Ang Bundok

These are scanned images of the "Ang Bundok" playbill. It was staged in February,. 1984. That was an interesting time, school year 1983 to 1984. Almost like the ancient chinese curse. "May you live in interesting times."

--andoy

Counsellors

I became a member of several organizations on-campus. One of these was called Student Counselors Organization. This was originally created by the Student Affairs office to properly handle, orient and guide freshmen. Freshmen were enrolled in blocks, ensuring that these new students would the same faces as classmates for all of their first semester classes, and if they were lucky, also for the second semester. The blocks themselves were composed of students who were taking up the same course. This had the added effect of making sure that they would have a support group for their complete stay in the university and beyond.

When the notion of block counselors started out, there were several groups which had their own agenda. The guidance counselors wanted to develop student leaders and student activism. On the other hand, the various university organizations also had their agenda, that of handling students of the same course or college as a recruitment pool once the freshmen became eligible for membership.

The Student Counselors Organization was formed by several counselors who saw a need for a more independent and mature group of people who would undergo training in group handling and peer counseling. The ideals were met but the individual agenda was not something easily eradicated or hindered. Individual counselors still used the
counselling experience to filter possible candidates for their other organizations. There are rules in place which does not allow organizations to recruit freshmen members. During the second year however, it's open season for recruitment. The counselors are not supposed to be positioning their organizations, but some use their
influence with their blocks so the students would be applying in these other organizations.

--andoy

Sitting Under a Tree

At the University of the Philippines there is a maximum residency
rule. It means that a student has to finish his course in at most
one-and-a-half times the prescribed period (excluding leaves of
absences also called LOA). This means that if you are enrolled in a
four-year course, you have to finish it in a maximum of six years.
And if enrolled in a five-year course, the student has to finish in
seven and a half years. This was instituted during the mid-1970's to
curb eternal students who just also happen to be political activists.

There was a notable exception to that rule, however. If you were
already enrolled prior to the implementation of the rule, then you are
exempt from it. Which is what one of the dorm residents was. Antoy
had on his seventh-year going on eighth when I first was introduced to
him. He was taking up Agriculture and majoring in Agronomy or Animal
Husbandry. If he was a farmer, the farm might have been in the middle
of Tondo. I don't even know what province he came from, and I never
heard him speak in anything but Tagalog. Not even when drunk did he
speak in English. He makes it a point to scare off freshmen during
the first semester. Just for fun.

He once pointed to a tree in front of the dorm, by then it was around
fifteen or twenty feet tall with benches around it so the students can
sit under its shade, and casually mentioned that it was planted during
his freshman year. Last I heard from him he was working in a
crocodile farm in Palawan. And you needed to ride the company
helicopter to get there.

The tree itself was several steps from the dorm entrance. And it was
quite common to see people sitting under it at almost all hours of the
day (or night). There was one instance when I was sitting with a
friend talking about things or not talking about anything for that
matter. With friends, talking or not talking is much the same in most
respects. As it was near the entrance we didn't much pay attention to
the noise or the music. There was music and we were hearing it.
Again, not paying any attention, we thought that the music was from
the covered walkway where someone might by playing a flute or
recorder. It did not sound like taped music, as it would stop and
play, hesitate and trying to find the right notes. Whoever was
playing the flute or recorder, knew how to play and enjoyed playing
it. After some time, my friend and I got up and walked back inside
the dorm. And as we got to the entrance (just a heartbeat away,
really) we looked back at the bench to see if we left anything.
Looking up at the sky, we saw above on one of the branches was the
source of the background music, another dorm resident playing his
recorder.

--andoy

Archery Practice

Baker Hall III

One of those lazy afternoons I joined a friend of mine shoot some arrows. He taught me how to notch the arrow, and position my arm (and elbow) so'd the string would not scrape my skin. Archery is not a trivial sport. It asks the archer to pay attention to details, at the very beginning when you first hold the bow. Archery teaches an object lesson in life. Hold tight, draw tight, turn your elbow tight, and let go. You don't hold tight, the bow bounces back to you. You don't draw tight, the arrow will not fly. You don't turn your elbow in, you get your skin scraped.

And then there's the level of difficulty in archery at UPLB: it's at the second floor (or balcony) of Baker Hall. If the arrow does strays it either flies out the window to the outdoor basketball court, or it strays to the indoor basketball court on the first floor.

I was too busy concentrating on my elbow, not to notice my score. Good thing that the arrows hit the target. No bull's eye though, just safely hitting the target without incident is enough for me.

I never did go back and shoot any more arrows with my friend.

--andoy

Love Songs

Love songs are blunt
nowadays
Actually saying nothing but
take me
take me away
It doesn't matter
For even before the song is sung
the meaningless sets in
takes away
the love
and the song

Ending in a howl or a cry
of sexual satisfaction
or of heartbroken
and frontal rejection

Love songs echo the generation
and even as a spurned lover
sings
and cries
in a corner
of his room his world
his
or hers
cries too usually
in a corner

At the cruelty
meted out
at the partnership

Cries and moans
presently mean more
and stand for
Love songs useless

--andoy, 21 September 1987

The Days Pass in Silent Agony

The days pass
in silent agony
of anticipation

For only so often
do we see
each other now
and sometimes
the absence is too long

And the days pass
and teh day comes
and we walk
together basking
in each other's glow
of expentant silence
punctuated
by knowing glances
and sly peeks
at one another

Vanity seeps through
as we prance
infront of each other
and of everyone else

Letting the public know
who we are
and what we are

And the day ends
safe in each other's
company
as we hug in secret
in the secrecy
of our one safe haven
that of our nearness
each in thought

The days will pass
and another opportunity
will arise
the days will pass
in longing
and in remembrance

--andoy, 21 September 1987

Lost People

Lost people
dazed eyes peering blindly on a rubble
of stones documenting civilized world
as it ended

All in a heap of stones and burned stumps

Lost people
forgetting the word
Survival
for they are that
Suspended from their thoughts
another word more timely more natural
Recosntruction

Builders after a fashion
And only after succeeding time
has frozen disbelief
forever etched
Treachery forever etched
In lost people's eyes

--andoy, 21 September 1987

I Love You and More

I love you
but the words fall empty
in these empty halls of longing
nothing means anything

I love you and I love you
and more and more

--andoy, 13 August 1987

The Night Begins Without Us Hanging Out

The night begins without us hanging out
haunting gazes speak softly at our absence

Silence too speaks between us
far from the childish darkness
Light delivers us to ourselves
illuminating thoughts harrying hie
Your breast moves
And moves
And I...

Daylight blinds us after a night out
away from lamps lightes
Morning wakes yearning continuance
of a night not lost out
Morning daybreak lighting empty cupboards
and empty kitchen
Even as we reiterate
spawned movement
I kiss
And kiss
And you...

Morning moves
sunrise unenlightened

--andoy, 13 August 1987

Poems

I wrote my first poem in Grade 4 as a seatwork. And during the 1980's I really started to write a whole lot of poems. And then I practically stopped writing poems after I got married in 1988. It tricked down to nothing during the 1990's.

I still have most of the original notebooks of my poems. And after browsing these poems with hindsight of 20 years, there are some which I cannot understand. For the likes of me I could not see the imagery nor the play of words. They do not mean anything to me anymore.

There are several poems though which stand out and look new. These may have meant something then, and I may not remember the original meaning, however, these poems have a possibly different meaning to me now.

After all these years I am still trying to find meaning in these poems I wrote so many years ago.

--andoy

Baker Hall II

During the 1980's the majority of the UPLB football team were from
Iloilo. And there were several who used Baker Hall as their dorm.
Until now, I'm not sure why they resided there. Since there was no
real kitchen facility, these football players cooked over an open fire
at the back of the building.

The buildings normally had no 24-hour security personnel standing
guard, and the University Security Force (part of the Philippine
National Police) drove around the campus and randomly pointing their
searchlight wherever they fancy. I don't know if that did anyone any
good. It was supposed to be a deterrent. There was not much crime
inside the campus. There were still several deaths but these are not
usually due to crimes.

Because of this, it was quite common to do some midnight swimming at
the Baker Hall. We'd just climb the fence of the swimming pool strip
down to our suits or shorts and frolic in the pool. Even if we went
midnight swimming with the girls, there was rarely any fooling around.
Swimming at Baker Hall in the middle of the night was crazy enough.
I don't know how to swim. I can almost float, and I know I can sink.
I can stay long enough under water and try to swim. But that is as
far as I can go. Nobody really dove into the pool, we'd wade in to
the water and those who cared to swam laps. While the others (me
included) would play around, diving between legs, or laze and float on
their backs. Normal do-nothing play-around stuff you'd do in the
water.

--andoy

Baker Hall

The gymnasium is called the Baker Hall. It has the admin offices of
the Phys. Ed. instructors, a weights room, equipment lockers, an
indoor multi-purpose basketball, volleyball, badminton) court, second
floor balcony (with the archery targets!), tennis courts, pelota
courts, outdoor basketball court and a swimming pool. And ghosts, of
course.

UPLB served as an interment camp during World War II. And the main
camp for POWs and Allied nationals was at the Baker Hall. Legend has
it that the building had a basement, and that this was sealed after
the war. The basement was supposed to be where the internees were
killed by the Japanese. While I was at Los Banos, I never checked if
this was true. Everyone else took this as fact. Los Banos was also
the where General Yamashita was tried and hanged.

--andoy