Our high school was an annex of Arellano High School and was called Rizal Avenue Annex. It was on Rizal Ave. and Batangas St. I was late in registering and they were almost done taking new students. I got my school card. They announce registration is over. What? What a reception to high school. Annie Solis father saw and realize the situation and told the teachers that hey there are still more students in here.
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| Pol Freshman at MLQ |
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| Mario Padua, Pol Calimbas, Efren dela Rosa, Efren's brother I don't remember this occasion, must be a big party |
Nobody knows. Our first year or Freshman year adviser was a Miss Poblete, teacher in home economics. She like to sing and during our sharing period will sing at the slightest suggestion. Her voice style is soprano. Other teachers were Miss Medel in Social Studies, Mr. Ona in physics and math, Mr. Parlan in PE, Miss Espinosa in math, Mrs. Ledesma in English, etc. The principal was Mrs. Alfante, Mrs. Salvador in Geometry. Geometry and Math are my favorite subjects. Once Mrs. Salvador gave us a bonus homework on geometric construction: Contruct a right triangle given one acute angle and the sum of both sides. Wow, that is mind blowing.
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| We were in 2nd year high school, Nicki and I were featured in our school paper. Who would have thought that we will be married eventually. |
Nobody has an idea. We ask Mr. Ona but he can not figure it out either. Finally Mrs. Salvador showed us how it is done. That was cool. In another building 100 meters away was the Industrial Arts building. These is where they do training in carpentry, electricity, auto, arts, retail merchandizing. Our carpentry teacher will give you a good grade if you give him a nice piece of wood. What a hack. One day our auto mechanic teacher Mr. Cadiente was lecturing and noticed Efren was holding a piece of paper up in the air. Mr. Cadiente grab the paper, read what it says and slap Efren on the face. Efren got so angry he is ready to fight him. What was written? In English it said "This is all bullshit". It must unnerved Mr. Cadiente because this is an offense for a teacher dismissal. But nothing happen. Down this building is the PE. There is a crude chinning bar at the far end. And that is all we got. Pitiful budget. Mr. Parlan the health teacher's classroom is located in the far end of the building in a dark dampy room. It really goes with Mr. Parlan who is fat and full of bs. At the end of the class he would write on the board 1.70. It means he earn that much in a hour for the class.
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| Studio Photo |
Around our school there are plenty of siga-siga. These are men hanging around doing nothing, causing trouble and fighting each other. Istamday they are called. Every now and then they would fight each other. One day there was a big fight where some group were going after another group. One guy got stabbed in the stomach. He halted a jeepney and boarded it probably on his way to San Lazaro hospital to be treated. Fortunately none of them molest us.
PMT is Preparatory Military Training and we had this in our curriculum. There is another group ahead of us so by default they are our PMT superiors. My brother Fred is a member of this high PMT group. They get to do hazaing on us just like West Point. One evening while drilling late, Geronimo their corp commanded started the hazing of the neophytes which is us. As luck will have it it started raining, heavy downpour. We were running around, doing pushups, carrying desk here and there. Some were told to go to the toilet and mesh around with the urinals and then dive into the cement floor to clean themselves. I was kind of spared as I just sit their watching these yahoos.
Moving To a New Building- MLQ High School
In the middle of the second year we moved to a different location and a brand new school. This is Manuel Luis Quezon High School located closer to our home in Molave Street. They moved all of the wooden desks, cabinets, etc.
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| MLQ High School in Molave St. Our classroom is on the left, principal and teachers room in the center. |
One day there was this truck, perhaps more than one, where movers carried the furniture and loaded it into the truck. We were just watching enjoying the day without classes. Then we were there. This was the end of our second year. After summer our third year in high school started. This new location is closer to my house and I don't have to walk along Rizal Avenue which is busy all the time. The school is a quadrangle, two-story building. There is a library on the first floor and classrooms around it. In our third year our English teacher is Miss Victoria Rodriguez. I remember Nenita Cambronero who is the brightest except in a year she would have a nervous breakdown and disappear from us.
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| Standing is Miss Poblete, Lita Soliman, Annie Solis, Victoria Espada, Miss Perez Sitting is Leny Cando, Corazon de Jesus, Mrs. Barcelona, ?, Leonarda del Rosario |
Geometry Competition, Third Year
I was selected by Mrs. Salvador to compete in a geometry construction contest against other high schools. She would drill me every afternoon doing exercises. A girl, Helen Jardiel was selected to compete in the Algebra contest. I would have love to compete in Algebra. The day of the competition came. There were rows of blackboards sitting on top of wooden desk. We are given a large wooden compass, chalk, and a ruler. They would tell us what to construct. The first correct one wins. But you have to explain to teachers what you did. So the announcer said construct a triangle given one side and two angles, one of the angle is not adjacent to the side. I hurriedly did my construction, got done and I drop my compass, rule and chalk to signal I finished. I was standing there for the rest of the competitors to finish. And they keep on working and working for minutes. Mrs. Salvador was looking at my work and she said that she think I did it wrong. I realized she is right. I did it wrong. I made it so that the two angles were adjacent but that is wrong. Now I have to explain what I did to the superintendent of mathematics. What to do, what to do? Then the solution came to me. But the marks I made during the construction is wrong. So when I was explaining what I did I used the chalk in my hand to scribble more marks in my construction making it impossible to determine what I did. On top of that the superintendent understood what I did. My explanation was ingenious. Many teachers were skeptical. Mrs. Palaganas my arithmetic teacher told me to leave the place and hide in one of the rooms so they can not question me. I did. I finally came out. I saw the superintendent explaining to a group of teachers what I did and why it is correct. I won first place! My reward was five pesos. That is enough to see a first run move four times. Yeaaaah! How did I explain it correctly? I did the two angles as if they were adjacent to the line. Now the third angle I copied into one of the angles because the third angle should be the right one meaning the three anges add up to 180. Easy peasy.
Spirit of the Glass
Spirit of the Glass became a fad. We did not know it was known as the ouija board. We created our own board with the alphabet, numbers and a Yes and No choice. You take a glass, invert it and put it over the board. At least three people are require to move the glass. Three people put two fingers on top of the glass and concentrate. The theory is a spirit will enter the glass and cause it to move. When it starts moving you can ask it questions usually with a yes or no answer or sometime it will spell a word. We would do this in the afternoon at the end of all classes. Miss Ople is very interested and attend most of our session. This event became know to the neighborhood and sometime we are invited to do it in someone's house. It's me, Jaime Sicat and another boy usually do the spirit of the glass. Is it real? The ouija board has been around in the States for years. Nobody knows if it is real or is one of the people moving the glass. I know I never deliberately move the glass when I am doing it.
Fourth Year
This is our last year in MLQ. This is the most memorable year of all the years I have gone to school. I don't know why is that. Was it because of my age? I will demonstrate by writing down all of the anecdotes I remember in this year. This was 1961 and I was 15 years old. At the start of the day at 8am Miss Perez starts the day with Pilipino. Every hour they changed. Next is our adviser Miss
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| Our school newsletter The Avenue |
Magdalena Ople for English. Next is History by Mr. Banag. Then we get lunch break. I go home to eat. I have no choice I dont have money for lunch to buy. At 1pm is Journalism with Mrs. Antonio. Then two hours with Mr. Ona for Physics and Math. We also have PMT with Mr. de Guia. The girls have PE under Mrs. Barcelona. Our classroom is the first room on the second floor on the northeast side. I can still remember the seating arrangement in that classroom. Here it is:
Front of the class
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| The front of the classroom is on top. The back is here. |
We call our class The Trailblazers. Each desk seats two people. So Aurora Custodio and Narcisa Francisco on the upper right is on one desk. There are 4 rows which we will number 1 to 4 from left to right. So Custodio and Francisco would be in row 4 seat 1. Okay then. I am on row 3 seat 4b, my seatmate is Patricia Aguire on seat 4a. Patricia is gay and we all know that. He is very bright and fun to be with. He went to the USA and became a beloved professor. He died at an early age. Antonio Navarette on row 3 seat 5a was our class valedictorian. Admittedly he is bright but I was told he memorize topics. Antonio went to the US too and became an ER doctor. He died quite young too. Behind me is my best friend Primo Orijola. Prime as we call him became a doctor graudated from UST. He practice in his hometown Nagcarlan with his wife Winnie, daugher Christina and two other boys. Primo died young too. On row 4 seat 4b is Sergio Carreor. Cary as we call him is a car mechanic which he did when still young. His father is a mechanice, his brother is mechanic, etc. Cary went to the USA and lived in New York with wife Lita. We make group phone calls once in a while with other classmates like Simeon Mendoza, Tony Manalaysay. Next to Cary is Constantino Arellano. Constant family is very poor and they live in a swampy little house with several brothers. Constant worked as a detailman for a pharmaceutical company. He married Aida Ibasco and they have 7 children. They later separated and Constant got together with Baby with one baby. Behind Cary is Abraham Angeles. Abraham was our corp commander in PMT. He has an erect stature befitting a military man and a loud voice to go with it. He later became a corp commander at FEU ROTC. I am not sure what became of Abraham. He married his girlfriend Tessie, went into buy and sell business I was told. Somebody told me he passed but no proof. Abelardo Lazatin is seated next to Abraham. I communicate with Abe once in a while. He travel from Philippines to Aurora, Illinois. His son has a house in Marikina. Abe invited us one to his sone's house and his wife gave us a sumptous dinner. In attendence was Constantino, Manuel Cordeta, Lita Ocampo and husband Nestor, Claro Vicente and wife.
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| Must be United Nation day. l to r: Zenaida Enrico, Andrea Cristobal, Leonarda del Rosario, Miss Medel, Leny Cando, Annie Solis, Corazon de Jesus |
On the other side on row 1 seat6 is Mario Padua. Mario became a doctor and married Consuelo Arceo at row 4 seat 3. Mario is quiet but likes to gamble. He gamble on a gold mine in Palawan and you can guess what happen there. This couple went to Fiji to seek a new life. We got the news that Mario died there of heart attack. For a doctor he did not stop smoking and drinking. Next to Mario is Ben Ynaya. Ben is gifted and became editor-in-chief of our school newspaper. He can talk well but not good in math nor history. Ben was the first to died in our class of coronary thrombosis. In front of Ben is Manuel Cordeta. Manny is a colorful guy and was our Sports Editor. Manny has a unique way of writing and he talks the way he writes. He is full of minute detail specially dates e.g. birthdays, deaths, etc. Next to Manny is Claro Vicente. Claro, diminutive and soft spoken became a minister. Its amazing transformation.
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| Boys and Girls Week FR: Ben Ynaya, Angeles Figueroa,?,?,Guillermo Guinigundo 2R:Annie Solis, Corazon de Jesus, Pol Calimbas, Leonarda del Rosario, Consuelo Arceo 3R: Abraham Angeles, Constantino Arellano, Laura Borromeo, Abelardo Lazatin, Primo Orijola Arthur Sison, Luis Lucas, Efren del Rosa, Antonio Navarette, Maria Padua, Danilo Mariano, Jaime Sicat,Sergio Carreon |
On row 3 seat 1a is Leonarda del Rosario. My cute and pretty wife-to-be seating a desk in front of me. Seated with her is her best friend Corazon de Jesus. Cora is a neighbor and they live a few blocks from us. Always well dressed Cora has a lot of boys interested in her. She eventually married a neighborhood boy. Cora became a manager of a bank. Unfortunately she died early surgical complication of a brain surgery. Behind Cora is Leonar Cando another neighbor. Leny is very mature. She married Oscar Velarde and they were into real estate for a while. They eventually immigrated to the US with their four children. Seated next to Leny is Andrea Cristobal. Nobody knows what happen to Andrea. My guess is she went back to her hometown and lived there. In row 4 seat 3a is Consuelo Arceo. The boys used to ask me to go to Consuelo's house to pay a visit. Consuelo's mother thought I was courting her and she welcome all of us. But it was Mario who have an eye for her. Consuelo has a very nice complexion, chinita and has this sexy smile. She became a doctor and married Mario. Next to Consuelo is Olga Padilla. Olga became a nurse. We met her once in Chicago but lost contact. I was told that Aurora Custodio in row 4, 1a because the Undersectary of Education in the Philippines. Aurora was quiet and display no outstanding brigthness but I suppose she improved later. Annie Solis is in row 2 seat 2a. She is gifted in journalism and was Associate Editor in The Avenue our school newsletter. Annie went to the US. She became director of Human Resources at Pomona College. Annie died early. She willed her to be cremated, her ashes brought back to the Philippines and scattered in Pasig River. How romantic. I think Annie liked me. She went to our house one day and asked me to accompany her to make a visit to one of the poor section of Manila. We tried but could not get into the crowded bus so we went back home. Annie married a professor and had one boy. Next to Annie is Zenaida Enrico. Zeny also went to the US. She married a guy I believed was in the US navy. They divorced. Zeny married again to Ed Elejorde. We met Zeny during our high school reunion. They lived in San Diego, Ca. Luz Lotino row 2 seat 3a was our high school beauty queen. She was always named as Miss MLQ. Luz is tall, has a nice complexion and pretty face. Luz is now active in what is called the MLQ Foundation, a group consisting of all of the graduates of MLQ. Luz married Ruben Montoya who died early and living in Barrio Obrero.
Behind Luz is Jacinto Sta. Mario. Jack immigrated to Australia. He has a large family with about 15 grandchildren. Phew. Jack is one of the hidden brain in our class. He involved himself inventing gadgets. Seated with Jack is Ismael Ifurung. Mael and i were in Mapua in college. Mael and Cely lived closed to us too. Mael and I are involved in our college activities in Mapua. Mael worked for the state of California and retired as a computer programmer. Behind Mael is Efren dela Rosa. Efren married Lilly and they lived in California. Seated with Efren is Guillermo Guinigundo. Guiller and his family are top achievers. Starting with Magtanggol who was chairman of the Presidential Committee on Good Government, his younger brother who was vice-chairman of the Philippine Central Bank, his sister who is very successful financially, his brother Noli is a doctor. Guiller has a very successful accounting firm and has his own building. His son runs it now. Guiller's wife Nimfa died at an early age and Guiller remarried. They lived in Hamilton, Ohio.
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| MLQ 1961 class Section 1 |
I can not described the other classmates because I do not have any news about them. I know that Victoria Espada, row 1 seat 2a got depressed and had mental problem. Danila Villaroya, row 1 seat 2a went to Mapua in Civil Engineering. I was told that Danila was very popular and very attractive at that time that many boys are looking at her. Danila I was told lived in California but I do not know her last name since she must have married and changed it. Erlinda Ferrer lives in Canada. We emailed each other inviting her to one of the reunions but because of the distance she can not come. She looked happy with a nice family.
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| Pol getting salutatorian medal in MLQ His mother pinning the medal. |
Her mother is Mrs. Ferrer our music teacher in Calderon. I almost forgot Rosalinda Bernardo became a doctor. We met her in Manila. She married an artist and he gave me one of his oil painting which I took back to the US. Unfortunately her husband passed. She has two children in the US. I like to know the whereabouts of two bright girls in our class, Helen Jardiel and Lily Orbase. Helen is very good in mathematics. She won that inter-high school Algebra contest. Lily is a writer, very quiet but smart.
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| Our class photo with all of the students name. |
After so many years we managed to get together and go to Primo's hometown in Nagcarlan, Laguna. This photo was taken there. Primo had a big resort where he
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| Standing are Mario Padua, Consuelo Arceo, Nicki Calimbas, Cora de Jesus del Rosario, Nicki's sister-in-law Tess del Rosario, Leny Cando Velarde, Oscar Velarde. Sitting is little adopted daugter of Mario, Primo Orijola, Winnie Orijola. |
has a a large swimming pool, several nipa huts and other facilities. We had a great time in there.
It so happen so fast and now we were graduating from high school. We have to make a decision on where to go. The high school program has two choices: college prep and vocational. Nobody explain to me what it is so I chose vocational. Then I realizeI should be in college prep. It was difficult to change but I manage to do that. So on to college. I really wanted to go to medical school but my mother told me we can not afford it. Just the books are too expensive for us. And I did not like medical that much so I went to Mapua for engineering.
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| Pol, Sergio, Nicki, Antonio, wife, Leny, Manny Reunion in Las Vegas |
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| Leny, Pol, Guiller, Lulu, LIta, Sergio, Rogelia, Rodelio, ? Nini, Nicki, Carol, ? Las Vegas Reunion |
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| Constant, Primo, Manny, Rodelio, Mael, Audie,Manny, Pol Las Vegas Reunion |
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| 2023 Reunion in Las Vegas Some of the attendees are: Audie Vergara, Nicki Calimbas, Guiller Gunigundo and wife, Zeny Enrico, Simeon Mendoza, Rogelia Laude, Lita Ocampo, |
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