A boy from Candijay

After speaking thru a series of Local Legislation Seminars for elected officials of the municipalities of Bohol province, I got an invitation from the principal of the Candijay Elementary School, Mrs. Nancy Alingasa. At first glance, I hesitated to accept it because in all candidness, I did not know if I had done enough in my life to deserve the distinct honor of being a commencement speaker. But, deep in my heart, I really relished the idea of going back to the school where I had my formative years. So I pretended myself to be deserving such a privilege.

My trip to Bohol yesterday was most meaningful, especially that my lady Carmen and our two girls, Beatriz and Charisse, gave me their full and unqualified support.

I took the occasion to share with my daughters what the kind of public elementary education I had. It was one I could be very proud of, to be thorough and profound perhaps comparable to the best private education money can presently provide.

MEMORIZING. I also shared this in my commencement address with the members of the graduating class. My grade three teacher, the late Mrs. Galicana Bayron, wrote for me several brief vignettes of the young life of Dr. Jose Rizal. Ma'am Caling, that was how I fondly called her, asked me to memorize those short stories of the young Rizal and taught me to recite them as if I was narrating perfectly internalized speeches. The secret of winning speech competitions, she said, was in impeccable memory. In that early stage in my life I learned the importance of memorizing.

SOCIAL STUDIES. In my time, public elementary education had a Mr. Dominador Pizaña. May his soul rest in peace. He was my Grade 4 Social Studies teacher. His system of instruction, patient and persistent, exciting but extensive, taught in our young minds in such a manner that I can, as of present day, draw the Philippine Map, identify it's provinces and capital towns or cities and, unless the past decades produced great variances, identify the regions' top three products.

DISCIPLINED STUDY.  Many times in the past I informed my family that after my Grade 5, we moved from Candijay to Guindulman. These towns are seven kilometers apart. Looking to graduate with honors, I had still to enroll in my grade 6 in Candijay and so my parents decided to entrust me to the care of Ma'am Lucresia "Pisyang" Romero, who now walks with the Lord. She was known to be a strict disciplinarian and from school, she would always inculcate in my mind the necessity of opening my books and studying my lessons. Many times though, I would prefer to walk the seven kilometers back to Guindulman to escape the intensity of studying. Walk because in those years, transportation was no longer available after four in the afternoon. It was not just one instance when Ma'am Pisyang and my mom would talk to each other on strategies to keep me in focused studying.

MISCHIEF AND BEING A GOOD BOY. I could detect the suppressed smiles of Bea and Charisse when I shared with them that I was a mischievous kid back in Candijay. One mischief stood out. Our supervisor, the late Mr. Canuto Olandria had one of the only two cars in town. I knew where he would park in going to school. Each time I noticed the car, I'd use my slingshot aiming upwards such that the pebble would hit the car in falling down. Everytime I succeeded, I'd come out from hiding and approach Sir Olandria and greet him.  One day, I was so delighted when the supervisor met my father and said, "Padre, buotan lagi ning imong anak, sija ra gajud ang mo greet naho inig abot sa eskwelahan".  Such a remark changed me that I stopped hitting his car since then.

Home visitation is meaningful. It gives you the opportunity to reflect on life. That chance presented itself when I went back in Candijay.