About
DE LA SALLE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
Current Officers and Directors
| President – Jerome Gutierrez, DLS Lipa ’69 HS, DLSC ’73
Vice President – Willie Salgado, DLSC ’68 |
Treasurer – Orly Mayor HS’64 BSC’68
Secretary – Allan Estrella, DLSU ’68, Co-Secretary – Kristian Gonzales, DLSU ’99 |
| Board of Directors | |
| Dino Africa Lipa Lipa HS’68 DLSC’73
Chito de los Santos LSGH’85 HS DLSU’91 Jerry Gutierrez Lipa HS’69 DLSC’73 Matt Hizon BSME’82 Emma Mabagos-Magbitang BSC’78 Nani Ramirez, LSGH HS’71 Jojo De La Fuente DLS HS’65 Advisors Tom Consunji GS’65, LSGH HS’68 Romi Beza GS’72 LSGH’76
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Orly Mayor Lipa HS’64 DLSU’68
Manny Noguera GS’61 HS’65 LiaCom’70 Gilbert Talavera LSGH HS’83 Irvin Sevilla LSGH HS’85 Salvador “Binky” Estrada LiaCom’69 Eric Javier Stanley Lacambra DLSU’73
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About the DLSAANC
The De La Salle Alumni Association of Northern California is a non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation duly registered with the U.S.A. federal government (FEIN 20-1286222) and the State of California. DLSAANC has tax-exempt status and donations, bequests, gifts, etc. to the organization are tax-deductible to the full extent provided by the United States Internal Revenue Code. The formal name is De La Salle Alumni Association of Northern California, Inc. and is a non-profit public benefit corporation organized under the Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation Law for public and charitable purposes. Per the Articles of Incorporation, the specific purposes of this corporation are “to promote the welfare of De La Salle University and its related De La Salle Alumni Association, including any other charitable or educational institutions associated with De La Salle University (Philippines) and any alumni association chapters affiliated with De La Salle Alumni Association (Philippines); to maintain close ties and cooperate with De La Salle Alumni Association (Philippines) and its chapters operating in the United States or elsewhere in the world; and to do anything, perform any act, or exercise any right or power permissible by law, now or in the future, for the direct or indirect accomplishment of furtherance of these purposes.”
The De La Salle Alumni Association of Northern California is the foremost foreign-based alumni association of former students of the various De La Salle schools in the Philippines. It was founded in 1963 by graduates of De La Salle Taft who had immigrated to the San Francisco Bay Area beginning in the 1940’s. Reflecting the growth of the Christian Brothers in the Philippines, the association has since grown to include not only alumni of the various De La Salle campuses throughout the Philippines but also its alumnae who began distinguishing themselves in the former exclusive boys school beginning in the 1970’s. The visionary spirit of its officers has been manifested by the association’s primary role in uniting the various North American chapters and their subsequent enthusiastic participation in the two DLS World Congresses held thus far.
Any alumnus/alumna of the various Philippine De La Salle schools maintained by the order of the Christian Brothers may become a member of the DLSAANC. This includes the main university campus at De La Salle Taft and its affiliated colleges [i.e. College of St. Benilde, Emilio Aguinaldo College]; St. La Salle University at Bacolod, La Salle Green Hills, La Salle Lipa, among others. We define an alumnus/alumna as a former student who attended at least one year of schooling at any Lasallian institution. We also welcome fellow Lasallians abroad to become associate members of the DLSAANC. Annual membership is USD35.
Benefits
DLSAANC members enjoy free or discounted entry fees to association-sponsored events. They also are entitled to discounts on alumni merchandise that the association sells. Traditionally, our alumni events include the annual Election & Fellowship Day, Summer Picnic and Christmas Party. This website have sites and postings that can be accessed by members only, too. Above all, members have the chance to join informal or casual activities organized by fellow members throughout the year. These include golf, ballroom dancing, bowling, tennis, camping, mentoring, spiritual renewal, business forums and the like.
History
1950s & 1960s: The De La Salle Alumni Association of Northern California, starting out as an unincorporated association, was the first DLSAA chapter organized outside of Manila, Philippines. Its founders were mostly the “Tisoys” who had immigrated to the U.S.A in the 40’s and 50’s – among whom were Adolpho Roensch, Moi (Ramon) Fabie, Tonu Garcia Saad, and Alex Thornton; later joined by Charlie Russell, Bill Gardner, Tony da Silva, Juan Martinez, and other old-timers. Since their families knew each other, early NorCal chapter events were primarily social gatherings, with the association having a somewhat limited relationship with its “parent organization”, DLSAA-Manila. The chapter was even incorporated in 1963 by Roensch, Fabie, et al. Unfortunately, activities eventually dwindled and the chapter died after a number of uneventful years – with the corporate entity becoming permanently suspended by operation of law, unrevivable due to the passage of a legally prescribed time period. Yet, the financial commitment to establish the Northern California Chapter Scholarship Fund (which is still in existence today) was actually initiated during this very early period through the chapter’s contribution to DLSAA-Manila of a substantial amount of seed money for the fund. And, although the corpus of this Scholarship Fund has been greatly increased by many other NorCal chapter donations over subsequent years, undoubtedly, we are all deeply indebted to these old-timers for what they magnanimously started.
1980s: Shortly after his assignment as DLSAA-Manila Executive Director, Bro. J. Benedict embarked on a mission to organize DLSAA chapters throughout the United States. Knowing there were a lot of alumni in San Francisco Bay Area, Bro. Benedict arranged in 1982 to meet a number of former students – including Sonny Juico, Binky Estrada, Bobby Patangco, Alex Gaborro, Fred Samonte, Mari Valles, and Freddie Garcia. This resulted in a formation of another association, with Sonny (Luis) Juico as president. Shortly thereafter, the fellows were joined by Joe Batto, Ed Batto, Dave Calvo, Lori Sumulong, Tom Umali, and others. Gradually, the more senior members made room on the association’s board of directors for newcomers and a continuous drive for more members commenced. Many family picnics and gatherings were held – including a very memorable one at the Christian Brother’s Retreat House in Napa, which attracted more than 200 Lasallians and, notably, Bros. Gilbert, Fidelis and Louis. The La Salle-Ateneo rivalry was also “revived” during this period through the staging of annual basketball games, complete with cheering sessions. And, in 1985, the first Kundiranaperformance, sponsored by the association, was held at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, raising a significant sum for La Salle Green Hill’s “music ministry”.
1990s: This decade brought many important changes, primarily under the leadership of successive presidents Mandy Reyes, Butch Freiboth, Joey de Ocampo, and Jimmy Brown – with support from able officers and directors like Ding Abadia, Bob Alimurong, Ed Batto, Tony Beltran, Romi Beza, Christian Bocobo, Buddy da Silva, Binky Estrada, Tom Consunji, Ramon del Rosario, Alex Gaborro, Jerry Gutierrez, Mike Grey, Lito Jaojoco, Sonny Juico, Sid Limaco, Benjie Leoncio, Manny Noguera, Roy Quicho, Mario Quijano, Alan Ramos, Revie Ramos, Chot Reyes, Ricky Sanchez, Joe Santos, Vic Santos, Tom Umali, Mari Valles, and Manny Zerda. Fraternal ties were also renewed with Bro. Dominic Berardelli — better known as Bro. Aquinas — andBro. Fidelis — he of the “Board of Education” fame (referring to his disciplinary paddle) — both of whom are now based at St. Mary’s College at Moraga. On April 28, 1996 upon a duly executed written application signed by NorCal president Butch Freiboth, the NorCal association was formally “chartered” by Executive Director Bro. Benedict (accompanied by DLSAA-Manila president Danding Lucero and president-elect Bobby De Ocampo) as an officially affiliated DLSAA-Manila Chapter, in a formal ceremony at a Foster City clubhouse attended by 23 bonafide DLSAA-NorCal alumni (including all of its directors and officers). Before the end of Joey De Ocampo’s term, NorCal had graduated from its prior “unincorporated association” status – becoming incorporated for the first time as a tax-exempt nonprofit corporation – once again serving as a role model for other chapters. Election day 1999 also saw the ascendancy of NorCal’s “alumnae”, with the election of Chie Recto as its first female officer and of Cheryll Marie Castro to its board of directors. From a historical perspective, among the decade’s crowning achievements surely will have been the evolution of the biannual World Congress, a visionary idea conceived at La Salle 2001, the First DLSAA North American Regional Conference, which was held in Las Vegas in 1995. Organized and hosted by the NorCal chapter led by then president Butch Freiboth and conference chair Joe Batto and under Bro. Ben’s guiding hand, La Salle 2001 inspired DLSAA’s1st World Congress held in Manila in 1997. Interestingly, NorCal chapter delegates to the 1st World Congress outnumbered those from all other DLSAA chapters. The award to the NorCal chapter of the 2nd World Congress site was no doubt a product of the volunteer spirit and organizational talent demonstrated by NorCal’s delegates at both La Salle 2001 and the 1st World Congress.
2000s: As we embark on the new century, the future looks very bright. Why? Because we have a number of new members – including able, young leaders like Fernando Alvarez, Allan Estrella, Jerry Gutierrez, Sito Garcia, Alex Clemente and Mari Vargas; and even more paid members and a lot more funds in its coffers than at any other time in history. Indeed, old timers and the youngblood alike will have to join hands to ensure that the association optimizes its tax-exempt non-profit corporation status. Interestingly, the 2000’s was ushered in by the election of Romi Beza, who symbolically straddles the “old” and the “new,” being both an alumnus of Taft GS’72 and La Salle Green Hill’s HS’76. A consolidation period followed under Ramon del Rosario, whose four year term is the second longest presidential term todate (after Sonny Juico’s 6 consecutive year stint from 1982-1987). In due time, the association will have an alumna to lead it to even greater glory. Undoubtedly, NorCal will be moving right along with the new millennium and our beat will keep going on…and on…and on…
ANIMO LA SALLE !!!
by Ding Abadia, Joe Batto, Romi Beza and Butch Freiboth
PAST PRESIDENTS
| ADOLFO G. ROENSCH, JR. (HS’28) | 1963 – 1964 |
| TONU GARCIA SAAD | 1964 – 1965 |
| RAMON FABIE (HS’40) | 1865 – 1966 |
| ANTONIO V. DA SILVA (HS’37) | 1967 – 1968 |
| ROBERT KEESEY (BSC’42) | 1968 – 1969 |
| RAMON BARRETTO (HS’53) | 1969 – 1970 |
| LUIS E. JUICO (GS’57) | 1982 – 1987 |
| LORENZO R. SUMULONG, JR. (GS’57, HS’61) | 1988 – 1989 |
| JOSE MARI C. VALLES (HS’62, BSBA’66) | 1990 – 1991 |
| ARMANDO L. REYES (HS’62) | 1992 – 1994 |
| CHARLES FREIBOTH, III (GS’65, BA/BSC’70 | 1995 – 1996 |
| JOSE L. BATTO, JR. (GS’52, HS’56, BA/BSC’70 | 1997 – 1998 |
| JOSE F. DE OCAMPO, JR. (GS’58) | 1998 – 1999 |
| JAMES R. BROWN (GS’62, HS’66, BSBA’70) | 1999 – 2000 |
| ROMEO ZITO G. BEZA (GS’72, LSGH HS’76) | 2000 – 2001 |
| RAMON DEL ROSARIO (GS’56HS’60 | 2001 – 2004 |
| EMMANUEL NOGUERA (GS’56 HS’65 LIACOM’70) | 2005 – 2007 |
| TOM CONSUNJI (GS’65 LSGH HS’68) | 2007 – 2009 |
| ART DANCEL (BSC’72) | 2009 – 2011 |
| IRVIN SEVILLA (LSGH HS’85) | 2011 – 2017 |
CONTACT DETAILS
2476 Fiji Way, San Leandro CA 94577Email: <info@dlsaanc.org>
