February-March Boys

The Februrary Grand Kapihan is the second of six official events of the Jubilee Festival Week. This Wednesday’s Grand Kapihan featured ten February-March birthday celebrants - which is a good thing.  (There would be more of them to share the cost of hosting the Grand Kapihan).  As we know, a bunch of Batch63 guys are in town for the DLS Homecoming (that's a lot of buffet coupons). All in all, 45 guys attended the February Kapihan per Vince Misa’s kapihan list. 

The birthday guys who hosted the Polo Club breakfast are: Alex Ledesma; Joe Assad; Boy Nazareno; Ed Lim; Art Sicat (balikbayan); Joey Ingles; and Victor Sy (Balikbayan). The other birthday guys who couldn’t come but who sent in their share of the blow-out are: Arthur Antonino; Jaime Ortigas; and Linggoy Araneta.

Aside from two balikbayan celebrants above, the Balikbayans guys present were: Celso Lontoc; Lou Madamba, Adrian Novnario, Manolo Relova; Ramy Salcedo; Mike Sun; Joey Zamora; Tonichi Grey; and Patrick Go. The local guys who came were: Vic Corpus; Vic Romero; Gem Yabut; Mandy Ilustre; Francis Horn; Joey Angeles; Bambi Goco; Quito Moras; Chito de Vera; Oni Mayo; Gary Salcedo; Ernie Cuyegkeng; Bert Saenz; Benny Ang; Tony Estonina; Joey Estagle; Ed Oleta; Patrick Go; Mari Duarte; Gabby Valdes; Boy Palanca; Eboy Cosme; Steve Hontiveros; Lito Quiogue; Polding Arnaiz; Douglas Marcaida; Aderito Yujuico; Jackie Arellano; Raffy Villarreal; Boy Carlos; Vince Misa; and Paqui Campos.

While more or less the same guys are meeting up again after the Bienvenida party last Sunday, the conglomeration of the lot - on a morning, in a smaller hall - had a different kind of dynamics. At Cameron Forbes resto, it was now possible to be more intimate.  More than intimacy however, maybe it is more about talking up  absurd matters as Batch63 is prone to do! For instance, the irrepressible Tonichi is sore at Joey Estagle for dethroning him as the Elvis Presley of Batch63.  In his mind, Tonichi thinks he is the reincarnation of Elvis!  Overall, the Kapihan was an opportunity to  relive the fun during the Bienvenida party three days ago.

There are also those who made "pahabol".  While they missed the Bienvenida event, Paqui Campos and Paqui Ortigas still managed to make good on their P4K dues payment. ( I only hope there’s extra Jubilee shirts for them. The shirts had been mostly allocated already as far as I know.) Anyway, the breakfast Kapihan ended just because it was lunch time already. Prior to parting ways, the subsequent Festival Week events were discussed and those concerned took notes so that they can attend again. Next on the agenda is the Day of Reflection on Friday. See you there!

See slide show for more photos.

Bienvenida Jubilee Event

The Homecoming Bienvenida of Batch63 was scheduled for 6:30 PM at Pergola Place in Roxas Blvd. As early as the morning of the event however, Vince Misa and Bambi Goco were already at the venue to oversee the equipment and accessory installations for the event.  By 1:30PM, the participants of the Stars of Yesteryears show trickled in for rehearsals. More than an hour before the event at 5:00PM,  guests started arriving and where Batch63 wives took their place in the seats fronting the stage. 

By 6:30PM, most of the guests had arrived.  They milled about the cocktail tables at the entrance enjoying the drinks. Vince Misa’s family took it upon themselves to man the registration desk. Just before the dinner at around 7PM, the venue was a cacophony of sounds as can only be expected when old friends meet. From time to time, shrieks and friendly curses can be heard above the din as rare birds like Adi Novenario, Celso Lontoc, Bobit Damian, Aderito Yujuico, Joey Zamora and Victor Sy came into the hall. This list of balikbayans does not include yet the other set of balikbayan guys who arrived from the US earlier (Mike Sun, Manny Relova and Bobby Dee). 

The noise and action in the hall was such that Emcees Gary Salcedo and Manny Relova can only look at each other in helplessness.  They found it hard to get the attention of the crowd to settle down so that at least the National Anthem and the Grace before Meals prayer can be started to officially open the event. Finally it was dinner time and a video treat was presented on the large screen.  This video is the “Batch63’s Old La Salle” video show specially prepared by Bambi Goco for the Homecoming.  A copy of this special CD shall be provided to all those who paid their P4K dues.

Right after dinner, the Stars of Yesteryears show (created by Vince Misa) opened with fanfare. Climax music pervaded the hall when Joey “Elvis” Estagle  mounted the stage to kick off the Stars show with his rendition of “Don’t Be Cruel”. Vince “Marty Robins” Misa followed with “The Ballad of El Paso”, Joey “Cliff Richard” Zamora sang “The Young Ones”, Oni “Jack Jones” Mayo crooned the melodious ballad “She” and Mari “Frank Sinatra” Vargas sexily sang “the Way You Look Tonight”. Baby “Mat Monroe” Angeles sang “Walk Away”, Bert “Johnny Cash” Saenz rendered his cowboy version of  “I Walk the Line” and Manny “Dean Martin” Relova sang the Italian “Volare”. A hit was Doug Marcaida’s “Phantom of the Opera” which he sang with a young female partner (the photogenic Douglas came complete with half-mask and cape). The finale number was of course by the professional singer of the Batch, Lito “Rod Stewart” Domantay, who cooly sang “Smile”. The show was a spectacle due in part to the theatric costumes of the participants. Mostly, the song renditions were of acceptable good quality (if you ask me). Some of the ladies in the crowd indicated how they were impressed with the large number of comparatively good singers in the Batch (and no, these ladies were not necessarily the wives of the performers, heh heh). 

And then there was the dancing and the Karaoke time. Seven DIs were there to ensure participation and gracefulness on the dance floor. During the respite between dance sets, the open-mic karaoke facility was availed by singers in the batch who felt that the Stars singing show was not enough. Even the wives got into the act as Mely Corpus and Bili Mayo sang a duet at the insistence of some in the audience. A surprise number on the stage was the performance of Anna Tirol, Alex Ledesma’s friend. Anna is not only a pretty face but she is also a classical singer who brought the house down - initially with a cantata number and finally with “The Prayer”, an encore she did with a game Joey Zamora. 

Finally the event was over especially for the guys who were beginning to feel their Senior limitations. As the guys filed out, Joey Angeles distributed the Polo shirts to be worn during the Taft Homecoming on March 2. Under the contract with Pergola, the venue was available only up to 11PM. It was a good thing that Vic Romero was there throughout to appease his sister-in-law (the proprietor of Pergola) since some of the guys certainly enjoyed too much and took their time going home.

For the record, the guys who came to the bienvenida were:

Batchmates			Guests
1.	Ang, Benny		1.	Lilia Ang
2.	Angeles, Joey		2.	Nesie Angeles
3.	Arellano, Jackie		3.	Marilou Arellano
4.	Arnaiz, Polding		4.	Anton Arnaiz
5.	Assad, Joe		5.	Mely Corpus
6.	Carlos, Boy		6.	Michaela
7.	Corpus, Vic		7.	Randy Estomago
8.	Cosme, Eboy		8.	Boy Cantada
9.	Damian, Bobbit		9.	Tessi Estagle
10.	Domantay, Lito		10.	Kang Goco
11.	Estagle, Joey		11.	Anna
12.	Estonina, Tony		12.	Gina Lontok
13.	Estrella, Jimmy		13.	Myra Clemeno
14.	Go, Patrict		14.	Bili Mayo
15.	Goco, Bambi		15.	Jane Misa
16.	Grey, Tonichi		16.	Cely Novenario
17.	Ilustre, Mandy		17.	Nene Quiogue
18.	Ingles, Joey		18.	Baby Salcedo
19.	Laureola, Rikko		19.	Lucy Sun
20.	Ledesma, Alex		20.	Eileen Sy
21.	Lim, Eddie		21.	Amy Zamora
22.	Lontok, Celso		22.	Vixei Misa - Reception
23.	Marcaida, Douglas		23.	Nympha Lucero - Reception
24.	Mayo, Oni		24.	Che Figueroa - DI
25.	Misa, Vince		25.	Louie Jacinto - DI
26.	Moras, Quito		26.	Janeth Dalida - DI
27.	Novenario, Adie		27.	Rommel Menguito - DI
28.	Oleta, Ed		28.	Azineth Goña - DI
29.	Quiogue, Lito		29.	Rone Lemuel - DI
30.	Relova, Manolo		30.	CJ Ramos - DI
31.	Romero, Vic
32.	Saenz, Bert
33.	Salcedo, Gary
34.	Salcedo, Ramy
35.	Sicat, Art
36.	Sun, Mike
37.	Sy, Victor
38.	Valdes, Gabby
39.	Vargas. Mari
40.	Vera, Chito de
41.	Yujuico, Aderito
42.	Zamora, Joey

Note: Thanks to Joey Estagle for the many photos herein. He really put his XLR to work this time.

Slide show photos from Joey Estagle.

Slide show photos from Leon Mayo.

Billy Manotoc

The Wednesday Kapihan was exceptionally well attended today. The day's agenda had two things in mind. One is the meeting of the Golden Jubilee core group to finalize details for the Homecoming. The other is the rare visit of a Batch63 fellow who is now a permanent resident of Switzerland. Yes, Billy Manotoc is in town and his friends came to welcome him home again. 

The regular Batch63 guys and the GJ Core Group members who came were: Oni Mayo, Bambi Goco, Joey Estagle, Polding Arnaiz, Gabby Valdes, Joey Angeles, Joey Ingles, Gary Salcedo, Vic Romero, Vince Misa, Francis Horn, and Chito de Vera.  The rare birds who especially came to say hello to Billy were:  Ed Oleta, Tony Estonina, Linggoy Araneta, Mari Vargas, Vic Corpus, Wally de Leon, Steve Hontiveros, Douglas Marcaida, Mandy Ilustre, Eboy Cosme and Ed Lim.  

The experience of meeting his childhood friends anew was a happy, if not an initially confusing one for Billy. It was clear that he couldn't immediately make out the likes of Polding Arnaiz, Mandy Ilustre and Ed Oleta. The first names of the people were however enough clue to make his face lighten up in recognition. According to Billy, some guys who managed to mainly look the same after all these years are Gabby Valdes and Baby Angeles. Billy is looking fit as ever and he is amused when he sees a former team mate like Vince Misa. During those years in the La Salle NCAA basketball team, Billy remembers Vince as reed thin and sinewy but who is now showing the effects of too much San Miguel beer in his system. 

Unfortunately Billy cannot stay longer to attend the Batch's Homecoming events since he still works in the bank. He is however due to retire this year where he may have more time for travel (although his wife who is younger than him is still working). He kids that his working wife is his pension plan.  He has two boys – age 17 and 15 – who are sportsmen (golf) like their Dad. Billy is just home for two weeks (with planned forays to Boracay and other places) hence his schedule is very hectic. He made it to the Kapihan though where we hope he enjoyed the Polo food and the presence of the Batch63 bandidos.

See slide show for more photos.