Lualhati's Notable Alumni

[meteorcatcher]

Ricardo F. Lo (Ricky Lo)



Ricardo F. Lo, more popularly known as Ricky Lo, is an entertainment writer, showbiz commentator from the Philippines. He is of Chinese descent.[1]

He was born on April 17. He is a native of Las Navas, Northern Samar, where he finished grade school. He finished high school at the bilingual Tabaco Pei Ching School in Tabaco, Albay, and took up AB English at the University of the East.

From 1969 to 1972, Ricky worked as editorial assistant of Variety magazine, the Sunday supplement of the old Manila Times where he started his Funfare column. After this, he joined the Daily Express first as staff writer of its Express Week magazine and then as deskman of The Evening Express and eventually its main broadsheet. He later went on to work as editorial assistant for its Sunday magazine, Weekend, until 1986.

Lo did stint as entertainment editor- first at The Manila Times and then at The Manila Chronicle and currently at The Philippine Star where he also writes his revived FunFare column and his regular Sunday feature, Conversations with Ricky Lo.

Ricky is the author of Star-Studded, the first compilation of his articles on movie stars, which he released in 1995. Another book, Conversations with Ricky Lo was released in 2001.

[ic3mint]

Ricky Lo - AB 1967

[meteorcatcher]

James Carlos Yap Sr.



James Carlos Yap Sr. (born February 15, 1982 in Escalante City, Negros Occidental) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the B-Meg Llamados in the Philippine Basketball Association. Yap enjoyed a successful high school basketball career at Bacolod Tay Tung High School and then at Iloilo Central Commercial High School, where he sparked his team to three consecutive Iloilo PRISAA titles. He then went on to play at the collegiate level for the UE Red Warriors and helped the team to the Final Four in 2002 after years of absence. However, the Red Warriors lost to the Blue Eagles, the eventual champions. In the following season of UAAP, Yap led the Red Warriors to the Final Four for the second straight time. Eventually in the semifinals series, the Warriors lost to the Far Eastern University Tamaraws. Nevertheless, Yap was named as the Most Valuable Player in 2003.

Yap also played for the Philippine Basketball League from 2001 to 2004. He decided to declare his eligibility for the PBA Draft, and was selected with the 2nd overall pick in the 2004 PBA Draft by the Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants. One of the focal points of the Purefoods offense, he is the 2005-2006 and 2009-2010 season's Most Valuable Player and he is also 2009-2010 Philippine Cup Conference MVP. Yap is also an eight-time PBA South All-Star team starter through 2004 to 2011 and a many-time member of the RP Basketball Team.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Yap

[RougePercer]

Offtopic: Si Andrew Tan ang isa sa commencement speakers ng graduation kanina sa CCP.

I was like "What the f**k!" sayang talaga!

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Bibigyan yata sya ng Doctor of Humanities Honoris Causa

[RougePercer]

Bibigyan yata sya ng Doctor of Humanities Honoris Causa

Yep, dami niyang tarpaulin kanina sa UE

[ic3mint]

Sayang gusto ko pa naman sya makita ng personal

[RougePercer]

Ako rin, minsan lang yun! Sino kaya next year? Tapos na ba si kabayan?

Feeling ko si PNP Chief Bartolome.

[ic3mint]

Tapos na si Kabayan. Sana yung alumus na si Jornacion, may-ari sya ng isang sikat na newspaper sa america.

[ic3mint]

George Canseco
By Nini Valera
Inquirer News Service
Editor's Note: Published on page A1 of the November 20, 2004 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer



GEORGE Canseco is dead.

The songwriter, who wrote some of Pinoy pop music's most enduring classics, died of liver cancer at 10 a.m. yesterday at the Kidney Institute. He was 70. His enduring ballads -- all sad, sentimental songs about having loved and lost -- will forever be part of Filipino pop culture. Like his song says, "Ngayon at Kailanman."

Canseco's wake will be held at the Phil-Am Life chapel in Quezon City starting today. Interment will be announced later. The songwriter was diagnosed with liver cancer only last week. He is survived by three children-Carl, Rachel and Nancy, according to Dr. Ric Berbano, one of Canseco's sons-in-law. Canseco's wife Flora died of breast cancer in 1996. An older brother, Rafael, died of cancer of the pancreas on Nov. 10, according to another brother, Andring.

Canseco was also a councilor of the 4th district of Quezon City. He once said that he entered politics "just for fun," but ended up serving for nine years. The last time Inquirer Entertainment saw Canseco was on Nov. 12. He exchanged jokes with longtime best friend, record and movie producer Vic del Rosario, and insisted on having a picture taken with him. The picture was shot by songwriter Heber Bartolome, who also came to visit. Minutes after chatting with his friends, Canseco was brought to the hospital's intensive care unit. Shortly after Canseco entered the hospital for the last time, he called up Del Rosario, asking him to look into the George Canseco tribute that was being prepared by the Aliw Foundation. The songwriter had earlier asked Del Rosario to fast-track the event.

Canseco was also in the running for National Artist for music."I hope he gets it in this lifetime," Del Rosario said last week. Four decades of OPM Canseco's music career spanned almost four decades of pop music, interpreted by the country's top recording artists. He started writing songs when he was 20.

The first time he sold a song to a record label was in 1966. The song, "Kapantay ay Langit," was recorded by Amapola, and then by Pilita Corrales, who turned it into a classic. In 1978, Canseco wrote "Ngayon at Kailanman." The song, an undying paean to love, launched the solo career of Basil Valdez, one of the lead singers of Circus Band. Basil was one of his favorite singers. "Basil feels," Canseco told Inquirer Entertainment during an interview for a "Yesterday" feature last month. "He sings with his heart and soul." Basil also interpreted another classic "Ikaw," which Canseco wrote for his wife Flora.

Canseco's last recorded song was "Nasaan Ka Man," which he wrote for Martin Nievera's 2002 album. 300 songs "May ibubuga pa ako (I still have something to show)," he said in the "Yesterday" feature of Inquirer Entertainment. "That's why I am still alive. There are still songs I have to write-that's why I am still here." But in the same interview, he also said: "I can go anytime. I would have no regrets if I go now."

By his own estimate, Canseco had written about 300 songs. These were sung by Basil, Kuh Ledesma, Sharon Cuneta, Regine Velasquez, Pilita, Dulce, ZsaZsa Padilla, Leah Navarro, among other top singers. His collaboration with record producer Vic del Rosario, whom Canseco credited to have discovered him, had produced some of the best-selling record albums of Original Pilipino Music in the '70s and '80s, released under Vicor Music Corp. and Black Gold Records. Del Rosario now runs Viva Records.

In 1981, former first lady Imelda Marcos commissioned Canseco to write "Ako Ay Pilipino" in time for the inauguration of then President Ferdinand Marcos, who won another term in a snap presidential election he had called that year.

P1.5M for a song

Canseco said that Marcos paid him P1.5 million to write the song, which was interpreted by Kuh Ledesma. The song also became the theme for a bank's television commercial. The songwriter also brought honor to the country by winning in foreign music festivals. The song "Ako ang Nagwagi," interpreted by Dulce, lost in the Metro Pop Music Festival in 1978. But it brought home top honors for Canseco and the country from the Hong Kong Music Festival the same year. The following year, he bagged the grand prize in the Metro Pop Music Festival with the song "Ngayon," interpreted by Basil Valdez. He also wrote music for the movies and won countless awards for his scores. However, Canseco was not proud of his movie scores, because "not one of them stands out."

He composed his last film score in 1989 for "Paano Ang Ngayon Kung Wala Nang Bukas," which starred Kring Kring Gonzales and Ronaldo Valdes. He also wrote the movie's theme song, "Sana'y Wala Nang Wakas," sung by Basil. Canseco wrote jingles for radio and television commercials. Like his songs, these jingles were also timeless. A jingle for a cigarette commercial which he wrote in the '70s is still being used today.

Musical roots

He was the youngest of three children of Jose Canseco, a doctor of medicine from Cavite, and Ceferina Masangkay, a mathematician from Antipolo. Canseco did not have any formal musical training, although he studied piano as a young boy and learned how to write notes.He did not use any musical instrument to write his music. Instead, he played the song in his head and later wrote it on paper.

He also wrote lyrics for the songs of other composers like Willy Cruz, D'Amarillo, Amado Trivinio, Homer Flores, Ryan Cayabyab, among others. "I have this talent for imagining a situation and then writing a song," he said. Canseco revealed that he was crying when he wrote "Paano," which was sung by Pilita and Dulce. "He's actually a cry baby," screenwriter Bibeth Orteza described Canseco. "He's the most sentimental person I have ever known."

A graduate of journalism from the University of the East, Canseco worked as a journalist from 1964 to 1972. He was also an editor for the Associated Press and the Philippines Herald. But writing songs was his true passion. Through his songs, Canseco lives on.

[ic3mint]

Howard Dee, man for peace
By Ma. Ceres P. Doyo

(Former Ambassador to the Holy See and Malta, One of the Four Founding Fathers of Unilab, Former CEO and President of Unilab, Creator of the Unilab Creed, Former GRP Chairman of the Negotiating Panel )


Jose Maria Sison and Amb. Howard Dee

"TODAY the flames of Edsa are flickering, peaceful reform is dying on the vine and our democracy is threatened again."

Thus spoke a humble and spiritual man of action whose quest for peace and progress for the poor has been unceasing.

Howard Q. Dee, peacemaker, social development worker, friend of the poor and indigenous communities, former ambassador to the Vatican, and businessman, was honored last Monday in simple rites as the sole recipient of the 2006 Aurora Aragon Quezon Peace Award.

Persons from both sides of the political, ideological and social divides came to fete this simple man whose name has become synonymous with peace and development especially in strife-torn and poverty-stricken communities in the country.

"My heart is filled with gratitude yet I feel no sense of triumph," Dee told the small crowd. "I feel no pride of achievement in the face of so much injustice and widespread poverty that condemns so many of our people to a life of subhuman existence."

But just as quickly, Dee lifted spirits by quoting a French philosopher: "The important thing is not to be a success. The important thing is to be in history, bearing witness. This is not the time to lose heart. Rather, it is in the darkness that our lamps should be lit and our hearts set ablaze."

Bearing witness has in fact been a way of life for the 75-year-old Dee, be it in the realm of his Christian faith or for his country, family and a myriad of concerns. He talks softly but walks briskly toward a goal, especially if it involves those who suffer in the margins of society. And just as zealously, he has worked hard to address, in ways he knows how, the roots and causes of poverty and "unpeace."

Dee was born in Tondo in 1930. He attended San Beda College and the University of the East where he finished management accounting. He later took graduate studies in economics and public finance. Dee is married to Betty Marie Dee with whom he has four children and a caboodle of grandchildren.

Drawing inspiration from the Italian saint Francis of Assisi who embraced poverty and simplicity, Dee founded the Assisi Development Foundation in 1975, as his way of responding to the crying need of many. Social development, he believes, is a channel through which the poor can be empowered and raised from penury.

Dee has been active in development groups, such as Tabang Mindanao, Pagtabangan Basulta (Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi) and the Philippine Business for Social Progress, as well as in church-related ones, like Bahay Maria and the Family Rosary Crusade. In 2004, he helped establish ASA Philippines, in partnership with the Benigno S. Aquino Foundation, to provide micro-finance services for the poor. He was the driving force behind last year's launching of the Hapag-asa Feeding Program of Pondo ng Pinoy in the archdiocese of Manila.

Dee even found time to be in government service. He served for 16 years under four presidents. He was ambassador to the Vatican and Malta from 1986 to 1990, then became lead convenor of the 1990 National Peace Commission. He was chair of the Panel for Peace talks between the government and the insurgent communists from 1993 to 1996. In 2002, he became Presidential Adviser on Indigenous Peoples' Affairs.

Dee also found time to write books-"God's Greatest Gift," "Mankind's Final Destiny," and "Living the Beatitudes with St. Joseph"-all about living the Christian faith.

Having been involved in projects in Muslim Mindanao, Dee has developed a deep understanding of the Muslim-Christian conflict and continues to work in bridging the divide.

At the awarding rites, individuals who knew Dee up-close gave their testimonials. Inquirer president Alexandra Prieto-Romualdez called Dee "a living saint ... a gifted person ... not afraid of problems ... not afraid to dream" and always seeking opportunities to do more. Undersecretary Rene V. Sarmiento of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) described him as "a man fully alive for peace and for God."

Commissioner Reuben Dasay A. Lingating of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples-North and Western Mindanao lauded Dee, specially citing his efforts to seek freedom for members of indigenous groups who were in jail because of cultural misunderstanding and lack of representation in the mainstream judicial system.

Bishop Antonio Ledesma of Ipil called Dee "a man for Mindanao," while Archbishop Oscar Quevedo of Cotabato called him "an authentic peacemaker." Former Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Q. Deles, described Dee as "among the most transparent beings I have ever met."

Added Deles: "I guess it comes from the clarity of knowing where to stand in the many shades of gray between black and white. And we know it comes from living a truly spiritual life from day to day, where the light and wisdom of our Lord shines through." Dee, she said, is " a moral compass and often the lone voice in the wilderness that clears the noise within and paves the way to truth, reason and compassion."

After all the accolades, Dee could only say, "What can I say? I am ready to die." Turning serious, Dee paid tribute to his "four mentors:"

"Cardinal Jaime Sin in the joy of our faith; Fr. Francisco Araneta, S.J. in the cause of social justice and human development; Presidential Peace Adviser Haydee Yorac in the nobility of public service; and Justice Cecilia Muñoz-Palma in the ways of peace and nationhood." Dee called them "giants in our history."

Stressed Dee: "I have achieved nothing but by God's grace. Serving was a privilege, service is its own reward."

In this age of instant stars and dazzling upstarts, Dee quietly stands out as a man apart, a man for others, a flame braving the tempest.

http://www.aurora.ph/news/2006/feb-23b.html

[redman88]

Yung Vice Gov ng Bulacan UE grad yata?

[ic3mint]

Yup si Daniel Fernando.

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The UE Community lovingly remembers Dr. P.O. Domingo (June 1, 1925-June 26, 2008) on the occassion of his Fourth Death Anniversary. Let us pray for the eternal repose of his soul.



(Former Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer of the University of the East and of the UE Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Medical Center, Inc. Former Chairman, Philippine National Bank)


Dr. P. O. Domingo:
The ‘Center’ of His World

By Mr. Raul S. Gonzalez

The Medical Center awarded Chairman Domingo this Award of Distinction during its Golden Jubilee Gala Night, held on June 15, 2007, at the Grand Ballroom of Crowne Plaza Hotel

Mention the name P. O. Domingo and immediately two institutions spring to mind: the Philippine National Bank and the University of the East.

Perfectly understandable. PNB was where POD spent the first 25 years of his professional life, built a reputation as a “gung-ho” manager, and gained national prominence as a financial whiz. From its many-tiered ranks, he clawed his way up to its presidency where, for ten of the most tumultuous years in contemporary Philippine history, he alternately coaxed and cajoled, pushed and prodded PNB into becoming the premier financial institution of the land. To this day, when his name is mentioned there, PNB genuflects.

UE, on the other hand, is where POD seems fated to close out his many-splendored career. This June, he turned 82 years old: the last 18 of these years have been spent serving UE as Chairman of its Board of Trustees and Chief Executive Officer, and on three occasions, concurrently as Acting President. It was from UE he obtained the key, a BBA in Banking and Finance, that freed him from the prisons of his poverty as a farmer´s son in Tarlac and unlocked opportunities that earned him prestige of office and power of command. And it was to POD in turn that UE looked for the brilliance of mind and resolve of spirit it needed to fend off capture by a foreign religious cult or collapse from massive financial hemorrhaging. POD´s destiny and UE´s history seem intertwined.

Premises considered, it would be safe to assume-as for a long time I had-that it was either at PNB or UE where POD´s most memorable career experiences took place, i.e., the most embarrassing, the funniest, the saddest and fiercest battles he fought, the most agonizing defeats he suffered, the sweetest victories he won.

“You are right,” he admitted when, in the course of writing an article about him, I put that question to him. “You are right. Most of my memories pertain to PNB and UE-PNB because the amounts of stake were astronomical, the principals prominent, the stage national, sometimes even global; UE because the issue was the life or death of an institution, the challenge was to my forte, the responsibility was mine and mine alone.

“But, no! It was neither at PNB nor at UE where I had to fight my toughest battles, where I faced my fiercest adversaries, and consequently where I felt the greatest gratification over the outcome which is not a defeat for any one but a triumph for all.”

So where and when did it take place? This toughest battle which he enigmatically said resulted in nobody´s defeat but in everyone´s triumph?

He smiled that impish smile of his. “I didn´t say battle; I said battles, skirmishes, firefights...That´s how long, how difficult that campaign was. And yes, they were fought in this Center, a facility dedicated to healing, an institution named after a man of peace. Ironic, isn´t it?”

It didn´t take much prompting to get him to tell the story; and he narrated it con brio, expertly laying down the setting, defining the conflict and dramatizing the resolution.

It was in June 1990 when POD assumed command of the Center as Board Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, the same position he held at UE. And just like UE, he found the Center “physically deteriorated, weighed down with unmet financial obligations, manned by a dispirited workforce and a faculty with serious morale problems.”

With his characteristic alacrity and gung-ho spirit, POD rolled up his sleeves and set about doing what he does best-shaking things up to get them moving, which he felt was the best way to snap ailing entities out of their lethargy.

But one thing puzzled him: while his ministrations seemed to be working at UE, they were getting nowhere in the Center-and all along he thought UE would be the more difficult challenge as it was in a deeper financial hole.

“It then occurred to me that the problem at the Center went beyond pesos and centavos, beyond rights and obligations,” POD said. “It had to be something elemental. How else explain the coldness, if not the hostility, of the Center´s constituents toward me?

“It was almost like they hated me,” he recalled his early days at the Center. “Most everyone avoided me; my projects got no backing; my directives fell on deaf ears; I was made the target of black propaganda.”

POD was to learn later on that at the heart of the Center´s animosity toward him was distrust-deep, gnawing, festering distrust. It seemed that from the very start, he was made out to be an agent of a business group with “evil” designs on the Center; to wrest control of the Center by whatever means and then turn it into a shopping mall.

The more POD talked about improving the Center, the more the Center thought him a liar; the more improvements he wrought at the Center, the more convinced the Center was that he was a hypocrite. Where at UE he was seen as an angel guiding the University out of hell, he was perceived at the Center as leading it to the road to perdition.

Small wonder every initiative of his met with resistance; small wonder the Center lurched from crisis to crisis; small wonder that in 1994, after four years of intramural infighting, of backbiting, of internecine warfare, an exasperated POD came out with a Management Report aptly titled: Quo Vadis?

Pulling no punches, mincing no words, POD restated in that Report the objectives of the Center and his plans for meeting those objectives; he then narrated how implementation of these plans had been snagged by “certain people in our midst” for one reason or another; and then warned that the Center could not long persevere in a “virtual state of siege.” He then called on all who love the Center “to get together and act to save it.”

Quo Vadis? laid bare not only the Center´s fiscal condition but also the state of POD´s heart. “Naked to the samurai” was what Japanese nobility of old did to win the trust of an adversary; and in effect this was what the Management Report did for POD.

To be sure, it took many more months and many more measures before POD finally won that without which no relationship could flourish: trust. But POD believed it was Quo Vadis? that sparked the process of healing, of reconciliation, of collaboration.

“Management, as you know, is the handling of three Ms-money, machines and men; and the most difficult of these is men. Now Man is a complex of emotions, sentiments, interests, but none of these is more vital than trust,” thus POD.

“Winning the trust of the people you work with, when there is cause for them to withhold it, is the greatest battle of all.” Those who know POD fairly well think his world revolves around PNB and UE; those who know him very well KNOW that this is so, except that in the center of POD´s world is the UE Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Medical Center.

http://www.uerm.edu.ph/publication/m...archive=200802

[ic3mint]

Pruds Garcia, BS Accountancy
President Mekeni Food Corporation





Prudencio Garcia is recognized in the world of business as the president of Mekeni Food Corporation, one of the most trusted names in the meat-processing industry in the Philippines. But to his kababayans in Porac, Pampanga, he is a leader in helping their community.

To Pruds and the Garcia family, Mekeni is not just a business. It is a noble cause they started after Mt. Pinatubo erupted in 1991. Putting up a negosyo was their way of helping their neighbors in Balubad who were greatly affected by the calamity. In 1993, all five brothers, who were already working abroad, responded to their father’s plea to come back home and help those who are really in need. They put up a small plant right in their own backyard. Others called them fools at that time, but still they were able provide employment to more than 40 neighbors.

“We were moved by our father’s challenge to come out of our comfort zones if we were serious about helping the people. Our parents always told us that you don’t only live by yourself. You have to take care of other people,” said Pruds.

Pruds knew there was something special about Mekeni because it thrived even amid the lahar threat. But just when things were starting to run smoothly, their company was hit by greater challenges like foot-and-mouth disease in 1996. At that time, Pruds and his brothers almost gave up, but they always went back to the reason why they started their business — and that is to help their community.

Pruds wants to share what his father made them realize during difficult times. “When you go into business, you should have a good reason to do business. Kapag pera lang ang pinagusapan, later on, babagsak. It’s not only for you and your family. It’s for your bigger family, the community.”

He adds, “An entrepreneur must also have discipline. One must focus on opportunities and continue going higher. Don’t stop at your comfort zone.”

Today, Mekeni has 1,200 employees and it has been awarded the Best Meat Processing Plant in the “AAA” Category for three consecutive years in the Philippines. “God made the plan for us and God made it happen,” he exclaimed.

As a way of giving back, Pruds devotes time to inspiring others and in helping build communities. “Ang goal ko is to inspire others to go into business and keep a positive attitude.” He notes, “It’s payback time. It’s my turn to inspire others in gratitude to those people who inspired us before.”

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx...bCategoryId=82