“THE world is old, so we are told, but to us it really started. Just over a hundred years ago, when Augustina and Fernando, came together to raise a big family.” These are the first few lines to the opening of the Escaño song, written and composed by Singapore-based Clem Escaño in 1987.
In the early days, Augustina, a tindera (shopkeeper) and Fernando Escaño, a businessman, were blessed with many children and raised their family in the town of Malitbog, Leyte where the Escaño family story unfolds.
In the present day, to relive the family legacy, different generations of the Escaño clan got together to celebrate a three-day, safari-themed 9th Grand Reunion, put together accordingly by the Bernabela family line. There were endless hugs exchanged between hundreds of members from the clan who were overjoyed with the company of many of their relatives whom they haven’t seen in years!
To begin the exciting weekend event, the first day was held at the 38 Park Avenue Showroom at Cebu I.T. Park for an evening of cocktails with the brood and trivia night, “How Well Do You Know Escaño?”
Dressed in safari smart, getting to know the flock during a dinner reception and “band-ing” together took place the following day at the ballroom of Casino Español de Cebu.
On the third and final day, before bidding their goodbyes to everyone, a whole-day event safari expedition brought the family members to the Cebu Safari and Adventure Park in Carmen, Cebu.
Members of the Escaño family, now spread all across the globe, never fail to celebrate a grand reunion every four years, whether it be in Cebu or hometown Malitbog. Reliving the legacy of Fernando Escaño will definitely continue in the years to come, just as the song ends with, “and the memories we share, will keep us one.”