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The Seventies
By "Bob Diliman" '75
In the Fraternity’s “UP Beta Sigma
at 60… The Journey Continues,” Buddy Garbanzos ’63 article “Of Golden
Years of Memories of Long Ago”, did not give a more descriptive
portrayal of the fraternity in the Diliman campus in the decade of the
seventies. This write-up will supplement and try to give justice to the
brods of that era.
The Seventies kicked off with a bang with the First Quarter Storm,
dozens of protest rallies in the Metro Manila area and would culminate
in the dramatic barricades on the UP campus to be forever known as the
1971 Diliman Commune.
Brods were present at the ramparts and battled the assaulting Metrocom
as Rey Bello (UPD 69) was shot behind the Faculty Center in what used to
be the Jaycees Restaurant and then he was carried on foot for more than
a mile by his fellow militants from the Fourth Pavilion to the Sunken
Garden, pass the Main Library, through the side streets, pass the UP
Chapel and finally arriving at the UP Infirmary. Willie
“Tatang” Vergara and Norman Bituin were the last ones defending the last
barricade at the First Pavilion of the Arts and Sciences Building and
the former was shot and hid incognito at the Kamia Residence Hall. Like
their student colleagues at that time, brods joined nationalist
organizations such as Brod Jun Bernal ’69 with Kabataang Makabayan (KM)
and Perry Callanta ’69 with the Samahan ng Demokratikong Makabayan (SDK).
These leftist groups became the core of student political parties
wherein the brods would win campus elections: Brod Jelly Nacino ’58,
Vice Chairman of the UP Student Council; Perry Callanta, University
Councilor; Willie Nepomuceno ’69, College Councilor of Architecture and
Fine Arts from 1970-71; Claro Santamaria ’68, University Councilor, UPSC;
and Abelardo Agulto ’71, Representative of the College of Arts and
Science Student Council in 1972.
Bio Acuna, Czar
Michelena, Butch Madarang, Lem Michelena
Lem Michelena,
Caloy Agulto, Butch Madarang, Robie Feliciano
1971 Collegian Editor Rey Vea
wrote about the fraternities then:
“In such a climate of political discussions, traditional campus
organizations could not remain static. Fratmen found that there is a
deeper sense of unity and fraternity when they share common ideas on
politics and are engaged in struggle for the masses of the people.
A typical example is the case of the Beta Sigma Fraternity. When at the
end of 1970, many of their members were actively involved in nationalist
organizations, ideas discussed among them were in turn discussed in
get-togethers among brods. From then on, many meetings of the Fraternity
became centered on political discussions among progressives and
reactionaries among them. Beta Sigma was later to become one of the most
audacious among the defenders of the Diliman Commune.”
The 1972 declaration of Martial Law ended all such political exercise
and muzzled the press including the Philippine Collegian. The academe
settled down in the era of the “New Society”. The fraternity’s
traditional hangout, called the Betan Lobby, situated near the alley
that separated the Arts and Sciences building from the old Business
Administration building (now Palma Hall Annex or PHAN) had to move to
the steps of the old BA building because the Betan Lobby had become a
security risk since the entrance gate had been permanently locked.
Folkways, the Betans’ musical presentation of the ‘60s had its last
appearance in the early ’70s as Folkways V but the Harana in the Ladies’
Dormitories would continue with the music of America, James Taylor, Jim
Croce, Seals and Croft and even Barry Manilow.
Willie Baldoria of the Silver Grass, a known folk band at that time,
brought along his banjo to sing John Denver songs while Kiko Delmendo
’72 made the ladies swoon with his sax. The UP Hayride was gone forever
but the UP Lantern Parade would be resurrected in 1977 and the Betan
“Black Hood” would reappear in December of 1978.
The seventies also saw the creation of new organizations linked to the
Fraternity such as Tumbleweeds (the sports organization of the brods)
which competed in the Palakasan (a UP inter-student organization sports
tournament) in 1974, 1975 and finally winning the overall championship
in 1981. UP Beta Sigma Ladies Corps was formally organized in 1976 with
the Escobar twins (Eileen and Lauren), Marius Mercado and, Helen Unson,
among others as its founders. Malou Perez and Ces “Baby” Pajaro revived
the traditional Fraternity Sweetheart. Betaphil was founded in 1975 and
UP Beta Sigma Baguio Chapter in 1977.
Raul Terso, Billy
Sevilla, Alex Montero, Danny Viado, Uriel de los Reyes,
Cesar
Ramirez, Ben Ferriols, Caloy Agulto, Edlin de Laza
Dante Fagar, Sammy
Lazo, Mel de Santos, Ollie Jumao-as
UP Manila Boys
Anthony Subijano, Babes Ignacio, Reginald de la Cruz, Butch Madarang,
Ven Atienza, Leo Pascua,
Meng Canlas,
Rene de Grano, Leony Tan, Manny Francisco, Jun Valenzuela, Bong Beredo, Joel
Paredes,
Roland Jamir, Lem Michelena,
Joey Zulueta.
The Marcos regime did not stop the
resurgence of student activism nor the brods from aspiring for campus
leadership positions. Ollie Jumao-as ’73 managed the Consultative
Committee on Student Affairs (CONCOMSA) as Chairman in ‘73 and ‘74.
Iking Tenazas ’75 was elected to the 1975 Student Conference; Sonny
Pagador ’76 was Chairman of the 1977 UP Manila Student Council; Raffy
Tomeldan ’75 Vice Chairman, 1978 AS Student Council and later University
Councilor in the restored 1980-81 UP Student Council; Ruben Pascual ’75,
1978 Chairman, School of Economics Student Council. Edwin Acuna ’76,
1978 Editor of Tagamasid (UP Manila Student paper), Dante Agulto ’73,
Fisheries Guild President and there were more brods who were also
leaders in student organizations. There was noticeable need by the
resident brods to match the accomplishments of their predecessors.
There were chess wizard such as Gil Marzo ’69, Ben Medina ’71, Kit
Marzo’75 and the late Cedric Gloria ’69, alias Nwan Blue Sparrow Soma
Zaccheus. Yes, aliases abound too among the membership, many of them
downright weird or even hilarious, to name a few: “Herr Otsen Von Togi,
SS Berlin”, “Tulindoy”, “Funky”, “Atam”,”Dirty Dave”, “Waway”, “Ulam”, “Howdee”,
“Uwang”, “Tepelone”, “Saypek” and the list goes on.
The theatre became a new field of interest too for the brods as
thespians Cris Michelena ’73, the late Sammy Lazo ’71 and Bong Medina
’76, Yay Topacio ’77 (who was nominated
Best Supporting Actor in the Urian Awards), Og Quesada ’77 and the
omnipresent Nonoy Tagaro UPLB ’75 led the way participating in memorable
and iconic plays such as “Pagsambang Bayan”, “Sigaw ng Bayan”, and the
Fraternity’s own production, “Dahil Sa Kapirasong Lupa”.
The fraternity had a superiority complex because it boasted of a core of
UP High, UP Prep and Philippine Science High School graduates, who
comprised almost 50 percent of the membership at that time. Despite such
an impressive list, if the ‘90s Betans waggishly describe themselves “at
best mediocre”, several ‘70s brods were slackers failing to live up to
the expectations of their backgrounds. The brods would often rather hang
out at the “Betan Steps” or sojourn to taverns like Evergreen, Tong Long
or the “Drug Store” found at Old Balara. Frequently these intoxicating
sessions would explode into a fracas with Ateneans or other UP fratmen
like Irish bar room brawls.
Martial arts and movie legend Bruce Lee’s untimely death in 1973 did not
stop the Fraternity’s school of martial arts from producing more black
and brown belters among the brods and such skill came handy as frat
rumbles erupted now and then in the campus as well as in UP Manila.
The Oscar Awards 1972 best film, “The Godfather” now part of American
pop culture left also a legacy in the mindset of the brods. From
adopting monikers like “Santino” to engaging a simultaneous war with
several rival frats thus borrowing a page from the script of the said
movie, the brods portrayed themselves as the “siga” of the campus. This
was followed by another film, also popular among the brods in the latter
part of the decade – “The Warriors” which they immediately identified
with. A fair percentage of the female population dated these bad boys or
as Noel Rivera”72 would like to describe themselves as “ruggedly
handsome.” However, it was the nice guys the gals took home to meet
their parents.
The denim jacket and pants, the Ray-Ban Air Force sunglasses, the long
wild hair and the noisy Kawasaki and Suzuki bikes parked at the bottom
of the BA steps became the lasting impression left behind by the
Fraternity then.
As US President John F. Kennedy once put it, “Every generation will
remember its youth”. It was their time, it was their destiny – it was
the Seventies.
Brods of the Seventies
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