American Tourist Signs Up For His 2nd TBTK Attendance

To those who have visited the tbtk.org website, the 3,000 colored pictures posted during the 2006 TBTK Global Homecoming were taken not by a Boholano, but by an American tourist. One of the many foreign tourists invited by our TBTK Chairperson, Betty Veloso-Garcia, to come to Bohol, Philippines for the two-week festivities, three years ago. As the cliché goes that pictures tell their story, ergo, the past 2006 TBTK celebration can be fittingly described only in one line statement – A Grand Success. Where everybody had a good time. Happy together. To return home after having been away for sometime. To meet long lost friends, relatives and the Boholano folks whom they have not seen for quite a while. The sheer enjoyment, the fellowship, the laughter reverberating everywhere, can’t be quantified and much more, not be valued with in terms of peso or dollar sign.

Be that as it may, we Boholanos owe much from our American friend for leaving us one treasured album, pro-bono or free of charge. It chronicled the sequence of events unfolding: From the arrival of Boholano balikbayan delegates in the nation’s capital of Manila on Day One, up to its culmination date in Tagbilaran City,Bohol, where lined-up activities and unscheduled happenings were almost non-stop.

Time flies so swiftly. Before we know it, another global homecoming among overseas and expatriate Boholanos is in the offing this year 2009. It is envisioned to be larger in participation, far more elaborate in its pomp, pageantry and revelry. The preparations are now feverish, as the countdown begins for the July TBTK schedule. While our campaign promotions encourage early registration of Boholanos abroad, guess who is the first person to sign up, pay the $100.00 fees and register his name as sure delegate to the TBTK July, 2009 in Bohol, Philippines? If you think he is a Boholano and one of our kind, think again. For lo and behold, he is our American buddy, Irving Spivey, who likes being referred to as an ” honorary Boholano”. a title accorded him by the TBTK movers, for his friendliness, untiring efforts and invaluable support extended to the cause of the Boholanos and the TBTK in particular.

Irving Spivey came to the Philippines in June,2006 as guest of Mrs. Loida Nicolas-Lewis, a Filipina lawyer-entrepreneur now residing in New York, a part of the Balik- Sorsogon tour package organized by Mrs. Lewis, during a fiesta celebration in their place in Sorsogon Province in Bicol Region. Her American husband, the late Reginald F. Lewis, acquired Beatrice International in December 1987 in a $985 million leveraged buyout, creating the largest African American owned company in the United States,according to Wikipedia file.Lewis has spoken to audiences around the US and the world to promote the biography of her late husband,titled Why Should White Guys Have All The Fun? and How Reginald Lewis Created a Billion Dollar Business Empire?

On the other hand, Mr. Spivey, a Respiratory Therapist by profession, is a personal friend of Mrs. Betty Veloso-Garcia,a Registered Nurse, for they happen to work together at the New York Downtown Hospital, before the former moved to San Francisco,CA. When informed of Irving’s scheduled Philippine trip, our TBTK Chair invited the American to extend his stay a couple of weeks longer.so he can join the TBTK entourage in Manila and be with them in their flight to Tagbilaran. where the TBTK funfare will be for 10 days straight.

Long after the TBTK 2006 has winded up, when all the Boholano balikbayans and expatriate workers now back in their overseas assignment, The Tigum Chair received a postal mail from Mr. Spivey who was profuse in his thanks. Here are some of his letter’s content and quote:

…”I would like to personally thank you and the people of Bohol for the warm welcome during our TBTK 2006 visit and making my vacation truly wonderful. I am impressed of your great place and people so that I now consider myself an Honorary Boholano, I will never forget the hospitality, the friendliness of the Boholanos. Please let everybody know how I enjoyed my stay there. I did not expect to be part of the Boholano balikbayan entourage to be welcomed no less by Manila Mayor Lito Atienza in his office and to witness the TBTK Chairperson presented with the symbolic key to the City of Manila by Mayor Atienza. We then proceeded to Malacanang Palace to meet the President. From thereon, the celebration became endless, the program of activities for the entire TBTK, simply fantastic – the parties and dancing, the Sandugo Festival, the School Reunions, the Beauty Pageant, the Recognition and Awards Nights, etc… It was a pleasure for me to meet all the Dignitaries, Politicians and VIPs. It was also gratifying to meet the people of Bohol in general- special mention to Betty’s Mom. I would like to thank everybody in Bohol for the memories which I will treasure. I took approximately 4000 pictures during the TBTK functions. The beauty of Bohol is in its natural wonders and in its people. To the people of Bohol, God bless you all and see you in TBTK 2009.”

Just recently, Irving Spivey visited our TBTK Chair in New York. While he was all praises for the TBTK and looking forward to his next Bohol visit, the conversation among two close friends caught the interest and attention of another Phil-am personality whose name is a byword in the US – Mrs. Loida Nicolas-Lewis, who was gracious enough to invite the two friends and play host to a dinner at the exclusive Harvard Club in midtown Manhattan , Mrs Lewis expressed interest in going to Bohol and be a part of the TBTK revelry. The kind of interest shared no less by the Philippine Ambassador to the United Nations, Hon. Hilario Davide, Philippine Consul General in New York, Hon. Cecilia Rebong, and NY Philippine Tourism Director Emma Ruth Yulo, who like Mr. Spivey, was also there in Bohol as part of the TBTK 2006 Global Homecoming.

In our recent TBTK press release posting we made mention that while our campaign promotions are gaining acceptance by foreign friends and dignitaries abroad, with more reasons for our Boholano brothers and sisters overseas. to take time and be home in July, 2009 for the Tigum Bol-anon, for this affair is intended for all of us. Ipakita Nga Garbo Nato Ang Atong Pagka Bol-anon. We urge all Boholanos at home, in the Philippines and abroad to be supportive of our TBTK’s Program of Activities. For the success of the TBTK 2009 will be the success of all Boholanos,who are now respected in our country and gaining admiration in workplaces abroad. Part of the TBTK success is the recognition bestowed to our island province of Bohol as among the best tourist destination site in the Philippines. A recognition bestowed no less by the Department of Tourism. (Douglas B. Hontanosas)