Jubilee celebration, the press release also said.

Sa-onoy has written 14 books on the history of Negros and the leading families of the province, including the “Histo ry of Occidental Negros”, “Church on the Hill”, which is the history of the Catholic Church in Negros from 1571 to 1909, and two volumes of the most comprehensive documented history of World War II in Negros, entitled, “Against the Rising Sun”.

Sa-onoy is one of the founders of the Visayan DAILY STAR, and co-founder of the MassKara Festival which he had chaired for over 20 years since its foundation. He is a recipient of several awards, among those the “Ang Banwahanon” award of Bacolod City, and recognized as Most Outstanding Alumni by the LCC College Alumni Association in 2005.

Then Pope Benedict XVI conferred on him the rarely granted highest rank knighthood as commander of the Pontifical Equestrian Order of Pope St. Sylvester with a Great Silver Medal in 2008, the press release said.

back to top

Levitical Race at 21

Twenty-one years after leaving the St. Joseph Regional Seminary in Iloilo City and receiving their sacerdotal ordination at respective dioceses, 13-member priests of the Levitical Race, as they called their class, decided to get together and reconnect with each other.

From the Diocese of Jaro, Frs. Alex Serania, Narciso Landar, Moises Tacardon, Joey Marterior, and Nonato Beltran, along with Frs. Joseph Cusay, Jaime Villanueva, John Azarcon, and Joedol Dorado from the Diocese of Capiz joined their classmates, Frs. Mao Buenafe, Mitch Guadalupe, Elmer Poniado, and Ernesto Salvador from the Diocese of Bacolod for a three-day get-together.

They were joined by their former classmates, former seminarians Juvy Madayag, Jesus Nemenzo, and Bernardo Eres, who serve the church as lay members.

The group spent a day in Sipalay, where they stayed at the beach house owned by the Magadia-Yanson family, and took time to update each other on how their vocation as priests unfolded as the years went by.

While taking in the scenery of the pristine beaches of Sipalay and enjoying a dip in the clear waters of the sea, the former classmates shared their experiences in their parishes and traded insightful jokes that they picked up along their personal journeys.

From Sipalay, the group went to the Campuestohan Highland Resort in Talisay City, where they stayed overnight and were generously given free passes to the different rides by owner Ricardo “Cano” Tan. The group loved the serenity that the place offers, especially at nighttime, and the cool breeze of the early morning that invigorates the soul.

Coming down from the highland, the group was invited to have lunch with the Millan family at Capitol Heights in Bacolod City, where they had their final group-sharing and prayed for each other.

The Bacolod priests, who acted as hosts of the get-together, are looking forward to their next “reunion” in Iloilo next year, as all of them committed to make the event an annual activity.

All of them still remember what was written in “Dilihonan”, the 1994 yearbook of the St. Joseph Region Seminary. Under the picture of their class, was the phrase: “He is still perfecting us like a clay in the potter's hand. (cf. Jer. 18:6).*NAB

back to top