Our Memories

Our class of 69 was one of the most unique group ever to graduate in San Beda. In fact, many teachers were (perhaps) relieved that we were finally leaving school. 1969 was the year when San Beda introduced its students to the first lady teachers. It was a challenge... not for the students but for the lady teachers. Though we were learning in school, it was the teachers themselves learning a lot from us. In fact, we made them tough educators ever since. Let me give you some highlights of some of our memories.

I always adhered to Mr. Blanco's motto, "Oursh to Shhhare", kaya no big deal sa akin tumulong. Kaya rin siguro madali akong naka-adjust sa politics which, in its strictest sense, is about helping others.

I remember our class 4-42. Due to a shortage in classrooms we were placed in the audio-visual room which was aircon (the only aircon classroom in the whole high school dept). Our math teacher was Mr.Lofradez and his class came after recess. During recess somebody would borrow my math homework and it would get passed around. Until one day I couldn't get hold of my homework and Mr. Lofradez was already in the room. From then on, I would write the whole homework on the blackboard during recess and everybody could copy and I didn't have to lose my original again. Everybody had the same homework except those who didn't copy out of conscience, perhaps, or thinking their answers were more accurate. I guess I contributed to the corruption of the youth! But what the heck, we had so much fun!

But the real unbeatable guy in math was Rolly Sison. During our periodical tests, I would make 1 or 2 mistakes and he would make only 1. One time I made only 1 mistake and I thought I finally tied with him, only to find out he got it all perfect!!! He not only excelled in math but in all subjects. He is really the best of the best!

Why don't we try to recall the funny incidents in high school and the peculiarities of our teachers. Do you recall who that teacher was who, while still at the door and walking towards the front of the class, would start the class prayer by saying, "Father, Son, Holy Spirit"? Then, when in front of the class, would ask for a volunteer to lead the class prayer, and when nobody volunteered, would say, "Eugenio Sabas Fabic is volunteering..." (I don't know where he got the Sabas bit since I don't see that in Gene's full name in our Echoes '69?)

Then, who was that teacher who would give a grade of "0" or "100", nothing in-between, for "Ama Namin" and "Aba Ginoong Maria". For any letter or punctuation mark missing or misplaced, you got a zero. He was the same teacher who, when you want to say something to him in class, would say, "Sa opisina na yan..."

Another teacher would give you a grade of "100" if you wrote so many things in your test paper, right or wrong. He didn't seem to read the test papers, so to prove this contention, somebody wrote a lot of nonsense on his paper and, true enough, got "100"! Then somebody squealed and told this teacher and from then on he read our test papers and so many of us flunked the tests including myself!

Can you think of more?

Yes, I can still recall our math teacher, Mr. Lofradez. I remember that our class went on a trip to Father Arceo's hometown in Batangas and we went to Mabini beach on a picnic. Ang sarap ng kinain nating pork chops na was served by one of the cooks at the SBC cafeteria which was then run by Fr. Odilardo+.

Anyway, Mr. Lofradez was also with us on that picnic and I remember him for being the only person I know who can do the American crawl on the water in a unique way: he would do his swimming strokes in one direction but would actually move towards the opposite direction of his stroles.

He sounded funny when he talked kasi matigas ang dila and has a short temper too. Hindi siya yata ang titser na madalas na magtapon ng projectiles(like those flying blackboard erasers) to call our attention when we weren't paying attention to his lecture on quadratic equations?

Mr. Lofradez wears a dark-tinted glasses also di ba? He truly is an amazing character. I wonder how he is and where he is right now.

And the answer to your other query re: one of our teachers who was very particular about punctuation marks and who regularly gave us quizzes on one fourth sheet of ruled paper is none other than Mr. Napoleon Abad, who was also our Prefect of Students. Hindi ba he always wore bowties back them?

Another unforgettable teacher is Mr. Clotilde Rialubin who taught us Literature. He required us to take notes and do our assignments in math notebooks.

Mr. Bernardo was our Elementary Algebra teacher in our freshman year in high school.

Sino naman iyong matandang teacher who has the nasty habit of putting his hands in his side pant pockets to scratch his "itchy singit?" He also came to our homes to peddle subscriptions to magazines as a sideline?

And of course, class 4-42 must not forget the memory of our dearly departed Father Odilardo who suffered a massive heart attack several years ago. Let us offer a brief moment of prayer for him in his memory. Kami yata ni Loy Jose were the last of his former students whom he saw before he was called by Our Creator "to that undiscovered country where no traveler returns."

"How about Richard Chan? I remember during our freshman year (1-11), he was our treasurer. Someone swiped his log book where he marks our basketball tickets and marked it all paid. I know Richard was rich enough to treat the whole class to the game. Also, who threw the dud grenade in front of our Spanish teacher, Javillo? Half of the class fled leaving the other half terrified as to when they will blow up. Javillo froze. Was this 2-23? I'm amazed no one was expelled. And our very famous leakage. I remember Lawrence Lee getting 99 in Spanish, the Guy brothers getting 100 in Pilipino, and myself getting 100 in Religion. Vic Campa got high grades in Math and Science. Nobody believed in the results."

"Come to think of it, some of our teachers did some outrageous stuff and got away with them, from Mr. Hicban's "kurot" sa puwet, Mr. Blas Ramos' pointing his .45 caliber at Boy Montenegro (I think) to Mr. Abad's infamous "Post"-walking the school perimeter with three lead pound weights in each hand like prisoners of Bataan. Fr. Miguel(or Lucifer as I prefer to call him) out did all of them by removing his belt and whipping Alex Tan in front of all to see for being late from recess. There are other things that are probably best left unsaid, but we all seemed to have become good and respectful citizens, except for Lainez, who I heard still tries to hit the moon with his slingshot"

"I still remember noong sleepover natin sa San Beda at tumaakas tayo dala mo yon sasakyan nyo na Continental, tapos yon isang mattress kinabit sa flagpole at itinaas? Ano pa ba nangyari noon?"

"Who would forget our meeting after the graduation rites at St Anselm's auditorium? Naalala ba ninyo nung itaob natin yung Rambler ni Mr. Odulio? (sinu-sino ba yung mga ringleaders noon?) If I remember vividly, I think we were in the middle of the strike then"

"Mari, I recall that just days before we had our graduation ball, we call each other using our date's nickname, hiya-hiya ka pa pero pinagya-yabang mo rin kaya siya date mo...ngayon....ngayon....ganyan kayo!!! Dumadami yata ang may alzhiemers sa atin, ah! Buti nalang, last minute ako nagka-date, kaya wala kayo maitukso sa akin...lusot! LAKAS BA MANGGATONG?"

"That Saturday walk was called "Post" and could last for so many hours depending on the offense. This was abolished though before we even graduated. I think Fr. Benito was the one who abolished it. Salamat sa nagbigay ng first name ni Bong Castro. I remembered his last name but couldn't recall the first. He was the 3rd guy in my Chemistry team with Lubin. And yes, Hernandez - he also took bets for the San Lazaro race track! I remember Ed Nufable and I one time bet on a lyamado. Nanalo nga but since lyamado, balik taya lang! Was fun though! And Menchi Herrera - that beautiful lady! One afternoon, I was lacking 10 centavos to make a phone call at the red phone by the teacher's lounge (1st floor St Benedict's Hall) and she volunteered to give me the 10 cents I needed. Later, I was paying her back and she said something like "Huwag na. Buti yun hindi mo na ako malilimutan dahil sa 10 centavos na yon" Looking back at it now - was she flirting with me? Naaah! Our batch was just so lucky to be the first batch to have lady teachers in HS and in GS!!! And Javillo, who can forget him? He was with us for 2 years in HS and for those of us who went to college in San Beda also, we were with him for another (2 or 4?) semesters before they discontinued teaching Spanish as a required course! Now that I am in the middle of all these South Americans and Cubans here in Florida, I truly wish I paid more attention to him and took his lessons to heart. Now, I'm having to self-study the Spanish language. Importanteng bi-lingual (Spanish and English) in this part of Florida."

"Do you remember Mr Jimenez used to have a Mercedes Benz. I don't remember who else was in on it but Gary & myself flatted his tires a couple of times. Binutasan namin yung barbula nong goma para paunti-unti yung labas nang hangin. Asar na asar si Jimenez, pinanood namin siyang mag palit nang goma. Hey, Gary, alam ko meron pa tayong kasapwat. Bumagsak ako noon sa english, nag summer school ako sa Ateneo."

"One day in December sometime in the 60s, during our "last day" before Christmas vacation, 11 in a group dismantled the plumbing of a toilet in a stall on the second floor to remove the water and took turns in defecating in one and the same toilet(after agreeing to hold the stuff in their stomachs for two days), and one was given the honor or dishonor, whichever way you want to see it, to plant eight, single fuse "Bawang" firecrackers on top of the pile. At 12:40pm, when all were gone and the premises safe, the match was struck to the footlong fuse. It took 30 seconds for the bomb to go off.

Mayolo was livid(natuyuan ng dugo) when he entered each classroom of the second, third and fourth year classes on our first day back in January. He assumed that the first year students were not sophisticated enough to pull off such a stunt. He did not detail the damage out of embarassment and nobody knew that the entire restroom was demolished, not to say that a fire almost broke out and for one month, the place was a biohazard because of the E. Coli risk spread by the Pinoy grenade. He suspected eight but could not prove anything. Two were tailed and several were "trapped" to see if they knew anything, but he never figured out because his mind was not as sophisticated as he thought. One was expelled and one was requested to transfer but for some made up excuse such as failing grades or bad conduct .He was fighting with lion cubs smarter than him. And nobody talked.

After several months, his barbaric policy of sending home students violating his "Long hair/tight pants" protocol was watered down and mutated into the "Post" disciplinary action. He stayed out of the punishment business."

"HA, HA. The good old days. I recall Rene Renado, Mr. Clean Shoes, polishing and brushing his shoes in Mr. Lofradez [ata] class. He caught him and threw his shoe out of the window while saying Leche about 20x in one breath. The shoe got caught on one of the branches of the tree outside. Asar na asar si Rene. What about Vic Campa in Ms. Tuviera's class. He seats at the first seat on the first row of her desk. And then he slouches so low para lang makaboso. So obvious but Ms. Tuviera is so oblivious of his plans. What about the makeshift casino while the class is going on. I recall Sevy Roxas-Chua losing hundreds of pesos playing lucky 9 using our textbooks. Guys, remember Thursdays at Mendiola? It is a dreadful day for the St. Jude devotees. They go to St. Jude to pray because they feel so down and hopeless. They are suppose to be feeling high and assured after coming from church. However, when they pass in front of SBC, after being subjected to ridicule and verbal assaults and insults, they'd be heading straight home contemplating suicide. Dreadful day specially for the UGLIPAYs [ugly pinays]. Remember the little deli or restaurant between SBC and Holy Spirit that was owned by this hot mama with the hotter daughters? I think one of the hot daughter's name is Jenny or Jennie. Was this the same place where it was told that somebody "peed" on the patis bottle and poured coke in the toyo bottle? The law students who hanged out there were so pissed when they learned about it. What are the chances that whomever did it was from batch 69? Remember the traffic we'd cause going up the stairs after lunch break specially when one of the lady teachers is going up the stairs? No one overtook them. We'd patiently follow them till whichever floor they got off."

"boni alam ko na ikaw marami rin alam sa mga kalokohan sa eskuela. o sino ang nagrape kay bonjing sa audiovisual room. mag exams na nililipat and buong klase para walang kopyahan. as lofrades always says letche letche letche. masangkay and his compass. mr javillo and his neat pants all the time. pagsusunog ni ding aguado ng blinds . the famous chemistry food . the school new paper drives. the tight pants , dave clark 5 and beatles boots. wearing of two pants one tight pants and one very loose."

Do you remember the pranks we did in high school? Just curious, sino ba sa inyo ang nagtago sa trash can ng giant protractor ni Mr. Masangkay, our former Geometry teacher? Sino-sino sa inyo ang nasa front row when poor Miss Cholette Tuviera cried and reported our class for being naughty(naninilip)? Kaya pala lahat nang naka-upo sa harapan ng klase e panay ang bagsak sa floor ng lapis, papel, notebook, at libro. Sino sa inyo ang nagkaroon ng "crush" kay Miss Gloria Manalang, our Speech teacher?

and many more memories to rekindle in the past. But...when we left after graduation, we were a totally different Bedan. We carried our lionism to the next level of education...our profession.

		Our Memories