K88 Reunion Bulletin No. 5 - Remittance + Reunion Details

Dear all

Everyone is invited to attend our 4th regular meeting tomorrow at our gracious host Jay Ravalo's place at Jaymin Building, Market Ave. Extension, San Miguel, Pasig at exactly 8 PM.

We also would like to request those who will be able to remit their financial contribution for the homecoming tomorrow to please come or drop by or remit it to Jay. We would truly appreciate your support in this endeavour. You can email us or text Jeff, Cocoy , Joey, or Jay Ravalo for coordination if you won't be able to drop by at the meeting.

Details of the reunion proceedings will be finalised at the meeting. We would encourage presence and your inputs in the finalisation process.

We would also like to thank, Bing Espiritu for authoring the article that we sent to Batch 83 for inclusion in the souvenir program. Also to Ericson Mercado for the artwork that will be placed at the back cover of the souvenir program. Thank you for a job well done.

As what have been previously posted, we need a keyboardist for our very own K88 band. You are very much welcome to jam with Jay, Gatchie Bong and Noel.

Again thank you for the support and please, let's make this 20th year a very memorable one.

Long live

Countdown to the 20th Year Celebration!!!

It's been almost twenty years since the Kumbento Boys Batch '88 sang "Alma Mater" to the top of their lungs and marched in the middle of the PCC Quadrangle as their relatives and the faculty looked on with tears of joy and pride as another successful batch of PCCians graduate from High School. Following the culmination of High School we went our separate ways with our different aspirations in mind. Most of us had been accepted to well-known universities such as Ateneo de Manila University, De LaSalle University, University of the Philippines, and University of Santo Tomas, and had prepared for their next scholastic journey into college. Some had made plans to migrate with family members outside of the country. Still others had decided not to pursue college degrees, start families of their own, search for jobs that suit their abilities and fancies, or start their own businesses.

After that fateful day of 1988 when we all graduated, most of us managed to keep in touch, through snail mail, as it is now fondly called, and through phone conversations for faster communication. We would hear news of old classmates topping the national exams for accountants and nurses, garnering prestigious awards for the arts and sciences, winning seats in their local governments, and migrating to various parts of the globe along with their significant loved ones and children. We received news about the few who have passed away – Dante Bartocillo, Genesis Cruz, Edmund Faustino, Trazy Labuguen, Bonifacio Sumbilla III, and Noel Villanueva will remain in our hearts and minds. The birth of the Internet and expansion of information technology further hastened our communication with each other. What seemed like months of waiting by the mailbox for a letter is now equivalent to seconds when it comes to emails ranging from simple greetings like "musta na pare?" to long-winded ones that rival that of the "Noli Me Tangere." We also founded our very own yahoo e-group for our batch, and later our own batch website, where we could share news and even pictures to keep everyone updated with our appearances. Whatever news it was, it brought joy to the lonely, response from the silent, and information to the unaware.

As we approach our twentieth year anniversary, all of us look back to the past, from the time when we thought the end of High School also meant the end of the world for each one of us, the time when we realized there are more worlds to navigate after High School, looking now at the present and seeing what we have done in the past had become of us, to looking at the unpredictable future ahead of us. We stand as united as ever, though miles apart. Some of us now call other nations home - Australia, Canada, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America - yet we still maintain the same closeness as if we were still in High School. Twenty years ago, we started a new journey outside of High School, with various ambitions and plans. Today, our past ambitions and plans have gotten us to where we are today – accountants, architects, businessmen, doctors, engineers, family men, politicians, professors, systems administrators, nurses, policemen, and the list goes on. What we as a batch and as individuals have travailed for is reason enough for us to gather and celebrate twenty wonderful years and plan towards our future anniversaries.

K88: Rigmaroling through the years, across the world!

By B Espiritu

Build Me Up Buttercup

Why do you build me up
Buttercup, baby, just to let me down
And mess me around
And then worst of all
You never call, baby
When you say you will
But I love you still

The version which most of us know is actually a Torch remake of a 60's classic originally sung by The Foundations. And I remember the song being repeatedly played during PCC's Foundation Day in the early 80's - 1984 to be exact, if I remember it correctly. Yes, that song has become so distinct in my mind's aural memories that I actually identify it to mark my very own musical awakening.

Memories of the usual Foundation Day funfare are triggered by just hearing this particular song. Kids chasing around the campus as the DJ in the Dedication Booth announces that all marshals catch everyone wearing white rubber shoes. That "random" handcuffing with that particular CBCian you've been eyeing since you saw her coming out terrified from the Horror Booth. Or simply enjoying the rides which usually occupied PCC's softball field (yes, PCC used to have one, remember?).

I need you
More than anyone, darling
You know that I have from the start
So build me up
Buttercup, don't break my heart

Who doesn't know this song? Anyone from our generation who doesn't recognize this particular song will be cursed to suffer in eighties' hell wearing blue-polo-over-yellow-t-shirt-matched-with-faded-baston-jeans-and-mismatch-colored-US-Master-shoes.

Build me up, buttercup. The lyrics are simply unmistakable. The melody, frantically infectious. The beat, relaxingly bubbly.

I'll be over at ten
You told me time and again
But you're late
I wait around and then

For those who know my musical tastes can say that my range can be eclectic at the very least. From eighties' new wave to nineties' disco, from RNB to hiphop and dancehall, from vocal house to the dark and hard house, from techno to hypnotic trance, from slow to alternative rock, from standards to jazz, and from classical to world music. I love music, in most of its forms.

But eighties' music holds a special place in my heart. I can usually name a track's title and artist just based on its first 3 notes or intro drumbeats. My wife usually gets impressed with this geeky talent I display when driving home on Friday nights, listening to 89.9 Magic Madness playing music coming from our era.

I walk to the door
I can't take anymore
It's not you
You let me down again

No other era in music, in my opinion, shows so much character as eighties music. The Beatles may be the single most prominent band of all times, with hits that still live on to this day. But apart from them, the musical character of their era wasn't as diverse (yet identifiable) as when compared to the eighties bands of London, for example. From the sound of the synthesizers to the distinct timber of bands' vocalists voices, one can identify eighties music from those of the other eras. And even as the artists, who became that generation's music icons, are somehow responsible for the horrible fashion trend that invaded the eighties, it even added up to the distinctive character of the personalities from that period.

Baby, baby,
Try to find
A little time
And I'll make you mine
I'll be home
I'll be beside the phone
Waiting for you

I am an eighties kid. I may have already cut short the bangs that notoriously hindered our vision way back then. And I may have already retired from the ritualistic chasing-of-the-girls tradition. But I still sing out to the lyrics of most of the music we all fell in love with. So, everybody now…

So, why do you build me up, buttercup…

K88 Reunion Bulletin No. 4 - Thanks to Bing and Manny

Batchmates,

We are happy to announce that Bing Espiritu and Manny Santana have already responded to the invitation to be SPECIAL PATRONS of our 20th Anniversary Celebration! They have contributed $100 each for our big event this February.

Thank you to Bing and Manny!

K88 Reunion Bulletin No. 3 - See You Tonight At The Headquarters

We would like to reiterate our earlier invitation to join us tonight at our official headquarters - at Jay Ravalo's Jaymin Bldg. at 8 pm. Please claim your tickets and help us distribute the rest. Join the band as they practice for the big day on Feb 16.

See you all there tonight!

Sample Of Old Pics

Here are some samples of the old pics that we are requesting you to dig up from your photo albums and share with us.

And cute natin di ba?
These photos are courtesy of Joey de Vera. Thanks for sharing them with us, Joey.

Please keep them coming. At sama-sama nating pagtawanan ang mga itsura natin noong tayo'y mga totoy pa.

Send them to: kumbento88@gmail.com

Disclaimer: I shall not be held responsible for any lawsuits, psychological damages, or marital separations these pictures shall unduly cause by being posted on the web.

K88 Reunion Bulletin No. 2 - Tickets Now Available For Distribution

by Jeff Sulit
20th Year Homecoming Chair

Dear Batchmates,

There will be a meeting this Friday, January 18th at Jay Ravalo's place in Market Ave. Extension, San Miguel, Pasig City at 8 PM. Everyone is encouraged to attend.

The invitations/tickets are now available and we would appreciate if you can come and get the tickets from us on Friday.

We would also appreciate if you can send scanned pictures related to k88 whether its from our elementary or high schoold days as well as from those previous gatherings/reunions. We will use these pictures in the K88 video that Arnold would be producing. The older the pictures are, the better and the more, the merrier. Please send the pictures to kumbento88@gmail.com .

If you have contact information of any batchmates who are not in the egroups directory nor in the cell number directory, please email those contact info in the egroups or to eric cruz at ehriks2000@yahoo.com, so that we can include them in the directory for easy reference.

Again with your cooperation and support, lets make this 20th rigmarolin' year reunion the best that we ever have so far.

Cheers.

K88 Reunion Bulletin No. 1 - Twenty Rigmarolin' Years

by Jeff Sulit
20th Year Homecoming Chair

Dear Batchmates

Last Jan 12, the initial working committee met at Jay Ravalo's place. Present were Fred Maximo, Eric Gonzales, Bong Estrada, Jun Lara, Jobet Lara, Joey Manalad, Cocoy Del Prado, Arnold Martinez, our host Jay Ravalo and myself. Everybody is welcome to join in the future meetings and your participation would be greatly appreciated by all.

Before we started the meeting, we had first hand information shared by Jobet himself on the medical condition he has right now. He showed and demonstrated to us the abnormal tissue growths in his body and also shared with us his experience while being administered the chemo therapy. So far the results were overwhelming and that his body is positively reacting to the chemo sessions. Let us continue our prayers and support for him that his condition continually improves and eventually be free from all the abnormal tissue growth.


Items discussed and agreed upon during the meeting:

1. There will be a regular meeting tentatively every Friday, 8 PM at Jay Ravalo's place until February 15th. This will be also our official reunion headquarters. We thank Jay so much for offering his place to us. We will post the meeting announcement as well as send text messages at least 3 days before the scheduled meeting.

2. It was agreed by the group to have our own Reunion on the same date that of the Alumni Homecoming at PCC, though we will have ours from 2 to 5 PM at Jay Ravalo's place at Market Avenue Extension, Pasig City. The Reunion is important since this will be our opportunity to really bond and make our 20th year special. After our reunion, we will then all proceed to PCC grounds to participate in the 95th Grand Alumni Homecoming hosted by Batch 83. We all agree that we need to have a big presence in this year's Homecoming to signal the countdown to our own Hosting Year which coincides with the Centennial Celebration of our beloved Alma Mater. If there is still time, we can go back to Jay's place to sing the night away.

3. A rough draft of the program for the Reunion was outlined. The main idea is to rekindle the relationships within our batch and have fun at the same time. There will again be live band entertainment, a few guests-of-honor, surprises and games so please start working out those flabs, ooops, abs to be fit and right. Bong and Jun will finalize the program in time for this week's meeting.

4. A projected cost estimate was previously prepared by Joey. We discussed the estimate item by item and have agreed that it is reasonable and funding for it is achievable. The total cost projection will already include our annual alumni dues, Batch Shirt, Food and drinks for our exclusive Reunion, invitation, souvenir cd's and for our outreach/flagship project for our 20th year. As a co-host for this year's Homecoming, we would be also providing support to the Host batch. Unfortunately, they have not finalized anything yet so we will keep you posted on this item as they come along.

5. Funding will be primarily sourced within the batch although corporate sponsors are also very much welcome. We have already received initial pledges from some of our batchmates and this makes all of our tasks much easier. I wish to inform all of you that a considerable part of our contribution to this year's celebration shall be for the benefit of our comrade Jobet Lara to help him in his chemotherapy sessions. Through this help that we are extending to Jobet, it makes our celebration even more meanigful.

We will be approaching you via a private email to help defray the cost of this gathering and the organizing committee is committed to properly and effectively utilize and liquidate whatever fund we would gather.

6. Suggested batch shirt to be worn during the Alumni Homecoming is a red collared sports shirt (honeycomb or cotton) with the K88 20th year logo (designed by Roderick Macutay) embroidered on the left chest. Final design and size-quantity distribution would have to be finalized by the next meeting as production should commence ASAP to ensure early delivery. The shirts are planned to be distributed on the day of the reunion/homecoming itself to assure our uniformity.

7. The invitation will be available within the week and in time for distribution to area coordinators in our meeting this week.

8. Based on the list that Joey have, we still need to update the said list to generate more attendance. Eric Gonzales suggested that we target 150 attendance this February. With all your help and cooperation, we all know that this can be accomplished. So it is important also to please remind or inform our batchmates whether they are in the egroups or not about this Reunion we will be having. Let us remind one another until February 16.

We again would like to extend our invitation to those who are free this coming Friday's meeting. We would truly appreciate your presence, opinion and help.

Cheers.

What Brought Us Close?

By Joseph Regan Bernabe

After kindergarten and the summer vacation, I would always wonder who would be my new classmates for the next school year? Would I get to see my old classmates like Jerome Tuazon, Paul Donor, Eric Aprecio, or Peter Bondad? Or the other kids at the nearby classrooms like Boyd Monje, Rosauro Tuazon, Richard Caguingin and the rest whom I can no longer recall their names. But their faces would always have a place in my young and definitely not small memory.

First, second and third grades brought new friends like Sanny Cruz, Joel Hernandez, Celestion Boom-Boom dela Paz, Marvin Malonzo, Erick Mauricio, Arnold Albano, Jay Lorenzo, Edwin Lu and Arnold Martinez.

Then it was on the fourth grade when PCC decided to create a pilot section. The section's name was Sapphire and our adviser was Ms Virginia Cruz aka Mrs. Cacananta. Everybody knows that the brainy bunch would comprise this group, but would you expect normal? From the very first day, this group would definitely stand-out from the batch for good and not-so-good reasons.

The pilot section would definitely stand out on the academic side. So I would like to share what are the not-so-good reasons -- We were geeks! You would never expect us to win the basketball and volleyball championships. I was part of the "Group Games" team. We weren't so lucky either.

The realization of being nerdy became obvious for me on the fifth grade. Lapu-Lapu was the section. As history would tell, the national hero won his war. But not on that year for our batch. Dumangsil was the champion on both basketball and volleyball. Captains Marvin Barcelona and Benjie Reyes led their teams to victory. I won't forget as we got the chance to share their classrooms once a day in a week. I think there was a shortage of teachers during that time so one section was asked to divide themselves into groups. Each group would then be sitting inside another section's classroom for one whole day. That's when I met Marvin, Benjie, Paul Tumaneng, Arnold Anog and Jess Clemente. There was one person who asked me, and I forgot who, this one unforgettable question, "Why do you (pointing to the Lapu-Lapu guys) all have watches?" I replied that I got mine as a gift from my mom for good grades. I never really noticed until the question was asked and I had to look around to verify. I felt fortunate but I would envy the two trophies displayed on top of Dumangsil's blackboard bragging that their group was on top of the athletic field for our batch. Guess, one can never have it all.

The fifth grade also introduced us to Gary Devilles. This guy got the brains and would definitely put up a fight in all the academic contests that year. But I would not need to go further, just read back on the past postings here. :)

Sixth grade was the worse. Sultan would get threats written on our desks that other sections would wait for us after school and we should be really for a brawl. During the intramural games, other sections would team up just to make sure we would get defeated.

Eventually, that's how things went until high school. But on the third year, the faculty decided to break up this one solid group. For the specific reason, I do not know. This change introduced Robin and Cardinal. I definitely missed Jonathan de Veas from our classroom after that. But we still each other during breaks at the grotto area together with Noel Acosta, Nelson Juinio, John Michael Cruz, Armin Kraft, and Bing Espiritu. The first few days were really critical as the section was definitely divided into the old Cardinal and the old Robin. You can definitely guess how the class officer elections went. Good thing, Bing Espiritu had already asked Jessie Rodriguez to vote on our side. But we weren't expecting Rodrigo Eden to side up on his old classmates. It is really funny thinking back how we tried to create that wall but we would eventually overcome in the next months. I think Mrs Maralit was the one who pointed that out to us. Who won the elections? Jeffrey Sulit.

College went and we all eventually started our own careers. But one thing is for sure, each one of us came back to Kumbento every third week of February. We weren't coming back for Sapphire, Lapu-Lapu, Dumangsil, Robin or Cardinal. We were coming back for batch 1988. We were into our group that we even decided to hold our own reunion outside PCC last 1998. Yes, the attendance was impressive. The event was a success. But the background was remote. We craved to walk again those corridors, climb those stairs, and stand in the middle of the school ground looking around the buildings that was once our second home. And take note, they have elevators now. You can still see the old high school building and the elementary buildings. The new college buildings might take away the memories of the past but then again one should always welcome change.

I love thinking back how we saw each other as classmates back then. But time and experience has changed that. Cyberspace and the latest technology made the distance between us short. We matured. We became career people and/or family men but the constant communication remained. Now, I see a Kumbento Boy as someone I have good memories with. Each reunion comes with eagerness of meeting again my old friends.

Kumbento 88 is an extension of my family. You are my brothers. Long Live Rigmarolers!

Kumbento 88 at 20 - A Cause For Brotherhood

lifted from Jeff Sulit's email to our yahoogroup

Mga Kasama,

Nuong Xmas gathering last Saturday kina Jay, nabangit ni Jun "Little Drummer Boy" Lara about the current medical condition of one of our batchmates.

We have been planning since Feb this year about a flagship project for our 20th year. There were suggestions for scholarship grants to a charitable organization, scholarship for some of our batchmates' children, outreach programs, and electronic scoreboard for the PCC gym. But unfortunately, nothing has been decided on until last December 21, 2007 during our Christmas Party.

I would like to suggest that we share our blessings to the person nearest to our hearts, our batchmate. I think it was not coincidence that these planning and meetings were discussed but rather this purpose was meant to materialize in the perfect time. Nothing in my opinion is greater, more genuine, and pressing than the cause for our batchmate, Jobet Lara, who needs our help right now.

At first, Jun intended to post this immediate and sustaining need of Jobet but decided to let Jobet share his condition regarding the matter.

As you can read in his email, nahihiya siya to post this himself kasi medyo matagal na rin siyang walang contact to most of us. Sinabi ko sa kanya na it doesn't matter since everyone of us is a true kumbento boy and a part of the brotherhood of batch 88 (graduate man o hindi).

In his behalf, I would like to call the attention of those connected or who has connection to pharma companies if we can help him out with the drugs he listed below. And at the same time, those who can offer financial assistance and even prayers or whatever help we can give to please extend it to him at his time of need.

Salamat at mabuhay ang ating kapatiran. Nothing has been decided on, so we knock on your kind hearts to help or pray for Jobet.

Long live K88,

Jeff Sulit


Jobet's Response to Jeff's Email:

Hi Jeff,

Thanks for bringing that up. Medyo nahihiya kasi ako at more than 2 decades na tayo di nagkita at baka di mo na ako kilala. Nabanggit nga ni jun na tinatanong mo raw details ng medical condition ko and about the treatment I am undergoing. na-diagnose ako last November may stage 3 hodgkin's disease ako. Lymphoma or cancer of the lymphatic system. May cancer ang mga kulani ko sa katawan which makes me vulnerable to all kinds of other diseases. Sa biopsy di nakita kung saan ko nakuha sakit pero baka genetic daw. basta alam ko na abuso sa katawan ang cause ng lahat ng klase ng cancer. I lost 2 aunts and 1 uncle to cancer. Sabi rin ng Oncologist ko baka namana ko raw sa kanila ang sakit. Pero di ko na iniisip kung saan ko nakuha sakit ko. Iniisip ko na lang na lalabanan ko sakit ko at gagaling ako at malalampasan ko
ang trial na ito sa buhay ko.

I need to undergo 6 cycles (12 sessions) of chemotherapy and I was given a 90% chance of survival. Di naman grabe stage ng cancer ko dahil naagapan ko rin. So far tapos ko na 1 cycle or 2 sessions. So far, favorable ang response ng katawan ko sa mga gamot. Lumiit na mga bukol ko sa katawan. Lumiit na bukol ko sa leeg, sa dibdib at sa magkabilang kili-kili. Tanda mo ba kami magkambal na naglalaro ng pingpong sa kumbento before? Kasing laki ng pingpong ball ang bukol ko sa magkabilang kilikili ko before. pero thank God nawala din. Di na ako masyado inuubo (I have a small swollen lymph node blocking my trachea right at the opening of my wind pipe). Every night pag nakahiga ako grabe ubo ko. Di ko lang alam situation inside my body. Affected din kasi liver, spleen, pancreas and diaphram ko. The CT Scan showed scattered sesame seed-like growth on my liver, spleen, pancreas and diaphram. Nakakita ka na ba ng palitaw na may budbod ng linga? korean beef stew? Ganun itsura nila.

I still have 10 sessions (5 cycles) of chemotherapy to go. Di masakit ang treatment, masakit ang gastos. I need P25,000 every chemotherapy session, P5,000 professional fee for my doctor, P15,000 for the chemo drugs, P5,000 for the use of the chemo room, gadgets (oxygen at anti-allergy drug... may allergy kasi ako sa isang gamot na isinasaksak sa akin) machines, and other medical supplies. Every 2 weeks ang schedule ng chemo session ko. Baka naman pwede ako matulungan ng batch either maghanap ng source ng chemo drugs ko na mas cheaper or sponsor any or all the chemo drugs I'm using.

Eto list ng drugs na isinasaksak sa akin every chemo session:

NASEA
DOXORUBICIN
BLEOMYCIN
VINBLASTIN
DACARBAZINE

Pwede ba kayo na lang mag-post nito? Mas regular kasi kayo nagkikita ng batch. Medyo nahihiya ako. I hope and pray sana matulungan ako ng batch.

Attend ako ng next gathering ng batch kung hindi ako groge sa chemo session ko.

Thanks & Regards to your family. Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Jobet

Launch of 20th Anniversary Celebration

K88,

As we enter the new year, we are happy to announce the launch of K88's 20th Anniversary Celebration through this Youtube video:



Meetings shall be called by Homecoming Chair JEFF SULIT and official bulletins shall likewise come from him.

Please join us this February as we celebrate our 20 RIGMAROLIN' YEARS through FELLOWSHIP and OUTREACH project.

Mabuhay and Kumbento 88! Happy New Year to all!!!

Cheers and Long live!

Joey Manalad