SSAFI Office Extension and Renovation Completed

PAX
Alumnae News
THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE ST. SCHOLASTICA’S ALUMNAE FOUNDATION, INC.
October 2010
SSAFI Office Extension
and Renovation Completed
L
ast August 11, 2010 the
new SSAFI office was
blessed by Rev. Fr. Anselm
Manalastas, OSB, with Sr. Angelica
Leviste and Sr. Mary John Mananzan officiating the ribbon-cutting.
About 60 board members, alumnae
and guests attended the blessing followed by a catered lunch al fresco at
the Plaza San Marcelino across the
office.
The school administration
headed by Sr. Angelica saw the
necessity of extending the office in
order to accommodate the needs of
all alumnae, especially the annual
jubilarians, whose number has
been increasing every year. She thus
approved the request of SSAFI to
extend the office on both ends: the
area beside St. Cecilia’s Hall and the
PAX 2010
Patricia Viola De Veyra, HS ‘56
area fronting the old office entrance.
The entrance to the new office now
faces St. Cecilia’s Hall lobby, with a
canopy and a small driveway.
The renovation was funded
by SSAFI. Funds were raised starting
with the Centennial celebration
under the leadership of former
SSAFI President Ms. Ma. Angeles
“Gigi” Prats, through the generous
donations of the Prats family and
former President Virginia Domingo
Gonzalez.
Funds were likewise
augmented by the different fund
raising activities initiated by the
SSAFI. The present SSAFI Board,
under the leadership of President
Ma. Lourdes
Castro-
Roa, worked to bring the extension
and renovation to fruition.
The new building provided
for a sizable boardroom that can
easily accommodate 30 persons
(complete with sound system), a
private working area comprising two
desks and swivel chairs, a lounge
for relaxation, a pleasant reception
area for secretariat services, a small
pantry, a records room and two
comfort rooms. A back entrance
was retained as a fire exit.
All alumnae, jubilarians or
otherwise, are invited to visit and
avail of the facilities of the new
office.
Welcome – all jubilarians
and alumnae!
1
A Silver Hangover
Alumnae News
Message
from the President
ABCDEF
T
he past six months have been
busy and exciting for the St.
Scholastica's Alumnae Foundation (SSAFI) Board of Directors.
Our dream of renovating the SSAFI office finally became a reality. We accomplished this because the Board worked
as a team.
The new office was formally blessed
on August 11, 2010 with Sr. Angelica and
Sr. Mary John cutting the ribbon. We are
proud of the new SSAFI office and we
invite all alumnae to come visit your new
home in St. Scholastica's. Stay a while
and catch up on the activities of SSAFI. We
encourage you to hold your class meetings
in our spacious Board Room.
We hope to see you soon.
Ginge P. Salud, HS '85
N
ow, I can see what 25 years can do. At high
school graduation, I was just raring to move
on - from the confines of both my physical and metaphysical Benedictine upbringing; from high
school to college; from old friends to new ones. I chide
myself today for how easy it had been for me to let go and
forget.
I jumped at the invitation of my old high school
friends to be part of the silver homecoming plans.
Immediately, I was reeled in as I happily immersed myself
in the work. More than that, I had a foretaste of happy
little reunions, rejoicing at the surfacing of old friends I
thought I had forgotten.
I used to think the old days were all behind me where I had charged everything to the folly of my youth,
and committed them all to memory. Today, I am realizing
how sweet it is to go back, to go home. Homecoming day
was a mere backdrop to a grand reunion of old friends.
At this age of introspection, I have picked out my life's
greatest blessings. Apart from the gift of family, I value
the gift of friendship. Luckily, I have crossed paths with
many who have managed to weave a colorful tapestry of
memories into my life.
It's been sometime after the grand homecoming.
Our 40 something old ladies are all rocked out and yet
giddy over successfully converging at our alma mater. We
love talking and laughing about yesterday, as if we were
all donned in our old blue jumpers yet again. Of late, we
keep finding reasons to get together - to celebrate the past
and offer a toast to the many happy memories we have yet
to make together.
At this age I thought I made all the friends I needed
to make. I am happily finding that I am wrong! And so I
thank you, dear classmates and friends - for the shining
years that will always ring with much love and laughter.
Cheers to another 25 more!
Ma. Lourdes Castro-Roa
President
2
PAX 2010
TU
Alumnae News
2010 Homecoming
PAX 2010
3
Alumnae News
An upcoming
Silver Homecoming
kicks off with
timeless revelry
Minnie Jauregui, HS’86
A
lmost twenty-five years ago, high school girls clad in white ruffled blouses, blue jumper
skirts and good ol’ leather shoes, stood witness to one of the greatest milestones in
Philippine history. And close to 25 years after, sans the signature school uniform and
now donning fabulous garb and stilettos, the students of St. Scholastica’s College, Manila have joined
forces to bring forth another event that will be rendered timeless in Scholastican history.
Last September 10, 2010,
the much awaited dream project of
SSC High School Batch ’86 saw its
fruition at The Gallery of Greenbelt
5, Ayala Center in Makati City. The
St. Scholastica’s College Watch by
Swatch was finally unveiled to the
public.
On that holiday Friday,
Scholasticans came in droves and
shared cocktails while the all-violin
quartet from the Philippine Research
for Developing Instrumental Soloists
(PREDIS) played in the background.
Attendees registered and of course,
busses and hugs were exchanged
4
as
hearty
chit-chats
among
Scholasticans filled the posh venue.
Animated on the video wall was
the 2011 homecoming theme of the
sponsoring batch, SSC High School
Batch ’86. Next year’s silver jubilee
slogan is “REVOLUTIONIZE,” a
catchphrase that perfectly epitomizes
the Scholasticans of that time and
characterizes the dominant fever of
our nation’s history.
Gracing the special occasion
was St. Scholastica’s College Manila
President
Sister
Angelica M. Leviste, OSB, Gift Gate
President Mrs. Virginia S. Ramos and
P-Noy’s sister, Mrs. Elena “Ballsy”
Aquino-Cruz. Distinguished guests
such as His Excellency Nguyen Vu
Tu (Ambassador Extraordinary
and
Plenipotentiary
of
the
Socialist Republic of Vietnam to
the Philippines), His Excellency
Yohanes Kristiarto Soeryo Legowo
(Ambassador-designate
of
the
Republic of Indonesia) were also in
attendance along with the Benedictine
PAX 2010
Alumnae News
sisters, selected guests from the
media, plus prominent SSC
alumnae like seasoned singer
& comedienne Mitch Valdez
and former Akbayan Party-List
Representative Risa HontiverosBaraquiel to name a few.
As the clock struck
six, the national anthem was
beautifully
performed
by
PREDIS and an invocation was
led by Sr. Mary Placid, OSB,
Dean of the St. Scholastica’s
College’s School of Music.
Handling
hosting
chores
for that event was popular
television personality Reema
Chanco, also an SSC alumna
(HS Batch ’93).
The keynote speaker
of the event was Sr. Angelica
Leviste, OSB who delivered a
moving speech that noted how
St. Scholastica’s College has
always taken pride in molding
young ladies to become Godfearing individuals.
The
SSC President also extolled
President Cory Aquino as
being a true Scholastican. She
even noted that the occasion
was made more auspicious
given that sponsoring batch
graduated at the dawn of a
renewed democracy under the
leadership of President Aquino,
and has duly undertaken a
worthwhile endeavor for the
cause of educators in the name
of a true beacon of democracy.
She extended her gratitude to
the High School Batch ‘86 and
Mrs. Virginia S. Ramos for her generous donation
in realizing this dream project for the benefit of
the St. Scholastica Research and Development
Foundation.
Another highlight of the event was the
establishment of the Corazon C. Aquino Professorial
Chair, a program established to help advance the
education of educators by granting supplemental
resources in their teaching endeavors. For every
purchase of the St. Scholastica’s College Watch by
Swatch, a portion of the proceeds will be donated
to the seed fund of the said scholarship seat.
PAX 2010
5
Alumnae News
Other Projects
Little Laws for Little Ladies -
A Handbook on
Manners and Etiquette:
I
n 1970, a book was created by Guia S.
Castillo, with a typewriter and drawings
by young Scholasticans. The book was
mimeographed, manually folded and bound
with a stapler, it was a guidebook that helped
young ladies grow up to eventually be young
& confident women, mothers, homemakers, career women, business women and professionals.
S
B
T C
K
leeping
eauty
and he hildren
of
ythe Foundation
I
n 2 days, the tickets were sold out!
This was only after months of a slow
response before the problem of filling seats
became a thing of the past. Everyone bought at least
2 tickets (1 for a child with cancer and the other for
the guardian). We invited the children from Kythe
Foundation - "This is a foundation that helps children
who have cancers, especially the young ones. They also
help the parents how to handle this kind of situation
and make the kids feel what the real life should be."
It was a lovely day for the children. A merienda
treat at Jollibee ended the day with smiles on the faces
of the children and everyone that helped out.
Thank you to the family and friends of St. Scholastica's
Batch 86 (SSCHS 86) for sponsoring a seat to Repertory's
Sleeping Beauty for the kids of Kythe Foundation
Indeed it was a day of “Healing through simple
sharing and togetherness”
A cash donation will be given by SSCHS 86 to Kythe
Foundation.
6
That same book resurfaced in the hands of
Myra Castillo during one of St. Scholastica's College
High School Batch 86 homecoming meetings. It
was a grand idea, everyone thought, to make a new
version! And the creation of a new version is just
what happened.
The updated version of the book, now
called Little Laws For Little Ladies is available to all
Scholasticans. The book price is Php 175. This book
is available at the St. Scho bookstore and SSAFI
OFFICE 5241559.
Present SSC students will be using this book
in their homeroom classes to guide them as students
and young women.
Written by: Mr. Jojo Feliciano
Illustrated by: Azalea Marie Mazon-Camps..
Our Future Projects
Little Women by Repertory Philippines
Saturday, November 27, 2010 at 3:30 pm
Onstage, 2nd Floor, Greenbelt 1, Makati
Recollection - Homecoming- December, 2010
(Please call SSAFI office for date)
February 7, 2011, Sunday
1:00 PM
St. Scholastica’s College, Manila
PAX 2010
Alumnae News
INTRODUCTION OF THE
2010 PAX AWARDEE
Ms. Paulynn Paredes Sicam, HS 63 / College ‘67
(Graduation day March 21, 2010)
F or a lifetime of being true
Benedictine child, Neni
was declared one of the 100
Outstanding Scholasticans
during the school’s centennial
in 2006.
M
other Mary John, Sister Angelica, beloved
sisters, parents, guests, friends:
It is my honor to introduce our guest speaker,
FLOR MARIE STA. ROMANA-CRUZ, teacher, writer, and
outstanding Scholastican, my classmate and friend.
She may sound imposing to young
graduates, but she is only Neni to the sisters
and to generations of Scholasticans to whom
she has always been an approachable and
reliable leader and a trusted friend.
Neni thrived in the rigor of our
Scholastican upbringing. She recalls that
the sisters never praised or told her that
she did a good job. This had such an
effect on her that, until today, she never
thinks that what she has accomplished
is good enough, and so she continues to
push herself.
One exception was the late Sr. Sylvester
who when we were in high school,
recognized Neni’s “golden pen” and
gave her an unprecedented A++ for the
autobiography we were required to
write. It was no surprise then that Neni
became an English major, one of ten
who belonged to the class of 1967 (and
the second to receive the PAX Award, the
first being Chita Vallejo-Pijano who was
honored in 2003).
PAX 2010
7
Alumnae News
A campus leader, Neni was always up to
something. She was Student Council president, wrote
for the The Scholastican
organized school fairs,
got involved in community service through Junior
Operations Brotherhood and in student politics through
the National Union of Students, raised our political
consciousness, and once even led us on a march to
Malacañang. Neni was tireless, working with a sense of
responsibility and purpose, for the glory of the school
and for the greater glory of God – not herself.
But she was not all Ora et Labora. Neni attended
a lot of parties, had an enviable social life, and upon
graduation, managed to graduate cum laude, garner the
Mother Birgitta Korff award for leadership and give the
valedictory on behalf of the class.
While many of our classmates went abroad after
graduation, Neni stayed in the Philippines, earning her
masters in English Literature at the Ateneo de Manila in
1975.
In 1969, she joined the faculty of the International
School Manila where she blossomed as a teacher in
the elementary department and a reading advocate
who ran the Children’s Media Center which planned
and promoted reading programs for the elementary
grades. She also handled ISM’s Mentorship Program for
Young Writers, an advanced program for verbally-gifted
children.
Neni brought her Scholastican values to ISM
where she not only promoted reading and writing,
she also upheld the democratic values of fairness and
equity. As chair of the teachers’ union, she challenged
the school’s dual standards for local and internationallyhired teachers. It was a long drawn-out battle for parity
that the local faculty members won with finality before
the Supreme Court.
Upon her retirement in 2006 after 37 years at ISM,
Neni dreamed of a leisurely schedule, but that was not
meant to be. She has, after all, much expertise and talent
to share in promoting literacy among young Filipinos,
especially in our public schools – not to mention the
inescapable Scholastican ethic of Ora et Labora.
In retirement, Neni works with the Department
of Education’s Library Hub project for which she
developed a training module for librarians and teachers
and is its main trainor. She has given up many weekends
and holidays to fly distant provinces and work with
hundreds of public school teachers and librarians
promoting reading and love of books.
She is an active member and former chair of the
Philippine Board on Books for Young People (PBBY)
and a trustee and resource speaker of the Sa Aklat Sisikat
Foundation, which promotes literacy programs for public
school children. The SAS Readathon program is based
on the reading promotion project Neni developed and
8
implemented for International School. She has applied
it as a training module for public school teachers on
how to infuse a love for reading in their students.
She helped organize the SAGER Learning Institute,
a group of educators committed to excellence in education
through teacher training, curriculum development and
mentorship. She also holds private classes and smallgroup workshops in English, reading, and writing for
elementary and high school students.
With her family – her husband Elfren, and
children Tanya, Ruel, and Aina – Neni has donated books
and furniture to the Sampaloc Site II Elementary School
Library in a poor community in Parañaque. The library
has since lost its space but Neni continues to be involved.
During one school year, she conducted weekly storytelling
classes for all the grade levels.
Neni is also a prolific writer. Her essays, originally
published in magazines and newspapers, have been
anthologized in over 20 books, and collected in three
volumes. She also writes children’s books. The story,
Why the Piña Has a Hundred Eyes and other Classic
Philippine Folktales about Fruits won the 1994 National
Book Award for Children’s Literature. Her three small
books on Pinoy pop culture have become best-sellers,
especially among ballikbayans.
Neni shepherded the writing, editing and
publication of Daughters True: 100 Years of Scholastican
Education 1906-2006, the definitive history of St.
Scholastica’s College and the Benedictine sisters in the
Philippines, which we both co-edited with two other
alumnae, Karina Africa Bolasco and Ma. Ceres P. Doyo,
both of who are PAX awardess. This proud volume won
the 2007 National Book Award for Education.
For a lifetime of being true Benedictine child, Neni
was declared one of the 100 Outstanding Scholasticans
during the school’s centennial in 2006.
I end with a quote from our classmate Daisy
Barawidan who wrote in our class egroup: “Neni, we
congratulate and celebrate you! We are so honored that
you belong to Grade School ’59, High School ’63 and
College ’67.”
PAX 2010
Alumnae News
60 YEARS OF GRACE AND INTELLECT
By: Florina “Lala” Feliciano-Castillo, HS’60/College’65
M
y appointment with Sr. Soledad was on a
Monday morning. At the Priory Parlor.
At 8:30.
It was one of the rare times in my life that I
arrived a good 15 minutes before the appointment
time. No one. But no one is ever late for an
appointment with Sr. Soledad.
As I sat in the dining room
of the Priory Parlor waiting for her, I
was sixteen years old all over again,
sitting on a wooden bench under a
little staircase waiting for Sr. Soledad
to give me instructions for the next
issue of The Scholastican in that
little office she used to have under a
narrow staircase at the entrance to St.
Benedict.
And, as though the years did
not pass us by, there she was, exactly
at 8:45. She didn’t just walk into
the room. She glided into it. Like
a swan. Like in the old days when
we, gawky schoolgirls wondered if
we could ever move with half her
dignity and grace.
As we sat down, after a warm
hug, I asked her if she had any recent
picture of herself at her Diamond
Jubilee which was the reason why I
was interviewing her.
But it wasn’t the Diamond
Jubilee that got the interview going.
It was my asking about a picture.
In the meantime, in my mind’s eye
was a fragile, young nun armed
with a camera often taking pictures
on special occasions at SSC events.
Perhaps I remembered it because it
was amusingly anachronistic. She
had always seemed so frail and the
box camera just didn’t seem to go
with the rest of her. One time, years
PAX 2010
later, on her trip to Japan she sent
me a picture of a fawn in a forest. It
seemed so like Sr. Soledad to catch
a deer in motion so gracefully. And
so, it seemed strange to find out that
she wasn’t interested in pictures,
even of so important an event as her
Diamond Jubilee of Profession.
Her answer surprised me.
“No, I have no pictures. I don’t keep
pictures.”
And then she smiled and
said, “I guess when you’re happy,
you don’t need pictures. You just
remember.”
Then she went on to talk
about her family and her childhood.
Second to the youngest of eight
children, she spent her childhood
in Bacolod, in a home in the farm
in Silay.
“We were always together,”
she said, “wherever we went. My
mother and father could never bear
to be away from us for too long.
That’s why they never went abroad.
They would only have gone if they
could bring us. But we were eight
children. How could they go abroad
with eight children?”
She was the first of her family
to go abroad. “But that was because
the Sisters sent me,” she said.
She was sickly, though, and
had to stop schooling for awhile
before joining her other siblings in
Manila. Most of her family were in
Manila by then. They had a house
in Quezon City. Then she went to
school in SSC with her sisters.
“Everyday, for a long time,
we were waiting for a boat.”
After that, I don’t know how
we got to the Japanese time. But
we did. She said that thought most
people had painful memories of
the Japanese time, she had happy
memories of being together with her
family and a lot of other cousins.
“Everyday, for a long time,
we were waiting for a boat to bring
us back to Bacolod. Until some kind
heart gave us one of the classrooms
of De La Salle University on Taft
Avenue to live in. Oh, it was fun! We
could cross the big campus to play
with other children. And we could
watch the airplanes coming. When
we heard the siren calling everyone
to the air raid shelter, we made it
so hard for the elders to get us so
that one day, someone just locked
the gates and we could not cross
over to the other side of the campus
anymore.”
She even remembers watching
the Japanese soldiers enter the De La
Salle grounds” from needled-sized
spaces between windows on the
second floor of De La Salle.
9
Alumnae News
When the war was over, she continued her
studies and entered the convent.
Actually, “continued her studies” is an
understatement. For she finished her AB summa cum
laude and her BSE magna cum laude. And in 1954,
already as a young Sister, she finished her MA at the
Ateneo mertissimus. And as if all that were not enough,
she finished her PhD in Education meritissius in 1965
while she was Dean of the Assumption College in
Pampanga.
Talk of a star-studded career and that’s what
she had without much ado. In 1956, she became the
second Filipina Directress of St. Scholastica’s College.
From 1958 to 1970., she was the Dean of Arts and
Sciences of SSC. From 1961 to 1964, she was Superior
and Directress of St. Agnes in Legaspi. From 1965 to
1966, she was Dean of Assumption College. From 1973
to 1981, she was President of SSC. Then she went to
Bacolod and was Superior-Directress of SCC Bacolod.
After her stint in Bacolod, she was assigned as
Superior-Directress of SSC Marikina. Here, she began
livelihood projects for communities around the school.
First, she had herbal medicine projects. These were later
on followed by the manufacture of SSC uniforms and
other school wear.
All the time that she was carrying out her
administrative duties in the schools to which she was
assigned, for almost 20 years she was also Planning
Officer and the Prefect of Studies for the Sisters who were
pursuing graduate studies. I guess, knowing Sr. Soledad
and that quiet but firm stance she always had, there was
no other choice but to finish your studies, really.
During her presidency of St. Scholastica’s
College, she founded the St. Scholastica’s Research and
Development Foundation which has made a Scholastican
education on all levels available to so many and which
has generously funded faculty development projects for
SSC all these many years. She is still the SSRDF Director
today. Sr. Soledad’s activities did not end in the school
and in the convent.
From 1969 to 1974, she was Chair of the
Technical Commission on Education of Association of
Major Religious Superiors of Women in the Philippines
(AMRSWP).
She was a member of the Board of Trustees of
Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines
(CEAP). And she has served and is still serving the
Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges
and Universities (PAASCU) as auditor, commission
chair and board member.
In 1987, Sister Soledad was given the Pax
Award, the highest award SSC gives to her outstanding
graduates.
In 1999, she received the Bukas Palad Award from
10
the Ateneo University for her “outstanding contribution
to Catholic Education and the value of her religious life
as a witness to Christ’s love.”
In the school’s Centennial publication,
Daughters True, writer Leni Gavinio Sutcliffe, speaks
of her “genteel ways, sharp intellect and her quick and
excellent judgement in moments of crisis.”
Further on, she says, “Former students have been
moved by her patient stillness to continue to do their
best even away from the public eye.”
But this article does not end here, It will end
where it began – in the heart of one of hundreds of
grateful students who walk the earth today, carrying a
little bit of Sr. Soledad with them. In my heart.
I first met Sr. Soledad when I was 10 years old
and in sixth grade. She was a young Sister in charge of
attending to the snacks of the cast of the Mission Play,
“Bamboo Cross” in 1955.
I remember her filling up my plate for me after
rehearsals and making me take my siesta at noon. Little
did I know then that someday, she would steer me
through a significant journalism experience as editorin chief of The Scholastican. How pampered we were
in those halcyon days! I remember Sr. Soledad asking
her secretary to call up Bro. Vitus, I wondered who Bro.
Vitus was to Sr. Soledad! Then I found out he was the
person in charge of printing The Scholastican at Catholic
Trade.
As our Dean of Studies and as the Moderator of
the school paper, she never scolded me for missing my
deadlines (like I’m missing this one!). One time, when
the paper was standing precariously between coming out
on time or not, she never said a word. She just wrote the
publication schedule on the blackboard where everyone
could see it. Of course, THAT ISSUE came out on time!
Oh, but those were unforgettable days of gentle
learning and of an iron hand in kid gloves holding young
hearts in gentlest trust. I was one of so many who knew
her gentleness and her firmness and her caring. She
didn’t to it only for me. SHE DID IT FOR ALL OF US.
Among her proud former pupils are Mother Prioress,
Sr. Mary John, our President, Sr. Angelica, Chita Pijano,
Executive Director of PAASCU and countless others who
grew up, some to be leaders in various fields of endeavor
and many to be homemakers of the finest caliber.
When I asked her what keeps her busy now, she
looked at me with great peace and her quiet smile: “I
do what Mother tells me to do. I write articles or edit
articles for the Newsletter. I sometimes help the Sisters
with their academic work.”
Once upon a time, on my very first high school
retreat, I met Sr. Soledad in front of a book stand near
the chapel. She pulled a little pamphlet from the stand
and gave it to me. The title of the pamphlets was “TO
SEEK GOD.”
PAX 2010
Alumnae News
Golden Jubilee 2010
F
(Read at the Golden Jubilee Celebration)
Mother Irene Dabalus, OSB, HS ‘57 / College ‘61 & ‘65
ifty years ago eleven
young novices vowed
in this same chapel to
be God’s alone in a life of obedience, chastity and conversion
of morals which includes living
in community under a superior,
a life characterized by simplicity
and poverty.
Through those years they
marked milestone – silver ones
25 years later; then rubies, after 40
years. Today it is time for gold.
There were eleven, but we see
only five of them. Four have gone
ahead to the heavenly home, once
could not make it from Rome to her
group, and one has chosen to lived a
dedicated life in another way.
We see the five before us.
How have they spent the past 50
years? Where have they been? How
have they served the One they vowed
to love and serve all their lives?
Where had they come from?
Initially – that is, the places where
PAX 2010
they were born: two came from up
north, Pangasinan: Sister Mary John
and Sister Roberta; another came
from the Bicol area – Sr. Baptista
from Sorsogon; another closer to
Manila, from Batangas – Sister
Fe Andrea; and from Leyte in the
Visayas – Sister Monica.
Their earlier years after first
profession of vows saw them in
various areas of the apostolate as well
as in further studies towards greater
service in the wide missionary field
of the Lord. Where have they served
the Lord? While all Sisters have to
be ready to be sent anywhere in this
world wherever the Lord calls, not
everyone has been anywhere than
the houses in the home country. But
the members of this particular group
of jubilarians have.
Sister Baptista was teaching
young people the beauty and the
skills of music even as she continued
her own professional studies Later
years would bring to Sister Baptista
a call to Spain for 10 years and to
Rome for another 10 years.
Sister Mary John taught
history to high school students
and then was sent for theological
studies in Germany and in Rome.
While not having had a prolonged
assignment in other shores – she
has “roamed” around the world
holding fellowships in American
and European universities, speaking
before international conferences
and meetings, spending Sabbaticals
in research and authoring books.
In-between, so to say, she served
as dean and then president of St.
Scholastica’s College.
Another historian, Sister Fe
Andrea, made the subject of history
enjoyable for her young students
and initiated them into social service
in poor enclaves and teaching the
tenets of the faith to children in the
public schools. Further theological
studies and graduate studies in social
work and in development education
– the last taking her to the United
States. She spent most of a year with
11
Alumnae News
the different communities of Namibia, helping initiate
the Sisters – newly integrated into Congregation – into
the spirit and implications of the Constitutions of the
Missionary Benedictine Sisters of Tutzing.
Sister Monica professionalized her nutritional
skills and served as nutritionist in the priory’s hospital in
Tacloban as well as in other communities of the priory.
Then it was time to bring her brand of service to other
shores. She spent 11 years in Angola and another 9
years in Barcelona, there also working with the Filipino
migrants.
Sister Roberta was the community worker in
social work in various houses of the priory. She headed
SPA (socio-pastoral apostolate) group of the priory for
several terms and was active in the Task Force Detainees
group. She spent a year in Switzerland and 9 years
working with the Filipino migrants based in Barcelona,
Spain.
(Sister Celestine’s skills as an organist brought
her to different houses of the Congregation. And
something unusual: as a young Sister she was sent to the
Motherhouse in Germany – which ran a hospital. There
she was initiated into X-ray and ECG work! Wouldn’t
that be a strange combination with music? But perhaps
that is a show of versatility! She spent 3 years there,
and then served in the Peramiho priory in East Africa for
another 7 years, before being called to Rome – where
she still is (and where she comes from, for today’s
celebration of a very special day).
And now in their golden days, where are they
(besides being here today)?
Sister Monica is in St. Benedict’s Home in
Marikina, where she enjoys a less hectic time, but
continues to attend to the nutritional needs of the retired
Sisters. She continues her advocacy of malunggay for
12
a number of nutritional and medicinal purposes and
has written on the subject. Soon she will change her
community from Marikina to Tacloban school in order
to teach nutrition some more – and this time, also
college theology.
Sister Fe Andrea very lately has been asked
to slow down – after almost 50 years in full days and
months of leading young people to share talents and
religious and social beliefs with others – young and old
– as well as teaching teachers how to teach and share
love of God and neighbour. After 50 years of an actionfilled life – for sure, supported by prayer – God says
it is time to have a prayer-filled life, supporting some
action. Sister Fe Andrea since some months spends
that beautiful serene life at St. Scholastica’s Convent in
Baguio, but will move back to the Priory House.
Sister Mary John is on her second term as
prioress of the Manila Priory and apparently has not
lost any of her strength and vigour in advocacy and
social concerns. She is an “initiator” – has been from
her younger years: spreading recognition of women’s
rights and equality with men; setting up the Institute of
Women’s Studies that reaches its orientation and training
of women within and outside the Philippines; forming
groups for theological concerns, social and political
advocacy; programs for the poor and oppressed.
Sister Baptista seems to have been designated by God
to take care of Sisters’ communities. She had been
sub-prioress in Manila for some years, helping and
supporting the prioress. Then after 10 years as superior
in the Madrid house, she was called to Rome to be the
“coordinator” of the Generalate community for another
10 years! (Because the prioress general is in residence
in the Casa Generalizia, but has the “headship” of
the entire congregation, the Sister assigned to attend
to the immediate concerns of the Casa
community is called “coordinator”.)
Then it was time to come home to the
Philippines. But then again, before she
could breathe the home country air, she
was told her new assignment was to be the
head of the community of St. Benedict’s
Home. Very lately the sub-prioress of the
Manila priory, Sister Lumen, was called
by the Generalate to head the region of
PAX 2010
Alumnae News
Argentina with a view to raising it to
a priory. Left without a sub-prioress,
Mother Prioress Mary John, after
consulting the Sisters of the priory,
appointed Sister Baptista the new
sub-prioress. Again! Such are God’s
ways, we are to understand!
Sister Roberta, coming home after 10
years (not so long!) picked up serving
the poor in different social action
centers of the priory and especially
in the newer non-institutional
apostolate in Mindanao. Now she
is back in Mati in Mindanao, the
mission of which she was one of
the pioneers, and which at present
has the work against illegal mining
among its apostolates besides
working farmers in sustainable
agriculture and with women in other
socio-economic ventures.
(Sister Celestine has come
home from Rome to be able to
celebrate this special day together
with her co-jubilarians. This versatile
Sister is back in the Generalate
House where she is organist besides
being archivist and librarian. Still
the versatile one!)
Today we celebrate with
them 50 rich years of varied ways
of rendering honor and glory to
God in faithful prayer and work in
community, and wish them all His
blessings till the gold turns diamond
– and beyond!
Sr. Mary Birkemeyer’s Golden Jubilee Celebration in Germany, Sr. Mary arrived in the Philippines May 4, 1964. She was Fine
Arts mentor at St. Scholastica’s College, Manila 1997 to 2002. She returned to Germany January 2003.
SSC honors Scholastican
Licensure Examinations Topnotchers
S
SC administrators honored 2 Scholastican graduates who
topped the 2010 licensure examinations in Guidance and
Counseling on September 6 and 7, 2010.
Ranked 1 among the successful examinees is Ms. Risalina
Ubas. Risa graduated from our Night Secondary School batch
’97. She then received an academic scholarship in our College
unit and earned her degree in BS Psychology/AB in Guidance
and Counseling in 2001, graduating Cum Laude. She started
working in the Grade School as a Guidance Counselor in SY
2005–2006 and, on September 1, 2010, was appointed Guidance
Coordinator.
Number 10 board topnotcher is Rachel Joy Ong. She
graduated in 2004 also with a double degree in BS Psychology/
AB in Guidance and Counseling. Rachel currently works as a
Guidance Counselor at St. Jude Academy.
St. Scholastica’s College – Manila has been enjoying a
100% passing percentage in the two licensure examinations
(2008 and 2010) in Guidance and Counseling.
PAX 2010
Ms. Rachel Joy Ong
Ms. Risalina Ubas
13
Alumnae News
FLORA O. GO, HS’58
Outstanding Women Leaders in Manila
A
professor of Literature and Linguistics for 25 years teaching at the undergraduate and graduate school of University of Santo Tomas, Manila. As a member of the De
La Salle University Board, she supported quality education through
sponsorships of Professorial Chairs for education and research and
sponsored underprivileged college students. As President of Help Ease
the Lives of the Poor (HELP) Now Foundation, Inc., she also helped
improve the lives of the people within her community by giving free
seminars on English proficiency, management and spiritual upliftment
seminars and conducted healing sessions.
Congratulations to our new CPA Board Passers (May 2010)
Julie Anne C. Balisado
14
Angelica D. Dungo
Joyce L. Florentino
Rachel Ann R. Sy
Maricrisel C. Morato
PAX 2010
Alumnae News
Update on Ms. Medy Salazar
I
visited Ms. Salazar in Jul, 2010. She was
still the same as when I saw her early this
year on her 80th birthday. However, she
was not as responsive as before for she had not
seen me for quite some time.
Tett, her niece, and the caregivers see to it that
Ms. Medy is given the right nursing care and proper
nutrition. A medical team from Makati Medical Center
sees her regularly. All her wounds and pressure sores
are healed. Regular movement in bed, her air mattress
and the effective wound care by the caregivers prevent
the development of pressure sores.
Ms. Medy still undergoes physical therapy
thrice a week. She is still in bed most of the time and
gets to sit on her bed and on her wheelchair for about
thirty minutes when the therapist comes. She lies in
bed with her knees and elbows bend due to arthritis
and rigidity of all her extremities and trunk muscles.
As observed by those who se her regularly, Ms.
Medy has been more communicative. She can verbally
express her pain or discomfort. She can answer
questions and follow simple one-step commands
during the therapy activities.
Food (a mixture of rice, chicken, vegetables
and fruits) is given through a peg every four hours.
Sometimes she is given little amount of food like
leche flan or other soft desserts through the mouth
and water through a syringe.
She watches TV mass and gets to receive
communion weekly. When she is awake, the TV is
on. Tett gives her some math activities to exercise her
mind.
With everyone’s help and support, Ms. Medy
has maintained a certain state of wellness. The
individual and class donations in 2008-2009 that
passed through the SSAFI have been stipulated for the
monthly salaries of the caregivers, the regular therapy
(2X 1 week) and for emergency hospitalization
expenses. The amount we have received is good until
February 2011. We will have to raise funds to continue
the wellness program for her. Aside from the financial
support, maybe some of us can conduct regular visits
while Ms. Medy can still recognize us, tell her stories,
read or sing to her.
I would like to close this update with Jenny
De los Reyes’ (HS 1978) email to me in July “God
bless everyone who helped and will continue to help
Ms. Salazar. This is our opportunity to give back to
those who have touched our lives! As we grow older
and begin to care for own parents (and the elderly),
we learn how precious life is!”.
Didi Villegas
(GS’61, HS’65, College’69)
PAX 2010
UPDATE as of September 28, 2010
O
n August 18, 2010, Ms. Remedios Salazar
was rushed to Makati Medical Center because of dehydration from vomiting. Dr.
Noel Rosas, her attending physician, recommended
that she be confined in the ICU for close monitoring because of sepsis (blood infection) due to UTI
and for mild pneumonia.
Early morning on the 21st, Ms. Salazar had a
heart attack. During the day her condition was stable
with the help of medicines.
By the 23rd of August, Dr. Rosas said that everything
was fine except that her platelet count was quite low.
A hematologist saw her the next day. After a week, Ms.
Medy was transferred to a private room. She was also
scheduled for an operation to change the peg for it was
already leaking.
On the first week of September, Ms. Medy was
declared well enough to go home.
According to Tett Salazar, niece of Ms. Salazar, Ms.
Medy is fine and is in the same condition as before
her infection. Her physical therapy session has been
resumed this week.
During the two week confinement, the
Benedictine sisters and former students stormed heaven
with their prayers, showed their concern through
hospital visits and assisted the family in both material
and financial resources.
Re: SSAFI Financial Support for Ms. Salazar
Tett Salazar paid more than six-hundred
thousand for the two-week confinement. We have
released a hundred and fifty thousand pesos from the
SSAFI fund for Ms. Medy in August, 2010. We have
been supporting her by paying the monthly due for two
caregivers and the twice a week physical therapy since
January, 2009. (php 20,400.00). Some local donations
came in August and September. We still need to raise
funds for her continued wellness.
For those who wish to send monetary donations,
our peso current account is:
St. Scholastica’s Alumnae Foundation, Inc.
Bank of Philippine Islands, Vito Cruz,
St. Scholastica Branch
Current Account No: 2771-0017-53
Thank you for your concern and support, fellow
Scholasticans.
In behalf of the SSAFI Committee for Ms.
Salazar’s Wellness,
Didi Villegas, GS. ‘61, HS ‘65 and AB ‘69
15
In Memoriam
Alumnae News
Alumnae
Lourdes Felix Borja, HS33
Celeste Crow Calvo, HS36
Lydia Busuego Salonga, HS38
Ma. Aparicion Langcauon Santiago, HS44
Araceli Villanueva Rivera, HS44
Rose Marie Munoz Panopio, HS47
Josefina Trinidad Lichauco, HS 50
Maria Elisa Alindogan Sales, HS54
Clemencia Reburiano Balassu, HS57
Victoria Cunanan Quezon HS57
Guia Recio Santos, HS58
Christina Orosa Naylor, HS59
Isabel Yu, HS52
Ma. Teresa Trinidad, College 1961
Margaret Jao-Grey, HS69
Ma. Lourdes Francisco Velez, HS66/College 70
Ma. Cecilia “China”Esteban Gallaga, College 75
Maria Luisa L. Nakpil, HS77
Stella Marie Garcia, College 94
Family and Friends
Antonio Poblete, husband of Milagros Luciano, HS59
Margarita D. Generoso, mother of Rachelle Generoso Cruz HS81
Bienvenido D. Ruiz, father of Emma Ruiz, HS71
Siegfried Leviste, brother of Sr. Angelica Leviste, OSB, HS54/AB58
Atty. Carlos Quirante, father of Debbie Quirante HS76 & Marleen Quirante-Arranz HS77
Benjamin Guingona, father of Barbara Guingona Abela, HS78
Francisco U. Del Gallego, father of Sunny, HS71, Josephine, HS65/College69, Rosalie, HS66/College70,
Mr. Alfredo Landas, father of Dr. Normita Landas Narvaez HS71
Mr. Froilan Aragon, husband of Marilen Ledesma, HS53, father of Regina HS79, Rica,
Perry, Jimbo and Melissa
Marcelina Banawa Huelgas, mother of Henrietta Huelgas Jaravata (HS59; AB63),
Gumersinda Huelgas Nave (HS61) and Stella Recio Huelgas (HS65)
Francisco Lukban, father of Ma. Dolores Lukban HS77
Frank L. Mayor, Husband of Sonya Reyes Mayor, HS55
Dr. Antonio J.M. Sison, father of Ma. Teresita Sison Go, HS'71 & Ma.Honoria, HS'80
Jose Leonardo Inoturan, husband of Estrellita LaO, HS’63
Oscar Francisco, husband of Edna Nolasco Francisco, AB’72
Pablo Lorenzo
16
That in All Things God May be Glorified
PAX 2010