63 MENAGERIE: 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