JULIUS and Nelia Neri planned a trip abroad to celebrate their 50 golden years of married bliss. A month before, their children and grandchildren plotted a party in their honor and practically swore the guest list into secrecy.
“It is a surprise, you see, 10 days before the actual date,” they said. Drawn into the conspiracy was Julius’ first cousin Mariles Alvarez Nable, who made sure (she was also leaving for abroad) everything was in tiptop order at Montebello Villa Hotel where the bash was held.
As it happened, Nelia was running a fever that day, but she did look dazzling (golden bridal glow?) when she swept into Montebello’s ballroom in the arm of a radiant Julius. Everyone stood up to applaud.
Present were all their children and grandchildren, who were very much involved in the program that highlighted the evening.
There was the eldest of the brood, Julius “Jay Jay” Neri Jr. with his wife Marylou and their children. Tiffany and Mikkel were the program hosts; Pio played the guitar and Ines, the violin.
Jerome “Jed Boy” Neri was with daughter Isabel who played the piano; Justin and Candice Neri with their Julian who sang; and newlyweds Jovi and Crystal Neri, he rendering “Love Me Tender” as Elvis Presley did in his first movie.
There was a video about the Julius and Nelia love story, about how they met, thanks to Chinggay de Veyra (now Mrs. Jose Utzurrum) who on a date with her boyfriend needed chaperones—Julius and Nelia, who else?
Chinggay was present on this occasion, and if she was in a hurry to get home, it was for no other reason than to catch up with the evening’s episode of “Dolce Amore.” She takes our teasing in good stride.
Present were Nelia’s uncles: former Cebu Governor and Deputy Speaker of the House Pablo Garcia, and Tomas Garcia, former mayor of Dumanjug, the historic municipality in southwestern Cebu from where the Garcia family hails.
Also present were Nelia’s siblings—Elma and Noppadon Muangkroot who reside in Thailand, Sonny and Armi Garcia (honorary consul of Russia), Gina and Cesar Atienza, Dale and Doreen Garcia.
Unable to attend were Cebu City former Mayor Alvin Garcia and his wife Ninette who were in Hawaii, and Nelia’s sister Zenda and her husband Iman Lat, in New Jersey.
Nelia used to write the Cebu column of PDI in the late 1980s. Now she writes a Lifestyle column in her family’s Cebu newspaper Sun*Star.
‘Lauriat’
Ambassador Francisco Benedicto hosted a sumptuous lauriat at the Tsai Cheng restaurant in honor of Anika A. Fernandez, who until recently headed the Cebu office of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).
Anika has been assigned as attache to the Philippine Embassy to the United Nations in New York. She was supposed to be there on July 18.
Before dinner was served, Ambassador Benedicto led a toast where he mentioned that Anika had received the presidential award Gawad Mabini for her outstanding service to the DFA. Before her Cebu stint, Anika had been assigned to Paris.
In her response, Anika thanked Ambassador Frank for hosting the dinner and his kind words. She recalled that they first met in 2006 when she was new in the DFA.
The young people in the DFA called him Silver Fox for his thick mane of white hair. “He was very popular with us,” she remembered. “He said he’d be my big brother, and I his little sister.”
Present at the dinner were Anika’s husband Allen Fernandez and her mother, Malou Guanzon Apalisok, who writes an opinion column in Cebu Daily News, sister paper of PDI in the Visayas.
Also present were Msgr. Roberto Alesna who, for many years, has been chaplain of DFA in Cebu, and now he heads the St. Therese Parish in Lahug; Eileen Mangubat; Leslie Ann Reyes who has opened her law office in the Ayala area; Jerry Tundag; and Michelle So.
More: Manny Rabacal, Angel Espiritu and his son Angel Espiritu Jr., who is with the Cebu DFA; Sam Constanilla who coordinated the dinner; and Cebu’s august lifestyle writers who all sat in a row—Flor Ynclino, Nelia Neri, Mila Espina and Cookie Newman.
