Dr. Barba's 50th Class Anniversary

It took almost a year for Dr. Jose “Bebe” Barba to organize the golden anniversary celebration of his elementary class of 1959. When he graduated, he was top of his class at Toledo Central Elementary School. His parents, the late Mayor and Mrs. Marcelo Barba pinned the gold medal on him during his graduation.

In December of 2007, Dr. Barba came and met with some of his classmates and only very few were found living in far flung areas of Toledo. So they decided to include in their forthcoming anniversary the rest of the three sections for that year 1959.

To make the celebration meaningful and memorable, Dr. Barba (the most successful in their batch) hired a special tailor who would make barong Tagalogs in gold for the men and golden-inspired ternos for the women.

On the night of the affair held at the Grand Convention Center, Dr. Barba hosted dinner. He hired two aircon buses to bring the alumni from Toledo to Cebu and back. A versatile gentleman, Dr. Barba who hosted the program, gave diplomas to all 60 or so alumni (only those who are still alive), crowned the Golden King and Queen, rewarded them at P10,000 each, and led in the ballroom dancing till midnight.

For Dr. Jose “Bebe” Barba, seeing his former classmates from the elementary grades in Toledo 50 years ago was a “mission accomplished!”

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One Visayas is now ongoing at CICC. In a press conference held at the Session Hall of the Provincial Capitol, Governor Gwen Garcia revealed all that will be featured in the first ever “One Visayas” expo which started last Monday, March 1 at the CICC. On opening day, a Eucharistic Mass was celebrated and was followed by a ribbon-cutting ceremony headed by Gov. Gwen Garcia, Gov. Sally Perez and Gov. Sarmiento with special guest of honor, Tourism Secretary Joseph “Ace” Durano.

During the presscon, Gov. Gwen Garcia of the host Province of Cebu said: “One Visayas, One People, One Destiny” is the first historic activity that will unite all the provinces in the Visayas.

Since the “One Visayas” started last Monday, exhibitions of the different products from the different provinces are ongoing for all to see, plus art and cultural presentations.

The event will be until Sunday, March 8. Please come and see this once-in-a-lifetime happening. For all we know, this will, or may not be repeated until 10 years from now. So drop by at the Cebu International Convention Center and enjoy seeing the exhibitors of Regions 6, 7, and 8.