Tribute to ex-presidents

Nostalgia was the dominant feeling among the former presidents of the Bacolod Capitol Lions Club last Tuesday. The reason was simple. They only felt saddened by the many who were absent, but also they were touched by the tribute paid them by the members, paced by president Mel Tan. The latter is the widow of the late former president William Tan. That was the first and unprecedented event launched by the Bacolod Capitol Lions Club. And it earned praise from former District Governor Felipe Lim who said he will ask his own club - the Fort San Pedro Lions Club of Iloilo - to emulate it.

Actually, that affair had long been planned by the Bacolod Capitol. But always in the past there were intervening reasons why it never bore fruit. Until last Tuesday.

I must confess that as charter president, I was the one most elated by the club tribute. Although, I must admit that as such, the charter president is hardly ever forgotten in official celebrations or functions. He is always, as insisted by Bacolod City charter president Santi Alacapa, the charter president must always be honored by the club. He sits at the presidential table and is always acknowledged by the emcees as such.

Thus, for me, that tribute should not have fired up my spirit. But one must admit that there was something to it that buoyed up my soul. Perhaps it was because that affair meant that we all traced back the history of the club from its very beginning and now, despite the passage of 30 years, it remains vibrant and dynamic.

Actually, the two leading officers, Pons Manayon and Noring Tonogbanua, will have to be credited with having exerted the necessary effort to have it pushed to fruition.

The surprise of the evening was the appearance of former president Hernanie "Nanny" Maglupay, the fourth president of the club in 1977-78. Maglupay is now a member of the Mt. Kanlandog Lions Club. But he had intimated a desire to rejoin the Bacolod Capitol.

The invitation to "return" was officially extended to him by former Gov. Lim, who echoed the call by the former presidents of the Bacolod Capitol.

When I reviewed the list of surviving officers, I could not but felt sadness at the many who had gone ahead of us. For example, my two immediate successors - Rodolfo Magbanua and Oscar Villanueva had all gone ahead. So with my wife, Nene, the first lady president of the Bacolod Capitol. The only thing that comforts me is to see the picture of their oath-taking and induction of officers. Yes, we also enjoyed the fact that we have a three-in-one president. Pons Manayon had served three terms, although both Noring and I had served twice.

Not only that, we also had the reputation of having three persons discharge the functions of the presidency in a year. First, until last year, the duly-elected president was Mila del Castillo. But she was felled by a stroke shortly before she could take her oath. Thus, it was my brother, Bert, who was sworn into office.

And, during his last month in office, Bert, who had to go back to the US, turned over the presidency to Biong Marañon. Thus, we had three presidents in one year.

We really missed Ben Derrama, Rudy Ledesma, Ciro "Cham" King, Rene Cagayanan, Cuenca, Gons Alquizar, Luis Ng and William Tan.

But the roster still drew to the affair some of the surviving former presidents. Among these were Rubin Tan, Ely Solas, Vic Tiu, Steve Po, Alfonso "Pontit" Gamboa, Rebecca Ramos, Joules Villanueva and Cornelio "Kays" Slinkert.

There was a lot of laughter. As when Rubin, for example, pointed out that failing eyesight was what often keeps him away from club meetings. And, of course there were times when Ely said he could hardly believe that "a man of a few words like him" ended up in the forefront of a bunch of activist Lions like Bacolod Capitol. It was during his term that the big flood of typhoon Senyang caused the Ilog-Hiliangan River to overflow its banks and devastate the lowlands areas of Kabankalan City and Ilog. As a matter of fact, together with members of the Bacolod City Lions Club, we had to retrieve some of the dead and decomposing bodies from the muck left behind by Senyang.

Johnny Chua had promised to attend the affair but was held up by circumstances beyond his control. On the other hand, Fernando (Nanding) Go sent us his felicitation message from his place in Manila. And Bert, my younger brother, of course, sent his best wishes and his continuing pledge of loyalty to Bacolod Capitol plus his usual donation for club projects.

Past Gov. Lim pointed out that we need not be ashamed of remaining a small club but with a consistent record of impressive projects that impact on the lives of recipients.

"We have a lot of weaknesses, including lack of heights," pointed out PDG Lim. But we can turn it into an advantage. As in the my case, he added, instead of standing at a rostrum, I just grab a microphone and talk to the audience in their midst. That makes it easier for him to establish rapport with the listeners, Jim pointed out.

Sometimes, one must admit that it is a subject worth writing about. Not because it is really important, but because it makes us aware of how simple gestures as acknowledging what our predecessors and our parents had done for us during their lifetime makes life worth living and enjoyable.*

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