Wow!

Herbie Gomez /

I HAVE to congratulate some good friends for the accomplishments of their children. After all, their children’s accomplishments are their accomplishments.

The first in my list is former Cagayan de Oro Press Club president Dolly Ilogon whose only daughter, Maria Monica Fe Ilogon Talag-Haydock, is now a United Kingdom-based physician. Dolly, who is US-based, says news of Nica’s successful attempt at passing the medical board examination was, to her, like “winning the lottery.”

And here’s a bonus: the proud mother asked for one doctor of medicine but ended up having two (her son-in-law, David, is also a physician).

The last time I saw Nica was in the newsroom in the ’90s. Dolly used to frequently bring her girl there. And each time Nica was brought there by her mother, she got treated like a little princess. I remember us, the staff, taking turns in teasing, slightly pinching the cheeks, and kissing the cute elementary grader from St. Mary’s School.

Dolly subsequently brought her to the US where she finished high school at the West Babylon High School in Long Island, New York. Nica then proceeded to the Jesuitun University of San Francisco in California where she earned her Bachelor’s degree in philosophy. Too bad, conflicts in schedules prevented me from seeing Nica in San Francisco about a decade ago. I could have seen her as a grown-up up close and personal. But thanks to Facebook, now, I get to enjoy going over her photos with her mother, husband and friends from time to time.

That little girl in our newsroom in the ’90s would later earn a master’s degree in public health at the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom. She then took up medicine at St. George’s University of London.

Dolly says Nica plans to take her residency in a UK hospital where her husband, an anesthesiologist, is based. That little girl who turned into one fine woman is planning on specializing in oncology.

Congratulations, Nica and Dolly, for making Cagayan de Oro proud!

Another friend in my list is lawyer Augusto “Titots” Neri Jr., publisher of Ang Bag-ong Katarungan and another former president of the Cagayan de Oro Press Club. His youngest son Ernesto (Tonton) is following in the footsteps of his father. Tonton is one of the 31 graduates of Xavier University’s College of Law who passed the 2016 bar exams. Many Xavier students, I was told, look up to Tonton, respect him for his intelligence, and admire him for being a charismatic speaker be it in English or his native tongue. Given Tonton’s exposure to politics at an early age (he is or he was a youth councilor and chairman of the Oro Youth Development Council), his leadership qualities do not come as a surprise to me at all. I see in Tonton the future of Cagayan de Oro politics. I doff my cap off to Tonton, Titots and Elving!

Then there is Olezardo Jose Uy, son and namesake of Cagayan de Oro traffic czar Egay Uy and wife Juliet, my consistent Facebook “liker.” Also worth mentioning is YR Beverly Ann Musni, daughter of former provincial board member Oscar Musni and labor arbiter Beverly Selim-Musni, both known as human rights lawyers. They are among the Liceo de Cagayan University law graduates who passed the recent bar exams. Cheers to Egay, Juliet, Oca and Bevs!

Another passer from Liceo is the son and namesake of another friend, the late councilor Jose Pepe Abbu. It’s saddening that the former councilor, who passed away recently, missed the day when it was announced that his son passed the bar exams. I’m sure he would have been very proud, and the mere mention of “Attorney Jose Pepe Abbu” would have been music to his ears. You go, Junior, and honor the memory of your father!

The younger Uy, Musni and Abbu made Liceo proud, and their collective feat could be a defining moment in that law school “across the Cagayan river.” From one successful examinee in the 2011 bar exams, Liceo dramatically increased the figure to 20 in 2016. Collectively, with Liceo’s 17 other successful bar examinees, they improved the university’s standing in the bar exams and gave Liceo’s law school the respect it rightfully deserves. Dean Carlo Antonio Almirante and the faculty and staff must be doing something right to bring Liceo’s law school in the radar. Kudos to them!

It makes me happy to see that my friends are very happy. And this time, I say wow in lieu of pastilan.