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(continued...)
The Lasallite bannered its July
15, 1941 Alumni section with “ALUMNI PRESIDENT PROMISES ACTION”. The
article continued, “The Alumni Board of Directors, through its
president, Adolfo Roensch, promised to place a clubhouse at the disposal
of the members of the Association early next year—maybe
sooner—depending on how promptly dues are paid and pledges redeemed…Mr.
Roensch said that only P500.00 in dues had come in during the month of
June and that the Board is taking steps to increase this amount in
July...Mr. Roensch revealed that the report of the membership committee
showed that only 16% of the registered
alumni have responded to the
first call for dues.”
The clubhouse dream saw its first glimpse
of reality when DLSAA President Ramon del
Rosario, Sr. (1942-43;
1949-50), together with Rafael
Ygoa and Carlos Ledesma, rented a
house in
Malate with a small swimming pool and handball
court.
To their chagrin, the military took over the
clubhouse for its
headquarters in 1942 and forced
them to move to another site—the
Catholic Center
in Taft, now the Sta. Isabel College.
Serendipitously,
their new clubhouse was more accessible
and
spacious than the first and even had an indoor
basketball court—a
much-welcome city respite for
alumni members in the midst of
war-torn Manila.
The Japanese occupied DLSC’s Taft campus
until 1945. After the February 1945 tragedy where 16 of 18 Christian
Brothers and 25 of 50 civilians residing in De La Salle College were
mercilessly killed by retreating Japanese marines inside the DLSC
chapel, the college reopened on July 9 of that year and business resumed
as usual. The Green Archers’ winning of its first post-war
basketball championship gave comfort and hope to students, faculty, and
alumni traumatized by the grisly events of the past few years. In 1949,
another morale-boosting effort came when Br. Romanus Lewis FSC
spearheaded a project, a “Return to Roost” campaign that involved
setting up an alumni picture gallery along the walls of the main floor
of DLSC. Photographs from the first high school class of 1916 to those
of the present were included, as well as all graduates. Assisting
Br. Lewis were Ricardo Gallaga, chairman of the DLSAA fellowship
committee; and Conrado Sanchez, Jr., chairman of the DLSAA membership
committee. The picture gallery project, intended as a source of
information, pride, and historical nostalgia, had already existed in
other Christian Brothers’ schools at that time. Handball games,
movie premieres at Marcos Roces’ Ideal theatre, black-tie benefits,
amending of by-laws, and exciting NCAA games peppered the life
of
the post-war Lasallian alumni. In 1949, NCAA tickets in particular,
became harder to acquire. Interestingly and not too unlike present
times, to cope with increasing demand, some “deserving alumni” were
given tickets based on their compliance with certain guidelines, such as
attendance to
monthly meetings, donations to the sports promotion
fund, and payment of registration fees. The
DLSAA sports
promotion committee also organized
an alumni bowling tournament on
October 14, 1949, which was quickly followed by a warmly welcomed visit
of Br. John. On December 11, 1949, the newly-leased, temporary De
La Salle alumni clubhouse at the corner of Taft Avenue and Dagonoy
Street was formally inaugurated and blessed. The simple ceremony was
presided over by Rev. Bather de Swaaf, chaplain of the Christian
Brothers and assisting him were Br. Athanasius and various members of
the DLSAA Board of Directors. Four pesos assured the use of the
clubhouse for proprietary sustaining members, as opposed to six pesos a
month for Association members. President Antonio Ortigas (1987-1989),
however, hardly recalls the pomp and pageantry that went with its
inauguration. He simply remembers the Dagonoy clubhouse as giving him
his first milkshake. A few years later in 1952, the construction
of a permanent DLSAA clubhouse was completed and blessed by Fr. Pascual
Adorable SJ, an alumnus of HS ’34. The proverbial cornerstone was laid
by President Miguel Ortigas, who also unveiled the plaque. Included in
the De La Salle Alumni Club were a bowling alley, recreation hall,
tennis and handball courts, a kitchen, and lockers; the clubhouse was to
become a canteen upon DLSC’s purchase of the house during the
construction of St. Joseph’s Hall in 1955. The Christian Brothers’
continuing plans of progress and expansion took form in a new novitiate
in Baguio on May 22, 1952. A few months later on July 7, 1952, La
Salle-Bacolod opened its doors as the second De La Salle school in the
country. Then-Bacolod City Mayor Alberto Montelibano donated 10
hectares, on which La Salle-Bacolod currently stands. The new
college building, dedicated to St. Joseph, opened on June 17, 1956,
offering more space for the growing number of college courses. It was
also a golden year for Lasallian sports—the seniors basketball team
regained the NCAA championship that eluded them for 9 years, while the
seniors and juniors tennis teams dominated the NCAA wars. That winning
trend extended over to track & field, swimming, and volleyball
during various competitions in 1958. The start of the Lasallian
expansion also took place that year—La Salle Academy opened in Iligan,
Lanao del Norte with a student population of 300; in 1960, DLSC opened
its Graduate Business School (GBS) for Masters in Business
Administration. The former Barrio Masambong in Mandaluyong could
also now credit its new, more chicly peninsular-sounding name, Green
Hills—a place that would eventually be known as Mecca for
discount-hunters the world over—to the albeit equally discriminating
Christian Brothers when La Salle Greenhills opened to 176 preschool and
grade school students in 1959. Several standout alumni affairs took
place in 1960, including Br. Anthony Ferdinand FSC’s golden jubilee, the
first annual alumni mass for deceased members, and more notably, the
Lasallian Alumni World Congress in Rome that September. Three new
alumni organizations were also inaugurated—the now University of St. La
Salle Alumni Association in Bacolod with 132 members and the Cebu and
Iloilo “chapters” with 48 and 36 members, respectively.
On October
30, 1960, almost 400 alumni from 1940 to 1960 visited the college
campus, for fellowship games that included basketball, softball,
volleyball, and handball matches. A committee was also formed for the
upcoming golden jubilee the following year, with President Antonio
Beltran, Sr. as chairman. Three successful and momentous reunions
were held during the 1961 golden jubilee year—the first for its postwar
alumni, the second at the new Green Hills novitiate for pre-war alumni,
and the third, a huge, three-day slew of festivities from June 16, the
anniversary date of the founding of the college. Brothers, students,
faculty, and alumni attended Holy Mass in the chapel with Monsignor
Justino Ortiz, representing His Excellency Rufino J. Cardinal
Santos. Br. Dorotheus Joseph FSC, former director of the college,
was honored by the golden jubilee club members. A golf tournament of
around 200 alumni, students, and faculty was held at the Manila Golf
Club. The tournament was won, among others, by high school principal,
golf enthusiast, and future DLSAA Vice-President Emeritus for System
Development and Alumni Affairs Br. Josiah Benedict FSC. A presentation
of commemorative De La Salle postage stamps by Postmaster General Enrico
Palomar to Br. Crescentius Richard FSC followed a cocktail hour in the
college library as well. The next day, June 17, marked the
official alumni homecoming. Br. Hyacinth Gabriel Connon FSC,
Auxiliary Visitor, presented a testimonial of appreciation to the DLSAA
from the Brothers of the Philippines. A non-ceremonial, purely convivial
night of dancing and merrymaking called the Green and White Dinner was
held that evening at the Manila Hotel. In attendance were around 1,700
alumni and their wives, students and their dates, and faculty. A tribute
was paid to former director and teacher Br. John’s dedicated years of
service. A pontifical high Mass was celebrated the next day by alumnus
Bishop Hernando Antiporda at the newly-renovated Manila Cathedral
assisted by Fr. Francis Bowler SJ, Fr. Felix Perez, and future DLSAA
Distinguished Lasallian awardee Fr. Patricio Lim. The last event
in the series of jubilee year celebrations was the college convocation
on awards which was held at the DLSC gymnasium. For the first time, 18
carefully chosen pre-war alumni were given plaques for outstanding
achievements in their chosen fields. Ariston Estrada, Sr., Leonardo
Osorio, Virgilio Lobregat, Francisco Ortigas, Jose Feria, Sr., Carlos
Valdes, Sixto Orosa, Jr., Jose Obles, Sr., Anthony MacLeod, Sebastian
Ugarte, Antonio Garcia, Rafael Ygoa, Ramon del Rosario, Rene Kahn,
Carlos Ledesma, Ernesto Rufino, Sr., Jesus Yujuico, and Heriberto
Aguinaldo made up the maiden roster of DLSAA awardees. In
addition, 12 distinguished persons were awarded Letters of Appreciation
for their assistance to the educational work of the Christian Brothers.
J. Antonio Araneta, Jose “Ka Pepe” Diokno, Miguel Ortigas, Joaquin
Ramirez, Jr., Rafael Rufino, Sr., Vicente Rufino, and Doña Julia vda. de
Ortigas joined double-awardees Carlos Ledesma, Francisco Ortigas, Ramon
del Rosario, and Ernesto Rufino in this honoring. Simultaneously
in 1961, the DLSAA rechristened its official publication, De La Salle
Alumni Newsbriefs to De La Salle Alumnews, following a renaming contest
launched in December 1960 won by Juanito Eusebio of HS ’49. The
submission by Eusebio likewise included Archibald—the rotund, lovably
bald, and green archer mascot created by Ramon Echevarria, Sr. seen
today—in the masthead. The new by-laws for the DLSAA took effect
on July 1, 1961 and included the elimination of all stockholders or
“propriety members”. The De La Salle Alumnews of February, 1961
reported, “...the De La Salle Alumni Association will ultimately become a
nonstock, non-profit corporation. In view of this, the present stock
investments of the Association will be placed in a trust fund to be
administered by a board of trustees which will be composed of some of
the present principal stockholders. “All present stockholders who
own one or more shares shall be granted a life membership certificate in
the Association...” Certificates of life membership to alumni who
joined the priesthood or brotherhood were also granted and, finally, all
other further plans for the idealistic Dagonoy clubhouse were
dropped. A flurry of activity colored the early 1960s, starting
with the honoring of Superior General Br. Nicet Joseph FSC with a
reception banquet by the DLSAA. A month later in July, the Association
gave another dinner in honor of former Secretary of Justice Jose Diokno
at the Philippine Columbian Association. That same month, the Maryknoll
sisters turned over their school in Lipa to the growing De La Salle
family, which the Christian Brothers aptly named La Salle High School,
Lipa City. Talks about a proposed merger between the DLSAA and the newly
organized Green and White Association, Inc. also took place. In
1964, Br. Ulbertran Bertin FSC addressed DLSC’s sixth graders who were
graduated and sent as freshmen to the new high school in La Salle
Greenhills. Simultaneously, 160 DLSC seventh graders were likewise
graduated and addressed by Br. Stephen Malachy FSC to become the last
high school freshmen of the DLSC campus who graduated in 1968. The De La
Salle College Alma Mater Hymn, reportedly brought by Br. Malachy from
Fresno, California’s San Joaquin Memorial High School, was formally sung
for the first time during the graduation rites of HS ’64. Br. Benedict
attended a despedida in his honor before his departure for the World
Congress of Alumni; sadly, shortly before, Br. John, the last surviving
member of the first Brothers community that came to Manila in 1911 and
the beloved purveyor of student sports and athletic camaraderie in DLSC,
died on April 17, 1964. The last high school class, the “Last of
the Mighty”, graduated from the DLSC Taft campus in 1968, and two years
later, came the inauguration of the De La Salle Brothers independent
district of the Philippines with Br. Justin Lucian FSC as its interim
Brother Visitor. Until the mid-1960s, the Brothers in the
Philippines constituted a sub-district of the San Francisco district
and, thereafter, up to 1970, the Baltimore district. On February
2, 1970, the Philippine province became independent to be officially
known as the De La Salle Brothers - Philippine District. Myanmar was its
only sub-district. By 1974, one year after admitting its first 38
female students, the Christian Brothers converted the DLSAA to a
non-stock, non-profit corporation. The granting of university
status to DLSC the following year also helped pave the way for further
progress of the Lasallian family—De La Salle South, Inc. (Santiago
Zobel School) opened in 1978 with a co-educational population of 1,067
students. In 1980 came the start of the College of St. Benilde and the
University’s withdrawal from the NCAA. Four years of basketball
limbo followed until DLSU won the National Open in April 1983 and two
months later, coached by Ron Jacobs, the Philippine Amateur Basketball
League in June. On June 24, 1986, the UAAP Board, in a marathon meeting
at the Philippine Columbian Association, voted to accept DLSU as its
eighth member. The year DLSU shifted to the trimestral system,
1981, also marked the University’s seventieth year and the DLSAA’s
sixty-fifth. This coincided with the Association’s decision to revert
back to an ordinary tax-paying foundation. The awards committee
also settled on the name “Distinguished Lasallian Award”, the highest
and most prestigious non-sports award given by the DLSAA to its
exemplary alumni. The last grade school students of the Taft
campus graduated in 1984; two years later, DLSU officially joined the
Universities Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP). Perhaps a
bigger milestone came the following year, with the inception of the DLSU
System composed of DLSU-College of St. Benilde, DLSU-Dasmariñas,
DLSU-Health Sciences Campus, DLSU-Manila, and DLS-Santiago Zobel. The
Emilio Aguinaldo College was also acquired by DLSU that year and
officially became the University’s College of Medicine. In 1989, after
successful runs in the UAAP, HS ’64 launched the De La Salle Alumni
Sports Foundation. The three years from 1990 to 1993 proved to be
remarkable sports seasons—the Green Archers won back-to-back
championships and the first Sports Hall of Fame induction was held
honoring 11 outstanding Lasallian alumni athletes. Francisco
Aguinaldo, Dionisio Calvo, Horacio Cebrero, Jr., Virgilio Lobregat,
Ernest Kahn, Pedro Morro, Francisco Ortigas, Emilio Ugarte, Sr.,
Sebastian Ugarte, Fermin Uy, and Rafael Ygoa made up the first batch of
Sports Hall of Famers. The “Beat Brother Ben” golf tournament,
fronted by Classes ’72 and ’73, also began its run in 1997 as a
tongue-in-cheek tribute to Br. Benedict, who in 1960 began his Taft
career and in 1978, assumed his post as the vice-president for
Development and Alumni Affairs, while in between, lording his impressive
golf game over everyone like a banner, in his signature colorful
language.
In 2002, De La Salle-Araneta University became the
newest addition to the rapidly expanding DLSU System and was followed by
DLSU-Canlubang a year later. January 2004 started on a sad note for the
entire DLSAA. Br. Benedict, now appointed Vice-President Emeritus for
Development and Alumni Affairs, passed away January 3 while on vacation
in Baguio. A scholarship was established by HS ’62 in his name—the Br.
Benedict Scholarship Endowment Fund—and an annual golf cup, the DLSAA
Br. Benedict Cup, began its maiden run in his behalf. Due to an
exceptionally groundbreaking year in sports in 2004, the Animo Fund was
launched to help and develop Lasallian athletes. Br. Armin Luistro FSC,
Brother Visitor of the DLS Brothers - Philippine District, also took the
helm as the twentieth president of the De La Salle University System on
April 1, 2004, and continues to lead the University towards its
much-awaited centennial year in 2011.
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