LCB-PACF: Celebrating 25 years of touching lives through musical theater

“LCB-PACF: Celebrating 25 years of touching lives through musical theater”
SunStar Davao, August 3, 2024

What began as two people's vision has become a notable performing arts legacy for the next generation.

The LCB Performing Arts Center (LCB-PAC) Foundation Inc., founded by entrepreneur Lu Chin Bon and choreographer/artistic director Lourdes "Bing" Locsin, recently celebrated its 25th anniversary in the field of performing arts and musical theater at the Davao Christian High School Auditorium, Davao City.

Legacy Showcase

The Legacy Showcase began with a visual documentary featuring its talented dance teachers, choreographers, and scholars, ranging in age from 2 to 75. All shared a passion and love for dance and musical theater, which consequently resulted in technique training at LCB-PACF, a dancer’s haven that provided them with a second home and family.

      

The choir’s opening song, "A Million Dreams" from the movie The Greatest Showman, was a perfect fit. Its message successfully conveyed every homegrown talent's desire to perform most creatively.

The overwhelming applause after the vocal rendition was a great jump start, followed by adaptations of excerpts from Broadway, Disney, and movie musicals.

The video documentary and stage performances clearly showed that the dancers were all in it together, pushing each other to do better, go further, and achieve success in their performances.

The goal of the Legacy Showcase, and all musicals staged by LCB-PACF, has been and continues to be to give life to a variety of dance forms, including tap, jazz, hip-hop, ballet, belly dancing, and creative movement for children.

Excerpts interpreted included pieces from Disney, Mamma Mia, Oliver, 42nd Street, Mary Poppins, Grease, and Motown.

Milestones: Every Year is Worth Celebrating

The participation of LCB-PACF alumni in this silver anniversary showcase gave Executive Director Karen Diane Lu Alcaraz a deep sense of nostalgia.

              

"Sharing the stage with them again is deeply nostalgic and heartwarming,” she said, adding that it brought back memories of their shared passion for dancing.

For the past 25 years, LCB-PACF has never wavered in its mission to use the wonderful realm of the performing arts to connect people and impact the diverse lives of Dabawenyos, particularly the Filipino-Chinese community. The vision of its founders, Lu Chin Bon and Bing Locsin, has been passed on to the third generation.

Starting with just one dance teacher/choreographer, Bing Locsin, and one studio, the LCB-PACF was launched in May 1998. Since then, the foundation has exposed Dabawenyos to the art of musical theater.

The first-ever song and dance recital was "Look at Me Now" in 1999, followed by “The Great White Way”, its first musical theater production, in 2000. This was then followed by a string of fifty-five more successful productions, some of which were in collaboration with other performing arts organizations in Davao, Manila, and the United States.

Founder Lu Chin Bon, along with the directors, teachers, choreographers, and dancers, spared no effort in bringing LCB-PACF to where it is today for musical theater lovers in Davao City.

The LCB-PACF aspires to preserve its legacy accordingly, "into what God has destined it to be" – a center where local talents are fostered and developed into performing artists for musical theater as an integral part of the goal of growing the performing arts community in Davao City.

Credits to Lyka Perandos for the official LCB-PACF 25th anniversary write-up and Mark Perandos for the photos.

2024 Most Oustanding High School Graduate

“2024 Most Outstanding High School Graduate”
SunStar Davao, July 20, 2024

The Search for the Most Outstanding High School Graduate (MOHSG) began in 1965, initiated by the Davao Jaycees, Inc., now known as Junior Chamber International (JCI) Davao, Inc. This project was designed to recognize exceptional high school students across various schools in Davao City.

 

This commendable program has provided a platform to acknowledge outstanding students and inspired Davao City's youth to strive for academic and holistic excellence. The success stories of the program's alumni, who now excel in various fields, are a testament to the transformative power of MOHSG.

                

“For the past 59 years, MOHSG has become a premier development program where nominees undergo various trainings (Project Management, Peer Counselling, Leadership, etc.), exposure programs (Pawikan Sanctuary or PAWICAMP, PH Eagle Foundation or Project Malaya, Kamp Pagasa, etc.) and showcase their skills (Essay Writing, Interview, Project Pitch, etc.),” says John Chin, Project Chair of MOHSG57. "From this, the best performing student is hailed as the MOHSG."

Development program

This year’s MOHSG introduced several changes:

DepEd Collaboration: A stronger partnership with the Department of Education aims to continuously empower young leaders and influence future policymaking. JCI Davao, Inc. is now involved in the student leadership formation programs of DepEd and hopes to foster more partnerships as part of MOHSG.

University Fair: Unlike previous years, this year’s MOHSG culmination included a University Fair. This addition aimed to give graduating students a glimpse of what local universities offer and highlight the progression of quality education in Davao City.

Less Focus on Academic Achievement: Previously, academic performance accounted for 35% of the evaluation criteria. This year, JCI Davao, Inc. reallocated this to focus more on the development of the nominees. “The words ‘burnout’ and ‘pressured’ have become common themes we hear from the nominees year by year,” shares Chin. "This is why we emphasize that more than being a competition, MOHSG is a development program."

Top winners and finalists

This year’s MOHSG judging criteria were: Academic Portfolio - 15%; Project Management - 15%; Skills - 45%; and MOHSG Engagement - 25%.

Awarded as the grand winner was Ishi Mae Lequin of Daniel R. Aguinaldo National High School while Keene Yael Dampal of the Philippine Science High School Southern Mindanao Campus and Ronn Julius Sabuya of the Lyceum of the Philippines University-Davao were declared as the first and second runners-up, respectively.   

                              

Meanwhile, the Ramon Tirol Leadership Award went to Alexa Aquino of the Christian Colleges of Southeast Asia while JCI Davao’s Best Project Award was given to Sean Rupert Dupa of Davao Christian High School.

Other finalists included Lorraine Alisin of Holy Cross College of Calinan, Inc.; Louise Jerianne Rodaje of the University of the Immaculate Conception-Bajada Campus; Kent Paul Sitoy of Davao City National High School; Matias John Mercado of Brokenshire College Toril; and Jullerel Melliza of Lamanan National High School.

As the MOHSG continues to evolve, it remains a beacon of inspiration for the youth of Davao City, encouraging them to achieve greatness beyond academics. With each passing year, the program not only celebrates excellence but also cultivates future leaders who are ready to positively influence the community.

Special thanks to JCI Davao, Inc. for the official photos.

E-mail the author at mom.about.town.dvo@gmail.com. Visit http://momabouttowndavao.blogspot.com/.

Nurturing brilliance: The power of homeschooling

“Nurturing brilliance: The power of homeschooling”
SunStar Davao, June 15, 2024

More than a decade after they began homeschooling their kids, Ivo Bolipata and Sofie Marquez Bolipata are now reaping the rewards of their efforts.

                    

Their eldest son Josh, aged 21, is pursuing Applied Mathematics at Ateneo de Manila University and may also delve into advanced studies in artificial intelligence.

             

Seventeen-year-old Lance is entering 11th grade and has been interning at E-rovoutika Electronics Solutions since last year.

Meanwhile, their youngest, 11-year-old Yofi, is exploring coding, and robotics, and has plans to participate in clubs like debate and theater.

12^th Robotics Championships

In the 12th Robotics Championships recently, Lance and Yofi were among those who represented the Philippine team in the Arena Antonio Alexe in Oradea, Romania. Among 126 teams from 15 countries, their team excelled.

In the freestyle (all ages category), where the Philippines achieved gold, team captain Lance presented the E-Vital Bot, an autonomous robot designed to conduct basic vital checkups in barangays, aiming to eliminate the need for individuals to spend hours waiting in hot basketball courts.

On the other hand, in the Freestyle (high school category) where Team Philippines secured the bronze award, Yofi showcased the Artificial Intelligence-powered E-Grab Bot for autonomous trash collection while Lance assisted in the question-and-answer segment.

The Philippine team also took home the gold medal in the Humanoid category, along with a bronze in the Mega Sumo event.

Tailored education

The Bolipatas’ homeschooling journey began when Sofie asked Ivo to check the school where their eldest son, Josh, was studying when he was 9 years old.

“After careful probing of their program and their teachers, I just knew that given Josh’s aptitude (he was tested and diagnosed a genius), he could do much better if we taught him ourselves. The same is true for Lance who, at 5, was already solving radical equations. Yofi, on the other hand, is already exhibiting early college level literary skills as early as 8 or 9 years of age”, shares Ivo.

The Bolipatas enrolled their children to an accredited homeschool program provider so that the children can have accredited grades for college requirements, while giving instructions in areas of knowledge that is well beyond the requirements of the provided curriculum.

Cultivating genius

“Homeschooling was not an easy journey as Ivo and I had very different styles of teaching. We did share the same objective: to equip the kids to become survivors, wherever they may go in life,” intimates Sofie.

“We also based our program on quantitative and empirical data when it comes to our kids' capabilities. We measure their potential through official I.Q. and aptitude tests. We use feedback from experts in the field to assess what our children could and could not do,” she adds.

 

Throughout their upbringing, the family heavily discussed economics, mechatronics, artificial intelligence, and engineering topics. Encouraging their children to nurture their creativity and imagination, Ivo and Sofie emphasized hands-on experiences and extensive travel.

By exposing them to various progressive countries, they illustrated the importance of a robust foundation in mathematics and science and showcased how robotics engineering can offer meaningful solutions to real-world challenges.

           

Incredibly rewarding

In addition to their academic pursuits, both Josh and Lance are accomplished Gan Soo Do blackbelts under Master Steve Grandeza. They have likewise competed and achieved medals in various martial arts disciplines like Judo, Jiu-jitsu, and Arnis.

           

Josh is currently active in Judo and has secured a place in Ateneo de Manila University's varsity training pool for UAAP competitions. Lance and Yofi occasionally train in Jiu-jitsu, with hopes to continue Gan Soo Do and Jiu-jitsu training when time permits, considering their current commitments.

The brothers are also avid players of the globally recognized tabletop game, Magic the Gathering, renowned as the most challenging game by the Guinness World Records.

“We are blessed with resilient children who are gifted with immense potential.  Homeschooling has its challenges, not only for us, but most especially for them. It is reassuring to see that despite our many flaws as their parents, they continue to thrive and excel. Witnessing their growth and development is incredibly rewarding,” Sofie gratefully expresses.