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From: sluggor@hotmail.com
To: nmbituin@msn.com
Subject: request to publish
Date: Tue, 9 Jul 2013
Brod Norman,
Thank you for the offer, Brod. It would be an honor for that tribute to
be shared with the Brotherhood.
Attaching the edited and fuller version that you can use.
Thank you too for all that you do so unselfishly for the Frat. More
power to you, Brod Norm!
-Sluggo
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Ode to the Lone Eagle
by Sluggo Rigor'60
We mourn, we weep..
The wound is deep...
The Lone Eagle drew closest
to the sun.
It was high noon.
We who stood side-by-side with the
guy when we were put to the unforgettable Beta Sigman grind
affectionately called him Asiong. Most knew him as Boy. The outside
world knew him formally as the bureaucrat-organizer Horacio. His
underground alias when he used the phone was Hector Torre. An inner
circle in the frat would proudly refer to him as Lone Eagle. Loner?
Perhaps. Definitely an eagle of the highest breed. Because on campus
during his prime, all the rest were crows. His agenda spoke eloquently
of his kind.
The late GP Goody Santiago recalled that when Diliman's Batch 1960 was
opened for applicants, a total of 55 neophytes or amuyongs came on the
first day. But only 18 rugged youth endured after three continuous
months of physical and mental trials to earn the right to wear the most
coveted fraternity pin on campus. Asiong's batch was fittingly dubbed
the "High Noon" batch and had adopted that haunting Frankie Lane theme
song from Gary Cooper's unforgettable movie that romanticized courage.
All the dramatic elements were there for 55 determined, crazy and scared
neophytes. "Walang aatras! Kaya natin 'to!," High Noon batch pillar
Asiong and the then-unknown Johnny Chiuten, campus toughie cum boxer
Eddie Baguio, Golden Gloves boxer-poet Erwin Castillo, playboy pogi
Nonoy Bautista and artist cum rumble-starter Baldo Villanueva would be
the constant bellowers into our ears as the numbers dwindled in the
crucible of unending, horrible physical tests. Hard-headed, gutsy
members of the High Noon batch survived the tests to see the glorious
rise of the sun for the fraternity upon dreary Diliman. In that golden
age of the 60s, the batch also included Pong Lustre, Jackie Doromal,
Tante Tesoro, Rey Patiag (+), Ely Aglibut, Jolo Laraya, Joey Mendoza,
Pet Grajo, Romy Perez (+), Louie Adecer, Gaylord Bautista and this
writer. We were the gritty and crazy 18. Ask Sigma Betan sisters Pepot
Cruz Tan, Rory Ortega, who with the late Vicky Ramos Austria (+) and
Volet Mangubat Buencamino (+), Beth Tavanlar and Vet Med Brod Billy
Gurango had acted as volunteer medics at the height of most sessions.
Asiong at that time was just beginning to blossom as a natural leader.
He would go on to be the UP ROTC Corps Commander and Vanguard top
honcho. Except for Baldo and Eddie Baguio, I, who had been on Diliman
campus since Grade 4, through U.P. High School, never met any of the HN
survivors before enlisting as amuyong. I thought I never had to be
member of any fraternity because I was familiar to most of the toughies
in notorious corners of the university. As a lettered athlete with years
in the swimming team, I knew that almost all of the top basketball
players even in high school were the ''Barkadang Tisoy” composed of
good-looking Beta Sigmans: Enching Rodriguez (who was also proclaimed
Campus King), Dennis Navarro, Eman Crisostomo, Art Garcia, Biboy
Bautista, Mars Espino, Maning Floro, Edwin Perez, Mon Tongko and later
on the batch of Boy Cruz (+), Freddie de Leon, Jun Gomez, Dave Perez ---
popular campus macho personalities.
But perhaps the most prominent member on the rise in the entire Beta
Sigma Fraternity on campus during that era was, without doubt, High
Noon's Asiong Morales. He not only became ROTC Corps Commander, he also
skillfully maneuvered developments in the UP Student Council, the
Philippine Collegian appointees, the peace-making Inter Fraternity and
Sorority Council (IFSC), the Vanguards of ROTC. He even quietly took
charge of the frat’s tactics during inter-fraternity rumbles when he had
to call up ruffian shock troopers from Tondo as back-up to Johnny
Chiuten and the crew of Betan martial art commandos and the Betan
artillery support from brods in Aggie, Forestry and Fisheries in Los
Banos who would arrive in vans or busloads. Lone Eagle, intimidating in
a silent, fearsome way, would always be visible in his Blue Ford
scouting the terrain during critical rumble seasons. You would have
hated to cross swords with Beta Sigmans at that time.
Asiong was, to me, a deeply personal figure. He and the former Sigma
Betan Jinky Yap
were my dear and close buddies. Asiong and I were the two Betans who
happened to drive our own cars and so we shared the joy and agony of
being official transporters in major tactical events... social,
romantic, civic, rumble warfare, karateka-tai chi sessions, or
otherwise. When I learned from Brod Ollie that he had a heart attack, I
retreated once more to an inner cocoon. I could not stand such news.
When those so close-as-breath brods step into that inscrutable Great
Divide, I confess that I am at my weakest. Coping is not my strong suit.
I guess I have a tighter defense against grief in silence. And so it was
with kabatch Johnny Chiuten, Rudolf dela Rosa, Alex King, Ely Santiago,
and Tito de Santos, to name a few. Now it is kabatch Asiong, the Lone
Eagle, the daring, bright light whose deep understanding, humility and
affinity to the marginalized and to those on top endeared him all the
more to countless many.
I was probably the last Betan to talk to Tito de Santos before his
tragic asthma attack following his return to Manila from Baguio. Truth
to tell, I have not recovered from the shock and grief being very close
to Tito and his brothers, old buddies from the old Ft. McKinley and UP
High, and to his beloved Viching. Again, lightning has struck the
brotherhood.
With Asiong, it was a bit different. In 1966, it was ever-helpful Asiong
who orchestrated my elopement with my beloved Marivic. He stage-managed
an impromptu party at the Loyola Heights home of Rudolf dela Rosa. High
Noon brods Asiong and Baldo had to have a reason for Marivic, now Mrs.
Rigor, to step out of her home in Ft. McKinley. Asiong thoughtfully
passed the hat among brods to finance our PAL flight to Baguio. And so
Asiong and Jinky were always there in the filing cabinet of my heart,
his blue Ford and my green Chevy parked side-by-side under the shady
fire trees fronting the Liberal Arts building, night or day, rain or
shine, exposed to adversaries openly even during rumble seasons. Asiong
had an aura about him, a reputation: strong, silent, a no-nonsense
leader of the pack. Oppose him at your own risk. Other packs on campus
seemed to rightfully step aside. Conventional wisdom on Diliman campus
then was: Better to be allied with Beta Sigmans than otherwise.
Farewell, Lone Eagle. Our last serious talk, as you kept scratching your
toes as you had always been afflicted with itchy feet literally and
figuratively, was explaining your vision of a country free from the
clutches of greed, incompetence and injustice. You had come to my humble
home late at night as Brod Rico Sanchez (+) kept watch by the corner
store. You had laughed hard at my jokes and we relished remembering our
glorious High Noon batch.
Wherever you are, I just know that both you and Johnny will be busy
casing The Joint --- where your Betan Brods will trek to one day. You
know in your heart, as we do, that the sun will never set on our
brotherhood.
Godspeed and fly high.
Sluggo Rigor / Seattle, WA
Diliman ‘60 / High Noon
28 February 2012
|
UPD '60
"HIGH NOON" |
|
1 |
ADECER, Louis |
|
2 |
AGLIBUT, Eliseo |
|
3 |
BAGUIO, Eduardo |
|
4 |
BAUTISTA, Felix M. |
|
5 |
BAUTISTA, Gaylord |
|
6 |
CASTILLO, Erwin |
|
7 |
CHIUTEN, Johnny F. |
|
8 |
DOROMAL, Jackie |
|
9 |
GRAJO, Petronio |
|
10 |
LARAYA, Jose Luis |
|
11 |
LUSTRE, Jose |
|
12 |
MENDOZA, Jose Vicente |
|
13 |
MORALES, Horacio Jr. |
|
14 |
PATIAG, Reynaldo |
|
15 |
PEREZ, Romeo |
|
16 |
RIGOR, Conrado Jr. |
|
17 |
TESORO, Constante |
|
18 |
VILLANUEVA, Baldomero |
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Boy Morales and the
early
60's Betans
Beware The High Noon
"Balisong
Boys" -- Sluggo and Bal
Batch mates Sluggo,
Bal and Boy at UP Beta Sigma 60th Jubilee at Wack Wack Country Club - July
14, 2006
Betan 60's Gang meets in Manila -
Feb. 11, 2008
Seated: Barbara Hizon, Kay Smaby-Symons, Eding Hizon and Bing
Villanueva.
Standing: Nelson Rivera,
Vic Ramos, Boy Morales, Jess Abrera, Bal Villanueva, Pol Moral, Adi Santos
and Sluggo Rigor.
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