OUR FIRST CONTRIBUTION: THE PHS WATER SUPPLY SYSTEM
It’s official! The Class of 65 contributed the Pampanga
High School water supply system!
Yes, it’s true that it has been in
place for the last ten years, but it wasn’t right for us to claim it as OUR
contribution until now, since, for a time, we had owed the supplier a sizeable
amount. Well, I’m getting too far ahead
of the story, so let’s start from the beginning.
Ten years ago, we had our reunion at
one of the buildings in PHS. Three of
our classmates, who were faculty members of the school, articulated the
school’s need for an efficient water system that could service the growing
student population. We had some money
left over from the reunion, thus, we decided to use it to initiate the water supply
system project. Marcial Morales, Jr.
knew that Renato Alarcon had the capability to do such a project, so we brought
up the idea to him. Without any
hesitation, Renato coordinated with the Pampanga High School Administration and
worked on the water system.
After the work was done, the next
proper thing to do was to ask for the final billing, but as it turned out, the
total cost was way above the total
amount that we had on hand! This wasn’t
turned into a big deal, simply because we, the close friends of Renato,
presumed that he had the resources and that reimbursement wasn’t urgently
required of us. So, we promised to pay
him when we could, which resulted in tiny trickles from succeeding
reunions-left over funds from contributions solicited for the project. For the past few years, there has been a
standing joke in the batch that, if we didn’t hurry up, we will have to paint a
sign on the overhead water tank that read, “DONATED by RENATO ALARCON and the Class
of ’65.”
When we started planning the December
30, 2000 reunion, the subject of the water tank maintenance was raised once
more. Apparently, the lahar floods did
not spare the facilities of the school and that the water system we donated was
the only one in the area, which was operative. However, the school still needed funds to keep it in working
condition. In fact, we discovered that
the reason why the water system has been working so well these past years is
because of Andrea Dizon Domingo’s generosity.
She had been providing the funds for maintaining the system for quite
some time. Personally, this information
hit me hard, knowing that we overlooked the maintenance of the system and
neglected the repayment of Renato all at the same time.
This realization plagued me for the
months that followed. Here we are,
planning for this huge reunion and trying to establish a Class ’65 Foundation,
while we still had this long standing liability being ignored. If the water supply system was to be used as
the gauge as to how we do things, certainly, it did not speak well of our
reputation. With an earnest resolve to
put things in order, we decided to conduct a separate campaign to raise funds
for the settlement of the said liability.
And, I am proud to say, that the 65ers rose to the occasion! Through this article, I wish to thank all
those who contributed to the project.
Many thanks, as well, to our friends, now settled abroad (You know who
you are.) who have responded to the
call for help. Most of all, we deeply
thank our classmate, Renato, who has been so patient with us through it all.
As we
move ahead to a more organized manner of managing our donations through the PHS
Class ’65 Foundation, let this water supply system be the source of our
fulfillment and joy. A standing example
of the joy in giving instead of receiving and the fulfillment in knowing that,
together as one, we were able to contribute something to the school that helped
bring us to where we are now.
Lisa
Lopez-Valerio
Our
deepest thanks to Renato Alarcon for unselfishly extending his resources to put
up this project, and to our batch members who contributed towards its final
realization.