Sagip Kalikasan

Kumbento88 joins the rest of the PCC Alumni Association and the Pasig community in calling for more awareness regarding our environment. Alay Lakad sa Kalikasan was held last December 6, 2009.

Kumbento88, Kumakalinga sa Kalikasan

K88 Is Now On Facebook

We know. There has been a very limited number of updates lately on this blog. But that doesn't mean that we have abandoned this website completely. It's just that most of us have transferred our balitaktakan and balitaan to the new "in" medium - Facebook.

Yes, our dear batchmates, Kumbento88 has finally invaded Facebook. Not only have our individual members gotten their own personal account in Facebook and started sharing updates, pictures, videos, links, and whatever they wanted to share, we have also created our own K88 Fanpage.

So if you already have your own Facebook account, search for the Kumbento88 Fanpage and add us up. And in case, you still don't have an account with Facebook until now, what have you been waiting for? Sign up now!

I Survived Ondoy

Hi everyone!

First of all, thanks for all the prayers and support that you have given to all the victims of Ondoy. Although I have been in contact with a few batchmates thru text, this is the first time that I have read all the emails since the flood. Our landline and internet have just been restored today.

As I have told Joey, no need to worry about me. Aside from experiencing my very first flood at home, and the various damages in appliances, furniture and electronic equipment, I am very much alive. And that is what matters most.

If you are interested to read my blow-by-blow account of my personal experience during the Ondoy Floods, I have written quite a lengthy piece here: http://isurvivedondoy.wordpress.com. I reiterate that it is quite a lengthy piece that I wrote during breaks of our clean-up operations. So you may need to allot some time to be able to read the whole of it, hehehe. I also wrote it for myself in case I would want to revisit that fateful experience and remember the lessons and realization it brought to me.

Again, thanks for the concern, prayers and support. I am truly glad that I am a part of this brotherhood.

Long live K88!

K88 Rigmarolers Bow Out

"Nice game, 'Bo!" Rod consoles K88 star player Bimbo Bersalona.

Bimbo just takes a sip from his glass of iced tea, still wincing from the hamstring injury that he may have again aggravated after the hard-fought basketball game.

"Kaya natin sana yun. Kinapos lang talaga. Tapos malas pa dahil di pumapasok mga tira natin nung first quarter kahit tutukan na," I add, still quite drained from the heart-breaking loss.

"Kahit nga nung lumamang sila ng 10 points, di ako kinabahan eh. Tapos nilamangan pa natin sila ng 3 points nung 4th quarter. Crucial lang talaga yung dalawang turnovers natin pagkatapos nung time out. Dun sila umabante," coach Ali quips, a bottle of beer in hand.

"Eh kung ipinasok mo ba naman kami nina Boyet, eh di nabantayan sana namin yung bitaw ng bitaw ng tres sa kanila," Neil Tanada jokingly replies.

"Bakit nga pala nandito yang si Ali? Yari ka mamaya pag dumating yung mga binangko mo kanina. Lalo na sina Dondon. Galing pa raw sya ng Laguna, sabay di mo man lang ipinasok," Caloy adds. Laughter erupts in the group.

"Wala kasing galang itong mga batang 'to eh. Di man lang pinagbigyan yung mga matatanda!" Boyet shouts loud enough for the opposing team, who were also holding their post-game celebrations at the other table, to hear.

"Pinahirapan nyo nga kami eh! Ang sasakit nga ng katawan namin!" exclaims someone from Batch 94.

"Akala kasi ni Chunky URC yata ang laro eh!" rebutts our side.

Laughter erupts again, everyone knowing well that the joke was in reference to the headlock Chunky gave to the opposing team's center in one of the rebound plays.

The Kumbento88 Rigmarolers just lost their Final Four semifinal match against Batch 94. Final score was at 67-65. It was a hard-fought game. The breaks just didn't go our way in the end. We had a few chances to send the game into overtime during the final possession of the dying seconds. But it really wasn't meant to be.

"Di na naman ako makakatulog nyan mamaya," Bimbo tells the group.

"Okay lang yan. Sila na mismo nagsabi, nahirapan sila sa atin. Eh isipin mo, ang babata nyang mga yan. Tapos muntik pa natin silang matalo," Rod comforts Bimbo.

"Yun na nga lang siguro iisipin ko mamaya. Pero sayang talaga eh," the tone of disappointment clearly evident in his voice.

It was going to be a painfully long night for the K88 Rigmarolers.

The Vision Is Kept Alive

by Wawet Faustino

Everybody else wanted to count us out. We weren't going down easily. The first two games of K88 Rigmarolers were heartbreakers. Casualties and foul outs plagued the team. The third game wasn't going to be the same.

The start of the game felt like lady luck wasn't on our side. At the 2nd quarter, we were down by twenty (20) points, 39-19!!! Anybody would have blamed the lack of attendance from some of the key players: Chunky and his barreling offense, Mon with his ever reliable game, Jun Cumpas who would be the other key point guard, playing coach Rod whose leadership kept the team composed, Jay with his reliable treys, Rey and his moral boosting antiques and assistant to the coach, and others. But the team had enough players.

The beginning showed how unlucky the team was, forcing Caloy to ask to be taken after committing several turn-overs. The others also seemed to be in a bind, letting the smaller, yet faster opponents get to the basket play after play. The ball didn't seem to like to fall into K88's ring.

The third quarter was a sign that the game wasn't meant to be won. The referees even seemed opposed to K88 calling foul after foul against the team taking them into penalty at half point of the quarter. It was 7 fouls called against K88 versus just 1, yes just 1, for batch 96 (that's right, they're the youngest team who entered the semis.

The fourth quarter started with the team down by around 15 points (I can't really recall by how much but it was something that would make someone expect the team to get their third straight loss and lose the grip on getting back the title).

With Andaluz directing the team, the team slowly clawed back into the game with suffocating defense forcing turn-overs after turn-overs from the other team. We got the lead down to only 8 points at half-point of the quarter. Caloy's start of the game would have made anyone throw in the towel and let somebody else play for the team but this Caloy had the heart. He started blocking shots, and when he felt it wasn't enough, he started stealing the ball right from the hands of the younger, quicker opponents.

The other four players all made their huge contributions. With Bimbo always leading the traps on the ball handlers, Buffalo and Audie easily caught balls and would always trigger fast breaks. If the play is set, Iric would always take the ball hard inside fishing fouls from almost everyone who stood in his way. We had the upperhand. Soon enough, the other team was in penalty. There was one clear mission, drive the ball hard and get fouls. It worked wonders. The players kept their cool and hit one free throw after another. a few minutes left in the game and we caught them. Yes, we were 20 points down and we caught them. It was a game for the books. In the final two minutes we were up by 4 points. It slowly went up to 6 from free throws. The final few seconds saw a futile comeback from the other team. They got two quick three points but time has ran out.

The game ended in what seemed like a game of professionals. The score stood at 102-100. Yes, both teams reached triple digits, no overtime, just 4 regulation quarters of 10 minutes each.

For Team K88 Rigmarolers, it's time to get back the crown!!!