The Vianneyhan Competition 2012 champion as they made their bow

by Roman A. Moreno

BRGY. CEMBO, MAKATI CITY – As part of the celebration of the Feast of St. John Maria Vianney, patron of the priests, the  second annual Vianneyhan Competition was held on July 21, 2012. It was a chorale competition among the different choirs coming from different universities and parishes in Metro Manila. According to Ms. Arlene P. Cornejo, one of the organizers, it was a battle against the bad weather brought by the remnants of typhoon “Ferdie” that devastated Luzon for the past few days.

Ten out of the 12 invited choirs competed for the championship and after three hours of impressive performances from the contestants and the previous champion St. John Bosco Chorale, the winners were finally announced.

The P.L.M. Student Chorale Society came in third while the Second Chronicle Singers from the Our Lady of Sorrow Parish, Pasay City in second and the champion this year is the P.U.P Bagong Himig Serenata.

Mr. Kelvin DC. Kabagting, the choir master of the Second Chronicle Singers, said that it was their second time winning second place after 13 years and being the last to perform was an advantage since they had ample time to prepare for their performance.

For the P.U.P Bagong Himig Serenata, their choir master Mr. Emil R. Cruz admitted that he never expected to win because he was only able to handle the choir the night before the competition. The winners received cash prizes and gift certificates and consolation prizes were given to others so no choir left empty-handed.

Aside from the competition, it was also a night for honoring Fr. Jaime S. Marquez. The parishioners gave him a surprise tribute for his undying love and support especially that the parish started only as a chapel 11 years ago but now it has grown tremendously with the number of its people.

Despite the bad weather, the program was a success for it was able to start and end well.  Vianneyhan from its root word “Bayanihan” prove its meaning as the people of Cembo were one in faith and action. And as Fr. Jaime said, “The people of this parish are incredible, generous, faithful to the Lord and reliable.”

On February 7, a forum entitled “The Philippines in the Global Spectrum: Seeing Through the Tinted Effects of Globalization” was held at the UPLB CAS Annex Auditorium. This event was organized by the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan-Southern Tagalog, UPLB Sociology Society, and Bayan Muna Youth-UPLB. Continue reading →

(More to be added later) 

As a way of doing its part in enriching the next generation, the Los Baños Times held a free campus journalism seminar for high school students on February 18.  Continue reading →