Homecoming for the ages

Last Saturday, the Lasallian community held its annual homecoming at the Taft campus but the gathering of alumni wasn’t just the usual speeches, eating and renewal of friendships. For the first time ever, the De La Salle Alumni Association allowed one class to produce the affair and the responsibility fell on the High School Class of 1968, celebrating its golden jubilee. In previous years, it was the Association that put on the show.

The move to decentralize was a calculated risk but the High School Class of 1968 welcomed the opportunity to organize the homecoming and was determined to make it a meaningful event. Leading the golden jubilarians was Petron general manager Lubin Nepomuceno, a chemical engineering and MBA graduate of La Salle. Lubin took over the mantle of leadership from Jay Assad who held the class together for years until he fell ill and eventually passed on without seeing his dream of a golden jubilee celebration come true.

Lubin dedicated the homecoming to Jay and over 40 other batchmates who’ve gone ahead. Among the late batchmates were PDIC president Mike Osmeña, UP civil engineering summa cum laude graduate David Tan, renowned Hawaii-based ophthalmologist Jorge Camara, Connecticut-based expatriate executive Bambi del Castillo, Spain-based champion golfer Mike Preysler, valedictorian and professional executive Tato Diaz and entrepreneur Bobby de Ocampo who conceptualized the brands Coney Island ice cream, Go Nuts Donuts and Mr. Juicy.

What made the homecoming particularly memorable was its unifying theme of challenging the alumni to live the Animo spirit of dedication to the Lasallian motto of “religio, mores, cultura.” The jubilarians of different classes were one in accepting the challenge of “May Animo Ka Pa Ba?,” the homecoming battlecry. Threading a common theme hadn’t been done before but it was a long time coming. Lubin also consolidated a fund-raising campaign for the benefit of the St. Br. Jaime Hilario Integrated School of La Salle in Bagac, Bataan.

The Bagac campus is on a 3.5-hectare property donated by the late Ambassador Carlos Valdes, a La Salle alumnus. Ambassador Valdes’ daughter Binky is High School Class of 1968 graduate Jorge Camara’s widow. The school offers a K-12 basic education program and integrates Eco-Tourism and Culinary Studies into the curricula. Students are from indigent farming and fishing families in Bataan and they’re all on scholarships. The school was named after St. Br. Hilario, a Spanish Christian Brother who was martyred during the Spanish civil war in 1937.

High School Class of 1968 raised P500,000 to donate to the school and also delivered a refurbished bus for its use. The class staged a golf tournament and a movie premier to shore up its funds for donation. Other celebrating jubilarians also raised funds for the school in what was the first consolidated drive for a common cause in the history of La Salle’s homecoming.

At least 12 High School Class of 1968 graduates came from overseas to attend the pre-homecoming and homecoming festivities. Nando Pfeiffer travelled from Madrid. Peter McMahon, a prominent tax lawyer, flew in from Sydney. Gary Dy and Nono Alburo arrived from Canada and from the US, came Joey Chincuanco, Mon Pineda, Vic Liwag, George de Villa, Jay del Prado, Art Nolasco and Jojit Paredes. Outside Metro Manila, Henry Echevarria and Eddie de la Fuente checked in from Cebu, Louie Sevilla from Sta. Cruz, Laguna and Mike Kairuz from Laoag. The homecoming program featured alumnus Randy Santiago who performed with his band, a song-and-dance presentation by Hilario students, audio-visuals depicting the Animo spirit, songs by the popular ‘60s duo Two of Us with Jojit and Ronnie Henares, a drumming exhibition by alumni Ricky Santos and Boy Pantoja on separate drum kits with the Replay band and host Bea Escudero.

The golden jubilarians are an impressive cast. Included in the lineup are Supreme Court Justice Andy Reyes, NU and Rotary Club of Manila president Teddy Ocampo, St. Benilde dean and well-known interior designer Joey Yupangco, hotelier Jorge Angeles of the El Cielito chain, crack golfer Tony Olives, transport/tourist line owner Lino Lebron, bank owner Bobby Aguirre, bank director and Kuya’s owner Chito Bautista, former Intel executive Val Reyes, Biñan property owner Rey Carino, former MIT principal and now Batangas gentleman farmer Hernan Mapua, synergy specialist BoyVic Valenzuela, automobile air-conditioning owner/contractor/Replay band leader and guitarist Dickie Dizon, Vigan tourism director Eddie Quirino, insurance brokering executive Poli de los Santos, US Navy Purple Heart veteran Jim O’Leary, banker Angel Corpus, international commodities broker Tony Fargas, agri-businessman Ricky Santos, Mr. Football Mike Crame and businessman Louie Decena whose father Eddie was a La Salle basketball star and former Olympian.

Lubin said the homecoming wouldn’t have been a rousing success without the efforts of coordinator Bib Reynoso, Seph Chua, Raul Francisco, Ricky Santos, Dickie Dizon, Tony Olives and the late Choncho Sanchez. During the homecoming, a High School Class of 1968 graduate Vic Vallarta arrived in an ambulance and attended the event in a wheelchair. Vic suffered a stroke last April, survived a lengthy confinement in ICU and had been bed-ridden until deciding to show up at the homecoming to express his Animo spirit. And yes, I, too, am a proud member of the High School Class of 1968, the last high school class to graduate from Taft.