And so we all rushed to see it.
2nd year, 1970-1971
This narrative might be too explicit for some.
Led Zeppelin Stairway (1971) to Heaven clip from the movie, The Song Remains The Same
For the studio recording of Stairway To Heaven, please listen here. Warning - this is just a blank video but with over two million hits!
What a year 2nd year high school was. It was such a heady year for me - a watershed if you will. There were so much changes in my life as well as in the life surrounding me. In 2nd year high school, a majority of us were also in our second or third years of what adults term the terrible years of being teen-agers. So when we were sophomores, we, the class '73 of UP High were a big blob of teenage hormones, driven to do what teenagers are supposed to do.
First of all, the years 1970-1971 was when the 'psychedelic' era was in full swing in the Philippines. So sex, drugs, rock and roll - influences of Woodstock and Hair - and similar kinds of happenings were pervasive and UP High was not immune to them despite our relatively 'protected' existence. In addition, these years were also the years when student activism - mass actions, protests and demonstrations - against the Vietnam War, against a 5 centavo increase in the price of gasoline culminating into the infamous Diliman Commune, against anything establishment (Imperyalismo, ibagsak! Pasismo, ibagsak! Burukrata kapitalismo, ibagsak! - and all that kind of crap), and against the so-called US-Marcos dictatorial regime - was common in the hotbed of student activism, which is of course the University of the Philippines. So against the backdrop of what's going on in the greater society we existed and that we were starting to be aware of, it was not surprising our second year in high school was a very explosive year.
As for me, second year was strange - a milestone - I was very much aware of what was going on inside and outside of school, and was quite involved in so many activities, but most importantly, it was a year when I turned into a nerd. It wasn't in my vocabulary then, but I turned into one and I just didn't quite get it.
Homeroom 2-22 under Miss Dana Manalad
2nd year, I was assigned to 2-22 under Miss Dana Manalad, who was a Health Education teacher. The members of 2-22 was so eclectic that we likened ourselves to the TV series which was on that year: Rm 222 with Karen Valentine as the homeroom adviser. Not that Miss Manalad was like Karen Valentine, but the class was like Rm. 222, Filipino style. Among other things, the most popular, sought after coed in the whole of UPHigh was in our class: Chiqui Hollmann. And we were seatmates in one of the alphabetically arranged-seating subjects so I could say I was so priviledged seating next to her.
Most of all, we were doing a lot of fun stuff in 2nd year. I couldn't say much about them though as I was always in the fringes of activities. So far as sex, drugs and rock and roll and all that stuff - I was much too naive about them. I know though that in one party that I attended somewhere - damo was being passed around and I probably had a whiff of it (it much later - in college that I became a dope head, so there). In another party, someone brought Alice B. Toklases (brownies laced with pot) - that was hilarious - nobody knew about it - but everybody had it, even the adults chaperoning - it was too late to hide it from everyone. Maybe I am just imagining this - but I swear I remember this to have happened. Needless to say, that party turned out to be the most fun party I went to. Then of course, some other classmates came to class stoned - with uppers, downers and what have you. You know who you are :-).
There was also cigarette smoking and alcohol, but alcohol was not new for me. I was already drinking in the province even during elementary school days so I could say I was a veteran. There was one classmate (again you know who you are) who became drunk and very red even just after one sip of beer. He was always the butt of jokes when it came to this area. Cigarettes I never cared much about so I never started.
And about sex, I was much too young to experiment, and I was quite aware of that - or too prude I guess. It's that Catholic upbringing and guilt kicking in. But I remember about some classmates experimenting - there was talk about one weekend that the parents of a classmate were out of town, and so they had a party at their house which included some hanky panky. Again I am not too sure about this because I was out of the loop of the group that was involved. (Note: in high school, I was always in the periphery but my sense of observation was acute.) For all I care, this didn't happen. My information was all second hand. But it just goes to show that there were something going on, even if it was all hearsay. And that's all I care to say.
Besides, I was so busy with my own sexual awakening. I was discovering bomba komiks and bomba movies which became my passion that year. First, it was BTS bought surreptiously from newstands on CM Recto in downtown Manila. I remember going there one Saturday with Joel P. (Sorry Joel, you might not remember this, but I do.) If you must know, BTS (or bedtime stories) were these small books the size of man's wallet which were nothing but a collection of salacious stories (usually one or two), either in English or Tagalog but mostly in Tagalog. (It is really a learning experience reading BTS especially so far as dirty words are concerned - especially in Tagalog.) The book is very crudely made, mimeographed and stapled into a booklet and interspersed with pornographic pictures which are bad reproductions of Western porn or, sometimes, some original Chinese porn.
Then bomba komiks magazines came out, which were illustrated komiks with stories depicting the sexual act and like BTS, also featured cheap reproductions of photographs from Swedish or Danish magazines. But this was so much better than BTS because the pictures were larger. Then when bomba movies came out - it all started with Uhaw (starring Merle Fernandez running naked in Avenida ...), the bomba komiks started to feature stills from Filipino bomba movies, and then later on, even had original Filipino porn photographs. I used to have lots of these komiks (bought them in Cubao late at night - that's when they appeared on the newstands or on makeshift stands on Aurora Boulevard) - which I hid under my mattress. I should have saved them as they are curious cultural items. (Yeah right.) And so far as bomba movies are concerned, does the term singit ring a bell? How about Rose Theater? Lion Theater? Del Monte (or El Timon?) Well, singits are these short snippets or cut portions of bomba movies which they used to 'singit' after the whole movie was shown. Most of the time though, they don't have any connection with the featured movies - they are short films like western FF's (fighting fish) - basta - they are sexually explicit films (triple X - or 'pene' in today's parlance). The theaters mentioned are 2nd run theaters in Project 4 (Rose), Marikina (Lion) and Frisco (Del Monte) notorious for showing bomba movies with singit.
Stay Awhile by the Bells (1971), a very popular soundtrack for singit
The first time I went Rose Theater was with a bunch of 2-22 guys, can't remember who, but I'm sure Boboy Marasigan and Joel P. were in the group. A spy movie with Fred Galang, Ricky Rodgers and a blonde import was being shown at that time. That movie became notorious - forgot the title now - because it was more explicit than Uhaw or Hayok or even Dayupay (which was shot in UP High library on a Saturday, remember that?). The movie, according to some classmates (I think it was Philip Camins who said this) had a bed scene with Fred Galang and the blonde import. (To state it as politely as possible, he described the scene as Fred Galang's pepe was seen in and out of the blonde's pipi.) And so we all rushed to see it.
We didn't get in though. There was an usyoso at the takilya who said that we looked so totoy pa and this was a For Adults Only movie, even if we bought balcony tickets. (Note: the trick then was to go in groups and buy balcony, because it was more expensive so they can't refuse the money involved.) Actually, the takilyera sold us tickets, but there were other younger kids in line whom they didn't let in and the kids said, bakit kami pinapasok - so the usyuso - he was just hanging out there - took the tickets from us and told us, sorry na lang, we looked so young.
We were so frustrated to say the least. In our disappointment, some of us went to another movie house - that other theater in Project 4 (I forgot the name - Liberty?) that also was showing another bomba movie with Rosanna Ortiz. It was harang though, - to put it crudely, suso lang kita (although there was a short frontal in the other feature). And there was no singit after the movie.
The next week or so though, we tried Rose theater again. As usual, they were showing a double feature, an English and a Tagalog movie. This time, we got in but the only reason we got in was because Stephen Pigram was with us. They were again hesitant to let us in, but the takilyera, ever so hospitable to a foreigner - she thought that Stephen was going to see the English feature (and this what what we reasoned also, yeah right) - let us in.
It was great. The singit I distinctly remember had some buxom mestiza woman being molested by an unano. Or something like that. It was bizarre.
We sort of became regular Rose theater habitues then, until Glenn (Ramirez) who was also in 2-22 introduced us to El Timon (Del Monte Theater) near his house in San Francisco Del Monte. He said that it periodically showed bomba movies and singit. So one Saturday, after shop class (we had shop Saturday mornings then), we went to his place to have lunch first, then to El Timon.
When we arrived at the theater, we were disappointed to see that the movies being shown were not bomba - in fact, one was a Manny de Leon/Tirso Cruz III/Edgar Mortiz starrer (With These Hands I think)! Glenn said that we should go in anyway because they might have singit.
And they had. It was strange to say the least because there were lots of Manny/Pip and Kuya Edgar fans in the theater and they showed a lengthy - about 30 minutes - singit and no one (so far as I know) complained or left the movie house. The most memorable of the singit was a short called Ang Ubas ni Bas (and I don't want to relate details - it had something to do with grapes obviously) and THE torrid scene from the infamous Yvonne starrer, Climax of Love. Yvonne (who later on became a legitimate actress winning an Urian award) was 13 or 14 at that time, just freshly plucked from Zamboanga, or where ever province she came from by some producers who promised her the moon, stars and the skies - which were roles in bomba movies of course. Needless to say, I never went back to Rose Theater after that. It was El Timon every Saturday for me. I think the reason why I never grew (physically) was because I skipped lunch every Saturday so I could use my lunch money for movie money. Oh well.
That year too, Hair was produced in the Philippines and was shown at the Abelardo Theater. Got raided several times by the police because of nudity. Joey 'Pepe' Smith was on it and also somebody Castrence (Pura?) - they were the ones who took off their clothes on stage. It was presented by a UP fraternity whose most exalted brother was a barkada of my brother's. The fraternity reneged on producing the show, especially after it got raided, so the barkada from the area (area meaning, UP campus residential areas i.e. Area 1,2 and 3, 13 and 4, etc.) took over.
It was a very popular show, because of the nudity of course, but I couldn't get into the show because again, I was very young for such an 'adult' show. But I knew the songs by heart because sometimes they rehearsed at our house (Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare ...). The reason why I am telling this story is because Boboy was able to go in and see the show one Saturday night - I was so inggit - and did his own rendition of Pepe Smith in Masilungan's math room one lunch hour, with the doors closed of course (sorry, Boboy). That was so hilarious. And what was even more hilarious was that Stephen Pigram told everyone about it so our class knew.
Then that year too, I was so much involved in SDK - Samahang Demokratikong Kabataan. This Maoist group was starting to infiltrate high schools and they they also recruited at UP High. Although I wasn't much interested in ideology at that time (couldn't understand such complicated terms like dialectical materialism, bourgoise mentality and such), I volunteered because it was something to do as my elder brothers were into it as well ... and I love the songs. I do not have a singing voice but my extended family on my mother's side is big into singing - whenever we have a gathering, invariably, a cousin, an uncle or whoever who plays the guitar or piano will lead the group into singing till the wee hours of the morning. So SDK because my singing family - I mean who can't in their right mind love singing silly ditties like: "Tamad na burgis, na ayaw gumawa, sa pawis ng iba, nagpapasasa ... Bandilang pula, iwagayway, bandilang pula iwagayway, bandilang pula, iwagayway ... mga anak-pawis ay mabuhay ..." This and other songs are such classics. I still remember a lot of them.
Besides, the president of the student council then, Monica Feria, was quite a rebel herself and this sort of gave the movement some legitimacy at UP High. Monica was a former national champion in gymnastics and she also attended some of the teach ins with us. I believe she is a journalist now. Boboy and I and some others, like Jonathan Schwarzkopf were very active in the teach ins and dgs (discussion groups) - usually conducted by such brilliant speakers like Butch Dalisay Jr. (presently a professor and celebrated writer and newspaper columnist) and Popong Valencia, who's Richie Valencia's brother (I wonder where he is now).
My recollection of this era is a little bit murky - the dates I don't quite remember - but I participated in this activity until I was 4th year - so some these events may have happened after 2nd year. But I know that we made paskel some really bad slogans on UP High walls - you know the kind - newspapers written with really bad rhetorical slogans in red paint - which sent me to the principal's office for the second time. Now I am not sure if this was in our second year or third year but it was during that whole student activism period. I think we were about to be expelled at that time. They probably even talked to our parents - but my father fully knew what I was into as I told him what we were doing. I remember, it was Mrs. Pambid who talked to me - she was so reactionary about it. Eventually, they made us remove the stuff - which we acceded to. (Come to think of it, it really looked bad - but it was a reflection of the times.)
When we were cleaning up, one of the people with us was Richie Valencia - she was crying the whole time while we were removing the pasted slogans. I think I understood why she was crying - it was not that we were told to do it and that we were admitting our mistakes. It was sort of like, our freedom of expression was trampled upon and that really hurt. It was a time when we were beginning to be aware of what freedom of expression meant. And that freedom was squashed when we were exercising it.
While my memories of the year are blurred, one thing for sure, it was during our 2nd year in high school that the Diliman Commune occurred. The Diliman Commune arose from the fact that jeepney drivers for the first time, struck to protest a 5 centavo increase in gasoline prices. UP students, to sympathize with the strikers, barricaded UP entrances - both the main entrance and the Balara entrance. Boboy and I were a part of the team manning the barricade first near UP High (at the entrace at the back of Narra) and later at the east entrance on the Balara side when they moved it there. It was bizarre really, because Boboy and I were assigned to decide which vehicles were let in (like food delivery). We had so much power!
When the barricade became protracted, it became known as the Diliman Commune as the campus became isolated from the outside. When we were not at the barricades, we were at Vinzon's Hall doing some menial work like helping to prepare food for the barricaders, or makimg posters, or even making pill boxes and molotov cocktails. True.
I was there at the Arts and Sciences steps when SP Lopez who was then the president of the University, finally came down from his ivory tower to side with the students by making a speech of support. While he was making the speech, a military helicopter buzzed the congregation. I distinctly remember Bal Pinguel, one of the student organizers, hand out a kwitis to Dr. Lopez - a sort of anti-aircraft ammunition the students had.
The impasse at the barricade lasted for days - with one death early on - a student was fatally shot by a professor who wanted to hold class - I'm not sure what happened to the professor. News spread around that the commune was like Sodom and Gomorrah - people having free love and free sex, and drugs and rock and roll and that all that kind of heavy hippie stuff. It wasn't like that at all - or at least my observation of it. I mean, it was all teach-ins and discussion groups about Marxist-Leninist theories and readings from Mao Tse Tung's red book and all that crap. No sex, drugs or rock and roll. There were lots of hard work. People had to be fed and housed, things had to be printed by mimeograph, and most of all, the barricades had to be manned 24 hours. I don't think there was any time for free love and free sex. it was a nightmare so far as logistics were concerned.
I remember the TV coverage of some of the on the spot negotiations going on. Mr. Diaz was very prominent on TV in fact. During the last day of the barricade (well, it turned out to be the last day), the Metrocom was poised on raiding the commune - they were threatening to do it early on. They were amassed near the Butterfly Restaurant at the main entrance. Those of us who were manning the barricades at Balara were called by walkie-talkie (yes they had sophisticated communications then) to the main gate. They asked us to get hold of anything - rocks anf stones for defense - and also to have a wet rag or hankie ready just in case they lob tear gas at us. Obviously, the student leaders were experienced in these kinds of things :-).
There were hundreds of defenders of the commune - not just students - but even residents of UP Campus - who gathered at the main entrance. But as soon as we saw the uniformed Metrocom running toward us with their armalites - we all scampered to wherever for safety. Our puny little rocks and stones were no match for their armalites. I didn't even have a chance to throw the mine. I just sort of tossed it on the ground and ran like hell. I ended up at Area 14 and hiding at Alex Albao's yard.
The Metrocom raided Vinzon's Hall and ransacked everything there, even sprayed armalite bullets on the walls - you can still see the bullet marks on the wall of the union bookstore years after. It was just a stroke of luck that we left Vinzon's, otherwise we would have been caught in the raid. They also raided DZUP and destroyed the equipment - as it became the main voice of the commune to the outside world. The student leaders retreated to Sampaguita and Kamias dorms - they flushed them out during the night with tear gas. My brother's picture (together with his girlfriend who was a Sampaguita resident) ended up on the front page of Manila Times the next day. And that was the end to it. After the Diliman commune, Boboy and I still continued on with the SDK thing, and joined various demonstrations and rallies that always ended up at Plaza Miranda. By this time, I think Meldin and Oliver joined us. It was during one of these demonstrations that Senator Diokno was the main speaker - Boboy just went up to him and invited him to speak at UP High. And promptly forgot about. We didn't think that he would come, so he didn't tell Mrs. Pineda that he invited him. This could have been during our third year already. At anyrate, he did come one Monday, - good thing, there was an event that morning, some girl scout event - the chairs were out at the Multi - so it appeared that we were prepared for his talk. It was great.
Oh, and about physical education courses. Since I talked about it during the first year, 2nd year was even more bizarre. This year, they changed their policy about PE. They actually asked us to elect which PE courses we would take which was great. So if you like baseball, you can be in the baseball stream, if you like football, you can be in football. But they had try outs - so even if you like basketball, but was not good enough at it, you couldn't get in. It was chaos. People who tried for soccer and failed cried. Me - I'm not particularly good in sports - so I opted for the least popular offering possible. Gymnastics. We only had two or three meetings. And that was it. At the end, our teacher who had to give out grades said he lost our class cards or something.
But despite all these extracurricular activities I participated in or, in the case of PE, not, 2nd year was the year I turned into a nerd. I was getting very good grades in all subjects except Math (which I hated with a passion). I couldn't believe it. No matter what I did, my grades were up there in the high eighties or low nineties. It was so effortless too - I don't remember studying that hard really - besides, we weren't that competitive in 2-22. I don't think they even ranked us at all. I earned so very good grades that the next year - I was promoted to the epitome of nerdiness. In my third year, I broke into the star section. Hallelujah!
Oh, I forgot ... about Cristy. Well, I can't remember now whether Cristy happened during our first year or our second year. Ed V. says it was first year. I say, it was second year, because I never had been under Mr. Diaz until I was second year. It doesn't matter though - 1st year or 2nd year. All I remember was - Stephen Pigram who inadvertently let the pig out of its pen - chasing the white baboy around the pigpen - hanging on to its tail and shouting putang ina mo baboy. Putang ina mo baboy. Then crying.
And Practial Arts - well, maybe this was first year - or maybe 2nd year. One time we had a project making leather belts - braided ones, really spiffy, complete with nice metal buckles. Mine was black and I borrowed (or stole) my brother's shiny buckle to complete the ensemble. We submitted them on a Friday and supposedly it was going to be graded during the week-end. Next Monday, we came to the Practical Arts room to retrieve our belts. They were there in some boxes up in that small room upstairs, but without the buckles. Some upperclassmen who were supposed to be boyscouts camping out in school during the weekend took a fancy to them. Or so we were told.
To be continued ...third year!
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