Congratulations to the Colegio de la Inmaculada Concepcion and the CIC Alumni Association for presenting the famous Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical play "Flower Drum Song" which is a story based from the novel of the same title by author C.Y. Lee which became a Broadway production in 1951. I confess to being a Broadway Musical fan when we were in New York City. We saw the musical now turned into a movie "The Jersey Boys" and for the third time I saw "The Phantom of the Opera."
I submit that in the days of Suor Paz, Inmaculada always featured great Broadway musicals and the best of the best were done by our good friend, Benjie Diola. I will never forget the plays that Inmaculada presented in my youth, the King and I, Sound of Music and Andrew Lloyd Webber's Jesus Christ Superstar. In fact when I went to New York for the first time in 1971, I also watched this musical in Broadway and yes, Benjie Diola's adaptation of the 39-lashes was superior to Broadway in the sense that Benjie used strobe lights, which was a new technology then.
I submit that I got my first taste of culture from watching those Broadway shows in Inmaculada. While my wife Jessica is an Inmaculadista, I actually met her in USC during our college days. But the friends we met last Sunday evening were all in concurrence that in bringing back Broadway musicals in Inmaculada, they will certainly get the full support of the Cebuano people.
As for the cast, kudos to Marian Grace Fajardo who played Mei Li, Ivy Melody Gallur who portrayed Linda Low, Gerard Gabuya who played Sammy Fong, Luke Bascara as Dr. Li, Kenneth Acap as Wang Chi Yang, Jherianne Cabasag as Helen Chao, Kimberly Aliño as Madam Liang/Fong and Gabriel Gomez as Wang Ta. Frankly speaking, these people are not really known in the musical world but they were just as good as those actors and actresses at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.
Of course times have indeed changed at the Inmaculada. The girl who sang the prayer had a dress above her knee, which could get her in trouble in the old days, and yes, during the 10-minute intermission, lechon with puso were served, which made the P500 ticket more than worth it. We encourage the CIC Sisters and the Alumni to continue with this endeavor for such activities have a huge cultural impact here in Cebu. Once again, congratulations to CIC and it's alumni for this great musical comeback for CIC.
***
So far there has been no lead in the bombing of a bus in Maramag, Bukidnon that killed 11 people and wounded 17 others near the Mindanao State University - Bukidnon Campus. Police investigators are still puzzled as to who planted the bomb on board the bus. Then there was this ambush of lone district Rep. Vicente Belmonte, Jr. as he got out of the Laguindingan Airport in Misamis Oriental last Thursday afternoon. His four companions, two bodyguards and two drivers were killed, while Belmonte was wounded.
The latest report on this ambuscade came from Supt. Bernardo Mendoza, spokesman for the Northern Mindanao Police District, who said that a certain Dominadao Sumanduran Tumala of Laguindingan was arrested for the crime. Tumala was tagged as a former New People's Army rebel and later joined the CAFGU and became an assassin for hire. There is no doubt that Mindanao never had a moment of peace. Lawlessness is the norm, rather than the exception and unfortunately the Aquino regime is hard pressed to solve the peace and order problem in Mindanao.
This was the subject of an editorial in The Philippine Star yesterday entitled "The Cost of Lawlessness." It tells us the story of Delinanas Development Corp. a subsidiary of Del Monte Fresh Produce Philippines that opened a 550 hectare banana plantation in Maguindanao, whose aim is to harvest some two million boxes of Cavendish bananas for export and thus give jobs to this very poor province in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. But instead of expanding, DDC is planning to shutdown its operation in Maguindanao.
Apparently some gunmen ambushed a convoy of DDC executives wounding its Chief Security Officer. Then another group of masked men cut down hundreds of banana trees. Last July in another DDC plantation in Tulunan, North Cotabato, gunmen torched two backhoes in what probers believe is an apparent extortion attempt. Come now, do you want to include the Bangsamoro Basic Law into this equation? When I was in Davao two weeks ago to attend the National Transformation Council Eid Kabalu warned me of more violence if the BBL will be passed.
Poor Mindanao!