A Class Section By Any Other Name

by Gary C. Devilles

To dismantle the idea of a pilot section is to dismantle elitism and elitism is part of the bigger problem of factionalism and fascism. Philosopher Hannah Arendt says that it is wrong to accuse only Nazis of fascism since in truth, fascism exists in varying degrees and contexts. In my case, my experience of elitism happened in schools. When I transferred to a private school, I knew already its implication. Some of my friends even construed it as a form of social mobility, since the divide between private and public school is symptomatic of class conflicts. It is not that in public school elitism does not exist. In Bagong Ilog Elementary School, we were already told that we belong to a “pilot” section, honors class, special education, etc. Pilot section is already a form of dividing between “us” and “them”. So when I went to PCC, I knew somehow that my education comes with a price tag or a label. I may not exactly be aware of the political economy of our education but I was being indoctrinated to this ideology of “brand-consciousness,” in so far as our society labels, categorizes, or polarizes us into black and white, public or private, elite or hoi polloi.

The branding does not stop in the type of schools, once admitted to PCC, I realized that branding goes all the way to sections, cultures, and codes. In public schools, sections are numbered but in PCC there were names, like Lakandula, Soliman, Humabon, Sumakwel, Dumangsil, Sikatuna, Lapu lapu and Kalantiaw, all names of pre-colonial heroes, except that I only recognized Lapu lapu of course (It was only when I was teaching history in Ateneo that I learned some of these heroes were actually fakes or fictive but back then no one cared or bothered to know these names, for they are after all just names). In grade 6 we would have pre-colonial titles of nobility like Gat, Lakan, Rajah, Hari, Hadji, Sultan, and Datu. It’s a good thing this Filipinization stopped in grade school and when we entered high school our sections were more cosmopolitan like Cardinal, Robin, Eagle, Oriole, Hawk, Lark and Falcon (For the life of me, I couldn’t imagine having the Filipino equivalents like Maya, Kuwago, Pato, Langay-langayan, Kulasisi, Sabukot, Manok, Uwak, Tagak, and Banoy). Sophomores were names of planets like Jupiter and Saturn, juniors were names of scientists like Galileo and Copernicus, and seniors back to epic heroes like Lam-Ang and Bantugen. In high school the practice was that we would carry our section until we graduate but do we ever stopped that these names mean nothing other than the arbitrary signifiers to meaningless signified? How does one essentially see through a Lark or Falcon, Jupiter or Mars, Ibalon or Lam Ang?

Branding extends to our daily lives with the food we eat, the clothes we wear, and even the things we use. Hotdog is Swift or Purefoods. Before Jollibee or McDonalds, we had Kramburger or Jester. The well-to-do classmates dine in Shakeys from time to time but for the rest we usually settled for turu-turo. In cafeteria, we have Slush Puppies drink but I was more loyal to Aling Patring’s Iskrambol. Ice Cream would be Magnolia or Presto. Gums would be Bazooka Joe or Tarzan. Soft drinks would be Pepsi or Coke. For notebooks and bond paper we have Sakura or Cattleya, Steadler or Bensia for pencils and erasers, Bic or Scribbler for pens. For shoes the fashion was Haruta, an imitation of Bass, but others would wear Bandolino and Greg. The sneakers of my classmates would be Tretorn, Standsmith, or Chuck Taylor but mine was Marlboro (which unfortunately until now I’m trying to figure out how in the world a shoe got its name from a cigarette brand). Underwear of course would be Hanes but mine was YC (Remember their famous jingle ad that goes like “YC Bikini Brief, YC Bikini Brief for a man who packs a wallop?). These brands definitely mediate our choices but no one at that time tried to see if these choices are really indicative of freedom or are we being constrained more by these limited choices. Aren’t all these just pomp and circumstance, pageantry, and advertising? How much of the brand can really hold on to its essential attributes? Today these brands are quickly replaceable and dispensable. Nobody remembers Olympia typewriter or Pocketbell anymore and I wonder how many artifacts or objects will be obsolete in the near future. I tell my students that they maybe proud to be Ateneans but in the final analysis, isn’t Ateneo’s rank 375 out of 500 universities all over the world? How proud can you get with that picture? Sad that education nowadays is very much extended marketing.

Sections or brand names reveal how commodified our culture is. If we could only dismantle brand consciousness the way Germans broke the wall that divide them before, then perhaps things would be easier as admitting that a rose by any other name is still a rose. But the enigma of brand is part of a long history of our subjection for which power is intrinsically linked. Right now we address ourselves as one nation or one people, but the truth is our geographical condition makes it difficult to recognize similarities and affinities and we become more enamored by our differences. Dismantling brand consciousness is an enormous task of self-reflexivity and critical discernment. Hence, transcending sections pilot or otherwise becomes a political will and collective action. This is not a task for “pilot section” alone, everyone as Joey said should move beyond the comfort zones and familiar circles. But if we can achieve it in our batch then there is no need to be surprised if we could do it in the grand scheme of things in the future. The reunion is definitely a good start although we have to admit that much work is still to be done if we are to dream big and extend our communities imagined or real. This country deserves more from the fascistic tendencies of our government officials. For the meantime, a drink is always a good to start things up, have fun and be reflective. The ancient Greeks call such gathering as symposium. They drink and philosophize. We may not be Greeks or Germans, but hey, San Miguel or Carlsberg isn’t that bad either. Cheers to us all!