| Beloved Batanes NS High |
| We were pleased to see the school in its continuous mission to prepare the Ivatan youth in the quest for higher learning. We'll always be grateful to Mr. Mirabueno and Ms. Hornedo for that. The visit brought back wonderful memories of youthful days. It also brought back memories of a main building that was in a better shape. It was spick and span in my high school days. That it deteriorated decades after saddened me, but I comforted myself with the thought that as important the |
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_________________________________ BHS Loyalty Song Beloved Batanes High Thy sacred name we most revere For thee we live, we work and die For thee we prove we hold thee dear. We take an oath upon our feet Forever true we will remain We greet thy rules with faces sweet For thee we pledge gold crowns to gain. Wherever we may harbored be Kind fate may land us faraway Thy image B.H.S. we see To help us bring thee wreaths someday. Chorus We are thy sons and daughters true We are thy soldiers strong and brave We are thy hopes, thy promise, too God keep us loyal till our grave. _________________________________ |
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| TORONTO - Spick and span! That best describes the 2005 façade of our Beloved Batanes High, a far cry from 3 years ago when we last visited. Back then the main building was in need of a face-lift. In 2002 when we last visited Batanes, we paid a courtesy call to our Alma Mater, and the principal, Mr. Reinfredo Mirabueno, and the head teacher, Ms. Lilia Hornedo, were kind to show our children and us around the school. They showed us the library and the classrooms, as well as the computer center. They also showed us the new annex building as well as the renovated home economics building, made possible through our congressman's allocation. hardware (school building) is, even more important is the software (teachers and students). Of course, how the hardware affects the software was always on my mind, but what can a poor Ivatan like myself do. I know that in some institutions buildings are aged and yet we don't see deterioration, and that the aged-look enhances them. That was not the case in our BNSHS. Anyway, Batanes High is Batanes High. DIOS MAMAJES! Today, I'm pleased to learn that the school had its well-deserved face-lift. Hopefully, it was not just cosmetics, but went beyond and into the classrooms. I don't know who was or who were responsible, but our gratitude goes to all of them. DIOS MAMAJES! Now, can I ask about the software? I mean the teachers/educators and students/scholars. We all know the importance of education, and money is not everything, but how well-paid are our educators? How about the students? How well-equipped are our students with today's learning tools? I know funds are always limited, but there's always money for priority programs. A pay for performance (P for P) for our teachers under the government's programs and priorities (P and P) is a good start in recognizing the contributions of our teachers to the task of educating our youth. Another right step is the enhancement of existing grants and scholarship programs for deserving teachers and students. Now, back to the hardware. In 2002, I noticed rusted roofs and some roofless school buildings. One particular building that caught my attention was the roofless home economics building at Uyugan Centro. The same building was spick and span in the Uyugan of my youth. What's it doing there? I've not been in Uyugan Centro since the early 70s, and I was also surprised to see a prefab school building sitting or standing right at the town square. What's it doing there? This is the same place where we used to perform our folkdances (for just once, I was a member of the Imnajbu contingent) in honour of the town's patron saint, San Antonino de Florencia. Prefabs sitting or standing on public squares and/or on what used to be student garden plots is not a unique Uyugan phenomenon, for the same is true of the other towns, to a lesser or to a greater extent. In our Beloved Batanes High, I saw a prefab that mushroomed right on what was then the garden plot where penalized tardy students used to dump their wheelbarrows full of cow manure for organic gardening. Yes, we did practice organic gardening long before the rest of the world realized or rediscovered its significance. Shall we let future generations inherit our towns with no public squares or plazas? Education and school buildings must be a top priority and ahead of anything else, but can't it be done without sacrificing our public squares and school garden plots? Today, there are no more prefab erections, I hope, but my question is still: Why did they erect prefabs in the unlikeliest of places, and yet allow existing school buildings located at the right places to deteriorate? Why not add another storey in some of those existing buildings? I know sometimes it's more cost effective to build than to repair, but how about the town plans? Shall we let future generations inherit our towns with no public squares or plazas? I know the word "expropriation" is not in the Ivatan language, and I understand because we're a civilized and courteous people, but the drawback here is that our communities, or all of us, will end up losers - big time. It's about time one or two or some of us must sacrifice for the good of the community. I've not been home to Batanes for 3 years now, and I've no knowledge of recent developments, but I like to believe that the face-lifts of school buildings and/or repairs/renovations of classrooms are not confined to our Beloved Batanes High, but extend to all the schools across the province. Beloved Batanes High! ___________________________________________________________________________ Class of '61, Batanes Resort, June 2001 In 2001, I missed the Class of '61 reunion in Batanes with our classmate Rear Admiral/Commodore Euceo Fajardo and his Philippine Coast Guard ship calling port, but I was in Batanes a few months after, in what now turned out to be my father's last trip back home with me. During that time, our classmate Caring Hortiz Viola with the Governor's office arranged a small class gathering at the Batanes Resort. The following day, June 19, many of them visited Imnajbu for my father's 83rd birthday. _________________________ Daughters: Ablat Aurelia, Ablaza Teresita Hontomin, Adami Verda Cabugao, Balasbas Magdalena Gaa, Cari Lourdes Abad, Elizarde Felisa, Fagar Bienvenida, Hortiz Caridad Viola, Nola Sevilla Garcia, Poncio Elisa Aguto, Raterta Enrequita, Valenciano Nelly Sons: Aguilar Winifredo, Caballero Victor, Duguran Dioscoro, Gonzales Precioso, Malupa Butch, Redondo Jose, Viola Felix _________________________ BHS Class of '61 has around 90 graduates. Today, they are all over the world, but a few are no longer with us. I was glad to see my classmates after 4 decades and to know that many returned and stayed to serve our province. Many are now holding senior positions in government. As I looked across the room that day, I saw youthful faces, that I remarked: I must be in the wrong class gathering, must be among the Class of '91 instead of '61. The laughter of '61 filled the room. All of us had a great time, but before we parted ways, and who knows when we meet again, we did an inspired rendition of the BHS Loyalty Song. - vbc, December 2005 |
| We are thy sons and daughters true We are thy soldiers strong and brave We are thy hopes, thy promise, too God keep us loyal till our grave. - BHS Loyalty Song __________ |
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