It's chICA TIME!

MANILA, Philippines - As we look back, we will all agree that our grade school and high school days were the most fun and memorable parts of our lives. This was the inspiration of the ICA Watch by Swatch for Immaculate Conception Academy. The watch strap design printed on a silicone strap features grade school and high school ICAns — with their many different looks, different personalities and different backgrounds all bonded by the warmth and nurturing environment that ICA has provided.  

The commemorative ICA Watch by Swatch is Batch ’89’s way of saying thank you to its alma mater, which is celebrating its 75th Founding Anniversary as the first Catholic Chinese-Filipino School in the Philippines.   Proceeds from sales of the ICA Watch by Swatch will go to the beneficiaries of the ICA Scholarship Foundation.

ROBINA-GOKONGWEI-PE, COO, Robinsons Retail Group

Robina Gokongwei-Pe and Sr. Dina Ang, MIC at the launching of the commemorative ICA Watch by Swatch. ICA is celebrating its 75th founding anniversary as the first Catholic Chinese-Filipino school in the Philippines.

I will never forget two English teachers, Mrs. Fornoles in my freshman year and Ms. Molina in my junior year.  Mrs. Fornoles introduced Philippine literature in English to us, like Oli Impan, a play by Alberto Florentino, and “How My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife,” a short story by Manuel Arguella. She asked us to discuss the “SHE” in every story (“SHE” meaning “significant human experience”). For the longest time we analyzed stories by American authors in which students always brought apples and milk for merienda. Ms. Molina, on the other hand introduced us to Medea, a Greek tragedy by Euripedes. I thought I would never understand a thing but she made the play come alive. I remember one line particularly well (and if it is the wrong line, pardon me, as this was circa 1977): “Women of Corinth, lend me your ears!” I think she was telling us to do exactly that, and now I think it’s the same thing my classmates and I have to keep reminding our teenage children.  Anyway, ICAns always turn out to be good writers, thanks to our English teachers.

I think ICA was, and remains, the most cosmopolitan Chinese school (or should I say, most cosmopolitan school that teaches Chinese) in the country. It was easy for us to integrate into Philippine society, and one reason was that we already had Filipino classmates at that time. And some of them even had higher grades in Chinese than the Chinese themselves.

The Swatch reminds me of the bond among ICAns. It is an invisible bond that is hard to explain. It’s like if you see a stranger on the street and then find out she is ICAn, you start talking to each other like you have known each other for years.

LISA GOKONGWEI-CHENG, president of Summit Media

Fondest memories: I loved the ICA library. I borrowed and read all the Enid Blyton and C.S. Lewis books several times. It was definitely a well-stocked library.  I also enjoyed history class under Mrs. Liamson, English under Ms. Alias, and geometry class under Ms. Domingiano although I was bad in math. They were good teachers who held our attention. 

My ICA barkada is still very much intact. We still hang out at least once a month. These are friends who are with me through thick and thin, the best kind.

The ICA Swatch is very cute. ICAns love cute. I know many ICAns in their 30s and 40s who still collect stickers and stationery. This watch should be a hit.

ALEXANDRA RAMOS-PADILLA,general manager of The Ramp Crossings

My fondest memories of ICA are meeting my best friends. Our friendships have stood the test of time. We have gone through different stages of our lives together: college, grad school, living abroad, getting married and having kids. The ICA Swatch watch brings me back to a simpler time when all our dreams were possible.

DEBBIE N. TAN, special assistant to the president, Smart Communications, Inc. and Ateneo Blue Eagles “Team Mom.”

My fondest memories of ICA revolve around the sports I played in high school — it was then that I developed my love for sports that I carry to this day. I played volleyball, kickball and basketball and the friendships I formed with my teammates then continue to the present. The Swatch design reminds me so much of those happy, carefree days in ICA.

PINKY TOBIANO, CEO and founder of Qualibet (Quality is Better) Testing Services Inc, chemist, advocate and philanthropist, science consultant of ICA and board of director for UST College of Science

My fondest ICA moment is doing experiments in the chem lab. It creates a different paradigm of reality. The watch reminds me that science and time go hand in hand. The longer it takes, the more mature and ready we are in the most beautiful experiment of all: life.

SHEREE ROXAS-CHUA GOTUACO, CEO for Elite Garments, Freeway, Ensembles, and Solo lines of women’s clothing and batchmate Gigi Dy Sy, R & D for Sandy Corporation

When it is close to typhoon season, the sky is cloudy and the wind is blowing strong. It cools down the classroom! Plus having friends nearby during those times.

The ICA Swatch reminds me of little busybodies who all dress alike, almost look alike, but who all have such different personalities inside.

PAULINE SUACO-JUAN, editor-in-chief of Preview magazine and Style Bible

My fondest ICA moment: I’ll always treasure dismissal time with my barkada, the 13. Overloads of Clover (Bits Barbeque flavor), Snowie, pinipig-topped ice buko, and bananacle we hung out with while waiting for our sundo, sowing the seeds of friendship that have lasted till today.

ROXANNE ANG-FARILLAS, VP and creative head of Plains and Prints

The ICA Swatch reminds me of so many good memories in ICA. I reminisce about the fun times I had during the ICA fairs, graduation practices, prom, Days with the Lord, and group guidance, just to name a few. The friendships that were formed during those years is also something I will forever cherish. But there is one particular moment that I will never forget that helped me realize what my real dream was. When I was in third year high school, my English teacher, Ms. Jennifer Que, asked us to write an essay on how we might see ourselves 10 years later. I remember writing in my essay that 10 years from that day, I would be owning my own dress shop in Shoppesville Greenhills. True enough, in just less than 10 years, my dream came true. Not only did ICA help me realize what my goal in life was, ICA has even formed me into the person I am today.

Now that I have a daughter studying in ICA, I am sure she will have her own unforgettable memories in ICA. Hopefully, even better than what I experienced. I told her to keep the ICA Swatch for when she gets old. So that when she looks back, she will remember her fondest memories of ICA, the same way I remembered mine. Who knows? Maybe she can pass it on to her daughter someday.

DEBBIE PE-SY, executive director of SM Foundation

I am one of those strange girls who remembers the most minute details of anything and everything silly. The fondest memories I have of ICA were the overnight retreats we used to have. I remember the pranks, the baduy clothes we wore and the roomies. Pre-Facebook days, we were able to bond in the most primal way that kids nowadays would find too corny or uncool. Just pure unadulterated silly fun since we didn’t have much technology to distract us. We celebrated our homecoming in November 2009 and the value of putting effort and setting aside time in renewing ties that bind is what the ICA Swatch reminds me of. We were classmates by chance, not by choice — but it was in ICA where I found my lifelong sisterhood of sillies. Real friends are very rare… later, you discover so many girls who you didn’t think were cool back then and they turn out to be awesome “women for others”!

FLORABEL CO, chef patron — Florabel, Crisostomo, Felix, Market on 5th Avenue, Sweet Pea, Commons, Johnny Chow, Florings BBQ and Sumosam

I had a lot of fond memories at ICA. It is in ICA where I met most of my closest friends. It was also in ICA where I first practiced my business skills by selling the cookies, boat tarts and chocolate cakes that I baked to my classmates. I don’t remember encountering any school-related problems during my ICA days. I believe that the things I learned and the experiences I gained from being an ICAn molded me into the kind of person I am today. A person who is happy, content, confident and hardworking. 

DR. QUEENA N. LEE-CHUA, author of 20 books on mathematics, science and IT, ICA educational consultant, Ateneo professor, columnist for Working Mom magazine, TOYM and TOWN awardee.

The ICA Swatch reminds me of my grade school days, when we ran around and played everywhere, except near Mama Mary’s grotto, which was for us a sacred place. The statue of Mama Mary was pretty, and I think all of us wanted to be like her. She is the best role model for any ICAn. 

ICA has provided me with the intellectual foundation to confront and tackle life’s issues with confidence, and also the moral values to guide me when weighing important decisions.

KATHLEEN DY-GO, general manager of Universal Records Philippines

The ICA Swatch makes me proud to be an ICAn because it reminds me of the camaraderie and the friendships that I had when I was a student. The ICA image imprinted on the watch brings back my fond memories of my alma mater which I would like to pass on to my children. I strongly believe in the educational system of ICA. A huge factor in our successes, both in our professional and personal lives are due in a large part to the formative years we spent in ICA. We are inculcated with the value of perseverance, the ethics of fair play, and most importantly, a sense of being a person for others. I believe these qualities are essential to our being successful women.

STEPHANIE “STENIE” COYIUTO-TAY, managing director at Moroso and Philippine STAR columnist

I have two younger sisters — Sofia and Samantha — and all three of us went to ICA. So you can just imagine how many of our life stories revolve around our beloved alma mater! I remember fondly the times when my sisters and I would ride back home together from school and talk about our day. I love that the ICA Swatch watch has pictures of ICAns of different ages and expressions. It brings to light the emphasis that ICA places on building a tight-knit community. The close relationships I have built over time with my family and friends are in a huge part thanks to the culture we imbibed while studying in ICA.

SHELLANE B. DY, brand activation manager for Monde Nissin Corporation

I love the ICA Swatch because it is the best reflection of what an ICAn is — simple, yet fun. My fondest memories of ICA would be always arriving late with my hair wet; leading the flag ceremony for latecomers; being asked to the principal’s office to call my house to lower down the volume of the radio; eating lunch with my friends; singing Total Eclipse of the Heart while doing the doggy float during swimming class; when classes got dismissed early because of a typhoon; winning and losing in the intrams CAT Beat It; overnight recollections; the ICA fair; the teacher’s day MTV performance; prom disaster; chICAhan near the swimming pool area and in the corridors; and being part of the Pilot Batch of ICA’s Days with the Lord, among others.    

ICA will always be close (literally, as I lived across the school) to my heart as it has given me two things that I will forever cherish: the gift of lasting memories and the gift of friendship.