How the Global Betans Came to Be
By Bro. Julito “Tristan” Ganchero, CPU 1977A

It all began in the early part of 2002. Betan Arlette Jarencio, in Toronto, Canada and Betan Tristan Ganchero in Utah, USA , both major players in founding of the Manila Betans, started corresponding through e-mails and tried to update each other regarding the status of the fraternity.

During that time there were rumors that resident members were having a hard time recruiting applicants and in some chapters going on inactive status was not a remote possibility. Morale of the resident members was low. Direct communications with the school chapters, alumni members and even with the Manila Betans did not exist. The general feeling was that our fraternity was going nowhere and if nothing is done the fraternity we all cherished so much may just fade away.

Recognizing the situation and taking advantage of the ease in communication that the present technology offers, Brod Tristan developed the framework and proposed the idea of organizing all the alumni Betans all over the world with the main objective of giving assistance to the resident members of all school chapters in Iloilo. The idea was first presented to Brods Arlette Jarencio, Mar Saquian and Felix Gayongorsa, all based in Toronto Canada, Brod Jess Bacera, based in Guam, USA and Brod Jessey Caigoy, based in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The idea was supported unanimously. Brod Arlette Jarencio with the help of Brods Mario Saquian and Felix Gayongorsa proceeded to organize the Toronto Betans. With Brod Jess Aling (co-founder of WIT Betans) on board, Toronto Betans became the backbone of the global community. Brod Jess Bacera volunteered to host the Betans website and with some help from Brod Felix Gayongorsa, betans.com was launched. Brod Jessey Caigoy took charge of informing Betans based in the US West Coast about the globalization. Each one then took efforts to contact other Betans from all over the world using whatever e-mail addresses or telephone numbers available at that time. With the website, betans.com, more betans learned of the globalization, and the global Betans community started to grow.

Brod Jairus Cancel and the US East Coast Betans, Isagani Boy Bacong, Tom Itaas, Roy Juntado, and Mario San Luis, came on board and Brod Jairus provided the initial master list for the WIT Betans. Brod Manny San Luis, who was able to organize the UI Betans for a re-union during his vacation in Iloilo and briefed them about the proposed globalization came back to the global community with the master list of the UI Betans. Through Brod T-loy Docil, Brod Arlette was able to secure the master list for the CPU Betans. Then Brods Tony Morales and Pax Delgado came on board with a long list and contact information of Betans based in the Middle East. Brod Jun Pedregosa, who was also based in the Middle East, with the help of his wife, a former FS, helped us with a lot of information we need in Iloilo. Brod Pio Go Jr. upon learning of the global community brought with him e-mail addresses of Betans from the 60's. When Brod Lochinvar Ching Bucane joined the global community, from Mississippi, USA, he represented the delegation from the San Agustin chapter. When Brods Elvico Vhicoy Gumban, Benny Pasaporte, Alex Magno and Edgar Bong Orleans, stepped forward the hope of the revival of the Manila Betans was rekindled. Brod Patrick Divinagracia joined, and the link to alumni Betans in Iloilo seemed promising. Brod Rey Villanueva based in Singapore, Brod Poypoy Mogato, British Columbia, Canada, Alton Sandico and Jules Asma in Australia, Jun Trasporto, Toronto, Canada, Felix Panoy Penacerrada and Danny Dama Damasco, California, Dan Saracho, Tito Armada, Medardo Biaco all based in the Middle East, Nelvie Funtilon, Malaysia, the list went on as Betans sounded off from all continents of the world.

As the information campaign went on, Brods Tristan and Jess Bacera laid out the organizational structure of the global community and proposed that the global fraternity be registered as an international non-profit corporation. Thus on September 9, 2002, the name Phi beta Epsilon Fraternity International, was registered in the state of Utah, USA with Brod Tristan Ganchero as the authorized agent.

Everything did not go as smooth as it seemed though. Security problems were found on the global Betans’ website, as non PBEF Betans were able to register. Fraternal obligations have to give way to other priorities. Brod Tampuhaw came on board and nobody was ready to accept his unorthodox writing style. Worst, he will not identify himself and since there was no direct communication with his contemporaries in Iloilo, identifying him became a burden. So Brod Tristan has to beg him off from participating in the discussions which he willingly did.

The globalization process slowed down as problems were being resolved. New approach and strategies were then discussed in the form of unofficial meetings when Brod Jess Bacera and Brod Tony Morales, on separate occassions, had a chance to meet in person with Brod Tristan, in Utah. Brod Tristan was also able to meet with Brods Jessey Caigoy and Edgar Labaro in Las Vegas. At the same time Brod Arlette and the Toronto Betans, were also doing their brainstorming and solidifying the Toronto Betans. All the while, Brod Jairus Cancel and Tristan Ganchero collaborated to prepare the paperworks for the incorporation of the global community. Through their efforts and with comments and suggestions from the global community the Articles of Incorporation and the Constitution and By-Laws for Phi beta Epsilon Fraternity International were drafted. The drafts were presented to the global community in the middle of 2004.

At this point, Brod Lochinvar Ching Bucane, proposed to Brod Tristan the use of yahoo group mail as a means to link everyone through e-mails. Brod Ching volunteered as owner/ moderator, and Felix Gayongorsa and Tristan as co-moderators.

It was one of the best proposals ever made. Thanks to Brod Ching This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it was launched. Through the efforts of Jess Bacera, Brod Ching, Felix Gayongorsa and Meloy Perez, the betans.com website was also overhauled.

With the ease of using the yahoogroups mail coupled with a secured website, everything just took off. Membership doubled in a very short time as new members joined. Some were referred by other members, others just came across the website and registered. The yahoogroups mail was so successful that Brod Patrick compared it to a lost and found section where you can post a name of a Betan and before long another Betan will have found him or may have information about him. Some Betans found out that their collegaue of more than ten years are actually a Betan brother. Another one found out that a neighbor he used to know during homeowners meetings is actually a Betan, so they now call each other brods. And so many more interesting stories.

The new communications network also enabled Betans to get together and organize themselves into groups and geographical chapters were then identified. From Middle-East, to Toronto, Canada, Singapore and the US East Coast. Through the efforts of Brods Manny and Mario San Luis more and more Betans from UI were located. The team of Brods Tony Morales and Pax Delgado located Betans from CPU, UI, WIT and USA in the Middle East. Additional Betans in China, Hong Kong, Vietnam and Singapore were also located.

Also of note was the revival of the Manila Betans through the efforts of Brods Vhicoy Gumban, Benny Pasaporte, Alex Magno and Bong Orleans. With the newly revived Manila Betans, the strength of the global Betans community was considerably reinforced.

The ease of communications also made possible for Brod Jairus Cancel from the US East Coast to meet with the Toronto Betans where the Articles of incorporation was introduced. That meeting paved the way for the first ever official global Betans meeting, the First North American Betans Convention,in Toronto, Canada, which was attended by non other than the co-founder of WIT Betans, Jessie Aling, and former MEB's from all the four chapters, Isagani Boy Bacong-CPU, Manny San Luis-UI, Roy Juntado-WIT and Ching Bucane-San Agustin. It was the first ever international Betans convention where the four chapters were represented by their former MEB's. Thru the leadership of Brod Arlette and with the help of the Toronto Betans it became the most oranized convention so far. It was thru this convention that the Articles of Incorporation was approved and signed and the first set of Officers of the Executive Committee and Chairmen of the Special Committees of the Phi Beta Epsilon Fraterntiy were elected with Tristan Ganchero, President and Chairman of the Board; Manny San Luis, Vice-President; Lochinvar ‘Ching Bucane, Secretary/Auditor; Jairus Cancel, Treasurer.

Through this convention the idea of having a US West Coast get- together came about which became the Second North American Betans Convention, held in Las Vegas, Nevada, attended by Betans from the Philippines, Calgary, Canada, California and Utah. The Constitution and By-Laws was reviewed and approved, Brod Danny Damasco was appointed Auditor for the Executive Committee, and the Fraternity Hymn composed by Brod Freddie Ortiz of WIT and the song We Are Betans composed by Brod Ching Bucane were introduced. Support for the Visayas Betans Symposium was pledged by Sis Aurora Alerta-Lim and Brod Tom Banas during this convention. The symposium being another offshoot from the Toronto Convention which was proposed by Brod Arlette Jarencio.

Another significant development also came through when Brod Pax Delgado mused about the idea of having an official publication. Brod Ching Bucane, with talents galore, came up with the global Betans Newsletter. With the News and Information Committee under his wing, they came up with issues that are very informative, fun to read and the Featured Betan Section became a hit, as much as the newsletter itself in general. It became not only as the official publication but also it symbolizes the essence of the fellowship of the global Betans.

With the ease of communications, and persistent efforts by Brod Manny San Luis, Arlette Jarencio, T-Loy Docil, Alton Sandico and Patrick Divinagracia , link to Iloilo alumni Betans and resident members was established specially when Brod Jonan Castillon accepted the task of coordinator and Brod Milliard Villanueva together with Brod John Jamelo promised their support. MEB's of different school chapters, Art Terrania, Zeb Villaruel and Arjay Relatado, and resident members started to conduct joint meetings. News from school chapters became very reassuring.

With the globalization, Betans from all chapters from all over the world became united. Gone are the barriers between chapters, gone is the gap between different generations. As Brod Tampuhaw was finally identified, thanks to the efforts of Brod Patrick and Brod Tristan, and his communication style accepted by the global community, discussions in the Tambayan became more colorful, livelier and exciting. Ideas from all brothers flowed freely for everyone to agree or argue. The bond of the global fellowship grew stronger. Brod Manny's virtual Tambayan became a Tribal Tambayan and for a while a Tampuhaw Syposium on the Net was enjoyed by everyone. Thanks also to Brod Pio for bringing in the Golden Boys (Betans 50 years and growing younger), Brods Nath Fernandez, Maing Ausmulo, Ed Calderon and the youngest of them all in reverse order, Brod Baltazar Nievarez. Everyone relished the stories of initiations during the 60's told firsthand by the original brothers themselves. Brod Franklin Pangkoy Lagera also from the 60's joined in the Tribal Tambayan with his own trademark way of giving marching orders to the younger UI Betans and everyone had fun when Brod Jun Trasporto responded with some reluctance.

As preparations for the Visayas Betans Symposium in Iloilo is getting in high gear, through the efforts of Sis Au Lim, Brods Narcing Maravilla, Ely Bagtasus, Vic Lo, Glicerio Bruce Benosa, Pastor Jonan Castillon, MEB's and resident members, and with the special participation of one of the original founding brothers, Brod Jorge Tamayo, the globalization of the Phi Beta Epsilon Fraternity has finally reached home.

And this is just the beginning of the Phi Beta Epsilon Fraternity in the global dimension as we steer the fellowship of brother engineers …far beyond engineering ….far beyond excellence.