May Showers and Storms

By: Veronica Leighton

 

As we enter the beautiful months of Bountiful Spring, things are becoming more hectic, and as the days are getting longer we look forward to more enjoyable activities and life’s celebrations, not minding the plentiful and profused showers and storms as they could never dampen our spirits to celebrate.

All kinds of fairs, festivals and events abound before and after Mother’s Day. Just this day of dedication for mothers alone makes everyone’s life so very interesting as we read all kinds of endearing, touching and amusing posts from our Facebook friends. My Mother’s Day post about my Nanay (a graduate from the school of hard knocks) got a lot of “Likes” from FB friends, and I promise to publish in VT that special Recollection post one of these days when there’s space.

Our beloved Chicago Filipino American community that had been in a state of stupor for many years became awake and vibrant when so suddenly news and videos of Filipino leaders and members agitatingly rallied in front of the Jose Rizal Community Center in late April with a rallying cry of, “Let’s take back our Rizal Center from the hands of an intruding stranger,” directly referring to Ms.Elaine Lehman, the new volunteer executive director at the Filipino American Council of Greater Chicago. About five police cars came as reports of pushing, shoving and shouting marked this incident (a disheartening picture of our community). Interesting coverages of this incident can be read on pages 15-16 as written by Notebook Columnist Elsie Sy-Niebar and Veronica’s Vibes, page 5, the first publiclyreleased statement from Elaine Lehman since she took over as the FACC’s executive secretary under the presidency of Dr. Rufino Crisostomo.Ms. Rose Tibayan, a veteran journalist whose career started in the East Coast and now a Chicago resident, is producing a documentary about the FACC and the Rizal Center Community Center. She came and interviewed me about the community, the Center and the lead-ership through the years.

Sadly, this month of May brought us some devastating news about the deaths of two former VT columnists, Rey Sapnu, former sports columnist and past president of the FACC who died in the Philippines (please see obit inside page). Lena Remigio, Dear Ate Lena columnist, also passed this month (see obit on page 19). Our deepest condolences to the families of Rey Sapnu and Lena Remigio. We will surely miss these two wonderful people who touched our lives and brought joys to many people through their popular VT columns. Dear Ate Lena column was replaced by Dear Tita Eza column, written by our new Columnist, Pureza Pacis. Enjoy reading, as usual, your favorite VT columnists on this very special VT edition for this beautiful month of May.##

(1) CPRTV Interview Host Joe Mauricio Host with the FACC new executive director and president Dr. Rufino Crisostomo about the recent FACC controversies; (2) Veronica, left, in a reverse role, being interviewed by veteran journalist Rose Tibayan, right, for the upcoming FACC documentary, produced by the latter. (For Veronica’s exclusive CPRTV interview with Lehman (Who’s Elaine Lehman), please watch the YouTube channel.