Batch63 Menagerie
By Bert Saenz
Who amongst us does not remember one of the biggest all- around athlete during our grade school and early high school days? Ramon was proficient in sports, be it football, basketball, track n field, handball, etc. A member of the famous Roces-Prieto Clan who owned the defunct Manila Times, he used to live in the family compound in Donada, beside the original D'Marks Restaurant (owned by the Fernandez family) the Italian food restaurant that was the FIRST restaurant to serve Pizza in Manila, which was located in the same street.
Close friend to Joe Assad, Melo and Ching Prats, Ramon Arnaiz, Jun Arnaiz, Wimpy Menchaca, Raymond Kairuz, Tonichi Grey, Dougie Marcaida, Jun Tillman, Raymond White, Peke Ysmael and many others. As with most members of the class Mon was very popular in the "Kalokohan" field. If you guys recall the pranks like exploding firecrackers in the toilet in the middle of the day after the slow burning Katol finally reached the fuse. The ladies hair pins split in two and inserted in some crack in the desk...then flicked to produce that famous tooooiiiinnnnngggg sound. The big wads of toilet paper soaked in water then tossed up on the ceiling where they stuck until they dried up enough to fall with a wet slap and flying bits of paper on the teachers desk. Closing the classroom doors for lunch and spreading hands full of kantutay leaves on the floor and mashing them.......to produce the most god-awful smell when the room was reopened !!!! Ha ha ha ...took at least an hour of airing....before class could resume. Or playing "Lucky 9" using pages of a book........or playing "Adding" where you guessed a total number based on the serial numbers of your paper bill PLUS the numbers on your opponents bill.....then making "pinta" the total of both numbers (one number at a time). Yup ! Like most of us.......Mon was usually included in the "kalokohan" that caused us to bond so closely!
Anyway, like a lot of us, sometime during High School...
the Christian Brothers saw fit to invite Mon to move to another school and exercise those hard learned talents elsewhere! Ha!
Their loss........was the gain of the Fathers in Don Bosco.......where Mon moved to hone his mechanical skills! Wow! Oh Wow!......Lathe machines! Next we hear.....Mon and Jun Tillman (who had also received a similar invitation) are turning out "Paltiks" using the school's workshop (of course Jun was vehemently denying this the other night). Anyway...they both finished their High School in Don Bosco.
In the second half of 1964.....Mon, Dougie, Raymond, Peke Ysmael, Wimpy Menchaca and myself find ourselves in the August Halls of the UST College of Commerce. At that time, there was still segregation of females/males from the stairways, canteens, and heck....even the library ! Skills learned in La Salle helped us overcome these minor distractions to find a way to "chat up the ladies". Boy o boy.....nothing like a good La Salle education.....to prepare one to overcome obstacles. Don't wanna join the rest of the troops marching around for ROTC.....easy.....get into the MP's and stand around in the shade.
UST was a great place to finish College studies. Man......so many beautiful girls !
Lost all contact with Mon...till about 3 years ago. At Lito's 7th Note Bar and Grill...Freddie Muniz and I ran into Raffy Prieto, a cousin of Mon who gave us his contact numbers. Never did get a chance to visit him in the street parallel to Tomas Morato and near Roces Avenue where he had moved after Donada and Dominga. He was no longer the mobile athlete and was wheel chair bound by this time. He wanted to link back up with the group but claimed he was ashamed because of his handicap. We had a lot of phone conversations though and thru them he found out that HS"63 had helped Wimpy move in with my son in the farm, and they regularly communicated, up to the time of Wimpy's death 2 years ago. Once in a while, he would text me "Bert...llama me por landline" usually in the wee hours of the morning and we would chat. He requested me to include him in the HS'63 Yahoogroup which I did. Though he wouldn't participate or interact with the group.....he enjoyed reading up on what the guys are doing........esp Onie's Menagerie articles. So though you guys weren't in touch with him.......he was with you!
In early February I got a text to call him up. He informed me he'd had a heart attack and was bed ridden. Informed him that Tonichi was arriving and that with Dougie, the three of us would visit him when he felt better. On Tuesday Tonichi called me to inform me that Mon had was doing poorly and had been confined in Suite 915 of Makati Med for the past 5 days. We scheduled to visit him Wednesday afternoon around 6pm. At 1pm on Wednesday.........I receive another call from Tonichi that Mon had suffered another heart attack and had been moved to the ICU...and that we better visit a bit earlier. I sent the group a text asking for prayers for his early recovery. An hour later he sends me a text......"Mon passed away at 3pm. Just proceed to Manila Memorial for Requiem Mass, prior to his remains being cremated." Sus! Prepared a new text to the group with that update. Told Tonichi that I doubted anyone would be able to show up on such short notice.
At the Requiem Mass..... Joe Assad, Jun Tillman, Tonichi Grey, Dougie Marcaida and myself represented DLS HS'63. We explained to his widow....Menchu Grey de Marty (Tonichi's first cousin) that since we have gotten together for the Ruby Anniversary of HS graduation. At the death of any of our group, a big contingent of the class shows up, if there is sufficient notice......unfortunately.......they had still not been able to secure the time for the Funeral Mass. I got the scheduled before lunch, so again there was very little time for the guys to attend. Poldy Arnaiz, Steve Hontiveros, Joey Campos and Dougie Marcaida fortunately were able to attend, so the group was represented......although on very short notice.
Ramon leaves behind his widow Menchu (from whom he has been estranged for some time)....his two sons Tono and Luigi and daughter Isabel.
Strange.....how the death of a friend can affect us......they seem to take a small, intangible, part of us, with them......must be the good memories we shared. Say a prayer for the eternal repose of Ramon's soul....Hermanos......it is the best farewell we can offer him ! Live JESUS in our hearts ! Forever !
