Annak Ti Santa

Geraldine Burgonio- Pacpaco

 

Geraldine is the second of ten children of the late Postmaster Bienvenido "Bening" Burgonio, Sr. and Segundina "Gunding" Amano Burgonio, a retired school teacher.  She was born in Vigan but was raised in Santa.  She finished her elementary education at the Santa Central School and high school at the Divine Word College of Vigan, both as Class Valedictorian.  A CPA, she attended the University of Santo Tomas, College of Commerce.

She worked briefly for SGV & Co. and then started a career in government that spanned 29 years.  She was a Budget Analyst at the Budget Commission.  Then she transferred to the National Electrification Administration where she served forseven years working her way up from Accountant to Loans Administrative Chief.  She spent the last 22 years of government service at the Central Bank (CB) of the Philippines.  While at CB, she was privileged to attend a three-week Seminar in Central Banking for East Asian Central Bankers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.  She was also one of two Bank Officers who was sent to Taipeh, Taiwan to examine an off-shore branch of the Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co., the largest commercial bank in the Philippines during that time.  She opted for an early retirement in March 2005 after a difficult decision to leave a rewarding career to start a new life for her family in the U.S.

In the last quarter 2003, Geraldine, her husband and their two sons came to the US as immigrants still undecided if they will stay for good or not.  It was only in April 2007 that her family (minus the eldest who was no longer eligible to immigrate) decided to settle here permanently.

Geraldine is married to Amado, a classmate in high school, who hails from Vigan, Ilocos Sur.   An Electrical Engineer, he worked at the National Power Corporation for 23 years until he availed of an early retirement offer in 2001.   Thereafter, he was hired as a Consultant for power and energy in a subsidiary company of the San Miguel Corporation.  They have 3 children.  Paola, the eldest, a graduate of the UST College of Medicine, is at present a resident doctor at the Radiology Department of St. Luke's Medical Center in Quezon City.   Their older son Christopher, finished Information Technology at the Mapua Institute of Technology, but is now pursuing a career in nursing.  The younger son Patrick, who finished high school at the Ateneo de Manila, has not decided whether to pursue a computer science or fine arts/architecture career.  He might still change his mind though, as he is presently taking preparatory basic subjects at Pasadena College.

The family resides in Pasadena, California.  She is an Accountant at the City of Los Angeles - Department of Recreation and Parks.  Amado works for Pasadena City Department of Water and Power.

Several thousand miles away from the home she knew as a child, Geraldine pines for the day when she will once again revisit her native Santa.  She misses the early morning sun peeping atop the Cordillera mountain, and the fresh air that is a blend of the mountain and sea breeze.  She would love to hear again the sound of the rippling waves of the nearby South China Sea, which on a calm night, is lullaby that puts her to sleep.  And Geraldine bets she is not alone when it comes to getting a taste of the legendary "ipon" that Santa is famous for.

Henry Cardenas Balanza

Henry Cardenas Balanza is the pride of Basug, Santa where he was born 57 years ago.  He is the third from the eldest of eleven children of the late John Balanza, Sr. and Mrs. Herminia Cardenas Balanza.  Most of his siblings reside in Southern California, with the exception of one of his sisters who lives in Lodi, California.

He is married to Merida Gamiao-Balanza, an accountant and they are blessed with three children, Cynthia Grace, M.S. in Child Psychology at National University, Henry Jr., MBA at UC Irvine and Jason Glen, B.A. Architecture at Cal Poly, Pomona.

 

Henry was a consistent honor student at Basug Elementary School. He graduated in high school as Valedictorian from the University of Northern Phil.,Class '67. He finished both his BA and Masters in Business Administration from the National University San Diego and Irvine, California respectively.

In 1971, Henry joined the U.S. Navy at Subic Bay, Zambales as one of the first recruits from that base when Sangley Point in Cavite was closed.  He was one of four, out of 100 exminees accepted for enlistment and thereafter served as a Personnelman from November 1971 to May 1980.  During 1972-1973, while serving onboard a destroyer, he experienced war in Vietnam and was awarded the Combat Action Ribbon.

With intelligence, perseverance and hardworking abilities, Henry was selected to attend the Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island and was commissioned officer of the U.S.Navy Supply Corps from May1980 until he retired as Commander in August 1997.  During this period he served onboard another destroyer, destroyer tender and various shore and overseas installations including a peacekeeping tour with the United Nations in Mozambique, Africa in1994.  In1994-1995, Henry commanded the 1312th Medium Port Command at Compton, California.  It was a unique situation as he was the only U.S. Naval Officer of Filipino ancestry that ever commanded this Army Transportaion command.

Presently, Henry is the President of the Balanza Homes, LLC which he runs with his industrious wife, Merida.  He is also a Marketing Director of World Financial Group.  He is an active member and Business Manager of the University of Northern Phil. Alumni Association.  He strongly believes in giving back to where he came from and so he helped initiate a scholarship program for deserving students being supported by their association.  He is also a man of strong faith and religion and currently he and his wife serve as Eucharistic Ministers at St. Columban Parish in Garden Grove, California.

Belma Adviento-Baris

Belma Adviento Baris, formerly from Mabilbila Norte, is currently the Deputy Director of Finance for the County of Kauai appointed by Mayor Bryan Baptistein January 2006. Prior to her appointment, she was Director of Finance for Mahelona Medical Center, a hospital of the Hawaii Health Systems Corporation. She was previously a registered principal for a securities brokerage company. She served as Chairman for the Kauai Tax Review Commission, State of Hawaii, under Governors John Waihee and Benjamin Cayetano.

A proud product of Santa High School, she graduated in 1967. She earned a degree in Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of the East, Manila, Philippines A former member of the Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Belma was Chief Branch Accountant for the National Grains Authority, now National Food Administration, a Philippine government agency. She immigrated to Hawaii in 1975. A very active community leader in Kauai, she currently chairs the Finance Committee for Immaculate Conception Church and served for 6 years on the Board of Directors for the Kauai Filipino Chamber of Commerce, past President for the Kauai Filipino Women's Club and the Diocesan Congress of Filipino Catholic Clubs in Hawaii.

She is married to Fel Baris, an Electronic/ Electrical Tech for the Kauai County Wastewater Division and a newly licensed Electrical Contractor for the State of California. Fel (Boy) is originally from Sarrat, Ilocos Norte. They have three grown up children; Jed, Facility Maintenance Coordinator for Learning Care Group, Inc., Bay Area, California; Jasper, Senior Systems and Quality Control Analyst for Amdocs; and Janis, Planner for Pacific Gateway Concessions; 2 grandaughters, Cheyanne,3 and Abygail, 1 yr. old.

Her sisters Elisa (Eugene) Talaga, Myrna (Felix) Panorel, and Tina, live in the Philippines, and Delia and husband Renato Alambat live in Hayward, California..Her mother, Angela Baldonado Adviento, resides in Kauai, Hawaii. Her late father, Dominador Adviento, was an outstanding Council Member in our town, Santa.

 

Benjamin B. Pascua

Benjamin "Ben" B.Pascua graduated in 1974 from FEATI University with a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering. Upon graduation he immigrated to California where he worked as Engineering Tech for Memorex Corporation. In 1978, he became a real estate broker and established Atlas Realty and a few years later he decided to open Financial City Mortgage in San Jose, California.

 

Ben is married to Dr. Roeliza Ebbah- Pascua, a Medical Internist with San Jose Medical Group. They are blessed with twin sons, Christopher and Nicholas. Ben and Roeliza are major benefactors of their parish, St. Francis of Assissi and the Filipino Northside Community of San Jose.

Ben is an active member of the Slicon Valley Lions Club in San Jose and the National Association of Realtors. He is also in the list of "Who Is Who In California", in the area of real estate brokerage. He enjoys playing golf and fishing on his spare time.

 

 

 

 

 

Pio "Romy" Cardenas Galinato, Jr.

 

Romy was born in Santa, Ilocos Sur on September 5, 1937, the firstborn of Pio Galinato, Sr. and Sotera Cardenas.  He has two brothers and four sisters.  He was raised by his grandmother Enriqueta Cardenas.  His father was elected councilor and served as a Town Mayor.

Romy attended  school at Santa Elementary School and Santa High School.  He received a Bachelor's Degree in Accounting from the Far Eastern University.  He passed the CPA Board Examination in 1964.

While working as a Supervising Auditor in the Commission on Elections, Manila, he met and married his wife Lydia, also a CPA who worked with him.  Her father Fernando Corpuz from Caniogan, Santa, was a war hero and a veteran of Bataan.  Her mother is from San Fernando, La Union.

Romy moved his family to Los Angeles, California where he worked as a Supervising Auditor for the Los Angeles Unified School District.  He obtained his California CPA License in 1984.

He served his community as President of the School Parent Teacher Association and in various capacities at the Holy Trinity Catholic parish council.  He was President of the Santanians USA, Inc. in 1989 and 1990.

Romy retired at a management level as Principal Financial Analyst in 2000.  His enjoyable moments are spent with the two boys of his daughter Rita, a nurse and son-in-law George, a pharmacist.  His other activities include fishing, playing poker, gardening, traveling and ballroom dancing.