“ BABALIK KA RIN “

Part 1 of 2

It was a cold winter morning of January 17, 2001 when I left my home in Whittier, California for my trip to the Philippines to join high school classmates on our 25th anniversary reunion. It is hard to believe, but yes, it has been 25 years since we went our separate ways and it will be my first time to see most of them since Graduation Day. A classmate from the same Los Angeles area, Carlos Ilem, will be flying back on the same day for the same reason. Another classmate, Nina Gabriel, will fly back later in the week. It was when the plane started to move out of the terminal and taxi into the runway that I really felt a great deal of excitement about this reunion. It was a clear day and I had a good view of the snow-peaked mountains of California as the plane traced the western coast of the United States before finally veering left towards the west, almost half a world away on the other side of the Pacific Ocean. I closed my eyes and imagined the rustic landscape and tropical weather of Imus, Cavite, my original home that I left when I was twenty-two years old. I remembered those days when my father and I would visit one of his friends who lived at the edge of a rice field. The sight of rice stalks swaying with the breeze, in their ready-for-harvest golden brown hue has always been a sight to behold. The flight was uneventful except for the constant crying of babies on board. It didn’t really matter to me because I can’t sleep in an airplane, anyway, and it didn’t bother my reading. The three in-flight movies were not that great, the image was fuzzy and the sound coming out of the headphones was just a little improvement over a transistor radio, but when you’re inside a plane on a 12-hour flight, you are a captive audience and your choices are limited. My seatmates were a young Japanese couple who seemed to be in perpetual thirst as they downed quite a few cans of Kirin beer and shots of Johnny Walker (between and during meals!) before we landed in Osaka, Japan, our transit point. Arriving an hour early as scheduled didn’t help and just added to the misery of waiting because our connecting flight to Manila was delayed more than an hour. Finally, before midnight on the 18th, after watching a Bruce Willis movie on the 4-hour flight, I stepped inside my in-laws’ house in Palico, Imus where I will be staying during my stay.

Friday, January 19: After 16 hours in the air and more than 24 hours without sleep, I only managed to get 3 on my first night in the Philippines. After breakfast, I called my best friend, Alex “Bibing” Camungol on the phone and he immediately went to see me. Another friend, Alvin Manipon (he is not an Imus Institute alumnus but knew a lot of II Class 1976 alumni), picked me up in the morning to distribute the usual “padalas” to people around town. One of our stops was at the clinic of Dr. Dante Papa, who with his wife, were my sister Filomena's high school classmates (II Class 1961). It was here that I met somebody who looked familiar. It was Alberto Escobia, another II Class 1976 alumnus. We have never met personally before but I recognized him and reminded him about the reunion and the homecoming. Alvin and I then proceeded to this very interesting place called “Kainan sa Balsa” in Bacoor. Tables are set over platforms made of bamboos floating in water with nipa leaves or “pawid” to provide shade. The seafood that we ordered was excellent. This will start my eating binge for the rest of my stay. Since we were already close to Binakayan, we decided to stop by Melchor Saique’s house to see him. A very good friend for a long time, he was scheduled to arrive with his wife and son from Singapore on this day but we were told that it would be later in the afternoon. Alvin and I then went to Caloy Ilem’s house in Bayan Luma to get the slide projector that we will be using for the slide show in our reunion. Caloy and Alvin were elementary school classmates. Caloy is an avid photographer (when not hunting deer, moose, etc.) and he made slides from pictures that I provided. This slide show was his idea from the very start. Liberato “Buddy” Virata who works and lives in Legaspi City in Albay, asked to be picked up from his hotel in Makati. He too, came for the reunion. So in the late afternoon, Alvin, Bibing and I started to set out for Makati, but Alvin suggested that Bibing and I just go to Melit Darvin’s house as he was already waiting for us with another “barkada”, Egay Sarroca. Alvin and one of his friends then went to join the anti-Erap, People Power 2 rally at EDSA and planned to pick up Buddy afterwards. It’s really sad that the Filipino people has to take to the streets again to oust yet another no-good, corrupt president. Melit, Egay, Bibing and myself then proceeded to this videoke joint by the Imus Toll Bridge interestingly called “Fat Gabrielle’s”, owned by one of Ramon Revilla's many children. We went upstairs to the air-conditioned VIP room furnished with a monitor, karaoke machine, speakers and two couches. I was shocked when my companions ordered a bottle of Fundador for our first round, it was quite an improvement over the usual San Miguel beer. I opted for a bottle of San Mig Lite - Fundador is out of my league! We were later joined by Melchor and another good friend, Elmer Crisostomo. Young girls who were probably babies when I left the country many years ago, served drinks. They go by names like “Sunshine” and “Bunso”, and they look like nurses in their white attire. They also kept us company, pouring drinks for us and taking turns singing with us, never mind that “Sunshine” was always out of key! A “brownout” forced us out of this place unexpectedly at 1:00 in the morning. Before heading home, we stopped by at the Imus public market to eat yet again, as we had the usual “pulutan” with our drinks – hard to say if it was late dinner or early breakfast. The market was already bustling with activity this early in the morning. Alvin and his friend finally came when we were about to leave, both of them wearing “ERAP RESIGN!” t-shirts. Buddy wasn't with them though, they were caught in the People Power 2 euphoria at EDSA and had no time to pick him up. I was surprised at first how they were able to track us down but finally realized that everybody in this place carries a cell phone with “Text” capability.  Instead of having an oral conversation on the phone which can cost them P8 per minute, typing abbreviated message on the keypad is a cheaper alternative at P1 per text message. The message is received in text form and read on the cell phone’s display screen. Everywhere I went, I would hear cell phones going off – two short buzzes for “text” message, and one long custom “name-your-favorite-tune” for conversation.

Saturday, January 20: The day started with a call from Buddy Virata saying he was already in Imus. He managed to come by himself as Alvin failed to pick him up the previous night. I asked him to pick me up as I don’t have any appointment until later in the day. After lunch, we proceeded to the Angelus Memorial Garden adjacent to the Imus Public Cemetery. Buddy and his family are planning to build a structure over their mother’s grave. It was really a surprise when while I was walking around the place, I stumbled upon the grave of Medel Lacson, another II Class of 1976 alumnus. He passed away in 1989. It was another surprise when I saw a sandal-wearing “kantero” (he’s the guy expert at mixing cement or masonry) working in a nearby grave, with his very own cell phone hanging from his belt – with text capability, of course! There was a scheduled 3:00 pm meeting for II Class 1976 alumni to talk about the reunion and the alumni homecoming. Buddy and I were there first, on time, in the Imus Institute building at Dimasalang Subdivision, near Bantayan. There was a CAT-1 drill and the officers in their uniforms evoked a lot of memories. Buddy and I noticed a very obvious increase in the gay population among the high school students. Sgt. Eulalio Ubas is no longer their commandant. And then classmates started coming. First it was Bibing Camungol, then Eleanor Montoya and Marites Aquino, who came together. Familiar faces I haven’t seen since graduation day – my first year classmate Teresita Atanacio, and Teresa Marcial, whose husband Romy Paredes was my first grade classmate. There’s our muse, Elena Victoria, Romeo Marquez who reminded me that he was in my Model Platoon, Guia Monzon, Evelyn Saprid, Merlyn Encabo, Florian Ilawan who told me that my wife has a very nice first name, Josefina Camerino, William Ong and many others. And then there were my senior year classmates – Nora Camposagrado, Belet Samala who brought chicken arroz caldo and tokwa, and Larry Samudio. More than 40 alumni were in attendance. The second half of this meeting was really a practice for the opening and closing numbers of the Grand Alumni Homecoming that our class will be hosting on the 27^th. Another old friend of mine, OJ, will choreograph the closing number. After this meeting, the same guys who went out the night before, plus a few other guys, went back to “Fat Gabrielle’s” to see Sunshine, Bunso and the rest of the girls. They were all smiles when they recognized us at the door. We were really impressed by Romy Marquez’s singing. He is a very talented guy who doesn’t need to tell a joke to be funny because his very face is a joke in itself! As a “barkada”, we haven’t really been together for a long, long, time but because of today’s technology, we were joined by another friend, although not physically. Buddy called up Evar Bautista from his cell phone – or should I say, woke him up as it was still early morning in the US. Evar lives with his wife and son in Los Angeles, California. We took turns talking to him, so it was like he was really with us. After we hung up, he called back. I think it is safe to say that he misses his old “barkada”. Joseph Estrada finally gave up the presidency, realizing that most of his friends have abandoned him. After Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo took over the presidency, fellow Imus Institute alumnus and close Estrada friend, Gen. Panfilo "Ping" Lacson, lost his job as chief of the Philippine National Police. We Filipinos have squandered our first chance to improve after a bad leadership, may we do better on this second chance.

Sunday, January 21: I woke up early on the day of the 25^th Anniversary Reunion and headed out to the venue, the De Quiroz Garden in Bayan Luma. The theme of this reunion, and the Grand Alumni Homecoming a week later, is “Babalik Ka Rin”, that wherever we may be, we always have that desire within to go back to our roots. Within half an hour of my arrival, Ronny Gandia came with his sound system. With him were Nestor Ilas and Romy Marquez. Nestor is married to another alumnus, his high school sweetheart, Lilibeth Tagle of Bayan Luma. Their eldest is already 22 years old! I never met Ronny personally but always knew who he was, and I haven’t seen him since high school. We set up the tables and the chairs and Bibing Camungol set up the beer and softdrinks on 3 big coolers – making sure that there’s plenty of room for the beer. Next to come were Nora Camposagrado and Belet Samala, they were very much involved in the organization of this reunion. The event was officially scheduled to start at 10:00 am but people didn’t start coming in big numbers until about 10:30 am. I reminded Celia Magdaluyo that I had been to their house in Tanzang Luma with another guy after high school, and she remembered. A big Victor Wingsing, from Binakayan, came with Roberto Camaliga, a guy I almost came to blows with on my senior year. Alumni who were celebrating their birthdays in January and February provided food for the occasion. A group of teachers came together – Mrs. Caridad Saulog, Mrs. Lucina Suck, Mrs. Natividad Enriquez, Mrs. Visitacion Teodones, Mrs. Gloria Tagle and Mrs. Amparo Darvin. Ms. Lolita Bilugan and Mrs. Adora Agco-Padura, the current principal, joined them later. Bibing Camungol and Egay Sarroca asked me if I can recognize the lady they were talking with. I was really embarrassed that it took me several minutes before I finally identified Yolly Tiangco. Larry Samudio had a hard time too identifying her, maybe because she’s no longer wearing glasses like she did in high school. Larry, Yolly and I were classmates all four years of high school. I also met classmates who I went with during my elementary days - Marilyn Manipol, Corazon Param and Florencia Garcia, Bibing's wife. Tess Aquino, Laida Arguelles and I took turns as emcees, as a dry run for the Grand Alumni Homecoming. Melit Darvin, our president, took his turn at the mike too. I went to see a group of alumni in one table and reminded them that we were classmates in our first year (I-2) – Connie Cacha, Shirley Serrano, Mimi Bigalbal and Mariel Montoya. After lunch, we asked an alumnus, Ramon Advincula from Tanzang Luma, to say a prayer of thanksgiving for our reunion. He leads a congregation as a pastor, and he shared with us a very inspiring story of his life. Representing the II faculty, Mrs. Agco-Padura, delivered a short speech.

Later in the evening, we showed a video greeting taken at an II Class 1976 Christmas Party in San Diego, California, attended by 17 alumni and a former teacher, Ms. Aurora Gervacio-Ulatan. An alumnus from San Jose, California, Cornelio Bautista, originally from Tanzang Luma, also sent a video greeting. Our classmates living in Toronto, Canada also sent in their own video greeting to those in attendance. The slide show prepared by Caloy Ilem was next, projected on a makeshift screen made of white bedsheet. We played background music with the slide show, those songs from the early ‘70s that one would really associate with our stay in the school. Quite a few alumni were teary eyed when Elton John's “Skyline Pigeon” was played, and we sang along with it. Caloy Ilem surprised me and Melit with plaques of appreciation from our classmates. Speaking for myself, I didn't think it was necessary because a lot of people were involved in the reunion and I only played a small part in it, but nevertheless, I'm very grateful for it. Most of the attendees started to leave at about 9:30 pm but several stayed to talk some more, drink beer and sing on the karaoke. Several guys stayed until 11:30 pm to help clean up the place. It was an occasion to remember.