5 outstanding Negrenses cited in Capitol rites

BACOLOD CITY—A Cabinet secretary, a multi-awarded chef, a woman who has empowered others, a charity worker and a palay seed grower are this year’s five outstanding Negrenses.

Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Juliano Soliman was honored for public service, Antonio Agustin “Tony Boy” Montilla Escalante for culinary arts and business, Dr. Cecilia Dreyfus del Castillo for women empowerment and microfinance,  Araceli “Bukay” Garcia Ramos for community health service, and Antonio Reyes Belmonte for agriculture.

The provincial government Monday conferred the honors during the 114th Cinco de Noviembre rites at the Capitol building’s Social Hall here in the presence of their families and descendants of heroes of the 1898 Cinco de Noviembre uprising.

Cinco de Noviembre, a public holiday in Negros Occidental, refers to the bloodless revolution staged on Nov. 5, 1898, by Negrense revolutionaries led by Gen. Juan Araneta of Bago City and Gen. Aniceto Lacson of Silay City. The revolutionaries carried nipa stalks that looked like rifles and cannons that were bamboo mats painted black to deceive the Spaniards into surrendering.

Gov. Alfredo Marañon Jr. called on the people to emulate the heroism and ingenuity of the native heroes, who used their intelligence and ingenuity to outwit the Spaniards and win.

By honoring its modern-day heroes, the province was remembering its heroes of the past, Marañon said.

Soliman, whose grandparents are from the Cauayan town, was cited for her achievement as an advocate of the social development agenda by implementing poverty alleviation programs, such as the conditional cash transfer scheme, through the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

Escalante started as a vegetable farm owner and now operates three high-end restaurants in Tagaytay City, which have been consistently rated among the top 20 restaurants in Asia since 2008 by the yearly “Miele Guide.”

For 28 years since Del Castillo founded the Negros Women for Tomorrow Inc., the group now has 56 branches nationwide, employing about 1,000 employees and serving close to 200,000 beneficiaries, 98 percent of whom are women.

Ramos, also known as “Tita Bukay,” was recognized for her charitable work through the Volunteers for the Handicapped and the Disabled Inc., which she helped organize 33 years ago. The group has been extending free assistance to indigents, blind, deaf, crippled, mentally challenged and street children.

Belmonte, once a carabao caretaker and sugarcane worker who did not finish primary education, is now a successful palay seed grower. He started cultivating less than a hectare of land but today owns more than 50 hectares in Valladolid.