The biggest union of overseas Boholanos will move out of the United States and Canada to their dear origin and sweet home, Bohol, for their convention in every six years to come.
The assemblies of the Confederation of Boholanos in the USA and Canada (CONBUSAC) right in Bohol thus promise the future stagings of the Tigum Bol-anon sa Tibuok Kalibutan (TBTK) to be grander.
CONBUSAC’s constitution was amended to this effect in the Council of Leaders’ Meeting attended by Gov. Edgar Chatto at the Marriot Hotel in New Jersey on Friday.
The Bohol governor is the invited keynote speaker and guest of honor of the on-going 16th Biennial Convention of CONBUSAC there led by its president, Larry Galang, who hails from Carmen.
Because the confederation’s convention has been biennial or done in every two years since its founding, the first two conventions in every six-year period will remain held in the US or Canada.
The third, in the sixth year, has Bohol as host, according to Chatto who himself toyed the idea with the leaders’ council.
The council is also composed of presidents of CONBUSAC chapters and Boholano communities and cultural organizations across the two giant nations of the North American continent.
Chatto explained that CONBUSAC will convene in Bohol every six years simultaneous with the TBTK, considered the grand homecoming of Boholanos from around the world.
Being a triennial event, the TBTK is conducted here every three years and bound to be a grander convergence reinforced by CONBUSAC once in every six years, he stressed.
The TBTK is a boundless movement engaging the oneness of Boholanos across the globe while CONBUSAC is reputedly the biggest umbrella organization of Boholano groups in foreign lands.
The CONBUSAC leaders’ meeting in the presence of Chatto also had the TBTK chairman, Neil Bonje, who is based in Chicago and himself a former CONBUSAC president.
Unanimously adopted by the leaders’ council, the Bohol holding of CONBUSAC convention every six years was set for ratification last night in the general assembly and plenary session of the on-going convention.
BOHOL GAINS
AND CHALLENGES
The 16th biennial assembly of CONBUSAC peaks today, with Chatto keynoting and presenting to the Boholanos abroad the gains of their province and challenges to its 1.3 million inhabitants under his governorship.
Assisted by his wife and Balilihan Vice Mayor Pureza Veloso-Chatto, the governor will crown the Mrs. CONBUSAC 2015, induct the new confederation officers and witness the conferring of the Ten Outstanding Boholano Awards.
The awards are a CONBUSAC version of TBTK’s Ten Outstanding Boholanos Around the World (TOBAW) Awards.
The new Bohol airport’s construction after 25 years of waiting is among the province’s star development updates the distant Boholanos have been so eager to hear.
TOAST AT
POPE’S HOME
Before the formal convention opening, the First Couple of Bohol was honored in a dinner tendered at the official residence of the Pope in New York, at specifically 20 East 72nd Street, between Madison and Fifth Avenues.
Pope John Paul II, now a saint, had once been there, seated on one of the chairs around the reception table where Chatto on Wednesday dined with the host, Archbishop Bernardito Auza, who is the Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations (UN).
Pope Francis will stay there in his first US visit in September.
Joining the dinner were Philippine Ambassador to the UN Lourdes O. Yparraguirre, Deputy Consul General and New York Consulate General Kira Christianne Danganan-Azucena, Minister and Legal Adviser to the UN Igor G. Bailey, Executive Director of ANCOP ( Answering the Cry of the Poor) Foundation, Inc. Roger Santos, TBTK Immediate Past President Betty Garcia, CONBUSAC President Larry Galang, Tagbilaranons of Eastern USA President Justy Parras, Bohol Circle of Eastern USA President Atoy Torralba, and Emil Borja, who is a brother of Tagbilaran City Administrator Leonides Borja, among other Boholanos.
The Boholano Vatican diplomat to the world union had to fly to Paris later, but he assured the governor of his return to Bohol to join Chatto in the TBTK affair, which is one highlight of this year’s month-long Sandugo festivities.
Auza and Chatto were both guests in two past CONBUSAC conventions, including the one in Canada.
Many CONBUSAC members are enplaning to Bohol this week after their convention for the TBTK, which links with the “Visit Bohol Year†promotion.
In a separate welcome party hosted by Catigbianon businessman Alex Dacula at the Casa Vasca Spanish Restaurant in Newark, New Jersey, a pledge was sealed to prize the crown winner of the Miss Bohol 2015, another Sandugo Festival attraction, with a round-trip ticket for a US-Canada goodwill tour. (Ven rebo Arigo)