We are poor, but the PLM education has changed our lives
By Willie Jose
TORONTO, CANADA Feb. 20 (PNA) -- We were poor and struggling young men and women then studying at the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila but because of the free education given to us by the city of Manila, most of us have become successful professionals working both in the Philippines and overseas.
We all feel greatly indebted to our alma mater for whatever comforts we are now enjoying.
In the next few days, we alumni mostly based in the US, Canada, Europe and Australia will heading home to attend the school’s 42nd Foundation Day festivities (Feb. 25- 28) to once again reconnect with former schoolmates, batch mates and friends in reminiscing with them some fond memories and dreams that have been kept through the years.
We, the first four batches of PLMers who graduated from 1967 to 1972, would have a lot to look back on and be grateful to our school simply because we have really experienced how to be full-time iskolar ng bayan-- enjoying free tuition, lunch, books and the school/ROTC -WAC uniforms.
As I recollect our freshman days at PLM, which officially opened its door in 1967 to the first batch of 556 talented but poor students of Manila, I cannot help but feel how blessed we are to be given a chance to get the kind of education we need to break free from poverty.
Most of us came from impoverished families and our parents were ordinary workers-- carpenters, vendors, laundrywomen, machine shop operators, drivers, office clerks, dressmakers and ordinary civil servants who were trying to eke out a living to make both ends meet.
In short, we really had a hand-to-mouth existence. Majority of us also lived in shanties or for-rent small rooms in Tondo, Sampaloc, San Andres Bukid and at the railroad tracks “ sa gilid ng tren” (by the railways).
A few of us could afford to live in apartments but this was more an exception than the rule.
Although the jeepney fare was only 10 centavos, we’d rather walk from the PLM in Intramuros to Quiapo or Sta Cruz and from there, take a jeepney home. Doing this was a good way to save money for the snack.
There were times when we had no choice but to walk all the way home. For meals, we’d normally bring our "baon” (packed lunch), consisting of rice, boiled eggs, daing or itlog na maalat.
Once in a while, we’d buy adobong or fried vegemeat sold at the school canteen for 20 cents per order.
Jun Mercado, B.S Computer Engineering ’72 remembers those days when a friend or classmate would bring a can of Ligo sardines, then “we’d ask Tatang, an owner of a small carinderia near the Allied Warehouse to cook it for us, requesting him to mix it with more water to make “sabaw” (soup) because six of us would share it.
The golf caddy’s canteen located beside the Intramuros Wall was also our favorite eating place”.
Another alumnus, Danny Nacua, BSBA ’71 recalls that with his allowance of one peso daily, 40 cents was for transport fare and the rest would be enough for him to take his lunch at the school canteen: a plate of vegemeat (20 cents, rice (10 cents) soft drink (10) cents. For my snack, I’d buy a stick of fried banana at 10 centavos a piece from a vendor whose mobile Kariton was always parked in front of the PLM building on Muralla St.,
However, not everybody could afford to have a decent breakfast before going to school
The Free World magazine in featuring the PLM, says “one incident led to a new program: when a student suddenly collapsed in the classroom. The guidance counsellor found that he walked two kilometres to class without breakfast.
The result was the establishment of a Student’s Assistance Program (SAP) which calls on philanthropic groups or individuals to donate transportation and meal allowance to deserving students.”
“Another case involves a high school valedictorian who tendered a letter of resignation. Dr. Reyes found out that the student was being forced by his poor parents to stop studying and sell newspapers instead to bring in money for the family.
Dr. Reyes succeeded in convincing the parents to let the boy continue his studies with a “ foster father” contributing to meal and transportation expenses,” the magazine says. Dr. Benito Reyes is the first PLM president.
Vicky Servillon Calub BA Psychology batch 1971 has this recollection: “I have smiles all over my face when I read about the vegemeat, specially the handloom weaving. I vividly remember that some of my classmates borrow money for their daily jeepney allowance and that it means they don’t have anything for lunch. I share my sandwich from home and mom would say I am eating for two.”
Despite these hardships, we were determined to stay focus on our studies, to finish our courses and to hurdle whatever obstacles that might come our way, believing that PLM educational system could make a big difference in our lives.
We felt that being poor should not prevent us from achieving our dreams and that there was no way to go but up, up to success.
I also remember our professors who inspired and guided us to reach our dreams. But being under their tutelage was not easy: it was all hard work and more hard work. Every semester, we could always feel the anxiety and stress, realizing that another block of 50 students had been expelled for failing to make attain the minimum academic grade requirement.
of the 556 students that started in 1967, 300 made it in 1972. Since it was a privilege to get the PLM education, only those who meet and maintain their academic standing could stay and get the free education.
But to be in good standing, we had to obtain at least 2.5 grade or better and without getting a failing grade on a semester basis.
To survive Pamantasan, we realized the truism of the saying “no man is an island“ because we really have to help each other in doing assignments, exchanging notes, finishing term papers and doing research work at the National and the Kamaynilan libraries and the Surian ng Wika.
We had to really sweat it out with the proverbial lamp burning through the night because having a load of 26 units every semester, plus some summer classes was not an easy task.
For our uniform, we were supposed to don white shirt with necktie and black pants but it was a common sight on the campus to see men wearing rubber shoes with that kind of attire. It might look awkward to some people, but we could easily dash off for our next PE classes or play basketball after attending the academic classes.
Just having a pair of rubber shoes would spare us from the hassle of having to bring an extra pair of shoes to school. Frankly, I would say that for most of us at that time, it was still a luxury to have another pair of leather shoes.
Also adding to our anxiety was the fact that we had already begun studying but still there wasn’t enough funds to cover the PLM’s expenses for its first year of operation which led us from time to time hold gatherings in front of the Manila City Hall to appeal to the city councillors to approve the school’s regular budgetary requirements.
I also remember one professor, Ms. Gajo who awakened us to view Philippine history from our own perspective as Filipinos, stressing that the Philippines could not have been discovered by Magellan as taught to us in high school because the country had been in existence as a self-governing nation, exchanging trades with its neighbors even before the Spaniards came on our shores.
She instilled into our young minds that the country’s Mutual Defense Pact with the US is not a defense pact in a real sense because of the absence of any immediate retaliatory response on the part of the US in the event the Philippines is attacked by a foreign aggressor. Citing the obvious disparity in the US-RP pact, she said, the Defense agreement signed by the Japanese with the Americans, there is an automatic response from the US in the event Japan attacked by an enemy
During the students’ activism of the 70s, some of us were also active in the protest movement. We joined rallies and demonstrations and shouted denunciation against the Marcos regime but something was noticeable: the school’s walls remained clean, free from the graffiti of the popular slogans at that time.
Though these fond memories are now water under the bridge, they still serve to unite all alumni together.
But what matters most is that these PLMers all over the world have not forgotten their Pamantasan Mahal and they are doing whatever projects they can from scholarship drives to computers and books for the students, donation to the Enterprise Center, honorary bust for Gat Puno Villegas and others to help their alma mater.
Doing this is their way of thanking the university that has given them the best quality education in life.
After four decades, our beloved Pamantasan has produced thousands of professionals: nurses, doctors, entertainment executives, lawyers, journalists, actors, singers, engineers accountants, teachers, deans, CEOs, congressmen, award-winning scriptwriters, and Palanca awardees
The country’s newspapers scream with headlines such as “PLM No.2 in engineers exam, PLM 2nd among top performing schools in CPA exam; PLM College of Medicine ranked No. 2; PLM bags 2nd slot in physician licensure exam; PLM nursing cited as one of the best and PLM tops Physical Therapy exam”.
The PLM is proud to be among the top universities in the country today.
“I am thinking now of the Pamantasan, this newly established city university of Manila, which I am the first president. How my heart enfolds it with love and care… How my being glows with pride at the mere thought that this completely free university (free tuition, free books, free everything), this wondrous experiment in social justice in education, is now in operation. How brighter and warmer the glow becomes at the thought of how the poor but brilliant students of Manila are getting their opportunity to become future scientists, philosophers, thinkers, artists and leaders of the country."
“The redemption of ignorance buried in poverty. I am thinking of the unforgettable words of Thomas Jefferson.” –Dr. Benito F. Reyes. PLM 1967 (PNA)V3/WJ/mec
