Slightly edited to protect Boy from being branded as a rumor monger.
Gentlemen,
I just came back from the homecoming, so I better type this story while my memory still serves me well.
I arrived at 5:15 pm and discovered that, because of the earlier rain, they moved the program and the dinner tables from the grandstand to the new building where the softball field used to be. For those who have not been in our campus for many years, remember when you enter the main gate, on your left there would be a big grass field that was used for softball and football. Well there is no more grass there. There is a school building, a parking lot and a covered basketball court.
Back to the homecoming. The mass started at 5 pm and I still caught our Father Rector's homily. Being inside our church always brings wonderful memories. I really think it is one of the most beautiful church interiors. One of my regrets is not getting married in this church. Teddy Herbosa told me he got married here and he really cherishes that opportunity. I am told that, unless you are a Bedan, you cannot get married here. On the right side of the church were the 1974 batch all wearing red T-shirts with the words "Silver Jubilarians" at the back. On the left side of the church were the 1949 batch, the golden jubilarians, all wearing white t-shirts with red collars. Their shirt said the "golden 49ers". After the mass, they sang our Alma Mater hymn, did some cheers (in a church), and had a photo session. I counted around 51 golden jubilarians and 98 silver jubilarians.
I think having 51 golden jubilarians present is quite an achievement. To be alive and present and cheering is something to be proud for these Bedans in their late 60's. I am sure there were many business titans in that batch but I only knew Eddie Lim ( former President of the Makati Stock Exchange) and Mayor Mel Mathay of Q.C. They even had a video presentation about their batch. They picked up their old HS photos from their annual, showed them and combined them with actual interviews or comments from the present batch. Made me think that someday they will show photos of us with long hair combined with how we will look 25 years from now. It was a nice trip down memory lane for them.
I also noticed that the 1999 graduating class of Arts and Sciences were also present but were not part of the program. They are still all boys. San Beda is still an all male bastion except for the College of Law. After dinner, that class started to leave. I felt sorry for them, it just wasn't their affair.
I checked with the caterer. They prepared for 650 guests. Lots of food were left. We paid P200 for the dinner and two drinks. We paid another P300 for the alumni association contribution.
Mr.Liwanag, at 84 years old, is still very strong and trim. He is the executive director of the alumni association. We just had to have our pictures taken with him. We also had pictures taken with Fr. Tarsi, Fr. Andy, Fr. Ed, 2 of the old security guards (chiquito and ________sorry, I forgot his name) and Shirley (the cigarette vendor just outside the main gate). She specifically went there, kasi may utang pa raw si Jessie Gonzales sa kanya na nakalista pa.
Bebet Gaudinez brought his digital camera so the pictures will be posted right away for your viewing pleasure. Please take note of our waistline and hairline. Pero, mga magagandang lalaki pa rin kami.
The following came : ipe sanvictores, alla arroyo, bebet gaudinez, teddy herbosa, rey umali, jun liboro, ver de leon, ric robrigado, jessie gonzales, rabby solis, rhett jeturian, toti guevara, raul pacariem, and Fr. Lucas (andre centeno). In behalf of all of our batchmates, I thank them for their time and friendship and their sense of duty to our bedan heritage.
There were some cheers from the golden and silver jubilarians, some fireworks, and some entertainment courtesy of a band with a famous violinist - jay cayuga. But we noted that it would have been more entertaining if we had female entertainers. That band had only one female, at sumisigaw na ng "babae! babae!" ang mga bedista. So we are definitely getting a lot of female entertainers next year. And I am not talking about singers only. The kind of entertainers that Sonny V. likes a lot.
The golden boys had their little program, then they left by 9 pm. That left the stage to the silver boys. Like I said they had about 98 present and they invited them to go up the stage, class by class. They had banners with their class names and logos made. They were a little rowdy, and the beer was open bar. They were having a lot of fun. I told myself, we are going to enjoy our turn too next year.
One of the HS batch 1973 organizers told me something important. "Look at them, they are having fun, but the real fun is in the get togethers before this night. The reunions, the meetings, the planning, and the implementation. Get them involved. You can always get caterers, entertainment, and secretaries to call people to come that night. The trick is to make people remember that they matter, or else they will not come. Make them feel that they all have to contribute to the common goal - cherish those friendships."
Definitely we must have other activities than just having one night of drunken stupor and acting like 16 year old juveniles. I told Alla that me must have some family and sports activities before our homecoming night. I also talked with the two doctors present tonight, Teddy and Ric, that considering the number of doctors that we have, here and in the USA, could we do a medical mission a few days before our homecoming night? They liked the idea and it was very workable. Dr. Marlex Montemar owns a hospital in Nasugbu, Batangas. That would be a perfect venue. We have 2 dentists (Vincent Chipongian and Bubut Vasquez) several surgeons who can do operations, and several doctors who can analyze and prescribe.Teddy told me that we also have an opthalmologist - Ric Tamesis. Sponsors for medical supplies are no problem. I would like to hear from our USA doctors. We hope you can come home in February next year, not only for our homecoming, but also for this medical mission. Please contact ric robrigado and teddy herbosa (their e-mail addresses are posted) and do what you can to make it happen.
Our group had a little meeting (it was hard because of all the noise) and we all agreed to meet again on March 19 at Club Filipino. Ipe was nice enough to offer the place as a club member. We also agreed that each one present had to bring at least two more batchmates to enlarge the circle. Bebet suggested that we better have an agenda ready, para hindi mauwi sa kuwentuhan lamang.
At 10pm the banner was passed on to us signifying our responsibility to take care of next year's affair. We all went up the stage, thanked them, said that we were impressed at their affair. We looked up to them as our kuyas but we hope to outdo HS74, because that is the challenge the succeeding batch always has to strive for. They clapped but I think they were already too drunk to know the difference. Thereafter we sang our SBC Victory Song. (Do you remember..."From Mendiola to the battlefield........".? Then we sang the Alma Mater Hymn to close it out.
We thought that we would bring home that banner but Mr. Liwanag said that we had to return it to his office. Si Mr. Liwanag, 84 yrs. old na, pero kinokonfiscate pa rin ang hawak namin.
Some things to note.
Please do not wait and ask us to call you. Call us and tell us what you can do. If you can just contribute at least one more "lost" classmate to our directory list - that is already a valuable contribution. Dr. Eugene just traced Dodo Gonzales and Ric Mescallado in their general areas. Help us get in touch with them and others.
That's all folks. Goodnight.
Boy M.
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