of medals and graduation exercises

Exactly three months ago today, I spoke before the graduates of the National Science High School. Until now I refuse to believe that their choosing me as commencement speaker had something to do with the fact that I wrote the piece and trained their student who won first place in the quinquennial National Oratorical Contest sponsored by Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. (Theme: “Modernizing Fishery and Agriculture through Quality Statistics”)

But this is not about the contest that as trainer made me 15 thou++ richer in prize money, nor is this about my speech which was shorter than the “Introduction of the Guest Speaker.” This is about medals and graduation exercises.

On my way to school as a kid in the 70s, I always slowed down every time I passed by the medium-sized, 2-storey House of the Baldemors. I remember it had a window in the second floor that opened wide to the street, revealing a wall that heaved from frames crammed with medals of the Baldemor kids who were either valedictorians or salutatorians.

The House of the Baldemors emboldened me to aspire for bigger things. During my time, medals were badges of honor as only the valedictorian, the salutatorian and the first honorable mention received them; us lesser mortals got mere ribbons. Thus I was aghast to see that over two-thirds of the Science High graduates got themselves medals for this and that! Don'g get me wrong: Of course I understand that it was their way of rewarding students, but these awards have to be carefully thought of because they could dilute the medal's importance or its sanctity even. I mean, how could one fully appreciate his/her medal when almost everybody has one, earned either as “band majorette of the year,” or as “number one solicitor of the year.” There was even an award for “general services.” Please don’t ask me what that meant.

Some awards were redundant. Take the student I trained: For the same event, she got five, count ‘em, five medals: one each for the intra-school, inter-school, provincial, regional and national competitions! The valedictorian received so many awards that all her family members, including a cousin who was just starting to walk, had to mount the stage nine times. By the time the last medal was awarded, the valedictorian was already drooping from the combined weight of the medals that I imagined her smelling of Efficacent to soothe an aching neck as she welcomed her guests during her “blow-out” that evening.

This award system, which obviously panders to parents and students, has to be evaluated because aside from trivializing the awards that really matter, it eats up a lot of time.

I waited for three hours just to deliver a 10-minute speech.

T*A*G*O*

I live in Tago where crab is a delicacy, not a mentality. But since people automatically think of crabs every time they meet a Tagon-on, we have taken advantage of this type of “crab mentality” in landing jobs, scaling corporate ladders, clinching deals, winning contracts, if not hearts.

We’re also known to possess “crab eligibility,” most especially in the police force and the academe. A Tagon-on who once applied as policeman but was two inches shy of the minimum height requirement of 5’5” was summoned by the officer and was told to go home and do something about his deficiency. Back the following day, the Tagon-on had instantly grown to 5’8” as he stood on a sack full of crabs.

Crabs abound in Tago but they have now become so pricey because exporters outbid us, thus banishing crabs from our dining tables. But maybe it’s a good thing after all because my oncologist in Cebu said that most of his cancer patients come from Surigao del Sur, adding it must be our crab-rich diet.

Oh well, isn’t cancer the Latin word for crabs?

Tuesdays withe Morrie on Friday

I borrowed a "circumcized*" DVD player from a friend to watch Tuesdays with Morrie on a Friday night.

And all I can say is this: Jack Lemmon was born to play Morrie. And if Morrie hadn't been born, then they would have to invent the role for Jack.

Jack was that good that when he said in the film, "Love or die," I believed him more than I believed Morrie himself when he said in the book, "Love or perish."



*one that could read both pirated and original DVDs

tender mercies in june

June is harvest month; my friends have sent me a lot of goodies even without my asking them.

A friend who works with the Bureau of Internal Revenue in Manila sent me a Nokia 6680. She said it was given to her by Smart when she audited its books last May. Up to this day though, a lot of its features remain a mystery, partly because I'm still attached to my Sony Ericson Z100.

A high school batchmate who's now in Texas sent me a red Nike shirt and this sleek 4"x10," pewter gray tin box emblazoned with "Essentials of Style" containing wee sizes of eau de toilette like Tommy, Aramis (2), Estee Lauder and Clinique. I have to wear them somehow even if basically I'm not a scent person.

Another US-based friend has sent me three DVDs---Tuesdays with Morrie, My Fair Lady and South Pacific. Sadly my DVD player won't read them. All it said was: "Region Error." I need to have my player "circumcized."

The same friend called me last night saying she had already mailed Stephen King's "On Writing" and John Gardner's "The Art of Fiction." Months back, a kindred soul from Davao sent me a disc containing "On Writing" that she stole from Limewire.

But what really floored me was this: Our high school English teacher, who's now a chief nurse in a hospital in New York City, recently sent me some money through PNB amounting to PhP7,874. She said she heard that our batch is holding a grand reunion in July for our 25th Anniversary and that she wanted to contribute. Good! Then she said something much, much better: The Three Thou is yours!!!

A bit of backstory: I was not "close" to this teacher. And she's known to be a progeny of Silas Marner!

Baffled, I asked God last night: What have I done to deserve all this benevolence?

Nothing, God said, just update your blog!

Toink!

the philippines free press check

i called free press yesterday to check my check and the girl on the phone said it's there already. i wonder how much did the philippines free press pay for a 3,757-word short story that had undergone 1,456,700 revisions!

actually it doesn't matter. i'll have the check laminated and framed!

problem is: manila's a long swim from where i sit.

yes, a new look

that i have decided to change template doesn't mean more posts.

but i'll try.

it's as if you care!

ha-ha!