By Rusieljs G. Lunasco

Opening of lights 2019 fireworks display.

The CPU Alumni Association closed the Festival of Lights and Music nightly events with a Cultural night and a Closing celebration on Friday, December 19, 2019 at the Alumni Promenade and Concert Park.

The show featured excerpts from Saludo, a concert that was spearheaded by the CPU Dance Company last December 10. The CPU EXCEL Chorale and University Day Literary Musical Contest winners also performed in the said event.

Rev. Francis Neil Jalando-on, Office of Communications Director and CPUAAI Corporate Secretary also shared the Hopevale story in celebration of the 76th anniversary of the martyrdom of the American missionaries.  He also gave trivia about the Alumni Promenade Concert Park which used to be the burnt-down Rose Memorial Hall. The building was named after Rev. Dr. Francis Howard Rose whose house was built in the area where APCP stands today.  Rose served as the Acting President of the then Central Philippine College from 1938 to 1941 and was one of the 11 American missionaries who were executed on December 20, 1943.

CPUAAI Officers, Board of Trustees and staff during the FOL Committees fellowship  lunch.

Outgoing CPUAAI President Engr. Isagani Jalbuena thanked everyone who made the two-week event successful. “We are grateful to the Cultural Affairs Office, the CPUAAI, the Alumni Affairs Office and the different departments and colleges who took part in the 2019 Festival of Lights and Music at Central.” He also said that their special participation made the event more meaningful.

Present during the event were CPU officials, CPUAAI officers and the FOL 2019 Committees who gathered for a fellowship lunch during the afternoon.