Going full circle
By Rex Catubig
DURING the enrollment of incoming first year at the Dagupan City High School in 1960, the school officials headed by the erudite but stern Principal, Mr. Eduardo Q. Edralin from Lingayen, conceived the idea of grouping together all the honor graduates from the various public elementary schools and organizing them as the “Opportunity Class”—the crème de la crème of the Freshman Class.
It was very intimidating. And our exuberant class adviser Mrs. Maria Cireneo, and our other teachers, constantly hammered into our consciousness our premier status, and pressed us to always rise to the challenge.
But towards the 3rd grading period, it was clear I was not performing up to par, and veering away from my starting berth. Yet, I somehow stood out. For all the wrong or right reasons, I managed to have an edge.
So when the City launched the first Boys and Girls Week, I was chosen as one of the school representatives to participate in the election of the youth counterparts of City officials. There were only three of us, two were Seniors and I was the lone Freshman rookie.
All the public and private high schools at the time sent their top-notch students as delegates to the assembly.
We gathered at the City Hall and after the welcome ceremony, we each introduced ourselves and got acquainted with one another. Soon after, the elections for the counterpart positions were held. By some fluke, this naïve Freshie was elected number two Councilor, with the number one slot garnered by the pixie looking Perla Goyena from Blessed Imelda’s Academy (now the Dominican School).
But City High upheld its supremacy as the top high school by clinching the plum Mayoral and Vice Mayoral positions with the seniors tandem of– the handsome and gregarious Eduardo Tandoc and the smart and outspoken Emma Jovellanos.
I was proud of my unexpected win. To be among the pioneer set of elected youth officials during that first Boys and Girls week was mind boggling. I was only in my 1st year high school: for a boy my age–I was 12–it was a tall order to sit in council sessions with other students, three years my seniors, be active in discussions regarding issues and concerns in the City, and pass appropriate resolutions and ordinances. I had to grow up overnight, and clung to dear life by cramming on Robert’s Rules of Order.
One ordinance I audaciously authored was the prohibition of necking in movie houses. That, coming from the mouth of the babe.
One of the boy councilors was mestizo Roberto del Prado Lozano, a Rover Boy Scout from Dagupan Colleges. He was physically challenged and walked with crutches. But he had tremendous self-confidence and spoke fluent English with an American accent. He was one of the 24 Filipino Boy Scout delegates who perished in the plane crash en route to the 11th World Scout Jamboree in Greece. A street in Quezon City was named in his honor.
But the scene stealer of this epochal undertaking was the romantic sparks that ignited between the Boy Mayor and the number one Girl Councilor. Being at the right place at the right time, they inevitably fell in love during the weeklong event.
It was an unlikely pairing and almost a tale of star-crossed lovers. The two were worlds apart. Boy Mayor came from a family of modest means, while Girl Councilor belonged to an affluent family of high social standing.
But the love was fated to prevail and beat the odds. Boy Mayor clinched the prestigious American Field Service scholarship and went to the States as an exchange student. That leveled up his status and within a year upon returning home, his host family in the States sponsored his petition for US residency.
Boosted by the new circumstances, love triumphed; and before long, the two official lovebirds tied the knot and settled in the land of love and equal opportunity.
Flashforward six decades later. I found myself speaking before the students comprising Manlingkor Ya Kalangweran — the present equivalent of the Boys and Girls officials of yore.
It was deja vu to stand in front of young students in whom I see my before self, from whose ranks I was once a part of. The role reversal replayed a sentimental shining moment in my student life.
Who would have known, that after over six decades, a little known vignette in my youth, would prove that nothing is ever old, that time repeats itself in wondrous ways, and spins endlessly the cycle of life.
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