And they came from all over the country. I really don’t know how many had registered by the time their 9 a.m. motorcade kicked off from the St. Teresita Academy in Silay City.
The affair, however, was preceded by the Locsin Golf Friendship Game yesterday.
Today is actually the big day — the start of the three-day reunion of the clan which includes some of the famous names in the country and in Negros Occidental.
After the registration, which started at 8 a.m., the motorcade reared off from the St. Teresita Academy in Silay City.
Then the school became riotous as families by clan, color and geography were presented to one another in a getting-to-know-you affair.
Patriarch Ed Locsin delivered the reunion message, followed by the lunch break.
The Locsin clan has always been the best organized family in the country. Their genealogy virtually boasts the big names in Negros and Philippine society. They include the Nepomucenos of Pampanga. And one virtually learns that almost all the big families of Sugarlandia and Iloilo are interrelated to them.
Tomorrow, the highlight of the reunion will be the High Mass at the San Diego Pro-Cathedral in Silay City. Then the Saturday night shindig at Bar 21 in Bacolod City with the Tribal Mixx and DJ Zigi and the Drumbeaters.
The finale is the dinner and cultural show at the Kapsilayan Gym in Silay City.
At least, this time, Silay City has become the central city of Negros Occidental. All because of the Locsins.
Maestra Gilda Puey-Locsin had me in to Pandanan. She is not only the one reviewing my Spanish, but she is best known to me as the first girlfriend of a close friend. Besides, her late father was a known good friend of my own late father, Fulgencio R. Espina, and my mother, Gracia Lopez.
Another brother, former Rep. Manuel Puey, former Negros del Norte governor Jose Puey Jr. and former provincial board member Viktor Puey are also close friends. So with the others, including Caroll.
The crowd never approximated the Locsin clan reunion, although the late Negros Occidental first district congressman had sired 11 children. He died young at 61 years old in Bacolod City after he returned home to "die in Negros Occidental" post an operation in the United States for pancreatic cancer.
It was more of a subdued gathering. Former Cong. Puey was the impresario in the bingo game that elicited cheers from the winners the whole afternoon.
But my attention later focused on the cellphone of Viktor. A sportsman who spends more of his time in his Llacaon island resort off Cadiz City, Viktor is also the family’s chronicler. As a matter of fact, he gave me (on loan) a copy of his collections of old photographs and newspaper clippings about his late father and the history of Sagay City which his father served for many years as mayor.
The reason for my interest in Viktor’s cellphone was the avalanche of feedback about the Khaos Super Turbo Charger. This is a small (four-inch) metal gadget that mixes the right amount of air with gasoline in engines.
I learned that Viktor was its distributor in Negros Occidental. And he admitted to me that his initial 50 Khaos were gobbled up fast by Negrense car owners. And he was leaving yesterday to get more stocks from Manila in the face of requests for the gadget from six taxi firms in the province.
I noticed from the brochure that he gave me that one of the endorsers of Khaos was Vice President Noli de Castro who reported 35 percent savings on the fuel consumption of his personal vehicle. And then there was Senate President Franklin Drilon singing paeans about Khaos. Finally, there was ex-Energy Secretary Vince Perez who also reported similar savings on fuel of his personal car.
But what caught my attention was the feedback Viktor had been getting on his cellphone. These were reports from prominent Negrense car owners and their impressions about Khaos. There were the Cuencas and many more prominent names who swamped Viktor with "satisfied" reports about one liter for 15 kilometers, etc.
Then, I learned that Quezon City Mayor Sonny Belmonte had ordered that all City Hall’s gasoline-run vehicles be fitted with Khaos. This resulted in millions of pesos in savings on fuel consumption.
Then, Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Mike Defensor reportedly saved 32 percent in the fuel consumed by his Ford E-150. Ex-Secretary Perez said he saved 50 in his Honda Accord.
With the orders from six taxi firm owners pouring in to Viktor, one can say that Khaos is one gadget that is taking Negros by storm. Now, Viktor must have to cope with a wave of orders from transport companies fielding gas-fueled vehicles.
In short, Negros does not have to wait for ethanol or alcogas as an alternative fuel. Negrenses can already save a lot on gasoline by simply attaching the Khaos to their car engines. The savings is in the proper mixture of air with gasoline, maintaining the 15 to one part fuel mix. This reduces engine emission drastically without loss of power.
This is one invention, reportedly of Pablo Planas, that deserves to be recognized by the Republic.