“Night High School Scholarship Project” Proposal

Dear Classmates and Friends,

We are writing to tell you about a scholarship project we are proposing under our officially SEC-registered organization “St. Dominic Academy Batch ’78 Alumni Association, Inc.”. This project benefits two (2) local underprivileged kids of Pulilan, Bulacan, by providing full financial support until they graduated from the Night High School program currently being offered at St. Dominic Academy (SDA).

Our goal is to fully-allocate at least Php350,000 covering all expenses for tuition fees, uniforms, books, transportation allowance, and other miscellaneous and incidental expenses for two (2) freshmen students for the next five (5) years. The estimated annual cost for each student is Php35,000.

The two (2) deserving students will be determined through initial recommendation from SDA Administration and upon further review, evaluation and final approval by selected members of our alumni association.

We are looking to get this proposed scholarship project implemented next school year 2010-11.

If you agree with the proposal, please fill out Voluntary Contribution Pledge form provided and submit to us by September 30, 2009.

Please note that ONLY after receiving a confirmation letter from us indicating that we have met our goal through all the voluntary contribution pledge forms submitted by the deadline that you may start sending your cash donations. You have from the date of the confirmation letter until December 30, 2009 to fulfill your choice of one-time donation, first quarterly donation or yearly voluntary donation. For monthly recurring contribution, you may start making your donations anytime after the confirmation date.

In the event we did not meet our financial goal of Php350,000 by September 30, 2009, a notification letter will be sent to all indicating the proposed scholarship project officially cancelled, all voluntary contribution pledge forms submitted considered null and void and pledge payment obligations specific to this proposed project is no longer required.

Please disregard this letter if you feel this scholarship project proposal does not suit your interest or you are not financially capable of making voluntary contributions to this effort.

Thank you for taking the time to read and consider this great opportunity to help. Please submit your Voluntary Contribution Pledge form as soon as possible.

The success of this proposed scholarship project depends on all of us.


Sincerely,

Edgardo David

cc: Current Incorporators/Trustees/Officers:
(Teodoro Angeles, Rowena C. Gonzales, Edith B. Leonardo, Marcelo Benito, & Eva Fajardo)

Certificate of Incorporation

Yes, classmates... We are now officially registered at Security & Exchange Commission (SEC).

Thanks to Eva F for working hard and diligently to make this happen. It’s no joke to prepare all the required administrative documents (by-laws, articles of incorporation, etc). She’s not only a woman of word but also a woman of action...she put the money where her mouth is.

I wish more people are like that. :-)

Yeah yeah...some of her words maybe too much to some people’s ear, kasi nga minsan mataray ang dating. But in spite of that I called weaknesses of her, her strengths shine all the time. We should really appreciate all the things she has done for the group. I couldn’t be happier working with her since our Grand Reunion.

Eva, will you marry me? hahahha

Anyway, enough of that praise! Baka lumaki ang ulo..hehehhe…

By the way, for the purpose of getting SEC-registered and eventually open a bank account we can all call our own, we asked some of your classmates to be Incoporators/Trustees/Officers. In the application we submitted and approved, the names of classmates Teddy A, Wena C, Edith B, Mar B, and Eva F appears on the documents. They were the ones who responded to Eva’s plead. Special kudos to them for their support, professionalism and understanding.

Sayang! I wanted to be included in the apps but unfortunately, I didn’t have the TIN required and my current citizenship was questioned. Hindi daw ako pinoy...in paper...hehehe

As you can see from the image(please click on it to get a full view), our official name is "St. Dominic Academy Batch ’78 Alumni Association, Inc”.
Yes, it would have been nice if the word “Pulilan” was inserted. We honestly tried to include it in the initial application as discussed in one of the meetings but admittedly we made a little “bubu” because the name we first submitted was “SDA Pulilan Batch ’78 Alumni Association, Inc”. The application was denied by SEC because the word “SDA” technically is not allowed.

Anyway, even without the word “Pulilan”, you can be sure no one else bears the same name we will start using from now on. There maybe a gazillion “St. Dominic Academy” in the world, but there’s only one registered at SEC..and that’s us!

Next step in our process is to open the bank account bearing that name. Eva & I have done some research to find out all the bank requirements to open the type of account we need for our purpose: an interest-bearing checking account for a non-profit organization like us, with online banking access.

So far we have contacted BDO, BPI, PNB, and MetroBank and found out the minimum initial deposit required is no less than 15K with same or more maintaining balance. Now, if you know any other bank that is better and favorable to us, please let us know.

Not that the minimum initial deposit matters because all the money we have now and in the future goes to the bank anyway. The maintaining balance is the one we need to keep an eye because banks tend to penalize accounts with less than the required amount. On top of that, any money left in the account will not earn interest at all. Now that’s a bummer!

You will all be notified once we establish our new bank account. I know you are all anxious to start sharing your wealth and be part of a good cause. :-)

Last Sunday homily, oh yes nagsisimba ako every week...the priest mentioned about a recent scientific study that money has everything to do with happiness….

...not in having plenty of them, but in a manner you are sharing them to others.

Hmmm…di kaya sinasabi nya lang yun para dagdagan namin ang ilalagay sa collection basket? Hehehe…

Think about that!

The Truth About "Truit"

Emmanuel N (aka "Truit") is one of the funniest guy I’ve ever met, just your regular guy during high school with a penchant for making silly jokes and harmless comments but it sure hell funny.

I remember him & I, along with Carlos T were once dubbed as "pugante" by our late Ms. Laniog for notoriously escaping the campus and skip class when there's an opportunity.

Moved forward to present and you’ll find the same funny guy but with a side of him you have not seen that is perhaps quite surprising to some.

I am told he’s now a symbol of a good family man with great culinary skills. He did all the cooking served to your classmates & friends in the recent gathering at his house for our May meeting while celebrating the local town fiesta as well.

One thing that baffles for the longest time is why he's called "Truit". I'm sure there's story behind that I am not aware of or I may have forgotten already.

Refresh my memory please?

“Night” or “Day”

To give you a better understanding of what providing FULL scholarship to a potential high school student entails, click the image below to see a full view comparison table of how much the estimated cost will be between the "night" school program and the regular "day" school.

Figures noted with * symbol means the information came directly from SDA Administration while figures noted with *** symbol means it’s only an approximation of the cost.With these estimated annual figures in mind (which I think is not too far from the actual, notwithstanding the inflation and all that jazz)...,

...do you think we are capable of pulling this off until the student graduate from High School?

This is a four or five-year commitment from all of us, depending on which option we choose. We haven’t really discussed about the idea of continuing it thru college but it’s something to keep in mind if we want the scholar(s) to pursue under the same sponsorships...ours.

Now, if we push through with this scholarship plan, I propose an initial funding (covering at least the first 2 years of school) already deposited into our bank account prior to the start of the intended school year. In other words, if we go the “night” route, I propose at least Php70K per student readily available by early next year. Similarly, if we choose to do the “day” route, Php120K is the minimum initial funding allocation per student.

What do you think?

We are looking to get this proposed scholarship program implemented starting next school year (2010-11). However, without your approval and of course financial support, this project is not going to materialize.

….and so I beg you...literally and figuratively! :-)

It is very important that we hear from you and share your cash, dinero, moolah, etc...oh yeah! I’m sure you’ve got comments, thoughts, ideas, questions too... whatever. :-) Post them here, even anonymously if you are shy about it. Just make sure you stick with the topic at hand and keeping it clean… or I’ll hunt you down with a vengeance. hehehe

Seriously, you may have some issues or even grievances or complaints...or you’re not happy about any aspects of our association. Don’t just keep it to yourself or to your few close selected classmates hoping they’ll sympathize with you and it gets resolve by itself. We can talk about all that with an open mind. Email me if you prefer...please Luis?

Thanks and hope to hear from all of you...soon!
________________________________________________

Side Note: For this school year 2009-10, we have already committed Php5K to SDA for school uniforms to incoming new students of the Night School program. (as agreed during our last meeting in April 2009)

Bohol

Welcome to...
I wish I could buy THAT tiny island...:-)Life would be good if I did...hehehe
Man-made forest...River-cruise entertainment...Reminds me of my younger years...Fly free...

May 15th Dinner Meeting

Everyone is invited to a dinner meeting on May 15th, 2009 at Truit's (Noel N) place. This coincides with the annual San Isidro Labrador parish town fiesta and also to celebrate alumni birthday babies for the month of May.

Kwento ng Batad/Sagada (Part Two)

Nakita agad namin yung Residential Lodge ni Mama Mary sa Sagada. Very kulay-ful eh! Maganda at malapit sa lahat, may hot water pa! Sama-sama na lang kaming lima sa isang kwarto…patong-patong...not! hehehe...Php200 a night!

Nag-lunch kami sa Yoghurt House…da best-est! Oks ang food and atmosphere ng place…di ka mapapahiya kung may ka-date ka! Tapos lakad-lakad after lunch. Syempre, may kodakang kasama!

Punta sa munisipyo para mag-inquire about caving. Nag-register din kami para sure na ma-identify ang body...hehehe… Si Eva, nagpa-iwan na sa labas ng kweba kasi mahal pa daw nya sarili nya! Hintayin na lang daw nya kami kung makakalabas pa kami ng buhay :-)

After a short rest, spelunking na! Sinilip muna namin yung hanging coffins. Umuulan na ng makarating kami sa entrance ng kweba. Ang super dilim! Nakakatakot sa umpisa pero pag andun ka na sa kaloob-looban at nahawakan mo na ang dumi ng mga bats, mawawala na ang takot kasi baho na ang nasa isip at ilong mo! Hahaha….pero mahuhugasan naman sa malamig at malinaw na tubig na palagi mong lulusungan.

Exciting ang caving! Lalo na pag nakita mo na yung mga ibat-ibang rock formations. Just use your imagination ika nga! Check out the pics and see for yourself…tapos kalog pa yung guide namin! Pinagapang ba naman kasi sa pagitan ng dalawang bato na may tubig pa. Yun pala may mas madaling daan papunta sa kabila!

May parte pa na aakyat kami gamit ang lubid na pag-nakabitaw ka ay tubig ang babagsakan na malalim daw sabi ni guide. Sa awa ni Bathala, dalawang beses nahulog yung isang kasamahan namin. Ayun, buhay pa naman kasi di naman pala malalim yung tubig. Hanggang waist lang! Loko talaga ‘tong si Satur guide!

Mga 2 hours din kaming nawala sa sarili! Nasa loob kasi kami ng kweba na super ang ganda! Wag kayong magugulat kung mapanood nyo kami sa Kapamilya station. Na-interview pa kasi yung dalawang kasama naming sa gitna ng aming spelunking.

Natapos ang caving na hindi naman masyadong madugo! Konting galos lang sa tuhod ang natamo at konting baho..hehehe. Masayang-masaya kami pabalik sa lodge para mag-shower kasi na-conquer naming ang mahiwagang kweba. Syempre pa, dinner kami sa fav restau. Sarap talaga lalo na yung famous yoghurt na may banana. Nag-SanMig kami after dinner. Isang bote lang..pampa-antok!

Tulog pa ang mga anghel at madre ng gumising ako at maglakad sa kalye dala ko ang aking camera. Napasok ko yung magandang simbahan! Nakipag-kwentuhan din ako sa mga ale na nagtitinda ng suman. Lakad-lakad lang kung saan saan…exercise na rin!

Pagbalik ko sa lodge, gising na ang mga anghel…nakapaligo at ready na mag-lakwatsa! Kaso alanganin ng magpunta sa Bomod-ok Falls na gusto kong makita sana so nag-desisyon na lang kaming sumakay ng bus after breakfast papuntang Baguio. Dun kami dadaan pabalik sa Pulilan.

Takbo ang bus sa Helsema Highway. Spectacular views! Yan ang road project ni GMA na bibisitahin nya kasama yung bumagsak na chopper. Ok na ok pag natapos yan. Mas magiging madali ang byaheng Baguio/Sagada. Walang AC ang bus pero ok lang, di naman mainit kasi bundok. Kain ng balut along the way…pampalakas ng tuhod!

Nakarating kami sa Baguio after 6hours yata. Nagpa-book agad ng byaheng Maynila. Super deluxe ang sinakyan namin. Non-stop na, may pa-meryenda pa! Apat na oras at kalahati nasa Pasay ka. 2 seats on the left side, single seat sa right side! May CR, pwede ka pang humiga kung inaantok. First time kong nasakay sa ganung bus dito sa ‘pinas. Extra-special! Php700 ang bus fare. Soooo relaxing naman ang byahe.

Dito natatapos ang kwento ko ng 3days2nights na di malilimutan sa Batad at Sagada. Sayang, di kayo kasama! Pero di bale, enjoy nyo na lang ang mga pics. Ma-feel nyo rin ang adventure namin. Siguro sa susunod, kasama na kayo. You will not regret it…I promise!

Sagada Pics

Our fav restau...
...interesting rock formations...
...just a friendly reminder...
...follow the light...
...dung!
...use your imagination...
What? You want us to go down there???
...feels good conquering this cave...
...Yes, feel life!

Kwento ng Batad/Sagada (Part One)

10:30 ng gabi ng umalis kami puntang Banaue from Manila sakay ng Florida bus. Namputsa!... Tama ang nabasa ko sa mga blogs, para kaming isdang binebyahe papuntang palengke…frozen! Sobrang lamig sa loob ng bus. Merong di nakatulog pero ako naghihilik pa daw sabi ng katabi ko! May dala kasi akong blanket at pagod pa kasi kabababa lang eroplano ko galing LA, jetlag pa!

Medyo sumisikat na ang araw ng magising ako pero mas minabuti ko pang ipikit na ulit ang mata ko kasi para akong hinihila sa mga bangin na nakikita ko habang tumatakbo ang bus. Bilib ako sa driver, walang kahulog-hulog, nakarating kami sa Banaue saktong alas syete ng umaga, buhay pa! hehehe

Pagdating sa bus stop, hanap kami sasakyan papuntang “Saddle” kung saan magsisimula ang aming penitensya..maglalakad kami ng mga isang oras para marating yung Batad Village. Dun mo makikita ang pinakamagandang hayop err rice terraces pala...sa balat ng lupa.

Sa wakas, natapos din ang negosasyon sa bayad sa sasakyan namin. Php2500. May kasabay kaming mga kastilaloy. Malas naman, poquito lang ang alam kong espanyol. Sila naman walang alam na ingles..lalo na tagalog..So, senyasan na lang kaming mag-usap! Hati sa bayad. dibay dibay yung Php2500 sa siyam. 4 na kastila, 5 ang pinoy. Lamang kami kung sinubukan nilang sakupin ulit ang 'pinas...hehehe

9AM ng mag-umpisa kaming mag-trekking kasama yung nephew nung may-ari ng tutuluyan naming inn, Hillside. Alam nya na darating kami kaya inabangan na kami sa “Saddle”. Di naman nakakapagod ang maglakad, ganda view eh tapos masaya pa! Dapat lang talaga wala kang masyadong dala para mas mabilis ang lakad. Eh si Eva ang daming bilbil na dala. Ako naman beer belly ko ayaw paiwan! Yung tatlong bagets na kasama namin, ang bilis maglakad!

Ay sa wakas, narating din naming ang inn ni Aling Maya. Gutom na kaya paluto agad ng tinolang manok at konting pahinga bago tahakin ang Tappiya Falls. Mga isang oras na lakarin na naman yun! Madali lang naman kasi pababa at dadaan ka sa rice terraces mismo. Nakita mo ba sa pics? Ang taas ng waterfalls, naligo kami! Sarap ng tubig eh tapos ang dami pang forein-ger, naliligo din na naka-2 piece pa!

Eto na ang masakit Kuya Eddie! Ang pabalik. Kasi pa-akyat! Di ko matandaan kung ilanmpung beses kong isinumpa kunwari! Hahaha…isang malaking pagsubok talaga! Itanong mo kay Eva. Mahigit 2 hours din kami bago kami nakabalik sa inn. Lahat ng makasalubong namin, laging tanong, malapit na ba ang falls? I-isa lang naman ang sagot naming…Oo, malapit na! Pero iba ang ibig sabihin. Malapit na kaming tumawag ng ambulansya sa sobrang pagod. Halos gumapang na kami eh…hehehe Tapos biglang may sumabog! Sabi nung tour guide namin, dynamite daw sa mining. Ahhh ok!

Yun ang akala namin! Natatandaan nyo ba yung advance team ni Ate Glo Arroyo na papunta sa Benguet yata? Yun pala, may helicopter na bumagsak..sila yun! Nabasa ko na lang sa dyaryo pagdating ng Maynila. Maraming nalungkot kasi patay lahat pero marami din ang naghinayang kasi di nakasama si GMA..hehehe…joke lang!

After waterfalls, relax na lang kami sa Inn. Konting inuman, konting gitarahan at kantahan, tapos tulugan na! Maaga kasi ang gising pabalik sa “Saddle”. Punta naman kami sa Sagada kinabukasan para silipin ang hanging coffins and do spelunking, bisitahin ang kweba.

Umuusok na naman ang negosasyon sa transportation. 3 hours din papuntang Sagada by jeep. Nag-hire kami private jeepney. Php1500 papuntang Banaue galing ng “Saddle” ..tapos another Php3000 pa-Sagada naman. Oooppss! muntik ng makalimutang bayaran yung tour guide namin. Php1200! Nakarating kami ng Sagada ng maayos after nearly 4hours. Para kang idinuduyan habang pinanonod ang mga tanawin! Sarap talaga ng byahe!

Itutuloy……

Rice Rice Baby (Photos)

This is how some crazy tourists roll...
...while the locals walk...
...and walk...
...or rideshare...
...cross bridges...
...hike down for hours...
...to reach this spectacular waterfall...
...and swim in cold water used as fridge to cool down drinks...
...but it's all worth it...
...just make sure you obey your thirst...
...and not forget to refill...
...and register to make sure your body is accounted for..just in case hehehe..
..ahh breakfast of champions....
...celebrity sightings???
...yes...obey your thirst??
..there it is....
rice...
rice...
...baby!
...that's me in the corner...
...morning coffee while enjoying the view...
..planting rice is never fun...
...this bug didn't survive...
...we did!
...the famous rice terraces.