Story By: Georgene Quilaton-Tambiga
Photos By: Rachel Mae De Gracia, CVPro
All Thomasians took turns in joining the revelry—from the religious Triduum to St. Thomas of Villanova to the festive booths put up by different student organizations—in the name of the school’s beloved patron saint.
The Fiesta Began
The five-day annual College Days began in October 8, 2024 with an institutional Holy Mass at the historic CST-R Quadrangle, the venue that saw the gathering of at least 77 batches of Thomasians in the school’s eight decade history for what was once called the High School Days.
With a short but festive Opening Ceremony, that the performance of the CST-R Drum and Lyre Corps highlighted, the games for all Thomasians, faculty and staff included, began. The best among the Golden Eagles who competed in the West Visayas Regional Athletic Meet lighted the torch for lawn tennis. They were Herman Illusorio III, Louijie Beatrice Mongcal, Vinz Mary Peñalosa and Kirby Ramacho.
The Red Stags dominated the 2024 Mr. & Ms. Intramurals of the Basic Education Department. Bryce Clayton and Jo Elizabeth Justiniani, both from the ninth grade were declared the new Mr. & Ms. Intramurals respectively.
Thomasian Entrepreneurs dominated the 2024 Mr. & Ms. Intramurals of the College Department. Romnick Traje and Jaqueline Fransisco won the title, respectively, during an evening event that was exclusively attended by college students.
As the different ball games began, the booths of the student organizations in high school and college also opened. There was the BS in Criminology’s Airsoft Booth and the Junior High School’s most lucrative Karaoke Booth.
Fiesta In The Augustinian Recollect Way
Augustinian Recollects from nearby communities came to CST-R to concelebrate the Holy Mass in honor of the Feast of St. Thomas of Villanova. Rev. Fr. Amadeo Lucero, OAR, the prior of Recoletos de Bacolod, who was also once a religious administrator at CST-R was the main celebrant and homilist during the Holy Mass.
Fr. Lucero reminded Thomasians to imbibe the values that their patron saint so graciously lived as the Lord’s Alms Giver. He added that the Feast Day was celebrated to remind the community about “who is St. Thomas…and so that we become the living examples of God’s love to others.”
Rev. Fr. Cirilo Andan, OAR; Rev. Fr. Vincent Cadeliña, OAR; Rev. Fr. Leopoldo Estioko, OAR; Rev. Fr. Dexter Palagtiosa, OAR with the Recoletos de San Carlos including Rev. Fr. Monday Benjamine Edobor, OAR; Rev. Fr. Joel Dequilla, OAR; Rev. Fr. Cristopher Maspara, OAR; and Rev. Fr. Enrico Peter Silab, OAR, were the concelebrants.
Most of the mentioned Augustinian Recollects who concelebrated were either Thomasians, who studied at the minor seminary, or former religious administrators of the school. On the feast day of the patron saint, they all became pilgrims to CST-R.
That fiesta afternoon, the priests from the Diocese of San Carlos came for the traditional exhibition basketball game. The Ubuntu Fathers won over Padres Recoletos but no grudge was ever held for they all shared a fraternal fiesta dinner at the old refectory of Sto. Tomas de Villanueva-Recoletos House.
While the brother priests were busy with basketball, running enthusiasts and Thomasians ran up to five kilometers in participation of the Dagan Alay ka Sto. Tomas de Villanueva. Road Stallions emerged as the big winners in both the men’s and women’s categories. The runners of Central Philippine State University-San Carlos City also won several medals as well as the Toboso Runners.
Culminating the College Days 2024
After all the points were tallied, The Purple Rams (Grade 12) and Silver Jaguars (Grade 11) tied score and were both declared the champions of the the Senior High School Department.
In the Junior High School, the Blue Phoenix (Grade 10) were the champions while the Red Stags won First Runner-up. The youngest team, Green Falcons (Grade 7) won Second Runner-up while the Yellow Ravens (Grade 8) won Third Runner-up.
While high school Thomasians culminated their College Days with an evening party to cap the Student’s Day, the college Thomasians continued the festivity until the weekend, October 12, 2024 when they re-grouped into teams for the 2024 College Department Teambuilding.
Challenges and games that emphasized dynamics and teamwork brought the college Thomasians into groups represented by colors. They all commenced the weeklong events with a pajama party complete with Festival of Talents and Film Showing.
