HANDOG

By: B Espiritu, Jr.
(originally printed in The Crusader, schoolyear 1984-85, No.3)

Sa Paskong ito'y aking ihahandog
Sa aking inay's kuwintas na maalindog
Ang kuwintas na ito'y simbolo ng habang buhay na pagmamahal
Sa ina kong sa akin ay nagluwal.

Aking ihahandog sa aking mga kapatid
Ang aking paglilingkod na hindi mapapatid
Paglilingkod na hindi kayang pantayan
Ng bawa't nilalang sa ating bayan.

Sa aking mga kaibigan at mga kamag-aral
Isang liham na pinaiiral
Ang pasasalamat kong taos-pusong pinaaalam
Sa kanilang lahat ang tulong sa aki'y inasam.

Tulong na aking kailangan
Solusyon sa problemang di-maiwasan
Paghihingahan ng mga suliranin
At mga tungkulin na dapat tupdin.

Sa aking bayan aking iaalay
Ang katapangan kong taglay
Upang ipagtanggol ang kanyang kaapihan
Mula ngayon at magpakailanman

Kay Kristong Hari aking iaalay
Ang handog kong katawan at buhay
Pagka't Kanya ang araw na ito
Kaarawan Niyang kung tawagin ay Pasko.

Pasko - kay daming handog na maibibigay
Pula, puti, at iba pang mga kulay
Ang maaari nating ibigay
Maging materyal na bagay o ang iyong buhay

K88 Christmas Party

First of all, we would like to thank Jay Ravalo for hosting this year’s K88 Christmas Party. Not only did he provide the venue for this year’s gathering, but he also made sure that food, drinks and entertainment were overflowing during the party. Maraming salamat, Jay!

I became the official photographer last night (what’s new?). And thanks to my holiday-season-induced-hypertension, I wasn’t able to drink alcohol, nor partake in the sumptuous lechon feast. Yeah, I know, it sucks!

But someone’s gotta do it. Someone has to write about this event. So here’s my Top Ten low-cholesterol and alcohol-free recollection of the things that transpired last night.

1. Two words – live band. Yup, it was not your usual drinking marathon kind of a party. There was live band entertainment courtesy of our host, Jay Ravalo.
2. Jay Ravalo proved to us once again that he is the uncontested Minyong of the batch with his guitar playing wizardry.
3. Gatchie was a revelation on the drums. And so was our Little Drummer Boy Jun Lara.
4. The K88 Boy Band was officially formed last night with Bong Estrada on lead vocals. Rey Carlo, Chunky Ramos and Rod Vagilidad provide back-up.
5. ‘Tis really the season for giving. The batch agreed to help, not only the PCC Boys Basketball Team, but also the PCC Girls Basketball Team with their athletic requirements. Way to go, Rigmarolers!
6. Boyet Valencia loves us so much that even in these trying moments during his mother’s death, he squeezed in a few minutes last night just to be able to see us and be with us. Our condolences to you and your family, Boyet.
7. Kapitan Mario Concepcion showed us samples of his new sex wonder drug which he claims is extremely effective. For orders, just call 1-800-PAKAGAT.
8. Jeff Sulit defied his Cinderella Guy trademark when he stayed at the party past 12 midnight.
9. I found out that I could drink 5 gallons of mineral water all by myself. Sensya na Jay kung naubos ko tubig sa water dispenser nyo.
10. Next gathering would be on January 12, 2008 to celebrate Sajid’s birthday. So for those of you who missed last night’s festivities, better not miss out on this next one.

I do not have the complete list of those who attended last night. But I guess, a rough estimate of around 25-30 people is a fair estimate. Just take a look at the pictures and see who were there.

Merry Christmas everyone!

"Dear Casey..."

“Here we go with the Top 40 hits of the nation this week on American Top 40…”

If I recall correctly, it was during our first year in High School when a group of classmates – Regan Bernabe, Nelson Juinio, Boyd Monje, Jonathan de Veas, and yours truly – first stumbled into this radio show being aired on 99.5RT FM, The Rhythm of the City. Manny Santana, whom we then referred to as “Australian Kid” later joined our group during our fourth year in High School. Hosted by Casey Kasem, the show was aired every Sunday from 2pm to 6pm, and played the top 40 songs on Billboard Magazine’s Hot 100 singles chart for that week - from 40 to 1. If you know your division, it’s about 10 songs per hour with additional portions for long-distance dedication and music trivia (speaking of trivia, Careless Whisper by Wham! was the number 1 song that time we first listened to the countdown).

“Now on with the countdown…”

Almost every Sunday, we would meet at my house in P.Burgos Street, armed with our big composition notebooks (which most of you have probably seen at one time or another) and pens, to listen to each week’s countdown. I would turn up the silver cassette radio my father had sent me from the US – which had proved to be a very vital member of our AT40 family. At one time, when I had mistakenly plugged in the poor radio into the wrong electrical outlet, I had to cry for help from my mother’s friends in Bagong Katipunan to help save the burnt out radio – I was so thankful when they were able to fix it! We would all go to my room and listen to the radio for the whole duration of the show, chat about goings-on at school, compare notes, and do our homework. Most of the time, my mother would also prepare us snacks or order one of us to stop by the bakery so we can get some pastries to eat. During the few times that we were unable to meet at my place to listen to AT40, at least one of us would be tasked to listen to the countdown – sometimes I would listen to the first hour, then Regan would listen to the second hour, then Nelson would listen to the third hour, and so on. Ultimately, we also discovered that Odyssey Records posted the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart on one of their walls and we would flock in front of the list to our hearts’ content. That following Monday, we would all exchange notes so we would have a complete top 40 countdown in our notebooks. The notebooks had become a reference material not only for us, but to most of our classmates, when it came to music. We would get asked a lot of questions about what song dropped off from the countdown, which songs made it to the top 10, and why some songs we listen to that were very popular at that time never made it to the countdown (as Casey would often say, “AT40 originates in Hollywood”). It was the last question that even prompted us to do our own countdowns; suddenly it was countdown fever in PCC High! I think I kept myself in control (and I’ve got lots of it! Sorry I had the urge to put that in somewhere Ms. Jackson) amid the pressure I felt during high school through those countdowns. I made countdowns of my own top 40 – so that songs that never made it to the AT40 countdown such as (Feels Like) Heaven, Blue Monday, Body Dancer, 628, A Smile in Your Heart, and the eternal Bituing Walang Ningning would all have their chance at being the “number 1 song in the country” – or at least in my book. It didn’t stop there, I found myself conducting surveys of all our classmates to find out the top 10 most handsome, most popular, and nicest classmates – and then count them down. At one of our class Christmas parties, we even had our own top 10 countdown of the songs we liked – Wishful Thinking beat Tenderness for the number 1 spot on that fateful day (I think I even sang It's A Miracle, too).

“Before we reveal the number one song on AT40, let’s check out the other number ones on other charts…”

Fourth year High School – Jonathan Manalad was #1 in our Student Council chart. Manny Santana was #1 in our Crusader Editor chart. Irving Raymundo was #1 in our Spelling Bee chart. Ferdinand Evangelista was #1 in our Academic chart. And holding on to #1 for the sixteenth (or seventeenth to some) consecutive year (insert drum roll here) – each one of us in the eyes of our family and friends! My last day in high school felt like the numerous Sundays when the pendulum clock at our house stroke six o’clock in the evening, when the number one song is revealed. Regan, Nelson, Boyd, Manny, Jonathan would gather all their belongings and head home and bid farewell to me as I looked out by the gate, our house dog Tutu barking his goodbyes, until I could hardly see them from the distance. In June of 1988, I migrated to San Francisco, California. My grandmother kept my silver cassette radio until it finally puffed its last breath of melody. Manny, the Australian Kid, returned to the Land Down Under to go to college and live there permanently. Regan, Nelson, Boyd, and Jonathan remained close even after high school. While miles apart, we continued to listen to AT40 and wrote each other – making sure we had a listing of the latest top 40 songs enclosed in our letters to each other. Regan would even write to Manny and include the AT20 listing he had cut out of the current TEMPO he got from the Sari-Sari store next to their multi-story house in Pinagbuhatan. As the years went on, the Internet technology caught up with snail mail (and maybe to some of us technologically-challenged). Billboard Magazine started hosting its own website listing the Hot 100 Singles chart, along with its other charts for quicker access, and all of us kept in touch via emails throughout the day. Just like old days, we would chat about goings-on in our lives, movies, music, and once in a while one of us would mention quotes from those memorable days in High School. Right now, as I imagine our old pendulum clock striking six o’clock, I smile and recall Casey Kasem saying…

“Keep your feet on the ground, and keep reaching for the stars!”

By B Espiritu