Endings in graduations & beginnings in a new school (or working?) year

This week’s Bystander-ing takes up a lot of concerns from Thursday last week with our Zonta I General Membership Meeting at the Cebu Country Club. Belatedly, Zontian March birthday celebrants greeted with song, a candle-lighted cake and floral bouquets were Chabeng Garcia, March 9th; Tina Ebrada, March 13th; and Cely Chiongbian, March 24th.

After the usual business concerns on the agenda of the meeting, Zontian Dr. Mila Espina, of SpeechCom International, conducted an interesting seminar-workshop on the Zonta Brand of Leadership on self-enhancement, work ethics and teamwork. She spoke on intellectually sound creativeness, and professionalism par excellence. Think big and great concepts. It was a stimulating, inspiring activity enlightened with Mila’s sense of humor.

Zontian Felisa Chiongbian, founder of the Georich Livelihood and Scholarship Foundation, also announced that the Banilad Center for Professional Development, (BCPD), a TESDA accredited institution, is providing one or two-year courses in the field of Hotel Restaurant and Tourism services. BCPD is now offering summer classes for women in Basic Housekeeping and Basic Cooking & Basic Baking, starting April 25th through May 24th. Inquiries and applications are available at 491 Archbishop Reyes Avenue, Cebu City.

Important dates which we remembered in the last days of March were: March 20th, International Happiness Day; March 21st, Day of Forests, considering that Central Visayas forest cover is now only 50%, there is now a campaign to plant more mangroves, especially in the coastal barangays in southern Cebu; March 22nd, World Water Day with the theme, “Water & Energy”; March 25th, the Solemnity of both the Annunciation of the Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Incarnation of the Son of God; March 29th, the Earth Hour, observed by SM Malls in Cebu by a temporary switching off of lights at 8:30 – 9:30 PM.

About people and their names, as well as institutions currently in the news: Highly popular Pope Francis has recently been honored in the Philippines with the newly released Peso 40 Pope Francis stamp; and the University of Cebu (UC) has ranked 5th in the recently released results of the Narional Engineering Test, and 8th & 9th in the Teachers’ Test. Also at UC, UC Executive Candice Gotianuy has handed keys to a new Toyota Vios car to Manuel Sarausad for placing 6th in the 2013 Bar Examinations as well as to UC College of Law President Baldomero Estenzo and Family. Congratulations!

Summer has officially started, the advice is: drink water and bathe often. Problem is, there is now a scarcity of water in many places, specifically in our own Cebu. Meanwhile, the MCWD has shifted to surface water sources in Carmen and Danao.

Ironically, in the Fire Prevention month of March, there was that recent forest fire in mystic Mt. Banahaw. And fires continue to break out, not only in congested areas, but recently in commercial buildings as well!

Our current unusual summer heat, with varying weather and temperature situations in other parts of the world, brings to mind (again for this Bystander) former US VP Al Gore’s book, “An Inconvenient Truth” on global warming, due in part to human disregard and/o environmental misuse/abuse, which I chanced upon years ago in a bookstore in the States. Cynically disbelieved and poo-poohed then, it is a disturbingly stark reality now.

In also disturbing current events, the pork barrel scam and payoffs involving top political and government authorities and now, reportedly even broadcasters (!). And to date, that gradually unravelling Noel Archival ambush slaying. And internationally, the reported “end” of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight in the South Indian Ocean. What are we coming to?

Mention of that Malaysia Airlines flight brings to mind Cebu Daily News Heritage writer Trizer Mansueto’s remembrance of the fate of the plane carrying the late President Ramon (“The Guy”) Magsaysay and his party that went missing after receiving an honorary degree from the University of the Visayas, issuing a proclamation authorizing the sale of 1,000 hectares of the city’s friar lands and extended graduation speaking engagements in Cebu City 57 years ago. The plane was later discovered to have crashed in Mt. Manunggal in what use to be a part of Binaliw, Cebu City.

I was still working as a radio announcer/broadcaster at Station DYRC when President Magsaysay’s plane went missing. I remained on board at the station while our announcers/reporters and those of all the other Cebu radio stations were in the field looking for clues as to the disappearance. Then we received a phone call from Barangay Captain Nuyad who reported a plane crash in his area, which I aired immediately in a flash report. It turned out to be the plane carrying President Magsaysay. And the rest is history.

So for now and until next week then, may God continue to bless us, one and all!