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On Saturday, March 31, Class ’47 of the Pangasinan
Provincial High School will hold its diamond jubilee at its alma
mater in Lingayen, Pangasinan. Many of the alumni will come from the
United States and Canada where they have chosen to reside and made
their fortunes.
I was president of this class
which has produced outstanding figures in the national life and in
other spheres of endea-vor. Of these distinguished personalities, to
name a few, were Tito Primicias, former Panga-sinan governor and
congressman; former Congressman Bautista of Davao; Hector Campos,
former vice-president of the National Power Corporation; Julio
Matias, a millionaire architect; Palermo So-riano, former director
of the Development Bank of the Philippines and another millionaire;
the late Dr. Flora Pas-casio, author of a medical book, and her
sister, Emy, college professor of Ateneo; and a host of doctors,
lawyers, accountants and teachers.
Among those who made good abroad
and are enjoying a life of comfort and prosperity are Crispin
Almazan; Samuel Raba-nillo, lawyer and former DBP branch manager now
in Toronto, Canada; the former Felicisima Plante, now in the US;
Ursula Fernandez Radovan, district supervisor now in San Diego,
California; and Pablo Roy, physician-surgeon now residing in New
Jersey.
In charge of our alumni
homecoming and reunion is association president Hector Campos. I
have been tapped as an emcee together with Natividad Arcelona Cruz,
former high-school principal and our class salutatorian.
Our class was composed of eight
sections with a total of 400 students. But only 92 are living today,
the rest having gone to their eternal rest. Among the departed whom
we dearly miss are Marianela Cudala Bengzon, our class
valedictorian; the Pascasio sisters—Flora and Emy; Genaro Taron,
my opponent in the election for class president who perished a few
months ago in a freak accident; Salvador Castro, the class
mathematician; Dr. Agrimero Cruz, Vida’s loving husband; Fede-rico
Ellamil, in whose house I resided during my high school years; Flora
Tandoc, another honor student; and Angelina Domingo, “the brain
and beauty” of our class, who was probably the first to cross the
Great Beyond.
Time has not only decimated our
ranks. It has also altered our figures and looks. I recall that in
one of our recent reunions, a classmate asked me if I had seen Fred
Rosario, not realizing that I was in front of her, as large as life.
I am not surprised by this phenomenon because I myself had
difficulty recognizing my old friends in past homecomings.
A class reunion is a time for
meeting classmates after years of separation—and renewing
friendships. It is also an occasion for recollecting cherished
memories of our high school life. I agree with the observation that
nothing in our entire education is more exciting and more memorable
than our high-school life.
Why? Because there is more
intimacy, more cohesiveness, more enduring friendships among
classmates. I can remember more of my classmates and was friendlier
with them when I was in high school than when I was in college.
Among the memorable highlights of our high school days were the
junior-senior prom, inter-high school debates and oratorical
contests and, of course, our graduation.
Those expected to attend our
diamond jubilee are septuagenarians. Assuming that our youngest
graduate was 15 at the time (that could have been Tito Primicias),
he must be at least 75 years old today. The rest could be over 75 or
even higher.
We are all in the autumn of our
lives. We are grateful to God that we have reached this age. Our
collective prayer is for Him to grant us more years to our life and,
quite importantly, more life to our years.
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