Showing posts with label Albert Molina. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Albert Molina. Show all posts

PostHeaderIcon Ibalonians in Manila

7/15/2009 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post
July 10, 2009 Reunion

"We are all longing to go home to some place we have never been — a place half-remembered and half-envisioned we can only catch glimpses of from time to time.

Community. Somewhere, there are people to whom we can speak with passion without having the words catch in our throats. Somewhere a circle of hands will open to receive us, eyes will light up as we enter, voices will celebrate with us whenever we come into our own power.

Community means strength that joins our strength to do the work that needs to be done. Arms to hold us when we falter. A circle of healing. A circle of friends. Someplace where we can be free."---Starhawk


Sarah, the wife of Raul Redoblado (then, counterclockwise), Raul, Nanette (wife of Albert,) Albert Molina, Zards Colambo, Pete dela Cruz nakatayo, Liza Bernardo-Zurbito, sister ni Wilma, Wilma Silva-Nieto-Rojas, Cynthia "Cha" Macasinag, Robert Uy, Mel Magpantay, Gail Santelices, and Mel's husband


Cha Macasinag and Robert Uy


Arnel Astillero, Liza Bernardo-Zurbito and Pete Dela Cruz


Wilma's sister, Wilma and Cha Macasinag


Atty. Carmela Magpantay and husband

In a happy get-togeher in Manila, handsome and beautiful Ibalonians share their welcome, laughter and bonding, honoring the ebullient and highly esteemed Cynthia Macasinag.---Felizardo (Zards) Colambo (07/12/09) =0=

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PostHeaderIcon Zards: The Biggest Little Man of UP Ibalon

11/21/2008 | Posted by myty555 | Edit Post

I first heard about Zards from Susan Princesa when I followed her up in UP Rep where they were also org-mates. Of course, I have known Susan from her high school days being a favorite stude of my mother and being the sister of Grace, a close friend. Talking about Zards, she was bubbly and it helped formed in me a favorable impression of Zards whom I haven't met till that time.

I followed up Zards. I think we also hit off coz I warm up to persons who also warm up to me. But he had a problem then. Behn Cervantes was pressuring him too hard to wear an authentic bahag in a play where he would act as an Igorot, promising him a grade of "1.0" if he doesn't use an underwear during the play and threatening him with fire and thunder if he does.

He asked for my advice. Told him, "Follow him". He replied, "Paano kung tayuan ako sa stage?". And I had my laugh for the day. That was the start of our friendship.

No, he wasn't "Zards". He told me he is known as "Ely" in Naga and in high school (which he finished in Torres High in Manila). But he told me "Ely", as pronounced in Naga rhymes with "buli". Susan thought "Ely" sounded too soft so he rechristened Felizardo "Zards" in UP Rep. To Ely's consternation, it caught on and that became his calling card. Of course it will stick since the great Behn repeatedly called him "Zards".

"Metro Aide lang an ina ko". Kaya palan he was not too open in Ibalon on his origins.

Of course, early on, I caught that Zards have ambitions In Ibalon, during Boyo's rise. No, I did not strike it down. I was not the type na nang-i-small kan dudumanan nin tawo. My best friend then paid dearly for that mistake and he later became a non-entity.

I was not present when Zards became the president of Ibalon. I was in forced hibernation then, with free board and lodging.

Learned about the "War of the Roses" later, Part I. But it was just the story about the final rise of a former dinner-mate who regretted not taking my advice to shift to IE, Albert Molina.

I thought Zards could have been a "Godfather", like AM. But he miscalculated the endgame, and I told him about that later, sparking many midnight talks in his Makati office. However, he became University Councilor of the UP Student Council. After all, having Lean Alejandro as roommate does not hurt.

He founded the Bicol Students' Congress (BSC) and the Bicol Youth Forum (BYF). So for the first time UP Ibalon had projection outside the campus. Later the BYF withered. Might have been too unwieldy, for it included out-of-school youths and unless you have real community organizing it could be difficult. And he did not have real backing "upstairs". Hostile questions about his motives. Struck me that the one leading the hostile questions ay pareho lang nin ginikanan ki Zards. Later the BSC "disowned" him during the time of the Great Split.

He worked for Edgardo Angara when he became UP President. This elicited questions and jeers from some Ibalon quarters. From an activist to a functionary nga naman. He felt obliged to explain this to me. It didn't bother me. People move on and people have dual lives. I saw this even while I was in college. Seemingly "normal" people have different "careers" after office hours.

He taught at AMA after college. Later he worked at the TESDA. When the dictatorship was overthrown he thought of running for a provincial board seat in Catanduanes (he hailed from Pandan, the town where the dialect of northern Catanduanes, Bicol Pandan, was named). "Nasa Manila ka na babalik ka pa sa Catanduanes", his patron told him.

He was later active in the Sangguniang Kabataan movement where he met his Singaporean girl. They were able to have SK recognized in the new constitution. He was later rewarded for this with a youth-sector seat in Congress in the early '90s. Some ribbed him about his age. Known for his self-deprecating humor, he said his height helped him qualify.

In company with some Ibalonians I went to see the first Ibalon congressman. Always upfront with me, he said he worked real hard in the SK but he admitted that knowing the Senate President helped. That was where I met Juliet, his Ibalon sister who is working as his chief of staff. After his Congress stint he went back to his old patron and worked as his chief of staff which again drew jeers from some quarters.

It was then that I invited him to become a board member in the revived UP Ibalon Alumni Association. "Tatanggapin ba ako diyan?" He was hesitant because of the jeers.

Visiting him once, he was distraught. "Marhay ta nahiling ako ni Penny". Her mother who was Metro Aide was hit by a car while working at dawn and the driver didn't stop. She was brought to the charity ward of the PGH.

Later he became president of the UP Ibalon Alumni Association early in this decade. He was then working as VP at the AMA Educational System and at times functioning as the chief of staff of the owner. But his health was already beginning to deteriorate and he is holding a high-pressure job.

As the pointman of his boss he is often abroad. To rescue some hapless Pinoy OFW who got entangled because this is the role of his boss in this administration. But he doesn't want any credit, not even pictures.

Always a functionary. "Wala naman akong ibang paraan umasenso. Marami akong dapat tulungan".

"How did the play go?" "Di ko kaya. Nagsulot ako nin supporter."
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PostHeaderIcon With Angels Playing, Pitoy Moreno Recreates His Peñafrancia Fiesta in Naga

9/27/2008 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post


As the excitement of Penafrancia fiesta fades, we have something tantalizing to remember. To be part of the merriment blessed in heaven, in Calauag, Naga City, UP Ibalonian Pitoy Moreno aka Pitmo and his lovely wife Lala Espiritu-Moreno opened their warm and cozy home to friends.

The Morenos successfully pulled through with plenty of help from their two bubbly kids---Ira Nicole, the special 7-year old with a gift of gab who served as Pitoy’s most valuable receptionist. The cute little “miracle girl” whose heart condition called pulmonary stenosis seemed far away, was assisted by her older sister Gwyn Christianne.



The versatile duo wowed their guests with child tales and beautiful music to share. Brimming with earnestness and less-often seen bravado, the two lovely sisters had their musical instruments busy. Like pros from a concert stage, they played violin, marimba, bongus, and piano in front of their admiring guests.


In God’s grace and time, it was clear: the excellent food on the table was more than enough to savor and celebrate. Lala had all the herbs and essences all over the kitchen to add taste to the cuisine. It must be a creation of the true mother of the house from Nabua, Camarines Sur, whose people are well-known for their homestyle cooking, kindness, and hospitable nature.

If famous couturier Pitoy Moreno of Manila wove exquisite clothes which delighted the fashion sense in most of us, our own Pitoy, the civil engineer (with all the bells and whistles that go with it) gave true meaning to hospitality.

With his lovely and tireless wife, the good-humored supermom and entrepreneur from Rinconada, Pitoy was just the right guy to prove that friendships and good times do last---something he must have learned for spending time as OFW away from his loving family when he worked in Brunei, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and lately in far Kasakhstan.

Whether Ibalonians Imelda Caballes, Dan Daz, Benny Rayco, Annelee Badiola-Lojo, Mighty Baylon Jovy Mijares or Albert Molina, were present, it must be great to remember them all with Pitoy’s pretty angels who stood guard and played to bring out the zing for this year’s most memorable Penafrancia fiesta. =0=


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