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Thursday, June 17, 2010

mga kaanak ni maria at ignacia...isang balik-tanaw (sma hs batch of 1997)


ano nga ba ang nagbibigay ng kulay sa high school? maaaring ang mga pangyayari, mga tauhan nito, at iba't-ibang aspeto na umiikot sa loob at labas ng akademya.... pero ano din ba ang pagkakaiba ng pulutong 1997 sa ibang pulutong na dumaan sa saint mary's academy? siguro ay may pagkakahawig, may pagkakatulad ngunit di maaaring magkamukha...kahit na nga himayin pa ang kasaysayan ng saint mary's academy from year 1945, it may be alike but it will never be the same.


1993-1994 freshman year. i was a transferee then from saint paul school of san ildefonso. even though it was far from our place, my parents decided to enroll us at saint mary's academy, they pulled out my sister from saint paul school of san miguel and enrolled us together at SMA.

at that time sister maria luz dela cruz, rvm, was at the helm as school directress. the most sociable and gregarious directress, being friendly to all...

as first year students, mostly would entail big adjustments not just for transferees like me to a new environment but for loyal students as well, from being a grade school student to a high school student. all at the same time entering late puberty and early adulthood.

who would forget year 1993, fidel ramos was our president. nelson mandela won the nobel peace prize. mariah carey was at the height of her career with songs like "dreamlover" and "hero". a whole new world for lea salonga when she sang her own version of the alladin theme "a whole new world". the band rivermaya was founded. schlindler's list and jurassic park were among the hit movies of 1993, mayon volcano erupted for the nth time. imagine all these, talking about these while eating lunch at aling ine's restaurant cum school supplies store, while eating fishballs, while drinking samalamig of diffrent colors and flavors, while taking chances on the "palabunutan", while waiting for transport service... for a sundo.... all occurring at one and only racelis street, a strip of sort even before the food strip came into being...pero balik tayo kay aling ine, dapat kasama sya sa annals of history ng saint mary's academy, she have been a living witness to all these...

then came 1994-1995, sophomore year. the country hold its another barangay election and that same year,the country hosted the 43rd miss universe pageant making it the second time after 1974. the well celebrated final and answer question of the pageant, "what is the essence of being a woman?", sushmita sen of india gave a sharp and quick answer which paved the way for winning the crown as miss universe of 1994. the very reason why samson japitana, a high-flying junior student at that time, drew his inspiration of composing a cheerleading song that goes something like this...

we are the juniors and we are the best, the models of SMAB...
then chorus
oh oh oh mabuhay (ang juniors) mabuhay ang juniors mabuhay....

but i really do not remember if they won the cheerleading competition at that time.

who would forget the speech choir competition. ang punong abala at lider lideran ng panahong yun si dionice juliano. ang piyesa "the psalm of life" ni henry wadsworth longfellow, ang costume kulay itim with matching hood and mask, hindi ko alam kung si "kamatayan" o gregorian monks ang inspiration...dahil ba sa ang titulo ng piyesa ay may salitang life kaya "kamatayan" inspired ang costume? ewan ko ba, until now i do not know the reason, because i think i was just involved for the sake of being involved, plus points yata sa english subject o exempted sa final exam kaya ako sumali. nevertheless, it was fun and exciting specially during rehearsals and at this day and age i can recite one stanza of the poem:

"not enjoyment and not sorrow,
is our destined end or way;
but to act that each tomorrow,
find us farther than today."

also, who would forget the moments at the audio visual room, watching and listening to the international debate combats of our homegrown talent and foremost student enrique "buko" dela cruz. he was an inspiration...an encouragement for all.

school year 1995-1996 initiated an experimental move of the school with regards to fragmenting the students, the so called first pilot and second pilot came into existence. miss mercedita dungo and sir rogelio dela peña handled the first pilot and second pilot respectively. i really do not know the rationale of the experiment but i guess its all about motivation, a matter of reward.


junior year 1995, saw the most celebrated event of the year, the world youth day. being a catholic institution, the school was all the way participative. from singing the world youth day theme song entitled, "for god so loved the world" with sign language interpretation sung after every flag ceremony, from receiving and enthroning the jubilee cross to bequeathing it to the next school. the school was all the way there...felt and seen...

not to be forgotten was the televison exposure of saint mary's academy via the game show battle of the brains, represented by roel mapoy, joey rivera, jonil bautista, allen perez among others...

sayawit year level choral competition was also held. there were two songs for the competition, "halina hesus halina" and another song in which until now i cannot remember. in recall, we have hired a choral teacher for this event and have agreed to make monetary contribution to help pay the services of the choral teacher.

juniors and seniors prom should not also be forgotten, another best part of high school life. souvenirs made of cards similar to an atm card with the song of camaraderie "if we hold on together". we even had special guest during the prom, then senator now president gloria macapagal-arroyo. (through the efforts of buko dela cruz i guess).

1996 also gave way for a new directress of saint mary's academy, sister maria violeta acosta, rvm, a quiet type yet engaging directress.

1996-1997 senior year. the final year for all of us. it was in this year sangguniang kabataan election was held, princess diana and prince charles were divorced, local dance group universal motion dancers were at the peak of their career. there were also growing popularity for gwapings, ang tv show, hiraya manawari among other contemporary televsion shows.

saint mary's academy goes with the fad in terms of dance group popularity. hindi ko matandaan kung ano ang name ng grupo nila, but everytime there was a school program they would be included as performers. the group consist of jerome canasa, emmanuel i forgot the surname, israel montano and ryan silva. they have the moves and the charisma and they have fans too. not a surprise ryan silva became one of the formidable member of the ust salinggawi dancers and now with the commercial and professional dance group "the whiplash".

not to be forgotten are the young love sweet love of these times. from serious to not so serious boy-girl relationships that have made the journey of a high school life even more exciting and sweeter, that to this time have witnessed the flourishing relationships from a puppy love to a serious love to marriage. the likes of mark timothy pagaduan and hiyas lea dela cruz and aicelle constantino and franklin verdillo among others. there were those relationships that failed and there were those relationships that prospered...

graduation is coming near... na kung kelan ayaw mong matapos ay para namang sadyang triple and bilis ng orasan. graduation photos are taken by batch, pictorials for the marynette, writing messages for a closest friend to go along with the idea of the yearbook, deliberations for honor students, if i remember it right it was dionice juliano against jonil baustista vying for the valedictorian post, first to have a retreat at baguio among others.....


this batch have seen the best teachers of the academe. sir dela peña for chemistry, mam dungo for economics, with her unforgettable naturalness and angst when explaining the law of demand and supply. mam bernardino and mam lajom, with their mathematical prowess teaching logarithm, geometry and algebra. mam inocencio, with her expertise and ability to uncover the message of the el filibusterismo, not to mention that this lady also handled the student affairs of the high school department. mam villegas, with her illiad and odyssey and other literatures of the world. mam catacutan, now sister tess catacutan, rvm... with her edukasyong pangkatawan at kalusugan, first aid and prohibited drugs. mam leoncia cruz, with her matter and its motion through space and time, also with her was the prefect of discipline title. mam tamayo, with cherie pie picache image taught the noli me tangere. sister angela, with her different philosophies of man. then there was brother jude javier with all his efforts to explain the new encyclical letter of the late pope john paul the second entitled "evangelium vitae" relating it to family relations. sir yambao on how to communicate effectively in english. mam myrna bondad, the high school principal...sir edgardo santos...... at that time he was never my teacher because he transferred to bsu, what a relief...thanks be to god...hahahaha.

higit pa sa panghihinayang ang aking naramdaman ng hindi ako nakarating sa reunion noong buwan ng mayo, it was 13 years after... pagkatapos ng labintatlong taon. gayunman, i still hope that in the near future we will all see each other again, to hear your stories and to hear my stories. stories that we can learn upon and laugh about. as sharon cuneta would say in her song...

high school life, on my high school life
every memory, kay ganda.
high school days, oh my high school days
are exciting kay saya...

may mga bagay na nakakalimutan o sadyang kinakalimutan....ngunit napakarami ang mga bagay na dapat ay hindi kinakalimutan...i guess this is one of those that need to be remembered not only today or tomorrow...kundi magpakailanman.

after thirteen years, it is now with great happiness to say...KAKLASE KO YAN. and after the nostalgic reunion on may 1, 2010, it is with much pride to say....KAIBIGAN KO YAN....