About the December 28 Reunion

by Abner Nolan B. Cunanan

It is exactly a month ago today when I and the rest of the LCS Friends members culminated and celebrated our 2nd reunion for the 2nd straight year since December 2001 -- a reunion that was considered successful despite the noticeable diminution of attendees from our ranks of friends.  A reunion that was considered successful because of the faculty members', guests' and OSA nuns' appreciation of the fun, amusement and honor that they unmistakably experienced that night.  A reunion that was considered successful despite ending up on a sad note because we had to diffidently summon every remaining LCS Friend member after the party proper to appeal for their understanding and charity in covering up some outstanding expenses outright.  A reunion that was considered successful despite all the "hardship" it brought about during the preparation and the ennui it inevitably caused afterwards.  But was it truly that successful as we claim it to be?  Let me take you to a rollercoaster ride as I narrate in detail the "whole" story from my humble point of view...

Two o'clock in the afternoon -- that was the time I promised myself and pledged to the rest of the group that I'll be arriving at the venue -- the La Consolacion College of Kalookan City compound.  I sent a text message to most of our friends that I'm on my way, but after leaving home in Marilao, Bulacan, at exactly 1:15 p.m., I arrived early in Kalookan City around quarter to two o'clock, hence, I resolved to dilly-dally a bit at my cousin's place at L. Nadurata Street, along Grace Park's 10th Avenue.  And after contemplating on whether or not to wait for Luisa Magsakay to finish dandifying herself in front of her full-length mirror, I finally decided on continuing my first unfeigned "pilgrim" towards our Alma Mater after more than two decades of oblivious absence.

As a consequence of my indecision, I reached our common destination at half past the hour of 2:00 p.m., with a very dear friend already eagerly awaiting in the person of Ms. Yrene Bengil-Paguio.  She raised me up on my cellular phone around 2:25 p.m., to alert me of her presence and to "sheepishly" inform me that she's the first one to arrive in LCC compound. Prompted by her call, I raced my car along the stretch of 10th Avenue going towards the direction of A. Mabini Street.  And in no time at all, I found myself parking my car inside the open pay-parking space beside the imposing facade of San Roque Parish Church after realizing that the parking in front of La Consolacion College is no longer open for public utilization.  I hurriedly hauled up my guitar, camera tripod and a cumbersome plastic bag containing exactly 99 copies of our souvenir programmes from the trunk of my car then hastily proceeded towards the courtly LCC gate.

After being asked and dutifully greeted by the guard at the entrance, the first thing that caught my fascination from the corner of my eye is a blackboard with large, bold-colored letterings.  It heartily salutes every alumni of Batch 81/85 on the occasion of our first-ever homecoming -- the kind of hackneyed yet nostalgic welcome that'll doubtlessly reminds us of one of our trademark activities during our elementary and high school days.

From quite a short distance away by the chapel, wearing a smooth and elegant crimson long-sleeved blouse and silken black slacks -- an attire that noticeably reflects the buoyant spirit of the holiday season -- Yrene beamed while flashing a sincere smile of excitement for the festive night ahead.  She is all by her lonesome, purposefully fussing over the reception area and systematically bringing out her paraphernalia -- some acetates to be used for the mass songs and a 20-year old songbook obviously preserved in pristine condition.  Yrene turned the pages for me as I started picking each of the six strings in my guitar, trying to discern any off-key tune and when she stopped on the chords of "Mamalakaya", I immediately strummed the first notes of A, E, Am, and C (I think) while we hummed "Itong alon sa dagat, tulad ng ating buhay, kung minsan ay tahimik, kung minsa'y magalaw..."

And while we were engaged in singing my favorite mass song during our elementary days, along came a barong-clad gentleman with a bagfull of camera, rolls of films, batteries and other related equipment.  At first I thought he is one of our new "hulis" as I'm quite unfamiliar with him but he readily introduced himself as the photographer sent by Mang Tito.  After introducing himself (he also happened to be one of Mang Tito's son-in-law), I casually asked where the rest his crew are and of course the whereabouts of Mang Tito.  He face registered a question mark while telling us that he is the only one sent by Mang Tito and that his father-in-law is in Pampanga to attend a wedding ceremony.  As Yrene and I were digesting the ramifications of this development, our eyes met in fuzzied bewilderment still stupefied by this revelation. 

My mind raced as to what mitigating measure has to be done while Yrene started asking me for some phone numbers. But I was too preoccupied asking myself with these damning questions -- how can we proceed with our program without the presence of our honoree? How are we going to capture the entirety of our reunion for posterity's sake without a video camera?  What went wrong?  Is this guy (referring to the photographer) for real?

I can't help but speculate on the veracity of his disclosures, hoping at the back of my mind that this is just a typical case of miscommunication and at the same time fumbling on my cellular phone for Ged's number.  She's already on her van with Leah Teodoro and Luisa Salang, on their way and gave the suggestion for Yrene and me to try contacting Jean Anne Toral or Agnes Patawaran-Toral to obtain the temporary use of their handheld video camera because they are the ones residing nearest LCC.  Yrene was able to call up Jean Anne who won't be able to make it due to her night shift duty at PGH that day, while Agnes is also not available.  Failing on this course of action, I called up Ged once more but this time she gave assurance that we are somehow going to have a video coverage for the occasion and that she'll try to contact Mang Tito in his cellphone.  She already called up Ruben Jose (Rachel Jose's brother) as a fallback measure and asked him to look for someone who is willing to do the job in such a short notice. Fortunately (or unfortunately as we'll reckon later on), Ruben who hails from nearby Valenzuela City was able to contact a 3-man team of videographer.

With these developments hugging our attention, Mary Jane Lagman arrived with her father in tow, helping her in transporting three bags of our dark blue souvenir T-shirts with Ernah's aesthetic logo imprinted in white contrast at the back. Cesar Pamintuan was the next one to arrive as Mary Jane Lagman took out some samples to be worn by the registration committee to serve as on-the-spot promotion of the T-shirts that will later earn for them the monicker "blue ladies" (Leah, Louie S. & Mary Jane Lagman). I secured an extra-large sized shirt for me and quickly substituted the while polo shirt I was wearing by the side of the chapel. Meantime, Yrene contented herself with the use of a cardboard to serve as a temporary listing of the attendance including the payments for the T-shirts that cost P250.00 each.

At around half past three o'clock, Louie Magsakay finally arrived at the scene and I suggested for us to insert a souvenir programme in each of the T-shirt's plastic covering.  This would facilitate the distribution as well as the payment and avoid the duplication in giving out the souvenir programme.  Me-Anne Galang also got there shortly before 4 o'clock after being confused on where to park her car, followed by the party of Ged, Leah and Luisa Salang.  When we had finally settled down and was able to implement some sort of system for the registration (attendance sheet, nameplates, T-shirt distribution, payments, etc.) Yrene silently invited me to come along with her to have a look-see of the mini-hostel and in order for us to simulate the program proper.  Yet before making another step towards the place, I was discreetly yanked by Ged near the bank of chit booths adjacent to the chapel to inform me that Ruben has arrived together with the videomen he contacted before proceeding to LCC.  But the problem is, another team of videographer -- Mang Tito's wards, is just outside the gate being barred by the guard to enter the premises since they were only wearing walking shorts and collar-less T-shirts.  Now we have two (2) teams of videographer due to the confusion and the earlier pronouncement by Mang Tito's son-in-law and yet nobody can't put the blame entirely onto him simply because he was misinformed.  Together with Ged, I approached Ruben and asked him if we could merely talk to his contacts to offer them a minimal sum for the inconvenience that we have subjected them into. We definitely cannot afford to pay for two (2) video coverage for the occasion since our funds is in dire straits as early as two weeks ago.  I don't exactly know how Ruben talked us out of this predicament, but for a civil engineer he surely did a fine job of negotiating :).

So on with other pressing matters, my reasoning stiffly told me.   Some minutes past the hour of 4 o'clock more of our friends like Arlene, Tetchie, Rommel and Libay are slowly coming in together with some early guests and faculty members such as Miss Galvan and Miss Absurdo.  Yet somehow, at the back of my mind, there is still a nagging uneasiness looming and I can't seem to grasp it firmly.  Thanks to Libay's presence, that is when I realized that we have yet to plan, practice and finalize the "serenade" part, which is predictably going to be the highlight of the program.  The day before, I was able to talk to Jeng Santos-Casumbal over the phone and asked her if she can make it a bit early for us to go over these matters.  She promised to be at LCC soonest as she still will rendezvous with Laura and Yolanda Gonzales whom she'll be fetching on her way.

Time is running out and with my co-emcee still not around, I have to change plans as the need for it arises, make do with who are present at the moment and what resources are available.  With Janet's arrival at around 4:30 p.m., an ingenious alternative began to form shape. I immediately huddled up Yrene, Libay and Janet and our quartet proceeded straight to the mini-hostel knowing that the three of them can back me up with what I'm trying to concoct.

The open area adjacent to 10th Avenue where we would usually hold our P.E. classes and the section with fertile soil where we would usually plant monggo sprouts in rusty cans, bitter gourd (ampalaya), lettuce, radish and other vegetables for our Carpentry and Home Economics class is no longer existent.  The wooden building that housed our "pre-war" school buses below and our second grade classes atop the garage has been replaced by an impressive edifice that now serves as the classroom for the college classes.

At the ground floor of the building is the mini-hostel that will serve as the venue for our program.  A somewhat cavernous hall leads up to a large foyer with stately furnishings and a hemispherical bar that doubles as a divider between the lobby and the dining area.  I paused with awe at the sight of the dining room, already resplendent with glistening china and silverware.  Resting at the center of every table is a simple bouquet of white, yellow, lavender and red mums accentuated with a sprinkle of baby's breath and a verdant-green linen tabletop underneath. The radiant drinking glasses were used as canisters for the immaculate white table napkins, ingeniously rolled up and bent at the center to sit at the bottom contour of each glass.  Outlining the surrounding walls are white and blue balloons (courtesy of Annie Baluyot) with the inscription of "Kumustahan 2002, LCS Friends, Dec. 28, 2002" that lends some zest to an otherwise drab wall of heavy beige curtains.

Yrene requested for our banner to be unfurled just behind the mini-podium for the emcees and a projector screen to be setup at the left side adjoining the lobby for Allan Nazario's Infocus system that will continuously display the collection of pictures we have in store for our guests and members as well. The sound system had already been setup too, with their loudspeakers and lighting contraption fronting the area that will serve as the program stage, and there are likewise some loudspeakers strategically placed at the far back corners to ensure a surround-sound system for the entire proceedings.  Thoughtfully installed beside the nearest corner of the stage proper are the fog and bubble machine that will play a poignant role during the serenading portion. 

Earlier that afternoon, Yrene told me she has recorded a musical accompaniment version of the song "Special Memory" twice over on a cassette tape.  The first is done in acoustic rendition and the second one is in a jazzy beat, with a total running time of a bit over six minutes for both.  At first I was contemplating on solo-singing the acoustic version with some of our chivalrous male friends giving out the roses simultaneously and the jazz version to be sung out by the trio of Yrene, Libay and Janet for continuity.  But my plan was insidious rather than overt and this is just one of the scenes I'm playing inside my head as I can't finalize everything without Jeng's knowledge about the scheme and her concurrence.

At this point, I was no longer monitoring the proceedings at the registration area beside the chapel as I am pretty much engrossed in preparing and concentrating for the serenade part and at the same time complacent that Ged was the one handling the goings on outside.  Around quarter to five o'clock, just when I was laying out the plan to the trio of Yrene, Janet and Libay, someone called my attention to inform me of Jeng's arrival accompanied by Laura and their best friend Yolanda-Cielo.  Puffing a sigh of relief imperceptibly, I set aside the previous plan and opened up the floor for any suggestions after welcoming the trio of newly arrived LCS Friends members.

Fortuitously too, Jeng's presence wouldn't hold up Janet for the practice as she's also anxiously waiting for the arrival of her dear friend, Fr. Gerry Tapiador who will be officiating our anticipated mass for the evening.  In addition, we were informed that Fr. Tapiador will be arriving a bit late due to the traffic-clogged streets he'll be traversing from Manila to Kalookan City, but just as well since it will buy us some time in preparation for the entire program.  Besides, during that time at exactly 5 o'clock in the afternoon, Mrs. Ching has already arrived and the scheduled campus tour can now commence with her guidance and direction.

Since she had been at LCC recently a few times before, had seen the new facilities and additions to the buildings, Jeng and I decided to forego the campus tour and be left inside the dining area of the mini-hostel together with the mobile sounds crew and the rest of the caterer's waiters.  Hence, aside from the area that we were in and the concerns inside, I cannot give out a description about how the campus tour went about, but in retrospect, it was a necessary hindsight as we were really pressed for time and I advised myself that there are still lots of chances to tour campus in the future, albeit on my own.  So I went on laying out my plans to Jeng, about the serenade, the sort of spontaneity that we have to project throughout and briefed her of the overall program layout.  As she engagingly listened and sifted through every detail of the things I was telling her, absorbing them with enthusiasm in rapt attention, I was pleased deep within for having Jeng as my co-emcee.  She exudes a rapturous aura of charm, which goes without saying and has lots of intuitive repartee that would complement the "Vic Sotto" inside of me and I knew right then and there that all of us will have an enjoyable evening ahead.

Together with Yrene and Libay who stayed a while before joining the rest of the group for the campus tour, we brainstormed and played with a couple of ideas on how to bring about the serenade and pay a lasting homage to our guests and former teachers.  There were several "what if's", intertwined with "could we's" and sparsely strewn with "what about's" yet in the end, a delightful working plan was ultimately culled.  We were all amenable to it and all that is left now is the proper implementation and flawless execution that can only be consummated through a series of practice and actual interaction complete with music, bubbles, fog and everything.

At around half past the hour of six in the evening, we were informed that Fr. Gerry Tapiador has finally arrived and that the anticipated mass is about to begin.  But we felt that we still need a little more time to exactly know and be confidently familiar with each other's moves, moods and grooves.  So again we decided to be left behind together with Libay who shall be playing a crucial role as the backdrop singer while Jeng and I reminisce those wonderful years we all had, the good times and the bad, to make each and everyone present that night remember and simply be glad.  A few of our friends (Laura, Cielo and Jonabel) were able to witness our practice and gauging by their reaction, together with those of the waiters and crew, we perceived then that we've got a winner in our hands.  We only hoped that we could deliver and sustain what we had in our practice during the program itself.

In between practice sessions, we went at the back of the dining area to sooth our thirst with ice-cold drinking water.  Jeng even cautioned me to refrain from drinking with too much ice so as not to bring about hoarseness in my already somewhat rasping voice.  But what truly caught our focus was the reddish-brown lechon that is laid out at one end of the long buffet table as if beckoning us to be the first ones to sample it.  Eyes twinkling, brows twitching and grinning from ear to ear, the "kids" in the  three of us were drawn closer by the succulence of its crispy yet juicy hide.  To convince the two further, I told them that nobody would ever notice later after it being chopped to bits and pieces.  Besides, we might not have the chance again to have the choicest part that would satiate our craving palates with gusto. Consequently, as if sensing our hesitation to resist the temptation, the waiter in-charge of the lechon showed us the skin at the belly portion that signaled our abandon for any delay in "attacking" and relinquish any thoughts about cholesterol-causing occlusion.  The waiter even gave us some liver-sauce to go along with our "loot" with a smile of appreciation and consent as if saying that it is our "reward" for a job well done during the practice that they were able to witness.

After our crammed practice session, the rest of the events were captured on video.  From Yrene's rousing opening remarks to Sister Montessa's noteworthy impromptu statements about the group. Through Ged's unperturbed explanation of how LCS Friends came to be and Magic Chubby's mesmerizing act of wizardry, to the teary-eyed Mang Tito who was overwhelmed with emotional appreciation in accepting our token of gratitude for him. Included also were the distribution of several raffle prizes, the exchanging of Christmas gifts, the exhilarating song numbers done by Lito and Warren, and even Rommel's coveted kiss from Jinky, that after more than two decades of waiting finally became a reality.  And of course, the memorable serenade that all of us were able to auspiciously render and dedicate to all the faculty members and guests who profoundly touched our lives.  And to this, an added welcome bonus was unexpectedly provided through the extemporaneous reminiscing and mimicking some of teachers done in front of the crowd by the hilarious yet witty and comedic duo of Gem and Ailen.

All of these fun and exciting moments can be seen repeatedly by replaying the video coverage. Thus, I have decided to omit their vivid narration as I am more inclined to put into writing those things which cannot be seen and can only be felt, those circumstances that affected the outcome but must not be shown on record and the underlying frustrations of a few.  This drudging roller coaster ride has been halted far too long and it is about time to put it to an abrupt end.  So now comes the part that I am most apprehensive in writing about, but one has to face fear squarely and undauntedly with open arms to be rid of it.  And since this chapter in our story of friendship has began, so it shall be concluded.

It was after one of the photo sessions following the exchanging of Christmas gifts that Allan Nazario gingerly approached me.  In hushed, audible tones barely above the din of the crowd, he told me of his concern about the problems in our expenses that Ged might be reluctant in disclosing to the group.  The attendance was below expectation and the outstanding balances to the caterer and the mobile sound system must be settled at the end of the day when the festivities have been concluded, the laughter and giggles have died down and the disturbing reality is clearly creeping into view.  This observation was quite obvious during the program proper, especially when you are in front of the people and can noticeably perceive some tables with sparse seating.  I was able to force it at the back of my mind during the time I was emceeing with Jeng and was triumphant in forgetting about it for awhile, as the show must go on.  However, Allan's suggestion later on served as the wake-up call to the nagging concern that I was able to set-aside only temporarily.  For me, that was the time when the party came to a blunt finish as we had to patiently await the departure of our guests, when the smiles I flashed from that moment on didn't carry any spontaneity and when the rest of my words to be uttered must be weighed carefully.

Before all the guests were out of earshot, I made an announcement to the group requesting the rest of the present LCS Friends members to stay just a little bit longer and discuss some important matters at hand. And after the dining area was emptied of guests, the rest of the group gathered around the first two tables in front, resolutely eager in what I am about to say. It was my first time to address the group with such a heavy heart as evidently noticed by Yrene and Jeng. Whereas before, the feelings of disappointments can be contained within a close group of friends who are willing to listen and help out in any way they can.  Nevertheless, the situation at that very moment necessitates the unmasking of reality before the eyes of everyone concerned and the urgency of the need warrants outright honesty about our predicament--that we must not go out of the room without paying the debts we incurred.  I can no longer recall with confidence how we shelled out a considerable amount of cash up front in order to pay the services of the mobile sound system.  Nor can I exactly identify who gave what amount for the cause.  But I do remember that there are those who are willing to give as much as P1,000.00 which I refused without reservation as it is too much a contribution.  There are those whom I didn't accept even a centavo from their pocket since I know that they've already contributed that much.  And what would be clearly etched in my memory, however, is the widespread unselfishness of those present that readily fished for a hundred or two and wholeheartedly laid them on top of the table to settle what is due.

In view of the foregoing, let me raise once more the question from the opening paragraph of this journal -- was Kumustahan 2002 really that successful?  In my opinion, it absolutely is because in most ways we succeeded despite the constraints, in spite of the apprehensions and despite the frustrations.  Yet we have to admit to ourselves that there are things we failed to anticipate, shortfalls we faltered to envision and some circumspect association that we relied too heavily upon.  Perhaps the success of one or the failure of another is no longer of import here.  More often than not, the sincerity of one's words and his/her urge to do his/her best in fulfilling  it, inexorably bespeaks of one's character.  Especially so if his/her notion of "sincerity" is that of passion with commitment.  And at this point in time, there is no more need for any consternation nor should there be any needless revelation, for as long as I am surrounded by friends whom despite being few, can always be regarded as all so true.