The Anthem Philatelist

    My maternal grandparents were from Mainit , Alipao, Alegria, Surigao del Norte .  In the 1930’s, the families of Odtojan , Baluran , Labaso , Senturias , Rubilla and Seroy emerged simultaneously and inhabited the place. Because they were bound by faith and the common vision for a better tomorrow, these families started to cultivate the area of Candiis that had a total land area of not more than 300 hectares.  The first Teniente del Barrio was Alvaro Odtojan Senturias Sr.  who served until the end of the World War II. One of the succeeding Teniente del Barrio was my late aunt Pacensia "Pacing" Odtojan Beniga (Lesoy). Before the war , my grandfather Eugenio Anino Beniga (son of Pantaleon Beniga), a surveyor from Sevilla, Bohol went to Surigao , met and married a pious local beauty, Felina Caerlang Odtojan . They were simple rice farmers who owned and tilled 25 hectares of land in that area.  During my childhood days in the 70's, my fond memor...

    Born on April 28, 2002, he is one of the youngest emerging artists making waves both locally and internationally is a 20 year old native of Danao City, who is currently living in Carmen , Cebu . His name is Leodito Rosales Bongo III.   Currently a Fine Arts student of the University of the Philippines Cebu, he was also a  personal student of Master Cubist Celso Duazo Pepito since 2020. He  garnered several local and international awards for his art and was the champion of the 7th World Youth Art Festival 2020 in South Korea . He started creating art when he was in grade 3 but did not take it seriously until he was 16.    His journey in pursuing his passion for creating art was not easy - with initial opposition from his parents.  He started losing hope because no one believed in him. But God sent him two angels in the person of Sir Paul Llideau and Celso Pepito who started to mentor him and changed his life for good.  He was g...