Remembering the RMCHS Class of 69 IV-2

The friendship we developed in our youth particularly in high school is something very special… People come and go in our lives after high school but the people whom we have met in high school especially our classmates are forever etched in our memory… We long for them…. are interested to know how they have been… want to swap stories and  to connect  with them even after long years of separation.

Before the advent of  social networking sites, connecting with friends from long ago was not an easy task.  But  thanks to Facebook, we are now able to get in touch with each other  again… There was this study conducted by Harvard University  about aging people who were put in a controlled environment  wherein they get to hear only music and read articles published in their youth. There was also another group of old people that were not in a controlled environment. After some time, the results of the study showed that those who were in the controlled environment were more youthful in appearance and didn’t manifest the usual symptoms of aging.

This must be also one of the reasons why we find joy in meeting up with our high school classmates.  By travelling down memory lane with them, we feel young again despite our wrinkles and bulging tummies.

When I have finally re-connected with my high school classmates, I tried to look back and remember how we were in high school.  I don’t have the computer like memory of Lydia So but I will just write those things that I still remember…Anybody who reads this can contribute his/her anecdotes or things remembered about  the Class through comments.

If I am not mistaken, we IV-2s had been classmates since third year. We were actually the third section but since Quezon City Science High School opened, they recruited the Section 1 students to  be  pioneers  so  we became Section 2 and Section 2 became Section 1 with some former Section 1 students who refused to transfer to Quezon City Science High School.

What do I remember then of our Class?

a.    

• I  do  remember that we were a NOISY  bunch… Remember our English teacher who was a member of the Peace Corps.. Mr. Lawler?  We were so noisy one time that he really lost his cool. Ako pa yata ang sentro ng kanyang galit. Sino naman kasi ang hindi mawawalan ng bait sa klase natin. I also remember our Geometry professor ( third year ba to? )na nagkandalaiti sa akin and to this day I dont know why. I perfect ko nga ang  finals niya e di ayun, tumahimik siya. I wonder how  are they now.

•  We had the most beautiful Adviser.. Miss Carino. I didn’t realize then that she was just 5 years  our senior. Now, five year difference in age is nothing. Vilma Santos married Ralph Recto with a ten year gap between them. 

• If  showbiz then had Guy and Pip…Vi and Bot as love teams, we had our share of love teams too in class. Edna and Dading…Mitoz and Ado …Abi and Nancy… Malou and Willie.. Meron pa ba?

•  Flora, Patria and Me were always together.. As Lydia puts it, we were the Three Musketeers.. Since we didn’t have a love life and low in the social register ladder, we tended to just observe people and make kulit to our classmates . One of the guys we loved teasing then was Alex Agato ( Lord please bless his soul). We used to tease him kay Patria Galapon. I never found out if he really had a crush on Patria. Kasi sabi nya malagkit daw tumitig si Alex.

• Lydia So was the ever giggling one. Mahilig din ito sa tsikahan..In short and in long, tsikadora ring katulad ko. Ha ha ha. 

•  Floren  Reyes was one of the good looking guys in class but contrary to what Lydia might have surmised then, he was not my crush.. it was actually his older brother whom  Flora and I took fancy of.

• Elenita Dioso.. she was the prim and proper type..be- medalled Girl  Scout who lived just a stone throw away from our building. One of the heartthrobs and  an outstanding Boy Scout  who belonged to the lower batch  had a big crush on her. The name  is William,  an Amerasian. Tama ba ako Elenita?

•  Linda Billiones- siya yung high school girl na mukhang dalaga na.

•  Antonina Villarosa.. she was one of those who had a pretty face. I liked being with her kasi she is quite tall too. 

• Carmelita Tibung- another prim and proper type who had a very nice handwriting. Anybody who have heard of her?

• Jose Comia..  He was fair   and   his dad was a newspaper man at  Reuters. I came to know about Reuters through him. 

• Romualdo Dusaban… it was only years later that I realized na kamukha pala niya si Engelbert Humperdink.  Ha ha ha.  Teka, bakit ba nyo ba ako tinutukso kay Dusaban. Nakakahiya  baka akala niya nuon pinagnanasahan  ko siya. Ha ha ha

• Ramon Perez- the youngest  and  also one of the good looking guys but he looked so young  na pag naging crush mo eh parang  cougar  ang dating. 

• Edna Zaragoza… the beautiful  one.. if the standards for a beauty queen now were applied then, she could easily passed as Binibining Pilipinas. Then kasi, mga mola.. the likes of Gloria Diaz and Margarita Moran ang nanalo.  Now, papayatan na. We used to go to their house near  Nepa Q-Mart. In UP, I got to "know" Randy David through her though Randy was my teacher in Western Thought.

• Milagros Salazar… the gracious and sexy one..Ado’s “love of  his life.” Edna’s BFF. We have been classmates since first year… Her other BFF was Elizabeth Torre, the mestiza kid, sister of Joel Torre, the Chess grandmaster.

• Rene Figueras.. he was quite tall, silent type.. don’t remember any conversation with him. Looking at our class pic now, parang mas pogi ata siya kay Floren.

•  Amando Ocampo Jr- a leader.. I never intended to go to UP but  I was persuaded by the group to take the entrance. It was the last day and Mrs Enriquez was not in the office so Ado took care of it. I wont tell na how he did it lest it might incriminate all of us. 

• Flora Gamil- among our classmates, she was the one closest to me. She was the only one in our section who got honors  when we graduated.  We knew each other very well and had our share of mischief during those days.. If you only knew what we were doing then…

• Willie Cabato- I always associate him with Marilou Simpao.. He was one of those  who conversed with us girls. Lagi rin ito nakatawa. 

• Danilo Abinoja- we used to call him Abi.. He was not the boisterous type but he had always a half smile on his face.  Maraming may crush sa kanya diba? Lydia, naging crush mo ba siya? Aminin… Joke lang .

• Marilou Simpao.. though we wereMutt and Jeff when we were together, I would like to believe, that for a certain time, we became close. She used to come to our house. She had a beautiful  set of teeth and pang Miss Universe na smile. Yung love team nila ni Willie not as open as yung kila Mitoz –Ado , Edna Dading.. Parang may pagka hush hush pa ata. Tama ba ko Lyds.? 

•  Nancy Anonuevo-The Fil-Japanese girl..  very neat.. di nakukusot ang uniform at buhok. We used to go their place near Bernardo Park… learned a thing about Shintoism when we got there. Abi's apple of the eye then.

• Leonora Sy- Fil Chinese  classmate. I also loved her smile.. The Kim Chui of our class.. 

• Egay Ramos.. he was the high school kid who was quite mature for his age. Parang mama na siya pumorma. Tawa tawa lang.. di magulo. Parang may bigote na siya nuon.   

• Imelda Laurino- eto yung neneng nene nung high school.

• Dading Cortez- very strict ang look niya. Dollars ang tawa niya. He was the Class President, right?

I might not have mentioned all of us here but I really do remember each and everyone. It’s just that at the moment, I can’t write anything in particular about them.

To end this,  I’d like to quote:

 

High school life, on my high school life
Ev'ry memory, kay ganda
High school days, oh my high school days
Are exciting, kay saya

There are times, may problema ka
Kung ang homework, left undone
Pray ka lang, 'wag tawagin ka
Upang di pagtawanan

High school love my one high school love
Not infatuation or crush
Tunay 'to s'ya ang buhay ko
Di n'yo lang alam ako'y nagba-blush

Bakit nga ba ang first love ko
Ay di serious, so it seems
Kung alam lang ng first love ko
He is always in my dreams

Ang saya ng high school
Same in yours and my school
Di na mapapantayan
T'yak ganyan ang buhay na sadyang makulay
Alaala kaylan man

High school life, on my high school life
Ev'ry memory, kay ganda
High school days, oh my high school days
Are exciting, kay saya

High school life, ba't ang high school life
Ay walang kasing saya?
Bakit kung Graduation na'y
Luluha kang talaga?

High school life, ba't ang high school life
Ay walang kasing saya?
Bakit kung Graduation na'y
Luluha kang talaga?

Ang saya ng high school
Same in yours and my school
Di na mapapantayan
T'yak ganyan ang buhay na sadyang makulay
Alaala kaylan man

High school life, on my high school life
Ev'ry memory, kay ganda
High school days, oh my high school days
Are exciting, kay saya

High school life, ba't ang high school life
Ay walang kasing saya?
Bakit kung Graduation na'y
Luluha kang talaga?