ON May 1994 Cecilia and I together with Rosario Muñoz went to Manila for the inauguration of Instituto Cervantes, located at Leon Guinto corner Estrada in Malate. It was right in front of St. Scholastica’s College. It brought me back memories of when we lived there, the street being called Pennsylvania at that time, in 1951 and 1952.
Guest of honor was Her Royal Highness the Infanta Elena, eldest daughter of King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia of Spain, and second in line to the throne after her brother Don Felipe Prince of Asturias.
The Infanta was tall and slim, and everyone noticed she looked better in person than in the photos published in the press. We had the opportunity to talk to her and tell her about Cebu, how important it was for Spanish history.
Next day there was a large reception hosted by Spanish Ambassador Herminio Morales and his wife Maria Dolores at the embassy residence in Forbes Park for the Spanish community to meet the Infanta.
We brought several bags filled with Cebu dried mangoes and gave them to the kitchen staff, perchance to be included in the buffet. The Infanta moved about greeting everyone and acceeding to be photographed except when she was drinking (a diet cola) or earting.
Among the Cebuanos present were Ingrid Sala Santamaria, Maia Franco, Chinggay Utzurrum and Nelia Neri. I spotted Georgina Padilla y Zobel de Mac-Crohon.
“Hello, remember me?” I greeted her.
“The voice is familiar,” she answered, and then I told her to recall the summer of 1959, a good 35 years ago, at the home of Javier Ortoll, my best friend in high school. I had lost most of the thick blonde hair I had then. Of course, I looked different.
“We must not lose contact,” she said, and we exchanged addresses and telephone numbers. Most of the time she lived in Madrid, and in San Sebastian during the summer season. She sent me an invitation to the next awarding ceremonies of the Premio Zobel.
Many of the guests at the reception for the Infanta left at 7 p.m. and went to the Meralco theater where the Infanta would attend the performance by Philippine
Ballet Theatre of Manuel de Fallas’s El Amor Brujo,” choreographed by Eric V. Cruz. Minnie Osmeña sat in the same row as the Infanta.
Other activities filled up the Infanta’s agenda, including a trip to Boracay. Our dried mangoes from Cebu were included in one of the picnic hampers prepared by the ambassador’s staff. “She liked them very much,” Consul Jose Ricardo Gomez – Acebo told me a few days later.
I returned to Cebu to face the problem of the Spaniard detained at the Lapu-lapu City Jail, for possession of drugs and trying to give himself a fix of shabu on board a plane before departure. He was not in luck as the judge assigned to his case went on vacation.
I contacted my good friend, lawyer Alice Canonoy Morada, who found an efficient and effective solution to the problem. The Spaniard was convicted of the charges and subsequently deported.
Ambassador Morales was very impressed and asked me how much I had spent. I told him that I was not expecting to be refunded. It was enough reward to be rid of the problem. Not bad for a neophyre honorary consul.
Since 1991 the Salvador and Pilar Sala Foundation led by Ingrid Sala Santamaria and her sister in law Susan Montenegro Sala had embarked on ten-year musical development program. The result was the Cebu Youth Symphony Orchestra (CYSO) which in 1994 was a little over a year old.
The CYSO activities gave Cebu its golden era of music. Cebu’s music lovers were treated to to various concerts and recitals held at the Sala ancestral home in Gorordo Avenue, school auditorium, SM City Cebu, or at hotel ballroom and/or lobbies.
Noted artists, some of them well known in the international scene came to Cebu to conduct seminars or workshops. One such was the famous conductor Yaakov Bergman who was well known for his interpretation of Mozart’s compositions.
Ingrid was able to invite him to Cebu in July and he acceded with pleasure. For the concert of the CYSO he arranged the Philippine national anthem as if it had been a work of Mozart. The audience swooned when it opened the program.
I was sitting next to Ingrid on front row and as the CYSO played I was impressed at how the group sounded. I had never heard them play so well, and neither had Ingrid, who realized that the orchestra members were reacting to the brilliant conducting of Yaakov Bergman.
It all had to do with the training the CYSO had been receiving through Ingrid’s efforts. She whispered to me,” You know, they are ahead of us.” From then on we knew we had a great potential in the CYSO.
In August 1994 the Arts Council presented the full length ballet “Giselle” for the first time in Cebu, performed by Ballet Philippines. It was held at the cultural center of the University of San Carlos.
The venue was not enclosed and birds flew in and out during the daytime. At night, the bats who made it their home, also flew in and out. That gave the first act of “Giselle” a surreal quality, and more so to the second act which is set in a graveyard.
In September the Arts Council brought back famous pianist Cecile Licad for a recital at the ballroom of the Cebu Plaza Hotel (now the Marco Polo Plaza). It was a full house, and thus a monumental success, although there are some who will says that Miss Licad is over rated, Be that as it may, the Arts Council led by Maia Franco, scored quite a hit.
For the first time in my life, and at the age of 52, I appeared in a fashion show as a model, when the Sarabia Optical was inaugurated at SM City Cebu. I had to wear a tuxedo which I had just ordered from Infini for a Chaine des Rotisseurs gala.
All I had to do was pace the area several times, wearing different pairs of eyeglasses. Modelling, too, were Mayen Tan who had organized the event, Mariecor Salas Ding, and Bunny Pages.
I have been described as portly, which is a tactful reference to obesity, but I must say that I looked good in my tuxedo. To achieve the effect when I had my measurements taken I striped down to my underwear and told the tailor to use his tape measure.
The year 1994 ended on a sad note. The extension of the Spanish Embassy’s Centro Cultural was shut down. The functions of such centers had been taken up the newly established Instituto Cervantes which required a certain equipment and a very skilled staff.
But the classes in the Spanish language continued, back at the Casino Español de Cebu. Rosario Muñoz and the rest of the teachers under the aegis of Amigos de España, formed a group which functioned satisfactorily.
On a happy note there was the grand opening of Ayala Center Cebu. I was one of those asked to cut a ribbon at Ayala Metro department store and supermarket, by Grace Rosal who was taking care of their public relations.
Cecilia had spend several months dieting and lost 55 pounds. She looked great, or rather slim, and Mrs. Lulu Cuna of Rustan’s thought she’d be good as a model, along with Amparito Lhuillier, focusing on their ready to wear collection with the Oleg Cassini brand.
The photo coverage would appear in the pages of the Freeman’s lifestyle section, “Glitz & Guts.” The pity was that the pictures, then in black and white, did not come out sharp enough to do credit to the wardrobe.