The Cebu Society Page

On July 1963 my first column appeared in Pedro Calomadre's newspaper The Morning Times. The page was labeled "School & Society."

I was 21 and on my last year of Commerce - major in Accounting, at Colegio de San Jose - Recoletos. I contributed short stories, poems and a personality column to the school organ, Forward.

I was not the first male society columnist in Cebu. Before me there had been Salvador Sala who wrote for his family's Cebu Paper a society column with the pen name of Roper, which stood for Roving Periscope.

At that time society writers covered much ground. Aside from birthdays, weddings, baptismals and other parties we wrote about cultural presentations, fashion shows, and movie premieres which were fund raisers.

Society columns were outlawed when Martial Law was declared in September 1972. Mr. Calomadre told me to continue writing, focusing on culture. At that time I was president of the Arts Council.

As the years passed society columns were restored. In the 1980s I learned to use a camera and sent my photos to Manila for my Cebu column in People magazine.

In 1983 the Morning Times ceased publication and I shifted to the Republic News where I stayed until its closure in 1986. The Freeman accepted me to write about Art and Culture. In 1998 I moved to the newly opened Cebu Daily News where I wrote on varied topics for 20 years until its demise on December 2018.

For almost 56 years I have been writing about life in Cebu. Actually, I never felt comfortable being called a Lifestyle columnist. I started out as a Society columnist and I'm fine with that identity. It is not what one is called but what one delivers. I'll be 77 in August and though hampered by Parkinson's disease I still manage to pound on my battered typewriter. I'll eventually learn to encode my writings. Meanwhile, my daughter-in-law Charmaine provides the expertise.

So, what have we got here?

On Monday, January 28 at 1:30 PM there is a meeting of the Cebu City Cultural and Historical Affairs Commission at its office in the Rizal Library & Museum building. Vice Mayor Edgar Labella is the commission's chairman.

On the agenda is the final deliberation of nominees for Outstanding Individuals and Institutions to be awarded on Charter Day, February 24.

On Tuesday, January 29 from 6:30 to 8:30 PM Consul General Jia Li of the People's Republic of China hosts a formal reception at the Grand Ballroom of the Marco Polo Plaza Hotel.

The occasion is to celebrate the Chinese Spring Festival 2019. It also serves as a prelude to the Chinese New Year which starts next week on February 5.

The Year of the Earth Pig will be ushered in by the Marco Polo Plaza Hotel on Monday, February 4 at 6 PM at the lobby with the presence of Consul General Jia Li and the hotel's general manager Briah Connelly.

Next day, February 5 at 9:45 AM Consul General Jia Li is expected to be at the Shangri-la's Mactan Resort & Spa for the eye-dotting of the lion, a highlight of the Chinese New Year's ritual. Lunch follows at the resort's Chinese restaurant Tea of Spring.

LIBERA

The Arts Council's monthly board meeting will be held the evening of February 8 at the home of treasurer Elvira Luym in Maria Luisa Estate Park.

Top of the agenda is the forthcoming performance in Cebu of Libera on February 23 at 8 PM at the grand ballroom of the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel.

The London-based boys choir is internationally acclaimed for its angel voices and unique lighting. Tickets are available from SMTickets at PHP 3000, PHP 2000, PHP 1500 and PHP 800.

Libera's Poster from https://libera.org.uk showing the details of their forthcoming performance. Click the image to be directed to their website. Check the details of the performance here https://smtickets.com/events/view/7443.