For past generations the Syjucos, a Filipino family of Chinese descent, have been businessmen who amassed quite a bit of earthly goods because they were capable and hardworking. This was true of Don Santiago and his son Augusto (BSC '40) but not of "mavericks" such as Jose (HS '64) and Cesare (HS '69, BA '74). Jose entered the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and became a Brigadier General of the Philippine Army, while Cesare won laurels as a painter, a poet and a writer of fiction. Despite prodding from his father (Gus) to study commerce, Cesare took up art assiduously after high school at La Salle. He took specialized courses in painting, graphic design, audio-visual communications, creative writing and the camera arts. He was closely associated with the new fiction aesthetics of the early '70's, and with contemporary Philippine music that flourished in the last decade. He won the gold medal as Philippine representative to the UNESCO graphic design competition in Paris, France, in 1981; the grand prize for painting at the 35th annual competition of the Art Association of the Philippines in 1982; and the Palanca prize for literature in English poetry in 1983. Syjuco has held 11 one-man exhibitions in Manila, North America, eastern and western Europe, and has represented his country in various international art competitions of contemporary Philippine paintings abroad. He has published four volumes of verse and fiction. His current concerns include film, video and electronic music. He now lives with his parents in Vancouver, Canada, together with his wife, Jean Marie Ricafort, an award-winning painter, and four children.