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Archive for the ‘People / Famous Kagay-anons’ Category
Thursday, August 19th, 2010
Carlo Lastimosa comes from a family of basketball players, son to former Cebu team Mama’s Love player Danny Lastimosa and nephew to the Philippine Basketball Association’s three-time Mythical Team awardee, Jojo Lastimosa.
It was only natural then that the younger Lastimosa started playing basketball at the young age of five in their family’s residence in the city of Cagayan de Oro.
Watching his uncle Jolas play in professional basketball may have been a very big influence for Carlos to opt to make a career out of the sport later on and develop an ambition of following his uncle’s footsteps by making it good in the PBA someday.
It goes without saying that sharing the same last name with a legendary uncle, in the same field nonetheless, would almost always lead to inevitable expectations from everyone for you to live up to that said legacy. Awareness of that fact doesn’t seem to bother the 6’2 shooting guard at all, who seems to have done both a good start and a good job at keeping the pace by recently being a crowd favorite and winning the NCAA’s Rookie of the Year award this year while playing for team Benilde Blazers.
He is fully aware that being compared to his uncle is one thing, and making a name for himself is another. After all, he didn’t start as a fairly known player of national television’s NCAA.
When he was young, he joined a MILO Best Training Center courtesy of his father. He then joined the varsity team of Xavier University-Ateneo de Cagayan during his high school years, where he quickly became a subject of interest in the local basketball scene. He eventually participated in the Jesuits Athletic Meet, a basketball event between different Philippine Jesuit schools, back in 2007. It was then that Ateneo de Manila Blue Eagles’ coaching team, led by its head coach Norman Black, saw his potential and asked him to play for their school. However, things didn’t go as planned for the then 16-year-old, encountering problems of adjusting to the sudden changes while in Ateneo. He eventually decided to take up Hotel and Restaurant Management at De La Salle-College of San Benilde, which proved to be a good career move since it was where he found his way to the NCAA.
-Kristof Tiongson-
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Friday, June 18th, 2010
I bet you didn’t know half as much celebrity and famous Kagay-anons as this list shows you! By Melissa Angela C. Fernando
GOVERNMENT & PUBLIC FIGURES
Emmanuel Pelaez – Vice President of the Republic of the Philippines (VP of President Diosdado Macapagal). Born in Medina, Misamis Oriental and studied elementary in Cagayan de Oro. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmanuel_Pelaez
Aquilino “Nene” Q. Pimentel, Jr.- Senator of the Republic of the Philippines. Check out his bio : http://www.senate.gov.ph/senators/sen_bio/pimentel_bio.htm
Raul Chaves Rabe - Was Ambassador to Washington, USA during President Fidel V. Ramos’ term. 100% from Cagayan de Oro!!
Nikki Perlas – Active and well-known in the Non-Government Organizations (NGO) circle.
Tammy Osmeña – Mayor of Cebu City; studied in Xavier University.
MEDIA AND SHOWBIZ
Nestor Torre – Entertainment columnist of the Philippine Daily Inquirer and respected movie critic, is from CDO and studied in Xavier University.
Chanda Romero – She used to have lunch at my Lola’s house. The versatile actress originally hails from Cebu but studied high school in Lourdes College.
Su Yen Chi – A former sought-after ramp and image model for famous designers.
Aegis Band – The group is known for the throat-wrenching high notes belted by sisters Juliet and Mercy Sunot whose family resides in Lower Balulang. Their songs became popular, particularly with the masses.
Mark Bautista – An original Kagay-anon and one of the most sought-after balladeers of our time!
Maria Lilia Eloisa “Lia” Marfori Andanar-Yu
Former Miss Cagayan de Oro, Bb. Pilipinas-International and Miss International-Miss Friendship. She now anchors a news show at ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC) 23.
BUSINESS
Jose “Pepito” Chaves Alvarez – A self-made multi-millionaire, successful businessman and Philippine timber tycoon who has his own Lear jet.
Elpidio Paras – RITECC-X Co-Chair and Director of the Mindanao ICT Congress. Started the cable industry in Mindanao, way ahead of Manila. He is Vice-Chairman of the PCTA (Philippine Cable Television Association). This tireless businessman owns Paramedix, a medical transcription company, Syntactics, a web and software development company, and Arriba, a call center.
SPORTS
1988 PBA Rookie of the Year, Member of the PBA’s 25 Greatest Players. He lived in Baloy (actually his mom and brother still lives there) and studied at Xavier University High School (XUHS)
Current PBA Player with Sta. Lucia; originally from Talakag, Bukidnon, but studied at XUHS
- Roberto “Bobby” Jalnaiz – Former Asian Games Gold Medal Winner in Boxing
Former PBA Player
- Carina Dagondon – Phil. Mt. Everest Expedition member; she hails from Bukidnon but studied in Xavier University.
POLITICS
Rufus Rodriguez
Former Bureau of Immigrations and Deportation (BID ) Commissioner, Spokesperson for former President Joseph Estrada and current Congressman of the 2nd District of Cagayan de Oro City.
MILITARY
Col. Jovito Palparan (Ret.)
Studied high school at Cathedral High School
There is an Echem who was a baseball great… I heard that he pitched against Babe Ruth and actually struck him out. I just don’t know the first name… the older people from CDO would know – Mr. John Montalvan
Contributions by:
Mr. John Montalvan and lgucastillo@cepalco.com
“If you know other noteworthy Kagay-anons that CDOkay missed in this list, please tell us.” Email us at info@cdokay.com.
Tags: famous Kagayanons, noteworthy Kagayanons, popular Kagayanons
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Wednesday, March 24th, 2010
Known for his wit and for being a funny man, Bernie Bitok-bitok is one of the most famous personalities in the history of Cagayan de Oro FM radio. Bernie brightens up the lives of the thousands of Kagay-anons who listen to MOR 91.9, one of the biggest names in the country’s radio industry.
Bernie has achieved so much success in his career, yet people continue to wonder how he reached his current fame. Read on to get to know the life story of the DJ Cagayan de Oro has come to love.
The New Kid in Town
Brought up in Surigao del Sur, Bernie came from a family that emphasized diligence and perseverance. When he was in the middle of high school, he experienced a big turn in his life when his hometown somewhat lost its charm; Surigao del Sur somehow wasn’t the dazzling, competitive province it once was. This propelled the family to move to Cagayan de Oro and explore what the promising city had to offer.
When he learned about the big move he and his family was going to make, Bernie became depressed. After the family settled in their new home, the newly moved Bernie found it difficult to adjust to his new environment, which was filled with people and culture he was unfamiliar with.
Since the parents wanted Bernie to continue his studies in a high quality private school, he transferred to Corpus Christi to continue his secondary education. And just when he thought he was going to belong to a place where he had peers, he had an even harder time adapting to an environment where teenagers gave importance to the brand of your shirt, what kind of shoes you wore, and even the brand name of your underwear!
Over time, however, Bernie eventually got used to the Kagay-anon culture. While still in high school, he even pursued his talent in dancing and formed his own dance group.
All in the Timing
After high school, Bernie stepped into college and studied at MUST, which was then known as MPSC. Taking a degree in computer electronics, he once again formed a dance group that performed during school gatherings. One time, a Tsada Cagayan (one of ABS-CBN’s TV shows) host saw one of their performances, and this was what paved the way to Bernie’s career in radio.
The host invited the group to perform in one of the show’s episodes, and from then on, Bernie focused on regularly performing for Tsada Cagayan, and even giving it more time than his studies. However, his involvement in media all started when he made a few hilarious jokes during a birthday party for one of the executive producers. Seeing some talent in him, the executive producers gave Bernie a segment in the program and the rest was history.
Bernie Today
All of Bernie’s hard work and determination paid off. Today, he is one of the jockeys of ABS-CBN’s radio station, as well as one of the hosts of the daily morning show Pamahaw Espesyal. As stated by Bernie himself, the keyword here is love of work. With his talents and perseverance, he is now one of the most recognized voices and faces of Cagayan de Oro.
-by Gillian Abonitalla-
Tags: Bernie Bitok-bitok, Famous DJ, MOR DJ
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Wednesday, March 24th, 2010
Born on February 2nd of 1992, Francis Casey Alcantara is a Kagay-anon professional tennis player. Raised in the City of Golden Friendship, Francis started playing tennis at the young age of four. Even when he was busy with tennis, Francis graduated with flying colors from the Xavier University High School-Ateneo de Cagayan.
This right handed tennis player earned his highest junior ranking, World Number 14, on January 1st of 2009.
In the Phinma International Juniors held at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center, Manila, Alcantara, who was ranked as the No. 56th in the world by the International Tennis Federation, won against Jeroen Vanneste of Belgium, 6-2, 6-3. He also won against Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka, 7-5, 6-0.
One of his greatest achievements, however, was earned at the globally telecast 2009 Australian Open Boy’s Doubles, which was held in Melbourne, Australia. He and his partner, Hsieh Cheng-Peng of China, beat their opponents Yasutaka Uchiyama of China and Mikhal Biryukov of Russia, 6-4, 6-2, in the final set. In the said championship match, Francis and his partner did not lose a set.
In an interview on his thoughts about winning the championships, he said, “It’s such a pleasure for me to win here because it was always one of my dreams to play in a grand slam. I won the tournament and it’s a big one for me. For my partner, it’s great because he’s got a great record in doubles at the grand slams.”
-by Rose Anne Quirante-
(Photo taken from givemeanamepls.wordpress.com)
Tags: Francis Casey Alcantara, professional tennis player, tennis champion
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Friday, February 19th, 2010
From the many Cagayan de Oro City acts that attempted to break through the Manila music scene, Nuncyspungen came out as one of the most successful ones for a time. Named after Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious’ infamous girlfriend, Nancy Spungen, the band was one of the few groups that paved the way for other musicians to follow. Primarily composed of Philipp Coufal (vocals), Chuck Bollozos (bass), Ludwig Sombajon (guitar), Lourd Magto (guitar) and Abe Billano (drums), they set out to make themselves known in the Vis-Min scene before venturing into the cutthroat Metro Manila music world.
Best known for their eclectic performance on stage, Nuncyspungen spent years before they finally released their self-titled album in 2002, which had rerecorded tracks of their first release such as the hit song Goa. Clearly a huge influence to those who were fans of independent music, they have been invited to countless shows in and outside of the city, reaching as far as Cebu, where there they met the former independent outfit Urbandub. Later on, they were featured in Manila’s NU107’s In the Raw show and caught the ears of some listeners. Gradually gaining exposure in the north, PULP magazine highlighted them on its homegrown segment and they even got the chance to perform at the PULP Summer Slam, the biggest rock show in the country that happens every year. Moreover, they did an interview as well as a live performance at MTV Philippines’ Siesta and MYX Live.
After touring, they finally came to a halt and came back to Cagayan de Oro. Personal priorities and responsibilities started to arise. They eventually went on an indefinite hiatus until such time that a new lineup of members – drummer Jedi dela Cruz (Red Whiskey), bassist Jonah Booc (Ruska) and guitarist Jan Geroy (Swerve) – came up with a set of songs recorded in Coufal’s home studio. The effort proved a success as they named the 6-track extended play EXIT MUSIC, which spoke about loss, betrayal, courage, anger and all other sentiments that reflect the departure and the circumstances the members went through.
Fast forward to 2010, the band reunited for a show in celebration of the New Year in Cagayan de Oro. Both original and new members shared the stage, performing Exit songs and the all-time favorite Goa. Music mates like Ruska, K9 and Switch also performed at the gig.
Tags: cagayan de oro band, local band, Nuncyspungen
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