NOT everybody gets the chance to celebrate his 100th birthday, but not this native from Carcar City, who served the military for 30 years and was a warden at the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC) for 16 years.
Retired Colonel Dioscoro “Coring” P. Alesna is celebrating his 100th birthday Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020.
His great secret? Maintaining a healthy lifestyle—no drinking, no smoking.
Staying safe and healthy in this time of pandemic is not easy, but it has not stopped Alesna from carrying on his daily routine, his daughter Beth Alesna said.
According to Beth, her father lives with her sister, a doctor, who monitors daily the activities of the retired colonel.
Beth said her father is surrounded by his children and grandchildren and could be one of the reasons her father has stayed healthy even amid the pandemic.
Beth said: “He loves to eat and looks forward to our meals. He loves Mountain Dew.”
Alesna was awarded by the Visayan Electric as one of its oldest customers in 2018.
“One sign that lets us know he is okay is his sarcasm,” Beth said.
She recalled that a cousin once asked her father about his secret to staying healthy and her father answered, “Huh, stop dreaming.”
Alesna served as jail superintendent of CPDRC during the time of former governor Eduardo Gullas in 1976 and resigned in 1986 after Gullas’s term ended. In 1988, he was appointed to the same position by former governor Emilio Osmeña and retired in 1994 when the latter’s term ended.
He joined the military in 1950 after graduating top among four Filipinos in the Officer Candidate School in Fort Riley, Kansas, USA.
He served two tours of duty as a member of the Philippine Expeditionary Force to Korea during the Korean War.
In 1965, he was designated acting chief of police of Cebu City to Malacañang upon the request of then mayor Sergio Osmeña Jr.
He rid the city of swindlers and pickpockets and went after illegal gamblers, thieves and other criminals. One notable case was the Cuenco Pawnshop robbery where he and his team of policemen chased the perpetrators all the way to Makati.
He resigned after a city councilor reorganized the police without his knowledge and went back to the Philippine Constabulary.