DELACERNA
The 1970s was a memorable decade in the history of UP Cebu. First the high school was opened in 1972 and the undergraduate was opened the year after. Faculty members pioneered some academic programs in the undergrad division.
These faculty members did not just teach but also brought about a creative activity despite the very limited resources of the College by using their talents and their experiences.
One of these creative ones was the late Victoriano Mondragon Lecaros — Concert Chorus veteran in Diliman, Speech and Mass Communication teacher of UP Cebu, trainer and conductor of the UP College Cebu Mixed Chorus, and outstanding Philippine Ambassador.
Endearingly called “Palitoy” by his first batch of Speech class in UP Cebu because of his small stature and he was chubby. Incidentally, he was called the same name by his relatives.
He was active in the choral movement of UP in Diliman (he was the president of the UP Concert Chorus). He finished AB in Mass Communication in UP Diliman and started his government service in UP Cebu serving in various capacities.
Vic organized the UP College Cebu Mixed Chorus in November 25, 1976 during the meeting of the UP Board of Regents and the UP Alumni Regional Institute at the Casino Español. The choral presentation of the UP Mixed Chorus was highly applauded and acclaimed by the audience from Manila and UP alumni members coming from the Visayas regions. (Morning Times, Jan. 8, 1977)
In December of the same year, the UP Mixed Chorus was officially formed with a few members of the faculty, mostly students and the staff. Then the grinding work followed with Vic taking charge of the rehearsals and the performance for the upcoming concerts and other public appearances while I took charge of the administrative and operational matters.
Orville Solon, one of the members of the Tenor section, best describes Vic Lecaros in a note for the Mixed Chorus album:
The lights overhead only give us a glimpse of the silhouetted audience as we pose for a choral formation. The crowd is silent in scrutiny.
After a few seconds the auditorium bursts into applause as the high spirited and spritely conductor sweeps the stage with a devilish grin towards his stand, VIC MONDRAGON LECAROS — the soul behind the wand.
On the concert floor, Vic is a paragon of intense concentration. As he breezes through every song with up and down beats; pitch signals, demands for volume and intensity, regulation of breath, don’t think he’s dancing, No. He’s simply in the trance of being involved with the music. He’s not totally surrealistic. As the reality of having amateur singers faces him, he greets each sheepish flaw with a bright white grin.
During rehearsals the print on his shirt is perfection. Vic combines modest compliments and blunt criticisms as he watches over entrances, unity, coordination — the fawcetts of art. As a few of us (choristers) annoy his patience with cheap humor, he displays the artist’s temperament (if there is such) tucked under his sleeve.
The morning after concerts reveals another Vic — the “Palitoy” in him. He becomes the thrill of the sopranos and joins us in the carefree and freebee atmosphere of a celebrated breakthrough of high notes, staggered breaths; the trials of every performer.
Vic is not just the sprite with his “wicked wand”, he’s an individual, serious, humorous, moody” — perhaps an artist. By the way — “you’re a half-tone flat.”
Vic stayed in UP Cebu from 1976 to 1978 for he pursued his Master in Philippine Studies in Asian Center, UP Diliman. He joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1980 immediately after finishing his MA in Philippine Studies.
His initial postings in the US, in Jakarta and in the home office in Manila in the early 1990s gave him the background and exposure as the Department of Foreign Affairs spokesperson. But it was in his Singapore post after the Flor Contemplacion execution, that he found his cause that – some 100,000 Filipinos of various occupations, mostly domestic helpers for whom he instituted innovations, amongst them a 24-hour Embassy “hotline” and expanded Sunday “Talakayan” sessions with disparate groups of Filipinos around the island republic.
His efforts were geared towards newer and more effective monitoring and protective mechanisms for Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW’s) that were attuned to the circumstances obtaining in Singapore.
These measures, devised by the Embassy during their watch, formed the bulk of the monitoring and protective mechanisms for workers with the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) standard contracts, an example that some of the other labor-source countries are emulating.
For his concern and efforts towards alleviating the plight of the Overseas Filipino Worker as an embassy spokesperson, the UP Alumni Association Cebu Chapter chose him as the 2003 Outstanding Alumnus in the field of foreign service during the Chapter Reunion on January 17, 2003 at the Montebello Garden Hotel.
The theme of this reunion was “Excellence and Honor Through Service.”
A music man and a diplomat, Vic’s inborn diplomacy and tact made the Mixed Chorus thrive despite the tensions in the campus.
Vic passed away on Easter Monday after battling with cancer of the blood. He was 66. Eternal rest grant unto him.
Thank you for the music, Vic, and for your strong advocacy for the plight of the Filipino overseas workers.