Most of us, the First Batch of Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (PLM) who started schooling in 1967, are now enjoying some of life’s comforts, but occasionally, we remember the kind of hardships we experienced back then.
Despite this life’s blessings, we cannot help but recall our days in the late 60s when we had to study as hard as we could; sometimes, some of us bore the burden of learning with empty stomachs.
Sen Gaetos, in a letter sent to Thelma Valle in 2003 thru the PLM Yahoo group, said “I also remember the days when we are walking as a group from PLM to Kamaynilaan (the city’s public library along Arroceros). Mahaba rin lakarin yun ha. And then, remember gutom na tayo pero ni isa sa atin walang mai-offer na pagkain kasi nga lahat tayo walang pera”.
Gaetos letter says “O, natatandaan mo pa yung kulay pink na test booklet costing 25 centavos? Ang ginagawa naming noon, para makatipid, bumibili na lang kami ng bond paper sa mga PLM employees. The test booklet is less than 5 centavos. O, di ba, ang laking katipiran.Ang hirap talaga ng buhay mahirap pero we were forced to be creative, innovative, smart, self-sufficient…ang galing ’no?”
Here’s the funny part of Gaetos’ letter “Ang hindi lang kayang tipirin yung sabon at tubig. Talagang kailangan maligo araw araw kung hindi mangangamoy. Ay diyahe”
Gaetos’ letter to Junne Mercado, he said “ remember the caddy boys; club.Kumakain tayo noon na walang pera. Baon kanin pero walang ulam.Nanghihingi pa tayo ng maliit na sabaw sa caddy’s corner. At times humihingi rin tayo ng ulam ng iba natin classmates”
Sharing food was a norm at the PLM during our time; we shared whatever we had with classmates and friends. Take, for example, Vicky Servillion Calub’s experience.
Vicky said that during lunch time, she and her two friends would “usually have lunch at the apartment resto across ng PLM. What I do is give the sandwiches to these two friends… My mom who usually makes me sandwiches for Baon”.
I recall Junne shared his story that some of us would have packed food, rice wrapped in banana leaves with dry fish, food in lunch boxes, or we would go to Tatang to cook for us a can of Ligo sardine, requesting him to add more water in it so that we could share it with the rest of our classmates. Tatang had a makeshift store along the Allied warehouses at the back of the PLM building.
Of course, we had a school canteen, but only a few students would go there because they could not even afford the price of the vegemeat. A handful would still go there to eat their baon and buy a pop.
I remember a vendor mobile wooden cart stationed along Muralla Street in front of the school, selling banana cue; that banana cue was enough to fill the stomachs of some of us, enough to make our day.
Whatever we could share with fellow friends and classmates, we just did it like sharing the jeepney fares with them. I recall the jeepney fare was only 10 cents one way.
But still, these 10 cents were hard to come by, and that amount of money could go a long way, so most of us would rather walk from the PLM to Quiapo, where we could get the jeepneys in going home.
Some of us went home, walking from our school to Sampaloc, Tondo, and Sta Ana.
At one time, Dr. Ferdi Perfas shared his experiences of walking from the PLM in Intramuros to Tondo, where he lived.
Wearing a necktie was not comfortable, especially during summer. However, still, we could have the convenience of staying in some fantastic places, like enjoying the aircon inside the radio station of the Bulletin just across the school. Or, we would spend our idle time at the Chinese Garden in Luneta Park.
Here are some excerpts in an article I wrote in 2018, entitled, “We Survived and Changed—PLM’s “Iskolar ng Bayan”:
Most of us are children of carpenters, drivers, dressmakers, office workers, vendors, laborers, soldiers and other workers; and that our parents worked hard all day so they could give us our daily baon and transport fare but they themselves also dreamt that someday their children would be their only chance to give them some respite from life’s adversities.
How happy we are today to think that we have not failed both our parents and our alma mater.
Look at ourselves now and what we’ve become–executives of some companies, school deans, journalists, writers, accountants, professors, lawyers, teachers, nurses, doctors, engineers, public officials, and other professionals–and from having lived in small houses along the railroad tracks, and other shanties in Tondo, Sampaloc, Paco, and Sta. Ana, many of us have moved to some affordable subdivisions in Metro Manila while the others have migrated to the US, Canada, and Australia.
Having parents with a modest style of living, we had to make do whatever we had; it was really “super tipid kami.”
What more could I say except to end my piece with Gaetos’ words written in his letter, saying, “ those are simply memories of the past difficulties that we’ve experienced. And now, look at us.We are now tasting the fruits of hard life but a very fruitful one”.