No, the ex-Reds I am referring to are
not the leftist rebels but former “Juvenists”—a term used by
Redemptorists for their minor seminarians in the early sixties
and seventies. They were those who once inhabited the towering
white four-story building in the then rustic mountains of
Antipolo, Rizal. These young boys would explore the hitherto
untouched rivers and creeks for weekend hiking; seek out
spiders for their evening recreation of battle of the fittest.
Afternoons would be for sports or simply walking around the
spacious grounds in this hilly Antipolo. The seminary, named
“Our Mother of Perpetual Help Juvenate,” overlooked the
well-manicured Victoria Valley Golf Club and the budding
Marikina Valley. Actually, the only neighbor we had was Don
Eugenio Lopez, Sr.,’s vacation house. The old man was a
frequent Sunday Mass goer in our seminary chapel.
Now, this flurry of nostalgic memories came
back to me as I recalled being mesmerized by the great changes
around the place. On January 27, I was with the Racela
family—yes, Olcen, Nash and Wally and their mother—to bury
their late father in a memorial garden “somewhere” in
Antipolo. From La Strada we traversed the Marcos Highway till
we found ourselves going up Mayamot—where we used to teach
catechism to the kids in the local elementary school. My heart
was pounding heavily as we stopped at the intersection which
used to have the gate going to our former seminary. The
familiar white edifice which was a landmark seen from as far
as Pasig was no longer there. “Somewhere” turned out to be a
known familiar place to me. I recalled the Redemptorists
telling me that they have sold this to a private company in
the early nineties. Now, a budding memorial garden occupies
the foreground leading to my former home from 1963 to
1968.
It was a pity the Redemptorists had to sell
this imposing building and the sprawling lot. After phasing
out the Juvenate in late seventies, this became a mission
house. After my ordination in 1981, I still officiated at the
wedding of a former co-Juvenist, Tony Luistro, the brother of
DLSU president, Brother Armin Luistro, FSC. I also attended
the wedding of another ex-Red, fertilizer executive Robert
Castro. Most of us alumni had left a piece of our hearts in
those hills, where we spent the best of our adolescent years.
Aside from the memorial garden below, a La Salle affiliate
school, San Benildo High School, stands a few meters away,
opposite the former Lopez mansion. Passenger jeepneys and
taxis ply the once isolated rough road that is now the
Sumulong Highway.
Hopefully, with this column, the ex-Reds
would get in touch with either Fr. Rey Culaba, C.Ss. R., a
legitimate and original Juvenate survivor, in Baclaran, or
with Fr. Ernie Garcia, C. Ss. R., another Juvenate alumus, in
Lipa City, or get in touch with me through my e-mail
addresses. Calling the likes of Atty. Bobby Demigillo, Angelo
Baybay, Rafael Vallejo, Leo Alcaraz, Dodo Elefano, Jorge
Mercado, Jose Lim, and you guys from all over Luzon whose
names have momentarily escaped me but whose faces are
definitely etched in my photographic memory. Why don’t we have
a reunion and live those good old days again on the feast of
St. Alphonsus de Liguori, the founder of the Redemptorists, on
August 1?
(My e-mail addresses:
noniecdolor@yahoo.com and
nonie.dolor@lasalipa.edu.ph)
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