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A Prolific Month for UP North by Willie "Tatang" Vergara
“Hard is the heart that love naught in May.” -- Geoffrey Chaucer, The Romance of the Rose
“The month of May was come, when every lusty heart beginneth to blossom, and to bring forth fruit; for like as herbs and trees bring forth fruit and flourish in May, in likewise every lusty heart that is in any manner a lover, springeth and flourisheth in lusty deeds. For it giveth unto all lovers courage, that lusty month of May." -- Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte d'Arthur (1485)
I thought it was going to be a quiet gathering. Almost everybody in Sacramento had all the important reasons for not being able to make it to the celebration of the May-born. All but two (Ding Cavestany and Rick Velasco) of the Chapters' officers were either out-of-town or had office work that particular day. GP Bong Beredo was in the Philippines attending to his sick mom. Vice GP Bobby Pascual was in Hawaii to attend to the funeral of his dad. Second Vice Pogs was touring the Grand and Bryce Canyons. Rotsen and Yay had their usual offices on Saturdays, and Babes Ignacio was out of the country for his usual consulting stint in Asia.
But wait! May is such a lusty month, as the authors would say. There were twenty of us UP Betans in attendance, plus more! A treat for the celebrants at the home of Brod Ike Araneta, himself one of the May-born, was the presence of Tony Panajon (who planted a big ideas that will hopefully "flourisheth in prolific deeds”) and Perfecto “Perfing” Palacio (who dropped a big blast from the past that got everybody singing the songs of long ago and far away).
Everybody felt bullish about the insights provided by Tony. (See the article “The Panajon Challenge"). At the tail-end of the round table discussions came a new person, a new face, at least to Diliman brods present. I do not recall if he even first introduced himself when he arrived. But I instantly knew he was a UP Betan, considering his bravado and rather confident demeanor before a crowd that consisted of people he was just seeing for the first time. My recollection is that he just passed around leaflets encouraging all UP alumni to join the "Ten-Ten-Ten" (October 10, 2010) Centennial Celebration of UP Los Banos. He declared, "Lahat kayo magmamano sa akin. I'm the oldest among you." When he said he was Batch '52 UPLB, everybody pointed to Narcing as Batch '48. As if by instinct, Perfing dashed towards the direction of Narcing, genuflected before him, and kissed Narcing's hand in reverence. And then at the slightest motivation for Perfing, the star of the South Pacific musical by UPLB Brods of yore, to give us a sample, he immediately obliged. That started the evening of great fun and lots of laughter.
May is a month of abundance, indeed. Abundant with ideas. Abundant in brotherhood bonding.
Photos by Willie Vergara and Ike Araneta
Tony Panajon (rightmost) leads the roundtable discussions before an optimistic, enthusiastic group of brothers. From left are: Mino Cabral, Titing Valdez, Dave Villegas, Kiko Delmendo, Manolo Banzon, Vee de Vera (standing) Gilbert Basbas, Boy Ramos and Tatang.
Enter Brod Perfing Palacio LB ’52 (in maroon), who came to promote the UPLB Centennial Celebration on October 10, 2010
Perfing Palacio a.k.a. Mr. South Pacific meets his match, the diva Mercy Villegas
"Never Let Her Gooooooo!" so goes the ending line of "Some Enchanted Evening". Indeed, the whole
evening was just so magical and enchanted with everybody harmonizing with each
other in songs and spirit.
Standing: Hosts Tanya and Ike, Lleva Abenes, Cheng Valdez, Eileen Basbas, Sarah Panajon
Seated: Lita Punzalan, Mercy Villegas, Irma Ramos, Manolo Banzon From left: Tanya, Ria, Gentian, Eileen, and the Panajons: Gianna, Sarah and Anton
Happy
Birthday to the May Celebrants!
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