Three books about the strides, heights, and achievements reached so far by our Beloved Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (PLM) and its alumni are set to come off the press soon.
Let’s all welcome the timely publication of the First Batch’s Coffee Table Book, edited by school alumni led by Rey Imperial, former Dean of UP Manila, Caring Aspiras, Emy Bumagat, Lorna Seraspe and Lina Isorena. The other two books are The FirstBook, authored by Rodolfo Loquinario, the first editor-in-chief of the PLM’s school organ, The Sunburst, and the forthcoming Coffee Table Book, to be launched in time for the PLM’s 60th Anniversary in June 2025.
These books should be a cause for jubilation because it’s about time people knew that this first completely free university in the Philippines has produced thousands of professionals and experts in their respective fields. The public must understand the PLM’s commendable achievements it has reached so far.
I got this excellent news from the message sent to me by Caring Aspiras about some moves of the First Batch to go on the printing of their Coffee Table Book, “In Gratitude.”
Loqui’s FirstBook is also in the preparatory stage, and I understand some alumni have already committed to ordering the book this time.
Since the PLM’s 60th anniversary is still months away, the preparations for publishing the Coffee Table Book are ongoing. I volunteered to write about the alumni’s reflections on the said CTB.
At this stage, former Ambassador Constancio Vingno Jr., the CTB editor-in-chief, is busily gathering the materials for the CTB. The PLM administration, led by President Atty Domingo Reyes, has given its full blessings for completing the book as soon as possible.
Alumni president Bishop Ruben Abante is inviting all alumni to attend the forthcoming 60th Anniversary of the University; he’s actively collaborating with Ambassador Bong to make the CTB.
It’s good to publish as many books as possible about our beloved alma mater. The public must know that this little university that started from virtually nothing is now making waves in professional board examinations.
I plan to write a book about PLM in the future.
Why do I have to write this book?
I’ve often wondered why I must write this book, knowing full well that this undertaking is a huge responsibility.
These days, my alma mater—the PLM—is always on the news as one of the country’s five top universities and topnotchers in various professional board exams: medicine, nursing, engineering, social work, and others.
But my primary aim is to record what happened to the First Batch, the Pioneer Class of ’67. These young men and women dreamed big and had a common goal: to rise above poverty.
By all means, they would use their innate talents and dreams to reach life’s success. These students, my batchmates, belonged to the top 10 percent of the graduates of the Public High Schools in Manila in 1967. They went through the screening process—having a general average of 85 percent, passing the entrance exams and the interviews.
The start of classes in July 1967 was the start of their long struggle to survive the university’s high standard of education.
This book will show that poverty is not an obstacle to reaching one’s dream of success. We had to push ourselves more and find ways to get the needed resources because our newly organized school lacked everything.
We had an excellent array of good professors despite an almost empty three-story building, some chairs, and a library with insufficient books. When the original 556 of us started to study, we used only the building’s top floor.
We didn’t mind using the old building formerly occupied by Manila High School students. All we cared about was being full scholars, and our main focus was finishing our college degrees.
Aside from coping with our “terror” profs, this book’s lighter side deals with the love and courtship of classmates and batchmates who eventually became life’s partners.
I want to put into words all my recollections and memories about My Beloved PLM, and I don’t want to put all these memories unrecorded, letting these remembrances fade into nothingness.
Our days at the PLM are something to be treasured—and not forgotten. These are precious years when all we had were our dreams and hopes, and how could we forget those times when we were enjoying our studies, playing games, building pyramids (athletics), and dancing native dances during University’s Day? What about our Yoga, ROTC’s Pasa Masid, The Pamantasan Sing-Out and the vegemeat?
The library was not only a place to study, but it was also a place for socialization and discussion of current issues. We would only stop talking when the library staff rang the little bell, calling our attention to remain silent.
Not to be forgotten is that the PLM has made history because it’s the country’s first tuition-free University and the first University in the Philippines.
