ATENEO DE NAGA HS BATCH 1983 35TH REUNION: Play, Pray & Party

"Primum regnum Dei" and "ad majorem Dei gloriam" are Latin phrases that embody ideals that the good Jesuits have tried to impart on the young minds of the student population of the Ateneo universities in the country.  Add "Cura personalis" to the Ignatian-Jesuit ideal(s) that we should be striving for.  Latin for "care for the whole person", Cura personalis comes down to the respect for all that makes up each individual.  Our talents, abilities, physical attributes, personalities, desires, faith and minds are all equally worthy of care and attention.  Spiritual exercises are as important as physical exercises. Learning is as important as a good diet.

Trying to be true to our Jesuit education, our Ateneo de Naga HS Batch 1983 was inspired by "Cura Personalis" when we organized our 35th reunion last December 2018.  The core team, composed of representatives from Bicol, Manila and abroad, had a handful of meetings to tackle the task of having a batch reunion with less than a month's preparations. Out of these meetings, which were sometimes elucidated by a bottle of beer or 2, came up the idea to have three major activities on the day of our 35th batch reunion - Dec. 28, 2018. First is Play which was to be a basketball scrimmage among our hoop-loving classmates  in the morning.  Second is Pray which was to be  a celebration of the holy mass in remembrance of our departed batchmates in the afternoon. Third is Party which was to be a dinner celebration of good food and good music in the evening.  With the triple treat, we hope to take care of the body, soul and mind of our dear fellow 83neans.

Truth be told, it was only in a Dec 3 dinner hosted by Jobel that we started planning for the 35th Batch Reunion.  Ed is busy on the phone mobilizing the core team which was composed of 83neans based in Bicol, Manila and abroad.  

By Mid-December, Art was ironing out already the operational details of the Dec 28 batch reunion activities. 

And down on the ground in Naga City, Anton was doing the ocular inspection for the venue in Carmen Hotel.

Less than a week to go, Jessie V was being interviewed already by Ed V in DWNX about the 35th Batch Reunion.  Core team members Joel and Allen are in attendance.  

On D-Day, core team doing last minute check on the venue.  Batch 83 fortunate to have Bitang's assistance and guidance.  

With more than 3 weeks having already passed since Dec 28, perhaps it is about time we ask about the triple treat - Were we successful in treating to a good time the body, soul and mind of our batchmates?

In answering this question, allow us to  use a combo of words and photos. More on photos because after all, a picture is worth a thousand words.

PLAY

With our batchmates already at the golden ripe age of  52 years old or more, we did not expect to have a lot of 83neans to show up early morning of Dec 28 at the Ateneo de Naga gym for some hoops.  More so that since the break of dawn, it has been raining cats and dogs in Naga City and the surrounding areas.  But alas, when we arrived in the school campus, there were more than a dozen of eager bodies waiting already for the Play to begin.

The Big Eagle has landed in the Land of the Four Pillars.

Coach Ed conferring with team captains on squad assignments. 

Batchmate Ron making sure nobody gets dehydrated in the basketball scrimmage. 

Tower of Power Meng leading the stretching before the game. Thank you to our classmate Popoy for making the gym available.   

And we did a lot of play and a lot of good on that morning in our old school gym.  We burned the net with a lot of hot shooting (Final score:71-62) and no 83nean collapsed from all the exhausting running up and down the floor.  Good thing because we had no ambulance on stand by. 

Jump Ball and the game is on.  

High screen set by Meng leads to a lot of penetration by Joel B who has the playmaking savvy to pass to the perimeter for wide open 3s.     

"Coach Ed, how many 3s did I make in the 1st Qtr?"    

Kudos to our surprise "de facto" MVP Ollie Herras whose girth and court savvy reminded all of Bicolano PBA hoopster Beau Belga. First time for me to see Batch 83's playmaker par excellence Joel Bolivar.  Meng Monte remains true to the well-earned moniker 'Tower of Power." Bob Castilla continues to be gun shy on offense but a tiger on defense.  Ric Lozano had some sporadic burst of microwave offense. Fr. Alex Badiola is a silent assassin on the court. Dimjo Dimabayao is the old school point guard with steady hands and cool wit about him in traffic. Boots Concon is a lefty with a euro-step repertoire. Ruel Tolosa and Joel Tresvalles are prototypical 3&D forwards. Suarez is a diminutive piranha on offense.  Ron Hemady is a serviceable 5 on a small ball line up. Ernie Badong is a project that Coach Ed Balcueva will have to devote more time.

Players in a group photo with the final score.  Many are smiling and happy just to survive the fast-paced scrimmage. 

The FIBA scoresheet. 

Hamming it up for the camera.  

With the engaging game on the Dec 28 morning,  prospects are high to revive the Batch 83 basketball team for some last hurrah venture in the Ateneo de Naga "A" League.  It will be Mission Impossible considering that most if not all of the A league teams are composed of players at least a decade younger than the 83neans. But then again, we are no ordinary high school batch.

Time to sign... 

...on the 'Play" tarpaulin...

...for attendance. 

PRAY

Our HS Batch 83 is truly blessed to have a Jesuit for a batch member and it was Fr. Alex Badiola who celebrated the mass in Church of Christ the King inside the Ateneo campus on that rainy afternoon of Dec 28.   And despite the rains brought out by Tropical Depression Usman, there was a sizeable number of 83neans who attended the mass.  45 to be exact plus our teacher Ms. Volante and our HS principal Mr. Abonal.  We were all present to pray.

A classmates and a friend  leading the celebration of the Holy Mass...

...elicits smiles and pride from the congregation. 

Our Principal Mr. Abonal and our Teacher Ms. Volante joining us in prayer. 

First Reading by our classmate Dan. 

The Catholic Church teaches that the Holy Mass is the highest form of prayer for all Christians. And foremost in our collective minds on the afternoon was to pray for the eternal repose of the souls of our dearly departed classmates and teachers.  For the Prayers of the Faithful, Fr. Alex adviced that we name all those who have gone ahead of us.  We piously followed the good Jesuit's advice and so it was that their dear names were recited one by one inside the hallowed confines of the church:  Salvador Abellano, Eduardo Abetchuela, Vincent Alparan, Timothy Aspe, Noel Barja, Raul Bongon, Levi Cajot, Jesus Enerva, Ernie Guerrero, Arnold Gimeno, Salvador de Jesus, Jun Matias, Norman Nopia, Joel Ocbina, Orly Olano, Epifanio Regala, Eloy Sto. Doningo, Jorge Verdeflor, Eric Zaens, Nick Acosta, Febes Cedo, Mia Espinas, Bob Lopez, Edilberto Ordas, and Diggs Villabroza.

A bow from our offerors Bert, Ghibz and Gil.  By coincidence, all LG-3. Ms. Cedo is proud up above. 

Holding hands, the Brotherhood...

...is One in singing the Lord's Prayer. 

"Peace be with you", with a million-watt smile, to batchmates, some of whom seen for the first time in decades. 

There is an ancient proverb that says "Whoever sings well prays twice over."  Indeed there is this aphorism, pseudonymously attributed to St. Augustine and included in the Cathechism of the Catholic Church, asserts that prayer is made more efficacious when combined with song.  Fortunately for us, the 83neans were joined by a dozen-strong choir courtesy of our batchmates Tox Llesol and Jesse Valle.  The choir is called 9th Edition and they serve regularly in the Penafrancia Basilica.  The choir sings very well and their joy in singing was contagious, resulting in our fellow 83neans singing with vigor.

The 9th Edition Choir.

The Principal and the Student. 

Speaking of vigor, the exuberant of all our songs on the Dec 28 afternoon was the belting out  of the Marching Song of the Ateneo de Naga. The singing was spontaneous and came out  we concluded our group photo in front of the altar.   "From Isarog to Bicol land to lofty Mayon Peak..."It crescendos with the deeply touching words, "Regnum Dei is our cry, our fame and glory too..."

Group Photo in front of the Altar in 2018. We will never tire of this.   

Nor will we tire of singing the  Marching Song of the Ateneo de Naga. 

A priceless smile for a priceless opportunity to be one with the batch. 

PARTY

A party will never be boring with a life of the party around.

One of the very first things we considered when we started planning back in Dec 3 for our 35th Batch Reunion is who will be the master of ceremonies for the dinner party.  Given his masterful performance in our 25th Batch Reunion in Dec 2008, there was no doubt in our minds that the best man for the job is Jessie Valle, our very own talentadong 83nean.   But he is based in Dubai. For 22 years and counting, Jessie has forged his artistic skills in the desert oasis, juggling  jobs from voice over artist to film director/producer for video commercials and social media content. Would Jessie be in Bicol for the 35th Batch Reunion? Fate was kindly smiling on our batch that Dec 3 night  for when we messaged him on facebook, the talentado immediately replied with  music to our ears - "Kakaabot ko lang ngonian..Uni ako sa airport." One good luck was followed by more good luck(s) as one by one the necessities of a dinner party came into fruition - the venue courtesy of the extensive contacts of Bitang Sanchez and the funding courtesy of generous yet low-key batchmates.   

Never boring indeed was our master of ceremonies for the dinner party in Dec 28.  Jessie had the crowd fully engaged, many bursting in laughter and  a few red-faced as his wit, mostly delivered in the local vernacular, was right on target. He himself was not spared as his self-deprecating admission of morphing from "Sammy Davis, Jr."  to "George Clooney" would show. But all was in the spirit of fun and camaraderie.  And Jessie was liberally showered with applause and admiration.  The life and soul of the party, he is our emcee for life.         

The Master at work.  Every hirit he made...

...elicited laughter...

...and applause. 

The crowd love him and Jessie was loving every minute of it. 

Jessie's comedic talent was the main source of fun that night but it was not the only one.  We had raffles and games, too. We had music as well, courtesy of an acoustic band.  Let the photos tell the story.

A special feature of the raffle was that we requested some of our batchmates based abroad to donate things that are unique in their adopted place(s) of work.  Fards, based in New York, donated Yankee cap and shirt, the lucky recipient of which was  Jojo A.     

Dan, based in Pakistan, donated a Pakistani Men in Green cricket shirt which was won by Bitoy.  

Boots, based in Canada, donated a Calgary Flames hockey shirt, which was won by Corpuz.

Getting the raffle prize with joy in the air.   

The raffle games brought back the inner child in all of us. 

The thrill of victory... 

...No agony in defeat.  

The winner in the games get blindfolded...

...and pick their prizes, by luck. 

The acoustic band in action.

Synergy of 2 eyeglasses:  Attention to Detail and Big Picture 

Fun permeated the four corners of the function room which served as the venue of our dinner party. And the greatest story to be told from the batch reunion was the opportunity to re-establish connections and rekindle the fire among kindred spirits.  Again, words alone do not do justice in capturing the spirit. Perhaps, photos provide a glimpse of the beauty of brotherhood among high school classmates.

"Kamusta ka padi." 

Old jokes never really grow old among friends. 

"Pious fervor" in the presence of the Religious. 

And our patron is San Miguel. 

Boys will be boyz. 

Ladies will be ladies. 

Joel makes a humorous point...

...and I counter in jest across the room.  

"Pray-over" for our CAT commandant.  Back in the day, us cadets shivered in respect and fear.  But now, respect still there but no more fear. Only fun. 

Signing on the event tarpaulin unleashed the inner vandal among us, be it  the Lone Wolf...  

...or the Social Animal among us. 

A batch  group photo as our culminating act for the dinner party. Et genuina risus iaculis.

Three main activities in one day.  Play, pray and party to feed our body, soul and mind. Forgive me for being rhetorical and lyrical but our 35th Batch Reunion is pretty special. Deliberately did not use the past tense for there is  some truism that the special kind of high generated by the batch reunion is still with us and will continue to be with us for quite some time...

Dios mabalos sa gabos na nag-gibo na mangyari ini.