Ateneo De Manila High School
Class Section 1-G of 1952
Philippine Daily Inquirer
12 November 2006
FIRST ROW: Ramon Ong, Emmanuel Villanueva, Alberto Romualdez, Jose Ma. Sison, Noel MacRae,
Teodoro Katigbak, Fr. Victoriano, Jose Madarang,
Maximo Kalaw, Eduardo Almadrones, Ruben Bonoan, Jose Baizas, Edmundo Maningat. SECOND ROW:
Guillermo Mirasol, Gregorio Hernandez, Jose Briones, VirgilioYuzon, Fred Ruiz Castro, Antonio de Jesus,
Angelito Domingo, Cesar Macuja, Fernando Chan, Antonio Santos, Fausto Pineda, Bibiano Ouano, Ramiro
Cabrera THIRD ROW: Tirso Verano, Miguel Malvar III, Manuel Valencia, Francisco Trinidad, Angel de Castro,
Domingo Garcia, Jose Pedroso, Cesar de Leon, Macario Peralta, Johnny Lopez, Amando Malvar, AlbertoIlano,
Amando Labayen, Guillermo Boncan, Crispulo Medina III Absent: Julio Aliwalas, Rolando Quintos
Excerpt from the article
HS Class '56
Most of us finished grade school (up to 1952) in Padre Faura in Ermita, holding classes in quonset huts
and in the high-ceilinged rooms of partly destroyed concrete buildings of the old Ateneo.
After grade school, we moved to the brand new buildings of the high school in Loyola Heights that
overlooked Marikina Valley. This was a major dislocation. The new site was far from our homes and
was in the "wilderness." But we quickly adjusted to the new environment, and learned to enjoy its
wide open spaces where 12-year-olds could play to their hearts' content.
Many of us started high school in short pants but, by the time we graduated in 1956, long maong
jeans, folded at the bottom, were the norm.
The years in between kept us busy. We studied long hours and played a lot: intramural and pick-up
basketball in the "covered courts" all year long, and "seasonal" intramural sports like volleyball, softball,
soccer and track-and-field.
We had our pick of extra-curricular activities. We served at Mass in the Sanctuary Society; we taught
catechism to public school children; we developed our spirituality and devotion to Mary in the Sodality;
we went to confession every Thursday afternoon and to the mandatory Mass every Friday morning.
We acted in school plays, made speeches in monthly elocution contests, sang in Latin in special Masses
and went caroling at Christmas for the Glee Club.
We learned to officiate games in the Brebeuf Club, and cheered lustily for the school's NCAA (yes, the
National College Athletic Association) varsity basketball team at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum on Vito Cruz
and, later, at the new Loyola Heights gym.
We reported for and edited the school news in the Hi-lites. We contributed poems, essays and short
stories in the Loyolan. We wrote articles, took pictures and solicited ads for the Blue Book high school
annual.
The big thing on Christmas was the Package Drive, the school-wide competition to collect goods and
money for the poor. We went all over town soliciting donations, often running away from dogs and
being turned away, learning the virtues of agility, humility and perseverance in the process.
The standard punishment for rules violations, specially "speaking in the dialect," was called "post." It
consisted of walking around the campus, carrying a rifle on the shoulder for what seemed like hours,
on Saturdays or after school.
Discovering girls
Sometime in junior year, we discovered the wonderful creatures called girls in officially sanctioned "class
parties," chaperoned by at least one Jesuit and several parents. We began to realize there was more
to life than schoolwork and playing boys' games.
HS Class '56 has given the world doctors, lawyers, journalists, academics, advertising and communications
professionals, public servants, diplomats, bankers, entrepreneurs, business executives, several cabinet
secretaries and undersecretaries, one military general, one dedicated environmentalist, and the country's
No. 1 communist leader.
Many have been outstanding in their chosen fields. A good number do civic and social work and maintain
philanthropic foundations. Some 40 classmates have passed on.
After 50 years, our numbers dwindle at a faster rate. But those of us who remain continue to forge closer
ties with one another, constantly renewing our zest for living with satisfying pursuits and advocacy.
To "missing-in-action" Golden Jubilarians of Ateneo HS Class of 1956: Contact Mari Javier, class secretary
(8262165) for information on our homecoming.