Guideline on Coffee Table Book

THE PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE PLAN

 

  1. Marching Order

     

    The Publications Committee will encapsulate the soul and spirit, the fleshing out of the Grand Homecoming into one Coffee Table Book. As the name itself suggests, the Publications Committee will institutionalize our fondest memories, our journey, our legacy into one Big Class testament that we can share with our parents, our HS alma mater, our teachers, our klasmeyts, our children, our grandchildren, and with those who dare and care to listen, read, and learn from Class ’68.

     

  2. Output, Content and Technical Rendition of Coffee Table Book

     

    The Publications Committee will produce one big output for the 50th—a Coffee Table Book. The Coffee Table Book will look this way (both in writing and technical rendition till it sees print before the scheduled 50th in February 2018):

     

  3. Coffee Book Title: Our Journey, Our Legacy

    b.   Subtitle: The Story of Class '68, Quezon Provincial High School

     

  4. Total No. of Pages: 50 to 100pp (maybe more, depending on budget)

     

  5. < > Glossy, with shade of gold, excellent paper substance for books< > (Inside pages): Full color< >: Hardbound, with special paper wrapping the front and back covers, representing the golden anniversary (50th), with old and recent photo capturing the front façade of QPHS, or a moving caricature (by Marianito Quisao) that embodies the Class ’68 journey and legacy from cover to cover.

    Major :

     

    -     Editors’ Note, which articulates on the whys and wherefores of the Coffee Table Book and the soul and spirit behind it. The Editors Note is a fitting introduction, summary iteration of stories expected in the inside pages, the rigor of tracking down classmates here and overseas with stories to tell and share, and the two-year effort to make it all happen. Our classmates have arrived. Our Journey, Our Legacy is our story.

     

    -     The Making of Class ’68, which culminated on April 17, 1968 when 427 students marched into the ground of QPHS to receive their HS diplomas (with no less than Education Secretary Carlos P. Romulo extolling the virtues of the graduates and challenging them to serve the country and Be and Become). This section will be the retelling of our existence as classmates, as Class’68, and how we make it in four years (1964-68).  Main features of this milestone: the funny, hilarious, compelling, demanding, and trying stories of classmates handling their enrollment blues, navigating with our HS1 to HS4 teachers with their subject areas and classes, getting into co-curricular and extra-curricular activities, and involving ourselves in other activities.

     

    The pages of this section will come in reprints and rewrites (back issues of The Coconut will serve the purpose). The fondest memories, anecdotes, and vignettes of our recollections will spice them up, representing and constituting the making of our own Class ’68. The telling and retelling of stories are many: boy scouting, girl scouting, Home Economics food concoctions, AFS exchange scholars, Peace Corps volunteers, PMT, PE for boys and bloomers for girls, putting out the canteen fire, the crushes and ligawan and  magkakatipan, the performing arts (we had three great stage performances—South Pacific, Flow Drum Song, Leonor Rivera), the Glee Club with Teacher Rudy Flores), the ups and downs and turning points associated with campus press freedom and our rights to expression, the Dirty Dozen who were almost barred from graduating, our struggles with teachers and parents in our growing up years, the crushes and magkakatipan, the performing arts, the Glee Club with Teacher Rudy Flores), and much else that will send us to our highest alpha.

     

    The anecdotes and recollections will have matching B&W and colored photos (then and now), with writeups on their dreams and aspirations. Back issues of The Coconut will be a rich source of stories.

     

       Suggestion: It will be best to systematically recollect or write down our stories by timeline (year level) as well as topics and experiences per year level (see Annex A for details).

     

    -  The Great Influences of the late '60s and '70s (global, regional, and national happentances) that shape the Class '68 journey, the daring moves of some if not many to take the path less traveled, and the lifelong milestones and lessons that would probably come in their way.

     

          Suggestion: Levi will digest his own recollections and available secondary sources into readable stories (see Annex B for details)

     

    -     Our Journey, which will feature classmates who made it overseas, in the homefront, and even during the darkest moments of contemporary Philippine history, including those who went through the ups and downs and turning points of their young adult and adult life, of married life, of coping with losses of their loved ones, of the joys and laughter and triumphs of rising above it all. Classmates from overseas (Mike, Freddie, Agot, Arthur, Lourdes P., Nonoy, Liwayway, Nini, Enzo, Baldomero, Vicky Torres, at marami pang iba) and from Lucban, Lucena, Tayabas, Mauban, Bondoc Peninsula, Talao-Talao, etc are urged to write down their journey. 

    Suggestion: It will be fitting to feature classmates who triumphed overseas and at home. They can write down their stories. Some classmates who experienced losses (nabalo, nasunugan, sinubok ng Tadhana at nagpunyagi sa huli) are urged to volunteer their stories. Guide questions are provided (see Annex C for details).  

     

    -   Our Legacy, which will highlight the blast and surge of best lessons, practices, and insights emerging from our life journey (as Class ’68, as individual journeyman and journeywoman), and thus worth sharing to others, be they our children and children's children, or simply with those who dare to listen and learn from our stories here and abroad.

     

    Suggestion: It will be best to summarize the best lessons, practices, and insights into burst of inspiration, motivation, and learning points for others to imbibe, to emulate, or to follow (see Annex D for details). 

     

    -   Our Gratitude, which is our fitting tribute to those who made our high school life and post-high school journey worth taking. So let us remember and etch their names in this section of the Coffee Table Book: our teachers and administrators (1st year to 4th year, with the intention of institutionalizing their memory and our gratitude to them; so let’s put their names together), even those who trimmed the green of the school grounds (si Mang Pilo ba yun?) and made us smell the scent of freshly mowed blade of grass, si Kalaw and his walang kamatayang hotcakes and gulaman sago, the school librarian (si Miss Zoleta who knows every title and every inch of her library), the school book custodian (si Mr. Magtibay who can readily locate each book in the stock room), etc. Most of all, let’s give tribute to our dearly departed classmates who made us laugh, cry, sing (harana and all of that), eat together, joke together (berde or otherwise, it does not matter), nagpapakopya o nangongodiko, treat us to birthday parties and town fiestas (kay sarap mandin ng handaan sa Pagbilao), and whose presence and memories allowed us to cherish our youth and to break the seal of our innocence. (“Dyablig na yan,” sabi ni Klasmeyt Merger Valle.)

     

         Suggestion: Let’s write a one-liner or two-liner about our teachers and administrators, the utility personnel, and our dearly departed classmates (see Annex E for details).

     

    -   Acknowledgments, which is the section that expresses our collective and endless Thank You! to those who made the Coffee Table Book possible: the known and anonymous benefactors, the contributors of stories, and the generous funders who all made us institutionalize our Class ’68 journey and legacy together.

     

         Suggestion: It will be fitting to recognize and honor those who made our Coffee Table Book possible (see Annex F for details).        

     

    So each part, heading and page (all sections in fact) will have photos (black/white, colored), caricatures, old commercials to spice up the past and to fast forward them to the present and future (Elpo, Sturdy, Darigold, JD buses, old Manila and Lucena streets, old movie theaters; maraming old clippings si Marianito Quisao, our HS artist), and white/gold spaces. Good-natured jokes, maski green but retold with finesse, will be featured. Sweetest and fondest memories of teachers, classmates, katipan (sweethearts o mga di nagkatuluyan—aray!) o balabalang magkatipan, crushes, and what have we that will excite us. A format or template will be prepared to guide us accordingly when Benilda and I and the rest of us write down our stories or get interviewed to retell our stories.   

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    NOTE: The Annexes have one intention: to systematize the retelling of our story and legacy with fondest imagery and visualization. So the topics or questions under each Annex would create a running storyline that every classmate can do without too much rigor. Just insert your fondest memories, anecdotes, or vignettes of recollections according to the topics or questions under each Annex (or your own recollections), with matching B&W and colored photos, caricatures, old clippings of commercials (Elpo, Sturdy, Converse, Purico, Darigold, Coca-Cola), etc. that you can find. You can have as many insertions and images as you can. The Publications Committee and the rest of us will put them all together till Our Journey, Our Legacy makes it to the coffee table itself. Don’t hesitate to write down your stories in English, Tagalog, or Taglish. It does not matter—in fact, it is not an issue at all!—to use the language or dialect of your convenience.  

     

    To speed up a bit on our preparations, the Publications Committee urges every contributor of stories to observe his or her own timeline and deadline. It’s best to have your stories the earliest time possible. More stories will come our way as we recall them and as our storyline unfolds before us. In a year’s time from today (March 2016-March 2017), therefore, we hope to have a firmer handle on the Coffee Table Book as the storyline gets completed with your stories and images. By then we will begin to layout (or improve on our initial layout), to contact and negotiate with publishers or printers, to do the nitty-gritty of each section, and to fill whatever gaps are left.

     

    Let’s have fun doing this. 

     

    Chair and Co-Chair (Dr. Benilda Villenas and Dr. Levi P. Verora), Publications Committee

     

 

  

 

Annex A

Systematizing the Retelling of Our Stories By Year Level, Topic, and Experience

 

Classmates are urged to provide their stories using our e-platform. As we recall more stories every passing day or month, fill out the topics that ring a bell to us from First Year to Fourth Year till we made it to our high school graduation. The e-platform itself can have a configuration or reconfiguration (Mike please) that accommodates more stories blow by blow, from insertion to insertion, from topic to topic, from experience to experience till the storyline begins to unfold and to form itself into an interconnected kuwento of our life. Hephep, Horayyy!     

 

FIRST YEAR AND SECOND YEAR (SY1964-65 and SY1965-66)

 

Topic #1. Getting Rooted and Placed: The Enrollment Blues—

 

  • Travels and travails to get to QPHS grounds for enrollment

  • Initial aha or eureka moments of making it there

  • First encounters with teachers and administrators handling the enrollment requirements and processes (funny, sad, caring, demanding, compelling enrollment moments)

     

  • Getting enrolled (duly registered QPHS HS1 student). How did it feel? (Aayyy Salamat! Buntong Hininga…)

     

  • The feel of transitioning from elementary to HS1 (many of us stepped into QPHS from various elementary schools: Lucena West I Elementary School, Lucena East Elementary School, and other grade schools located in Mauban, Lucban, Tayabas, Sariaya, Tiaong, Bondoc Peninsula, Gumaca, Pagbilao, etc.);

     

    Topic#2. Getting Into the Mold: Our initial navigation through high school life—

     

  • What was it like to attend classes in Arithmetic, Science, English, Pilipino, Social Studies, Home Economics, Physical Education, Agronomy, etc.)?

     

  • How did we find our HS1 and HS2 teachers taking care of those subjects? What do we remember with them the most—the handling of classes, the treatment of learners like us, the competence and skills they showed as mentors and surrogate parents, the assignments they tasked us to do, and the overall impressions we have on them? Example: Recall Miss Mercedes Castro of Social Studies, Miss Amparo Castro of Pilipino, Mr. Romeo Aguila of Literature, Miss del Fuerto of English (forgot her first name, please fill it in), Miss Rosario (please fill in her first name) of Arithmetic, Mr. Rolando Bandilla of History, Miss Leonor Glinoga (Leonor nga ba?) of Geometry, Miss Arguelles and Mr. Rudy Flores of Science, and other teachers handling Home Economics, Practical Arts, PE, and other subjects? What funny, sad or embarrassing, and learning experience did we have with them?

     

    Topic #3. Other Aha, Eureka, and Alpha Moments: Breaking traditions and innocence—

     

  • Any aha, eureka, and alpha moments in Boy Scouting or Girl Scouting, co-curricular and extra-curricular activities? What learning and experience did we treasure the most? (We had boy scouting and girl scouting in Lucena West I Elementary School under Mr. Orlando Ornedo [is it Orlando nga ba?] and Miss Leonor Sevilla [if my memory is right]. The camping on the school campus is just great!)

     

  • How was it to have a Peace Corps volunteer for a teacher? Cite experience.

     

    My personal experience (example): “I could hardly understand that male blonde Science Peace Corps teacher (forgot his name, please recall) who spoke fast English in thick American slang. But I love doing his assignments—catching paru-paru to bring to class the following day for experimentation and discussion; oiling the surfaces of leaves, then heating them slightly above a lit candle, and finally superimposing their dicot and monocot outlines on a white typewriting paper (yun ang tawag noon, hindi bond paper); going around the school campus to quickly examine the natural environment and the life found in it (makapal pa noon ang mga halaman sa kalupaan ng QPHS, masarap umikot at magmanman); and so on. That’s a lot of wonderment that led me to discover an environment filled with life. It’s the same wonderment that extended from my childhood bliss like no other.  

     

  • Who were your initial friends in HS1 and HS2 (they may have become your BFF all the way to the present)? Why them? What did you find most appealing and friendly with them? What did you talk most about—crushes, trying moments in class, assignments, changes and learning in human anatomy.

     

    Example (as told by Lorna Paguirigan). “The thing between the legs of boys can be revealing (di ba Lorna Paguirigan?). That’s human anatomy oversimplified. So Lorna paces herself back and forth with other girls (her circle of friends, don’t know their names; maybe Lorna is willing to name them), throwing repeated glances at a classmate sitting on the pavement of a nearby classroom (I think it’s Ms. Mercedes Castro’s), with the thing popping out the laylayan of his short pants. They giggled uncontrollably, pushing and pinching each other, exclaiming, relishing the grand spectacle. Ohhh, boy, how funny it could be for high school girls barely in their teens” (Lorna can confirm or deny this. In fact, she can make a hilarious story out of it).

     

  • What could be so significantly different among teachers (aside from their competencies, skills and preparations in class)?

     

    Example (it could be a different experience for the boys): “We have our share of innocence that gets busted when imagination takes the better of us (especially the boys). Ohhh, boy, teachers with flawless pair of legs and mastery of the subjects they teach can really make our day. One teacher, whose mastery of the Pilipino subject is only rivaled by her pair of beautiful legs, takes command of the learning environment. She moves around the classroom with authority, challenging us to think and rethink before letting out our answers to her Socratic way of questioning, snapping her fingers when we get the answers right. Ohhh, boy, she can really teach and make us (especially me) learn. (Early on I learned that repeated questioning will be my way of mentoring students in corporate management, entrepreneurship and management education. Critical, rational, creative, and emotional thinking happens in this way.)   

     

    But when she pauses to take her seat on the armrest of the chair, her well-fashioned mini-skirt gets shorter than intended. The boys begin to drop their guard, breaking the seal of innocence of their youth, eyes rolling and colliding with the puzzling scene. Others look the other way. Imagination flies.” (If this is offensive, I will rewrite it with finesse.) 

     

     

  • What did we usually do in our free or break time on-campus (and off-campus)?

     

    - Istambayan (or spots where we often gather ourselves together like the pergola, grandstand, canteen, library, etc. to spot our crushes, exchange learning notes and thoughts, drill ourselves on upcoming quizzes and periodical tests, read books and periodicals, etc.)

     

    - Pinag-uusapan (chatters and banters we usually engage ourselves in like crushes, si titser na iri at paksang ganiri, teasing each other, etc.)

     

    - Kinakainan (Reynold, Johnny, Manolito, and others would unwrap their maluto in their favorite spot in the grandstand to take their lunch together)

     

    - Pinagtataguan or pinagtatagpuan (if any and why?) especially among magkatipan or nagliligawan

     

    - Pinagkakaabalahan (sa bahay o saan man outside the campus) to be with our parents and siblings and relatives, to cook our favorite dishes with our parents and nearest of kin (wala pang fastfood resto noon, Peking Resto and Antigua and micro carinderia pa lang), to spend weekends or vacation outside Lucena, etc.

     

  • Please share other stories or recollections within the period (First Year and Second Year). All photos (B&W) within this period should be sorted out (First Year or Second Year ba), with fitting captions that you can probably supply because you remember the occasions well: birthday, fiestas, gatherings, initial high school years of campus life, and anything that we want to share to represent The Making of Class’68.

     

    THIRD YEAR AND FOURTH YEAR (SY1966-67 and SY1967-68)

 

Our high school life leveled up following our first two years in QPHS. Sad moments invaded our private lives as well: my mother succumbed to cancer, Mike’s father passed away, and so on. Our sincerest sympathies and empathies also went with the bereaved family of Mr. Rolando Bandilla, who left us after hard bout with a fatal illness.    

But transitioning ourselves to the next levels (Third Year and Fourth Year) gave us almost endless thrill and excitement. Let us retell our stories (by topics)

Topic#1. Years of Lakambinis. Our batch is probably the only batch with two or more Lakambinis chosen from the ranks of Class ‘68 (Salve and Zonnette, anyone else).  What is it like to be Lakambinis—the preparations, the selection, the pageant, the coronation, the exaltation and excitement? Ohhh, what an honor Salve and Zonnette gave to Class ’68 and QPHS. Let’s retell the stories.

 

Topic#2. Years of PMT/Women Aux Services, neophytes and leaders. Only a number of Third Year students aspired and qualified for PMT and WAS. It’s a shining moment for us till we assumed choice PMT/WAS leadership through Fourth Year. We beat other schools in demonstrating our command and skills. We topped Quezon’s PMT drills and competitions in succession despite the muds and floods that intruded into our marching ground. It’s fitting to have the likes of the regimental leaders and other officers retell their stories. How did they do it? What brand of leadership did they carry? How was it to be in the officer corps (both PMT and WAs)? We have plenty of photos to show.

Topic#3. Years of Performance Arts. Class ’68 is so full of talents that many of us ended up as main and supporting characters of such stage performance hits as Flower Drum Song, South Pacific, and Leonor Rivera (hindi pa uso noon ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Kulasa). How did we do it? How were our creative talents put to test (walang Take 2 sa stage performances after curtain calls)? Let’s retell our stories. We have plenty of photos to show.

Topic#4. Junior and Senior Prom.  Who would ever forget the JS Prom? Even the crickets surrounding the gymnasium waltzed with us.  And it’s no mean feat to ask, “Puede ka bang partner sa J or S Prom?” Some made it quick because they were quick to the draw. Many others failed to hurdle the task. Bakit nga ba? Let’s retell the stories. We have plenty of photos to show.

Example: Zonnette’s mother would peep into broken window glasses, hollow blocks, or holes in the gymnasium to take a look at her beautiful daughter. She wanted to know who’s dancing with her—and how! Mothers really know better (than daughters and their wannabe BFs!). Let’s retell our stories.

Another example: Catalina said, “Mabagal sila e (o siya, yung naging doktor ba yun?). Naghihintay lang ako, pero hindi makapagsabi,” referring to those who were not quick to the draw. So they failed the task.

Topic#5. The Coconut Cracked Our Nuts.  Ohhh, boy, our years with The Coconut (starting Second Year I think) provided our high school life with a different twist and alpha. We wrote up stories, spent sleepless nights with Ms. Leticia Unson, Ms. Milwida Sevilla, Mr. Esmeraldo Palomar, and the staffers to produce our school organ (I’m using organ here without bad connotation). We joined press conferences and won awards and honors for QPHS.  Let’s retell our stories with feelings. Please retrieve those photos and back issues of The Coconut, treasures for our Coffee Table Book. 

Topic#6. Pagliligawan na Nauwi sa Magkakatipan. Aheeemmm. Calling those who can really share their stories.

Me, for example: ????? Secretttt!!!

Others: Mike and Who?, Freddie and Who?, Dick and Mila (tiyak yan!), Nick Ramos and Ethel (tiyak yan), Boy Natividad and Salve (tiyak yan),  Zonnette and Who?, Nick Brillantes and Who? (o gustong ligawan o magpaligaw, crush na crush ni S si Nick B), and so on.

Topic#7. Getting a Firmer Handle on Academics Plus Plus. We intensified our academic performance with varying results. Some made it to the honor roll. Others were more inclined to use the right hemisphere of their brain (creative, emotional, relationships) than their left hemisphere (critical thinking, rational thinking, logical thinking, sequential thinking). Whatever, let’s retell our happy, funny, sad, embarrassing, or triumphant stories.   

Topic#8. Our Dreams, What We Want To Be and Become?  One back issue of The Coconut would capture it all. I think it’s the graduation issue (rushed before April 1968). Let’s retell and re-write our stories using that back issue and its photos. Don’t forget the other matching photos available from our file.

Other Topics. There may be other topics during our QPHS journey worth including in the CTB. Recall them. They may be inserted as additional topics as already mentioned above. Or they may be completely separate topics but falling from within our high school life (1964-68). Please do so.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Annex B

Great Influences of the Late ‘60s and Early ‘70s

 

Circumstances beyond our control have exacted tremendous impact on us. We carried the manifestations of these circumstances during, immediately after, and far beyond our high school life. These may be deaths in the family (my mother died when I was 2nd year HS), poverty, napabarkada, and difficult situations. Yet we begin to hurdle them brick by brick. A number of us went to universities and colleges in Manila: UP, Adamson, Lyceum, Mapua. Others in faraway Dumaguete City (Silliman University, that’s me) and Bicol (Romeo Mutya rejoined his siblings there and finished engineering in one of the local universities). But many others studied in Luzonian Colleges, then Quezon’s pride and premier HEI in Southern Tagalog and beyond (students came from as far as Mindoro, Romblon, Masbate, Marinduque, Bicol).

 

As we do the brick and mortar journey in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, we may have caught the virus called the First Quarter Storm (and, shortly after that, Martial Law).  The FQS left indelible imprints on our consciousness and persona. Early on, Ninoy Aquino exposed the Jabidah Massacre in a series of privilege speeches in the Senate. The Jabidah Massacre revived the deep-seated biases against the Muslim Filipinos and the persistent call for secession from the Philippine Republic. It even triggered a different Muslim-Christian animosity in the South: big political clans with vested interests pitted the Muslims against the Christians with their armed groups—the Ilagas and the Blackshirts. Then the series of oil price hike and peso devaluation took center stage, creating a successive wave of price increases in basic goods and commodities, school supplies, transport fare, and costs of living. Student activism boiled all over the place. Marcos declared Martial Law when his last term as President was about to end. Political enemies of Marcos hid but were nonetheless captured and thrown to jails. Hundreds of student activists took to the hills to wage the people’s war with the reestablished Communist Party of the Philippines and its New People’s Army. By then Nur Misuari, a UP professor and a calm Tausug warrior, formed the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) to wage the Muslim call for secession from the Philippine Republic. There may be other regional and global circumstances worth citing (I’m condensing this section from my own recollections and choice references.)

 

For classmates who have stories to retell in this section, you may focus yourself on—

 

  1. Trying moments you experienced during high school (events or occasions not cited in the 1964-68 period), immediately after high school, and far beyond high school that influenced you a lot up to this day? Recollect them. Be specific as you can be.

     

  2. How did you cope with those trying moments? Cite those who lifted you up (what did they do to help you out?), the roles they played, and the process you went through to hurdle those trying moments.

     

  3. How did these trying moments blend with the great influences around (say, poverty, FQS, Martial Law, Muslim-Christian animosities, formation of MNLF, regional and global events)? Any kind of blend you want to single out with the most influence on you?

     

  4. What did these trying moments make out of you (maybe you became stronger, more determined than ever, or strong-willed and futuristic in orientation while picking up the pieces. So, health issue is one, kawalan or poverty is another, and the isms of the time, the Cold War, diaspora, and similarly situated circumstances are still another).

     

  5. Don’t forget the photos.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Annex C

    Our Journey

     

    We journeyed further on, carrying the great influences of the late ‘60s and early 70s with us. Our journey resembles a life map. A life map is the post-high school life we have chosen and the path we have taken with highs and lows and triumphs. It is best to retell it ourselves and to loop it with our high school experience. In that way the storyline all the more unfolds before us.    

     

    Lead Questions for Overseas Classmates

     

    We like to listen and read the stories of our classmates overseas (Mike, Freddie, Agot, Arthur, Lourdes, Dennis, Nini, Enzo, Liwayway, Nonoy, sino pa ba?). Your stories are full of valuable lessons to learn from. Some lead questions around which to craft your stories:

     

  6. Cite your full name, last position held in your organization (employed, self-employed, or retired from corporations, banks and non-banks, investments houses, insurance companies, family and non-family enterprises, federal government, state government, etc. for authorship and acknowledgments of your stories). Then recollect.

     

  7. Why did you opt to go overseas? Cite compelling reasons or factors or opportunities. Be as specific as you can.

     

  8. How did you prepare for the diaspora? Cite the rigor, time and effort you expended to comply with the requirements, gather the needed documents and credentials, get connected with proper authorities and kin (if kin are overseas), submit yourself to a battery of tests and interviews (if any), and get the visa you applied for. Cite also the ups and downs of going through this process.

     

  9. How did you condition yourself before you left for overseas and shortly after arriving there? Cite specifics: cross-cultural adjustments to make, career path to take, applying for jobs, getting into jobs, taking down barriers in the workplace, proving your worth, exceling, plain and simple making it there. Some classmates did the TNT way. How was it?

     

  10. What did you miss most back home when you’re already overseas? What did you look forward to when you’re there? How did you reconcile both with the finer and rougher side of things (you may cite persons or organizations or events that made it relatively easier for you)?

     

  11. How would you compare your making a living overseas vs. making a living back home? What did you see? How similar or different? What did you regret and did not regret at all?

     

  12. How did you cope with the ups and downs till you stabilized yourself, raised a family, and simply survived the daily grind of life out there to this day? Lessons learned. Insights gained. Cite specifics.

     

     Lead Questions for Classmates in the Philippines (including Lucena and elsewhere in the country)

     

  13. Cite your full name, last position or titles held in your organization (employed, self-employed, or retired from corporations, banks and non-banks, investments houses, insurance companies, family and non-family enterprises, local government, national government, etc. for authorship and acknowledgments of your stories). Then recollect.

     

  14. Why did you opt to stay in the Philippines? Cite specific reasons or factors or opportunities you did not seize at all.

     

  15. How did you make it here despite all odds? Cite the ease and difficulty of making a living, raising a family (or helping the family if you’re single then and now, employed or self-employed), or simply barreling yourself through the grind of daily life? Cite specifics.

     

  16. Lessons learned, insights gained? Cite specifics.

 

Lead Questions for Nagkatuluyang Klasmeyts. Dick and Mila, Nick and Ethel, Delfin and Elo, Nini and Enzo, Nani and Eleanor, Vicki Torres and husband (meron pa ba?) and other classmates with non-classmate husbands or wives (Mike and Chris, Freddie and Menchu, Lourdes Pabello and husband, Agot and wife, Arthur and wife, Noemi Esguerra and husband, etc.).

 

We urge our classmates na nagkatuluyan and other classmates (with significant others) to share their stories. Surely we will learn tons of lessons from your union up to this day and from raising a family that you’ve treasured so much. Ano nga ba ang open and secret ways ninyo? Recollect.

 

  1. Cite your names as a couple (nee names for girl classmates also. Example: Nicanor “Nick” Ramos and Ethel (nee name)-Ramos), for the purpose of authorship and acknowledgments of your stories.

     

  2. How did it all begin? Balikan ang nakaraan. Nakakakilig ‘tooooo!

     

    -  Pagsusulyapan, pagtitinginan, pasabay-sabay sa paglalakad, pahatid-hatid pag-uwi, pabisi-bisita sa bahay o magkikita na lamang kung saan. Ikuwento nga ninyo.

     

    - What made you attracted to each other (he to she, she to he)? Why? Was the feeling mutual right away o may pinagdaanan pa? Ikuwento ninyo.

     

    - When did the courtship formally begin? Describe it. What usually would the boy give the girl, and talked about? And the reaction and feelings you have for each other?

     

    - When did you give your sweet “Oo” to him and declared yourselves “Mag-jowa na tayo, huh?” Anon ang mga eksena? Ikuwento ninyo (with some imagery).

     

    - How did both of you keep your magkasintahan life for a long while till you decided to get married? Anong sekreto’t nagtagal ang pagiging magkasintahan ninyo? Ikuwento ninyo.

     

  3. Getting married could be the higher if not highest moment of your lives.

     

    - The marriage proposal, retell the scene. Retell the preparations and meeting with the parents of the would-be bride. May kainana ba? May palitan ba ng regalo?

     

    - The church or civil wedding ceremonies, retell the scene? How did it go? Who were present? What was the feeling and aha moments for both of you?

     

    - Post-wedding. Saan kayo nagpulot-gata (honeymoon)? (The rest of happentances should be secret!)

     

  4. Starting a family of your own. Retell the adjustments taken (including with biyenan and other in-laws), the highs and lows of a married life, the responsibilities and accountabilities that both of you agreed upon, having your first born (how was it?) and more children (could be fun and challenging). Retell also the growing up years of your children and the formation of the family you want to have.

     

  5. Having your children go their own process of courtship with their boyfriends or girlfriends. How was it to you as parents? Advise you gave them? Then the cycle of proposing to the bride (or vice versa, if any), getting married, and raising their own family.

     

  6. The coming of the first and more apo. How was it? The feelings? The pampering and disciplining (any conflicts between grandparents and married children and in-laws as to raising the apo, and how are these resolved?), seeing the apo grow up, etc.

     

  7. Looking back, lessons learned from (a) keeping a relationship and making it work no matter what, (b) raisinga family of your own, (c) seeing your children through the grind of life (d) the aha and key moments with apos, and (e) insights you want to share with others on family formation.

 

 

Lead Questions for Classmates Who Experienced Losses (nabiyudo/nabiyuda, may pumanaw na mahal sa buhay, o pinaglaruan daw ng Tadhana). This subsection could be difficult for some classmates and their families. But it will be great to share your stories of love, faith, hope, courage, fortitude, and wisdom with others. Surely, they will learn a lot from you.

 

  1. How did you get to know each other? Ikuwento ninyo. And the courtship that followed after knowing each other? Ikuwento din ninyo. (This question is intended for classmates who lost a husband or wife.)

     

  2. It could be a lot of bliss with the husband and wife, or parents and children. Of course, the ups and downs are also there. What could be the moments that up you or down you before the loss? (It could be a lingering sickness, a sudden departure, or unexpected incident.) Ikuwento ninyo.

     

  3. When the loss came, how did you cope with it? Saan o kanino ka humugot ng strength, hope, faith, and determination? Ikuwento mo?

     

  4. Despite the loss you moved on. How did you do it and continue coping with it? Ikuwento mo.

     

  5. Valuable lessons you want to share with others before, during, and after the loss. What could be the best remedy or coping mechanism you would suggest to others when they meet this kind of loss?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Annex D

Our Legacy

 

From the stories that we shared (the life map shorty before high school, during high school, and post-high school), what legacies can we impart to our children, children’s children, and the next generations of QPHSers? Your stories carry many of the valuable lessons and insights that we can pass on to them and others. Let’s put them together.

 

  1. Lessons and insights on educating ourselves through high school and post-high school (throughout college and post-college), respecting and recognizing our parents and teachers, forming our circle of friends and peers, and surviving the daily grind of life (as students through our own endeavors of interest to us)

     

  2. Lessons and insights on preparing ourselves for fulfilling and rewarding jobs or self-employment, and how to make it through the process

     

  3. Lessons and insights on going overseas, establishing presence and visibility there, starting a new job and life, raising a family away from the homeland, adjustments taken, and so on

     

  4. Lessons and insights on character formation and personality traits that we need to be able to make it in the homeland and overseas, and how these character formation and personality traits serve the purpose of our future life, family, jobs (employment and self-employment), socio-cross-cultural relationships and adjustments, and general wellbeing

     

  5. Lessons and insights on coping with loss and moving on

     

  6. Or simply lessons and insights on making life worth living plus plus.

     

    There may be other lessons and insights emerging from our journey through high school and beyond. These may come like a big flood of memory. Let’s draw out the defining legacy we can extract from it, no matter our status in life. We are classmates willing to share our own lifelong learning after 50 years.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Annex E

    Our Gratitude

     

    This section will be devoted to our HS Teachers and Administrators, HS Utility Personnel, Dearly Departed Classmates and Their Families, and those who made our high school life worth it. Let’s say our one-liner, two-liner, or more about them.

     

    Examples (Classmates):

     

    Amelia “Amy” Mantua. You’re the best tracker of long lost classmates we ever had. You can trace their whereabouts like no other till they get reconnected with us. They joined our reunions and continue doing so. Thank you, Amy. We miss you.

     

    Jose “Joey” Pacinos. You’re simply Joey to most of us. But way back in the elementary and high school, you gifted us with your dancing grace and jolly spirit. Through those years and the reunions we have had, Joey is simply Joey in high spirit till the dreaded Big C took you away from us and your family. Thank you for the uplifting spirit that you showed us. Even the Big C did not let your spirit down. You faced it up with courage and hope. We miss you, Joey. 

     

    Merger Valle. Who could ever forget you? You’re the banker of jokes, maski green or otherwise, that made us laugh our hearts out. Your face would even make us laugh before you could say a word. There has been no dull moment with you. We miss you, Merger.

     

    Luis “Louie”Mallari. Any Lucenahin lass would open her windows and allow you entry to her home the moment she hears your voice and guitar. You can really sing. You can strum that guitar to the tune of your throbbing heart. You’re the project engineer who sees through the completion of the San Juanico Bridge, the longest bridge thus far in the Philippines. Thank you, Louie for being with us.

     

    Isidro Ruedas. You’re a simple man with simple needs. Yet you exhibit an indomitable spirit that enabled you to raise a family and survived the daily grind of life. In strategic points of our birthplace, you would train your eagles’ eyes to spot, pick up and carry passengers on board your stainless tricycle. In some other days you’d wield your shoe brush and shoe polish to clean and shine the shoes of your favored customers near the simbahan. You vend cooking oil in wholesale and retail quantities. And you know every nook and corner of the city where the big businesses make their transactions and pursue the hows of their dealing and wheeling for big money. I learned a lot from your simple life with well-endowed indomitable spirit. Thank you, Sid. We miss you. Hayaan mo nang tumagay ang iba para sa ýo.

     

    Examples (Teachers and Administrators, both departed and living):

     

    Francisca Abcede, Principal, QPHS. You exude a great deal of confidence and authority every Monday morning when we hold our flag ceremony. Your voice would echo across QPHS to serve notices and reminders to all of us. Yet behind the authoritative voice is the persona of a no-nonsense principal who would do anything and everything to let us learn. Somehow I imbibed that confidence and authority when I choose to become an educator-leader myself. We miss you, Ma’am.

     

    Teacher Rudy Flores. You’d qualify as my best science teacher. You can make us understand the complexity of science in very simple terms. But more than that, you teach us to sing in high school and urge us to join the Glee Club. Thank you, Teacher Rudy. We miss you.

     

    Mang Pilo. You keep the grounds on check. You mow the grass according to your cut-the-grass plan like no other. You know where to start and to finish. It’s like space planning in simple terms. Thank you for allowing us to see the beauty of well-manicured grasses on campus. We miss you, Mang Pilo.

     

    Dr. Esmeraldo Palomar. Idioms, charade, grammar, spelling, and literature have been part of us. You nurture (and torture) us to be able to write up the best stories for The Coconut. You open up your home to many of us to enjoy learning while eating and dancing. You’re such a mentor to many of us. Thank you, Titser Al.

     

    Ms. Milwida Sevilla-Reyes. Who could ever forget our days with you? Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, Valderi Valdera!, and the many occasions we had with you to hone our skills to write, to learn literature, and to unleash our full creative potentials—those are the real days with you. Thank you, Titser Milwida.   

     

    The above examples will hopefully set off other tributes to our dearly departed classmates and teachers. Please craft your tributes as fit.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Annex E

    Acknowledgments

     

    Let us recognize and honor those who made the publication of Our Journey, Our Legacy possible. Cite them.

     

    The benefactors and supporters who believe in this worthy cause (Contributors, classmates or otherwise, paid ads spaces for the Souvenir Program. Let’s acknowledgment them in this Coffee Table Book.

     

  7. Juan dela Cruz

  8. Maria dela Crus

  9. Iba pa

     

    The classmates who shared their time, effort, money, and stories. Modesty aside, please affix your professional titles before or after your name.

     

    Example:

    Dr. Benilda Villenas

    Dr. Levi P. Verora

    Mason Miguel Banagan Jr., insurance adviser

    Mason Benedicto Asi, Department of Agriculture consultant

    Mason Alfredo Maguyon (US Navy Lieutenant, retired)

    Engr. Edgardo Dalida

    Lourdes Pabello, CPA

    And so on…….

     

    Special acknowledgment to…. (if any)