Cebu dresses up to welcome 2002

To bid farewell to 2001 and welcome the New Year of 2002 the long-standing fun loving members of the Casino Español de Cebu and their viva la pepa huespedes attended the traditional baile de disfraces.

Just about everyone came en un disfraz either solitos, en parejas o en grupos, all vying for the nod of the board of judges Gina Dizon, Clifford Crowe, Lourdes Integan, Ligaya Gonzales and Vicky Rosello for the much-coveted best in costume prizes.

The winner in the individual category were Ines Miren Jarque, a Cebu International School student active in the performing arts, who came in as a teenage Cleopatra, and restaurateur Rudy Co, who as a clone of the cantante Freddie Aguilar had each and everyone wondering if the balladeer indeed was present.

The award for the best couple act went to the Cadet Tango pair Cecil Gonzalez and Genie Llenos. But not to be outdone were Deen and Lolly Diez, ever so elegant in their authentic Chinese attires, forever partners Del and Marilou Ordoñez who have just returned from yet another foreign trip, as the fiery and flashy flamenco dancers complete con tacones and popular neurosurgeon Ben Aldana and wife Lita, the social worker who is also active in medical missions, dressed as Arabs.

El gran premio for the group went to the Sinulog contingent led by prominent lawyer Edgar Gica as Lapu-Lapu together with mega-insurance man Tonyboy Rodriguez. Mother Earth Candelaria Zozobrado and Sto Niño devotees and Sinulog dancers Arleen Villordon, Rosanna Hubahib, Marna Gica, Susan Rodriguez, and Tess Cuenco joined them.

Inspired by the top-grosser film Moulin Rouge, hijos e hijas jovenes de los miembros the four stunningly attractive Del Gallego sisters, namely Mariane, Monique, Martha and Meryl, all beauties in their own unique way together, with friends Paco Jarque who just returned home after a two-year stint in Spain, Gil-b Velez, presently a New York resident pursuing his studies in Business Management, and Eduard Loop, a soccer varsity player at the University of Asia and the Pacific performed a much-applauded exhibition number that earned the runner up honors.

The grand ballroom was lavishly transformed into a dance floor where Gema Pido, the club’s food and beverage consultant laid out a hard-to-beat in every way buffet. while the lively music of the Neo-Drifters Band roared toda la noche and way, way past the countdown till the early dawn.

What a celebration! ¡Que alegria!