City Savings Bank celebrates 50th year anniversary, recognizes and honors six outstanding educators
Being a reliable partner of the public school teachers since 1966, the Bank recognized six outstanding educators namely: Randy Halasan from Davao City (leftmost), Lynn Padillo from Naga City (third from left), Dr. Luisa Yu from Tacloban City (fifth from left), Anabel Ungcad from Davao del Sur (sixth from left), Dr. Jesus Insilada from Iloilo (eighth from left), and Jenelyn Baylon from Oriental Mindoro (rightmost). Presenting the recognition were UnionBank President and COO Edwin Bautista (second from left), UnionBank Chairman and CEO Justo Ortiz (fourth from left), and former CitySavings Presidents Mikel Aboitiz (seventh from left), and Rene Almendras (ninth from left).
It was a night of looking back at the past and celebrating the future as City Savings Bank (CitySavings) marked its Golden Anniversary last January 24 at Radisson Blu Hotel, Cebu City, cementing another milestone in the bank's history. With its theme "50 years of keeping it simple", CitySavings remains true to its basic philosophy of "Simple is Good", offering simple and straightforward banking coupled with warm and helpful customer service to its customers.
The event was attended by AEV, UnionBank and CitySavings' officers, management team, branch heads and regional heads as well as former and current board members. The program started with the University of Cebu (UC) Dance Company's flawless gold-inspired opening number. CitySavings President and CEO Catalino Abacan shared "Guided by our values of integrity, superior service, teamwork, continuous innovation, and assumed responsibility coupled with pure dedication, CitySavings is here to stay for the communities we serve".
One of the program highlights was the recognition and awarding of six guest educators namely Ms. Jenelyn Baylon (Oriental Mindoro), Mr. Randy Halasan (Davao City), Dr. Jesus Insilada (Iloilo), Ms. Lynn Padillo (Naga City), Ms. Anabel Ungcad (Davao del Sur) and Dr. Luisa Yu (Tacloban City). Being a reliable partner of the public school teachers since 1966, the bank recognized them for making a difference in the lives of their learners and showing so much passion to reach out and go out of their way to empower their respective communities through education.
Our first educator is Ms. Jenelyn Baylon, an Alternative Learning System (ALS) mobile teacher from Naujan, Oriental Mindoro. In her 11 years of teaching, she has mentored deprived, depressed and underserved out-of-school youths and adults in her province.
Our second educator is Mr. Randy Halasan, the head teacher of Pegalongan Elementary School and serves the indigenous Matigsalug tribe living in one of the remotest villages in the mountainous hinterlands of Davao City.
Our third educator Dr. Jesus Insilada is known for his literary pieces and writing prowess. Currently a Head Teacher at Wenceslao S. Grio National High School in Puyas, Cabatuan, Iloilo, Jess usually writes about the life of indigenous people and has been active in integrating culture in his writing and teaching.
Our fourth educator Ms. Lynn Padillo is presently the Chief Education Program Supervisor in DepEd Naga City acknowledged for her creativity and innovativeness through programs initiated in the public education sector.
Our fifth educator, Ms. Anabel Ungcad, is also an Alternative Learning System (ALS) mobile teacher from the Bagobo-Tagabawa tribe in Davao del Sur who teaches more than 300 students from out-of-school teens to village elders.
Our sixth and last educator, Dr. Luisa Yu was born in a family of educators. She has been involved in the education sector for decades, starting as a primary teacher and attaining the position of regional director of DepEd Region 8 (Eastern Visayas), which she currently holds.
"To our cherished teachers and to our beloved CitySavings bankers, thank you for the first 50 years. Here's to another 50 years of faithful service.", said CitySavings Chairman of the Board Eugene Acevedo as he led the ceremonial toast.
Multi-awarded Mandaue Children's Choir serenaded the audience and left the crowd in awe and tears with their angelic rendition of Let it be, The Light of a Million Mornings and What a Wonderful World. The evening ended with CitySavings bankers and guests partying the night away as Sonata band belted out hits from the 60s to the present.
From a small thrift bank founded by Don Ramon Aboitiz and Teotimo Abellana to help people of moderate means, CitySavings today is far from pagamay – gamay lang with its current extensive branch network of 100 branches nationwide.