Visiting Msgr Douglas

Class of '83 without Msgr Doug's Attending Physician, Dr.Leo Baloloy. From Left to Right, Dr. Gerry Pura, Chief Supt. Labayo, Pretty Boy, gorgeous wife of Pretty boy, Larry Manda, Dr. Mene Dimaano class of 1980 and younger brother of the Idol!

Get well soon, Idol our prayers are always with you!

Reunion sa Rockwell-With beloved Fr. Roy

Huna ni Larry Manda, nag dadanggo lang siya...Nag abot daw si Fr. Roy tapos nagti-ripon an mga sarawayon

Totoo palan talaga, Guest of Honor at the Rockwell Club si Fr. Roy ( last Feb 1, Chinese New year baga may New Year's resolution ngani kami). Ma attend kami, maski mag busy kami. Yadto si Meo, Haile, Balo. Gerrox, Larry, an Buwaon nan si Major Odnid Laguda

Ngirit ngiritt baga ini na duwa, hataas daw grade na hinatag ni Fr. Roy sainda san High School...

padiriyutan tabi buhok,

Seryoso baga si Perry san una, Major Laguda with the Major Headache of Fr. Roy in 1982

Minsan ngani lang maka-istorya si Dindo na -cross examine pa!

Odnid, Holding the Court..

Hala nag batog nanaman si Major Headache...

Lain masyado na tawa kami ni Balo, pero polite kami...medyo Corny pan-o

Pamati niyo sin-o tabi an may istorya nanaman didi sa tulo?

Fr. Niyan tabi na naka inom ka pwede mag kompisal?

Ulitun ta kay minsan lang ini matanus, this time with caption... Fr. Roy, An nag-kuwa tabi san langka sa may kwarto mo san July 29, 1982, si Cula!!

Namundo intero kay nag abot na an bill. wara kami pang bayad, habo man ni Perry mag hugas pinggan

Long delayed AND Long deserved...

Fr. Roy Examining his Golden Mentor Plaque-Pinasa ako sadi sadto sabi ni Pyriander Jr.-The Best ini! Kadamu san habo talaga ako ipasar! Fr. Roy-You are the Best!

Sabay Fr. Roy Pwede tabi mag kumpisal ulit?

Fr. Roy watching the tribute video or the Dominican documentary made by the Venerable Larry Manda

Gwapo ni Piyok, sabi ni Balo-Best friend ko yan!!!

marasa pa kay pinasar ko an mga ini!

Revisiting the 25th anniversary Reunion in 2008

We never got to post the pictures taken during the set-up for the reunion two years ago. Here are a couple of what we still have. Hopefully the pictures on the banners with the teachers's pictures and the set-up of the backdrop at the Study Hall will materialize one of these days.

Mga mapan-os pa gihapon na mga para hulat sa gate

Alwin, Gerrox and Ah Oh making faces at passer-bys

admiring our "good" work, diyutan pa baga madahinlas si Ah-Oh kaka sakat sa kudal

The banner to commemorate the theme for the reunion

...with Larry Manda exhibiting the kili-kili welcome!papurutian daw sin yuk-yuk!

Kaupod gud namon sadi si Ferdie nan si Aaron. Ambot kay lain in tatalaban sin Litrato!

Three Generations of Friendship

In this picture my ehado, Jerico Pura, my Son the ehado of Gerrox, Rodrigo Javier and my Mama. Missing in the picture are Tiyo Nap and Tiya Imelda and my deceased Father. These pictures captures three generations of friendship between the Pura's and Arnedo's. Should have been four generations if we include our Grandparents, but they are so far removed from the present.

Kahatas san Ninong ko, sabi Gio, wara na ngaya buhok na Ninong ko sabi ni Jerico. The two Gerry's as you know are the handsomest and most well-behaved members of the Class of '83.

The Return of Padi Binoy

From Left to Right Dindo Laguda, Gerrox, Pyriander the Great, Larry Manda, Balo, an pinaka gwapo nan mabuot, and the Guest of Honor, Arnel Vargas Deyto

The Class had reason for another get-together last January 9, 2010, Arnel Deyto blew into town!

Binoyski is now based in San Diego. He is married with no children. Most of us remember him as the only member of the Warlocks Juniors team who really knew how to play basketball ( an iba pan-o puro pag kurong sin buhok an aram hehe). Binoy almost single-handedly lead the Warlocks team to the Juniors basketball championship during intrams in 1982. His free throw with time expired won the championship for the Warlocks. Not bad for a guy who stood no taller than 5' 2 at that time.

Kaya ko in papara umaw si Binoy kay may dara na t-shirt para sa intero na yaadto hehe.

Next activity, the much-awaited reunion with Fr. Roy, on Feb 2. Abangan!!!

Reunion in Riyadh

Tuyi and Glenn, also known as the Playboys of Sampaloc duirng the early 80's met up in Riyadh. Both are working in Saudi Arabai and decided on a get-together to talk about the other 23 members of the Class of '83. According to them, sinda pa man gihapon an pinaka gwapo daw nan pina makaskas magkaon sin bahaw.

Kunwari baga pormal; Calm before the storm!!

Nag-aanu ka tabi didi Glenn? Nagsasaribu sin mga masetera!

Ikaw tabi Tuyi?

Nag -root canal sin mga canal hehe

Bahaw Brigade on the move! Ubos baga tulos an isirira!

Sabi sa waiter may mga kaupod kami, kaya damo an order!

Binawi na si the The Great Pang Bawi

Fr. Imbo, checking if all is well at the Parish

The Last few pictures of the Class of '83 with the Great Pang Bawi

I used to call him the “Great Pang-Bawi” The only sober and sane voice among the boisterous, rowdy crowd that the Class of ’83 was in its heyday. As a class, we could be crass and arrogant and too confident in our wise-ass ways. Luckily we had Fr. Jimmy in our group, and he was the antithesis of all that.

To say that he was well-grounded and humble is a gross understatement. Fr. Imbo had this wise-beyond-his-years sense of self. He knew he was more than intelligent, and yet saw no sense in calling the world’s attention to it. He was an Oak among Cherry Blossoms, unspectacular in the display of his hues but definitely the steadiest of the lot. You could say he died as he lived, choosing the most quiet of ways, leaving in his sleep, leaving while all of us were asleep. He would not have it any other way.

In a way, I am luckier than the rest of the Class of ‘83, because after four years of high school at OLPS, I had the privilege of studying with him for four more years at the Ateneo (more than two years under San Jose’s Pre-Divinity program) where you could say I was witness to the unfolding of the man who would become our beloved Fr. Imbo. By then, we were more than classmates, but brothers, who had shared many of life’s highs and lows.

One day in college, I watched him from my dormitory room hang clothes he had just washed to dry. As soon as he had left, I took all the clothes and hang them up in the dryer one floor up. With great amusement, I watched the following day while he scratched his head in wonder where all his clothes had gone! His good nature made him laugh with me as I confessed to him what I had done. Good old Jimmy did not seem to mind at all that his hard work was the subject of immature games.

But even as we exchanged pranks, with him at the receiving end most of the time my admiration for Fr. Jimmy has known few boundaries. Even up to today I can never be wise beyond my years. I am an agitator he always has been a calming influence. He was predictably good at his tasks and then just as predictably almost always went for the proverbial extra mile. I, on the other hand need to be inspired to even bother to get out of bed.

Even at a very young age, Jimmy knew what was important. During our freshman year in college our class schedule was so irregular that we were unable to participate in the seminary organized apostolate work. That did not sit too well with Jimmy so he decided to take it upon himself to tutor and do catechism with differently-abled children at Batino Elementary school. After our classes were over, Jimmy would walk some six kilometers just so he could be with the children with regularity. Our schedule could have been good enough an excuse to avoid apostolate work altogether. Maybe he knew that he would live a short life and tried to squeeze in doing as much good as he can. Perhaps. But even back then Jimmy was one determined and focused shepherd and personal convenience was not part of his vocabulary. Truly, the Lord chooses only the best shepherds for his special flock

Fr. Jimmy has touched my life way beyond those seminary years. He was one of the officiators at my wedding and shared my joy during the baptism of my son Rodrigo. It is now my turn to scratch my head and wonder, where was I was in the highlights of his brief and quiet life? Yet not once in our 31 years of friendship did he rebuke me for it.

During our last conversations before his departure for Kansas, ever-profound Jimmy asked me if he had missed anything in life. I did not have an answer. I had been too busy chasing every shadow that moved to even notice. He on the other hand was too busy doing the Lord’s work to even worry that he had gotten fatally sick. What more can you ask of any man? Yet humble Jimmy thought I knew enough to be able tell him what he had missed.

Today, as a last act of respect, it is my intention to further embarrass Jimmy through a confession. All these years, I have kept a memento of our Ateneo years, test exams where he got perfect scores in Statistics and Math. It was my intention to give them back to him a as gift: a reminder that all his “disguises” will never convince me that he is far from spectacular. I can almost hear in my mind his nervous laughter as is his wont when he receives any token of appreciation.

Farewell Jimmy, my brother, my friend. You are moving on to a much better place: a just wage indeed for the Lord’s just servant. As you leave us we know you will do so again with your trademark embarrassed laughter, uneasy perhaps that you are leaving friends for a more comfortable place. As you leave us, know that your legacy of excellence with humility will forever shimmer in our hearts.

Gerry Arnedo
October 29, 2010

Who is missing?

Mates:

I have listed all our batchmates from Day 1 of our first year to our last day at OLPS, March 25, 1983. One name is missing. Can you identify who is missing? Kitaon ta kun sino an uli-anun..

1. Advincula, Ernesto jr.
2) Apostol, Aaron
3) Arnedo, Gerry
4) Baloloy, LeoCarlo
5) Banaga, Melchor
6) +Barrozo, Jimmy
7) Bonayon, Albert
8) Borja, Lolen
9) Calleja, Jaime
10) Deyto, Arnel
11) Donor, Dennis
12)Empleo, Glenn
13) + Encinares, Cedric
14) Escandor, Romeo Jr.
15) Fortades, Raul
16) Frivaldo, Haile Jr.
17) Gamis, Israel
18) Gargallo, Saul
19) Hibo, Ananias Jr.
20) Jeresano, Raul
21) Labayo, Pyrinader Jr.
22) Laguda, Dindo
23) Madrid, Julius
24) Magdamit, Ronel
25) Manda, Lauro Rene
26) Marbella, Ferdinand
27) Mateo, Eugenio III
28) Miaco, Bomick
29) Nunez, Ronaldo
30) Palma, Elvis
31) Pujol, Alfred
32) Pura, Gerry
33) Reyes, Roy
34) Rocha Joseph
35) Talde, Alwin
36) Tan, Alfredo
37) Totanez, Generoso
38) + De Vera, Ferdinand

The correct answer as pointed out by Gerrox is Elvis Palma, who wanted to be part of the PC- Philippine Constabulary. Wonder where he is now? Does anyone know?