Requiem for Romy de Leon

It was all very strange that Romualdo "Romy" D.G. de Leon would insist on going down to the University of the Philippines Los Baños campus to meet Upsilon brods and a granddaughter last Saturday, the 24th of March, 2007. He gave away baskets of the famous Pangasinan mango which was harvested the day before the long trip in an Estrada van with his balae Mike Vargas and three assistants. The journey from Lingayen to Manila took five hours, then to Lipa, Batangas, where he chatted with his banker friend Carlos Cadiz, two hours, then to Los Baños, another two hours. The plan was for him to return to Lingayen the next day.

Romy had said many times in the past that he felt good visiting his alma mater. He obtained his BS in agriculture at the UPLB in 1955, and his masters in public administration at the UP Manila. Indeed, he seemed very happy that night, chatting and sharing jokes with friends even as he sat in his wheelchair (a diabetic, he had lost use of a leg a year ago). By 12 o’clock that night, March 24, he suffered a stroke, and was taken to the Los Baños Doctors Hospital. Yesterday, at 12 noon, March 26, 2007, he breathed his last. He was 73.

Many will mourn the death of Romualdo "Romy" D.G. de Leon, Upsilon Batch ’54, founding chair of the Rural Bank of Anda (Pangasinan) Inc. and its eight branches in Alaminos City and Lingayen, Pangasinan. He was fun to be with, generous with friends, a loving father to daughter Juris and her husband Rudy Vargas and son Jayvee and his wife Tess, and a doting grandfather to Judy, Nikki, Doris and Marcelino, Jemma Fe, Joselito, and Jess de Leon.

He was a very close friend and classmate of Saeed A. Daof, Batch ’52, and they reminisced over how "naughty" they were as students. Both of them had planned on going all over Pangasinan this week to campaign for AGHAM, a party list group working to promote science and technology in the next Congress. "I want AGHAM posters pasted all over Pangasinan," he told Saeed. "We need scientists, agriculturists, inventors, and information technologists in Congress to help speed up our country’s progress."

Details of Romy’s  interment in Lingayen will be announced shortly. For inquiries, call 075-5426575.

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Two 60-minute gospel-oriented telenovelas or dramas will be aired by GMA-7 April 5 and 6 as part of its Lenten Season programs. These films were produced by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) through My Hope Philippines.

"The Score" will be aired April 5, Maundy Thursday, at 7 p.m. This youth-oriented drama features Cogie Domingo, Rhian Ramos, Ehra Madrigal, and Ramon Christopher Gutierrez.

"Ang Kasagutan" will be aired April 6, Good Friday, at  7 p.m. This drama about love and forgiveness in the face of marital infidelity features Jean Garcia, Tonton Gutierrez, Cherry Pie Picache, Gardo Versoza and Mylene Dizon.

Messages by world-renowned evangelists Billy Graham and his son Franklin Graham are featured in the two films.

The films were first aired last December on local TV by QTV-11 and other channels and cable providers. The films were directed by Joel Lamangan. Churches nationwide used the films to conduct the Matthew and Friends evangelistic program to share the message to their neighbors, friends and relatives.

The shows were very fruitful, touching many lives and winning 525,000 souls for Christ when they were aired last December.

Among those whose lives were touched was a 69-year old lady viewer in Nueva Ecija who committed herself to the Matthew and Friends program, and won 60 souls for the Lord. A church in East Tagoloan doubled its membership from 200 to 400 through the same program, and a church in Ilocos Sur increased its membership to 2,000 so that even four worship services every Sunday were not enough to accommodate them all.

In Cebu, 79 children who cleaned tombs and sold candles, saw the movie The Score, and all of them accepted the Lord.

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Talking about films, there will be special screenings of Quezon City’s Most Gender-Sensitive Film Awardees at the SAAN-SM North Edsa the Block Cinema 2 & 3 on March 30.

Kasal, Kasali, Kasalo, the 2006 awardee, will be shown on Cinema 3 at 1 p.m., 5 p.m., and 9 p.m.

Aishite Imasu (awardee for 2004), will be screened at Cinema 2, at 11 a.m., 3 p.m., and 7 p.m.

Blue Moon (2005), will be at Cinema 2, at 1 p.m., 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. Homecoming will be at Cinema 3, at 11 a.m., 3 p.m., and 7 p.m.

There will be a 50-centavo discount on the tickets. In addition, the Quezon City Film Development Commission (which serves under Mayor Sonny Belmonte and Vice-Mayor Herbert Bautista), will hold an essay writing contest (under the English and Tagalog categories) on why the films to be screened are gender-sensitive. The grand prize winner will receive a cash prize of P10,000, and the runner-up, P5,000. For more details, contact 4330235.

My e-mail:dominimt2000@yahoo.com