WASN'T the reunion just some months ago?” I asked.
“At the rate we’re losing our classmates, we decided to hold class reunions every quarter. Once a year is just too long a wait.”
So confided a former student at St. Theresa’s College (STC), High School Batch ’72, pediatrician Nora Abesamis-Redulla.
And so to their four reunions each year, they invite me and my fellow teachers Adelaida Javier, Jane Young-Llaban, Chinggay Utzurrum and Sofia Aliño-Logarta.
About fifty percent of the graduates are medical doctors here and abroad. Others are in business outside of Cebu City, or are sought after for their paintings.
Their accomplishments haven’t changed them. They remain bubbly and full of stamina despite the evening hours. As I listen to their sharings, I undergo a blast to the past, like four decades back when they sat in my classes, answering questions or questioning answers.
And my heart is robust with pride, knowing how far they’ve come and done, since those high school days.
At the very least, class reunions allow recalling youthful pranks and discoveries. They provide the sharp contrast between the fun-filled days of the past and the heavy responsibilities of the present.
Reminding oneself of those carefree feelings is reason enough to perform the ritual, even if just once a year.
For the University of the Visayas College of Law Batch 1966, keeping track of classmates proved to be a challenge for the event’s prime mover, Reynoso Belarmino. A number have passed away while others are either unreachable or sickly.
Batch ’66 gathered for a more special purpose--marking their 50th anniversary since graduation from the College of Law. Thus, class valedictorian Atty. Joseph “Dodong” Baduel invited my father, retired Court of First Instance (now Regional Trial Court) judge Vicente B. Echaves Jr., who was then their college dean.
And so at last month’s reunion at the Casino Español, we saw the gathering of Visayanians who, through devotion to their chosen professions and passions, lived up to UV’s brand as “the school of successful men and women.”
Also there were Batch ’67 graduates like CPA-lawyer Wilfredo Pesquera, father of comebacking Cebu City Councilor Joy Pesquera.
The two batches have produced five judges like retired RTC judge Benedicto Cobarde, four labor arbiters, one Philippine National Police superintendent for the south district (retired police major Vicente Gelataga), one commissioner of the National Labor Relations (Braulio Dayday), a municipal councilor (Orlando Salvador) and a municipal mayor (Remigio Dayandayan).
Despite those days of male-dominated lawyers, three women succeeded to get into the college. But only one made it to the finish line, Emilia Mendoza, who then worked in the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).
Others worked in foreign shores, like Ben Tagud (with Boeing airlines) in Los Angeles, California and Teonilo Carumbana in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Still others followed the call of business opportunities and built their own companies. Such was true for former Rotary president Laureano Rogero. Yet, despite his path taken, his three children are all lawyers and have fulfilled his dream of becoming a full-fledged lawyer.
(lelani.echaves@gmail.com)