YOLANDO BRAVO JAMENDANG JR PART I

Yesterday, June 10, 2008, at 11:58 in the morning, Peter Joseph Pajanustan Torres, The Makati Science Vision immediate past literary editor and Makati Science High School Supreme Student Government immediate past president, sent me a message via the short messaging system.

"Sir, saan po nagtuturo si Sir Yol, at ano po ang surname niya. Siya yata ang teacher namin ngayon eh," Peter said.

"Ateneo, Yolando Jamendang," I replied.

"Waaah. Teacher ko siya sa Filipino," Peter again said.

For some reasons, I did not reply to Peter anymore. I remember Yol. I remember that I last saw him almost four years ago. It was my birthday. I invited him to attend a business opportunity presentation with Ana, Mila, Edith, and Hilda in Emerald Avenue, Ortigas Center. We were waiting for the next session, when one of the girls told me that she is thirsty. I went to a nearby Mini Stop and bought six botlles of mineral water, but when I returned, Yol was gone already, leaving us and without attending my treat in Dencio's in Rockwell Center afterwards. Yol might had been so busy those days.

Yol was one of my first students at the Makati Science High School. He joined The Makati Science Vision as a contributing editor where he published a poem in the maiden issue of the school paper:

A Poem for God

I am thanking of a poem
To describe the Lord, my God
About the Lord I will write a poem
The way I always had.

I will thank the Lord for all he did
I guess I will never stop
Thank you Lord for every sea
and for every water drop.

Thank you Lord for every friend
Who never let me down
Thank you Lord for all you have sent
All praises for the font of your love.

It was my first year of teaching and of being the adviser of The Makati Science Vision, which, by the way, was The Vision. Yol, along with Mark Noel Mabanglo, the class valedictorian, and Ismael Soriano, went to the Ateneo de Manila University in Loyola Heights,Quezon City. Yolando took creative writing while Mark and Ismael studied chemistry and electronics and communication engineering, respectively. They were the first three scholars from the Makati Science High School.

When Yol was in his third year at the Ateneo, I invited him to write an essay about the Makati Science High School and its students during his time. Between puffs of cigarettes (yes, he was smoking when he was writing his essay), he wrote an untitled essay, which later I gave the title "The Way We Used to Be" from the song with the same title by Eric Carmen.

The Way We Used to Be

We used to laugh
We used to cry
We used to talk about forever you and I
And love was all we seemed to need
I still recall sometimes
The way we used to be

When did we change
Where has love gone
We can't explain it
But we know there's something wrong
And all that's left of you and me
Is just a memory of
The way we used to be

I can remember when
We used to be the best of friends
Now suddenly we don't know what to say
If there's a chance that we
Can bring the feeling back again
I've got to try
Why don't you stay

Cause in my heart
I think you know
I tried to hide it but I just can't let you go
It's not too late
For you and me
To be in love again
The way we used to be

It's not too late
For you and me
To be in love again
The way we used to be.

Published in The Makati Science Vision Volume IV Number I issue, Yol's essays was a big hit, and it read:

The Way We Used to Be

Whenever somebody asks me, Saan ka ba nag-high school, Yol? I sigh and lazily answer, Sa Makati Science High School. Don't get me wrong. I'm not ashamed of being a Makati Science graduate. I sigh because I know that after that, the person will say, "Wow, you must be very intelligent." I will have a lot of explaining to do.

I am not intelligent in the sense that a Makati Science graduate is intelligent. Being a Makati Science graduate is something very different. In fact,I don't want to label what this school has given me as "intelligence." I believe a Makati Science graduate should be describe using a combination of the words versatile, intense, creative, baliw, brave, and masaya. I haven't found the perfect word, but I think "superhuman"will do.

I belong to the first batch [of students] this school has produced. I have seen how this school started, and I am proud because I was and am a part of its continuing development. Some of you may be asking,"What was the Makati Science like in its early years?" I'll try to answer these questions as I bombard you with stories about my high school life, the life of Batch 1998.

The Makati Science, before it became the Makati Science, was called the Makati West High School. It became the Makati Science in 1994, the year when I graduated from grade school. It was then located on a small building in San Antonio Village. A few meters away was the house of the current MMDA Chairman and former [City of] Makati Mayor Jejomar C Binay. Miss Lourdes F Gonzalez, our guidance counselor, used to tell us, Huwag kayong maingay,baka nagja-jogging si Mayor. At the immediate back of the building was a creek that we used to call minahan ng ginto because it often smelled like a poso negro. The creek separated the building from the squatter's area near the PNR railroad tracks. During our lunch breaks, we often watched the people along the riles. We observed the way they prepared sauces for their fish ball stands (ipanghalo ang sandok, ipangkamot sa likod ang sandok, tikman ang hinahalo), the way the lasenggos chased each other when they quarreled, which we called shooting, the way an old woman used a tiyani to remove hairs in her armpit, even the way children used empty galoons when they swam in the creek. They were our daily sources of entertainment. We looked at them as if they were actors and actresses in a very popular telenovela.

We also had a garden in that building, but it was not as grand and as beautiful as the present one. I think it was called botanical garden. It was later removed because we needed the space.

When I mentioned something about a small building above, I really meant small. During flag ceremonies, we could actually determine the brand of deodorants that our classmates used when we reached the Panatang Makabayan part. Our teachers solved this by allowing only one section to stay on the grounds to lead the flag ceremony. The rest of the students sang in their classrooms.

Miss Gonzalez never needed a microphone to quiet us down. All she had to do was shout and then everyone would settle down. Sometimes, she could even tell which student was noisy by actually listening to his voice. Yolando, ang ingay mo, she would say after using her voice radar. During class hours, she would get out of her office whenever a class got too noisy. After pinpointing which class was the noisiest, she would shout that class section and then scold them from the entrance of her office.

During school activities, only those who were included in the program stayed on the ground. Those who wanted to watch placed chairs on the corridors so they would have something to stand on in case they wanted to see everything that was happening. It was during these occasions that the size of the building was actually an advantage. (1) It allowed us to control the falling of confetti. We could choose which specific places to shower them on. This made our convocations a lot more interesting. Plus, we could even use fireworks because there was a little danger of hitting someone below. (2) We never needed to rent speakers.One karaoke was enough to reach everybody. (3) Members of the different year levels stayed on their respective floors so the cheers were concentrated. I believe that if we all shouted loud enough, we would have been able to make the building collapse.

As far as I could remember, we never had an actual intramurals in that building. The most popular games then were lose that occupied the least space to play—chess, scrabble, and word factory. We tried to play basketball and volleyball, but we had to stop because fluorescent lamps were all breaking. That didn't stop us from being physically fit though. We tried to enjoy our activities in PE as much as we could—hataw bayan ala Streetboys, luksong baka without the buwelo, labinlimang minutong lakad-takbo: ang mauna guwapo, and ballroom dancing with our crushes . We also played games like ang mahuling dumating sa CR bading, tagu-taguan sa isang floor lang and to the canteen and back.

Speaking of the canteen, the size of the canteen on that building was about one-half of the present one.Students had to go there in batches according to their year levels. In short, we all had different lunch breaks. Those who were assigned at a later batch had to bring their own baons because the food supply didn't last long enough. Also, the students had to fall into a very long line before they could order—an ordeal you won't be able to survive if you don't have katsismisan. And, after ordering, the students had to face another problem: the never-ending quest for a place to sit in.


TO BE CONTINUED


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YOLANDO BRAVO JAMENDANG JR PART II