CVI IN RETROSPECT
(A Brief Historical Background of Camotes Visayan Institute)
By Estefanio Argall Luceno (Earl Of Lancaster - Pagadian City)

It is with such a wonderful feeling of nostalgia that I write this/as I fondly recall some unforgettable events that occurred almost half a century ago. The place: that idyllic, little town of Poro, Camotes, Cebu, where I first saw the light of day and where I spent the green years of my life as a child and as a student. The time: circa late '40's.

Now that I have reached this far in my journey through life's long and winding road, with all its ups and downs, I find this opportunity to trace the past as a great source of satisfaction, joy and inspiration, especially at the thought that, once upon a time, I walked along the paths our younger people now tread and, above all, must have contributed in my own small and humble to the making of history in our dear Alma Mater, the Camotes Visayan Institute.

To begin with, shortly after the Second World WAr, a bunch of enterprising people, supposedly belonging to the academe from the mainland of Cebu tried to put up a school, which they named "San Lucido College." Unfortunately, the organizers failed to obtain authority from the Bureau of Private Schools then. Frustrated, they folded up and abandoned the ghost. Due to the general clamor of the populace, especially from those who had enrolled earlier in that erstwhile College, a group of concerned citizens headed by Atty. Felixberto Sosmena entered the picture and started from where the organizers of the aforesaid College had left off. The new group decided to establish a school of their own. The result was a tie-up between this group and the late UV President Vicente Gullas who agreed to help put up an external unit of the University of the Visayas (formerly Visayan Institute) in Poro. (bythe way, this writer happened to spend the first year of his high school studies in the VI during the pre-war years.)

Consequently, the group which later constituted as its incorporators and board of trustees, decided to name the new school "Camotes Visayan Institute" (CVI), and started its operation in the school year 1946-47, with Atty. Felisberto R. Sosmena as director and virtual acadamic head.

A young World War 11 veteran and lawyer, Atty. Sosmena was truly a man of vision. Thru his self-sacrifice and dedication, he laid the foundation of CVI on a firm, strong and solid ground. Generous but stern, he managed the affairs of the school as a technocrat and military man combined.

The following school year, there was a marked increase in enrollment since those who had been previously studying in the Camotes Junior High School (now Camotes Provincial High School, I suppose), had literally transferred en masse. Thus, a professional principal was hired in the person of Mr. Mateo Wenceslao, a brilliant but simple unassuming fellow who happened to be a native of San Isidro, a coastal barrio in the nearby town of San Francisco. Like his counterpart in the CPHS, Mr. Mateo Montecillo, Mr Wenceslao was a grammarian through and through and an ardent lover of literature. He made CVI a fertile ground for the budding writers of the time to grow and bloom.

Among the earliest teachers of the CVI were: Dr. Edilberto Olitres, Mrs. Sulpicita Olitres, Mr. Antonio Garciano, Engr. Optaciano Baylon, Engr. Marcelino Mabulay, Mr Tomas Seno (then supervisor of Poro District), Mr. Condrado Angus, and others who followed later like Ms. Rosalina Borlasa, Ms. Carmen Sosmena and Mr. Onofre Abellanosa, a noted vernacular writer.

Our main school building then was the former residence of Mr. and Mrs. Evaristo Otadoy, while the library and depository of laboratory and athletic equipment was the house of Ex-Mayor and Mrs. Filomeno Sosmena, parents of the school director. Our campus then included the town plaza where we used to have our PMT drills and athletic games.

The end of the school year 1947-48 was marked by the turning out of the first batch of CVI graduates. The class valedictorian then was Mr. Mamerto Rosauro. The graduating class then was quite small, some members of which were elderly married people.

Aside from the regular day classes, we also had evening sessions which were opened for the benefit of the married ones, as well as the younger working students. This writer incidentally, was a consistent night owl. During the day, I doubled as secretary to the director and a school clerk under the administrative supervision of the principal. However, I had a number of student assistants, among whom served as caretaker of the library.

School year 1948-49 was our banner year. It was then that the administration discovered promising talents in the field of performing arts. There was, for example,
Andresa Argomido from Tudela, whom we dubbed away by our emotions when she sang her favorite song, "The Things We Did Last Summer!" Among the school's instrumentalists were the famous Garciano Brothers, along with the versatile Jose Sosmena who could literally make the guitar, banjo and saxophone speak the strange languagesfrom the Tower of Babel. Of course, we had that congenial classical artist, Mr. Felimon Gonzales, who was an accomplished organist and composer. Considered the most popular school beauty of our time was the late Ms Josefina "Pening" Caballes, whom regarded as "Muse of Class '49." Ms. Teresita C. Canete, the beauty from Bagacawa, was however the senior class representative in the coronation pageant, "Ang Kaagi sa Gugma ni Dumagsa ug ni Manawatwa," which was staged during the traditional CVI Day observance.

That school year was also the time when CVI was in the limelight of the public attention. It was then that the name "Camotes Visayan Institute" was, for the first time in its history, carried in bold letters on the pages of such prestigous national and international publications as the SENIOR SCHOLASTIC MAGAZINE, thru the feature stories and poems written by the first editor of the "Camotes Visayanian," who used to write under the pen name Earl of Lancaster.

With this feat, Director Sosmena proudly remarked" "After all, our English in the CVI can be understood by people in Manila and abroad!" He said this after reading in the FREE PRESS the human interest story (A Strange Saga of the Camotes Sea) which tells about how Ms Cristina Tining Garciano survived after 12 hours of travail in the open sea when she slipped overboard from the M/B Durano.

To top it all, the school population had considerably increased, so much so that the graduating class at the point in time was already composed of more than 40 students. So inspired was the school director in those days that, at the close of the school year, he arranged for an outing. A boar was chartered to bring the students out for a cruise in the Camotes Sea and a picnic at Dapdap, a seaside resort in the nearby island of Ponson, where the town of Pilar is situated. I suppose it was thru the courtesy of Mr. Loloy Torres, son of Ex-Mayor Filomeno Torres a staunch CVI supporter, that he said excursion was made possible. That was immediately afer our commencement exercises. The class valedictorian then happened to be this writer, with Ms. Paciencia Garciano as salutatorian.

Unfortunately, I cannnot remember now much of what I said in my valedictory address, although it seems to me our graduation day took place only yesterday. Imagine how much water has passed under the bridge after those 56 long years!

by: LG