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| Exploring The 1960s In The Philippines - A Journey Back In Time |
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| by Ernie Turla, pres., Akademya ning Kapampangan, U.S.A |
There's a lot of things reminiscent of the 1960s era
in the Philippines. They are easy to recall, because
they happened during our last decade there. For instance,
in school, in the lower grades, schools shifted from
English to the vernacular as medium of classroom
instruction and were no longer using the book,
Pepe and Pilar, (Remember Nena, Berting and Aning,
Bantay and Muning?). In the higher grades, they got rid of
Camilo Osias' Philippine Readers and used new textbooks.
Math was still called Arithmetic. Engineering students
used the slide-rule. Students had to master the multiplication
table as there were no pocket calculators yet then.
In high school they used the outline books by Ernesto D. Bohol
for history, Philippine Prose and Poetry, and Silas Marner
by George Elliot for literature.
It was then the good old days. Passers-by would stop walking
and would stand at attention with hats off and with their
hand over their breast whenever flag ceremonies were being
conducted. The so-called "silent bell" was strictly observed
by "freezing" for a couple of seconds before proceeding.
In railroad crossings, buses and other vehicles always had
to stop first whether there was a train coming or not.
On buses and other public places, gentlemen always
courteously rose and offered their seats to ladies and
the elderly. Courtships were longer, and dating, except
in the city, was uncommon. Unwed mothers were a family
disgrace, along with illegitimate children who bear the
brunt of scandals in families. Churchbells always rang at
twilight time to announce the "angelus" or "oracion"
during which people would bow to pray and then go home.
Priests then had "ordination symbols" on the top of their
scalp. The bells on bellfries were rung according to how close
in time the mass was to start - slowly (magpalagad) in the
beginning and then faster (madadalas) as soon as the priest
comes out of the door from the dressing room. Priests then
were not alowed to go out to the street without wearing a robe.
The mass was in Latin (tridentine mass, as it was called),
and the priest was always facing the altar with his back
towards the congregation, turning around and facing them
only when he uttered "Dominus voviscum", as well as during
the sermon which was usually done in the vernacular. During
Holy Communion, it was the priest that moved from one
communicant to another. Communicants knelt just behind and
alongside the railing and received the host on their tongue.
During all that time, a couple of acolytes or altar boys
(they never used girls then) would follow the priest, one
holding a candle, and one holding a platter and tinkling a bell
everytime a communicant was served. It was considered rude
to go across the front of the altar without facing it and
genuflecting. The devotion of people was more pronounced.
Women always wore veils then and held rosaries. Prayers still
referred to the Holy Spirit as the Holy Ghost. The cursillo
movement was at its height, and De Colores was so popular.
Other church organizations were already around then, such as
the Holy Name Society, but no Born Again Christians and no
El Shaddai either. The archbishop of Manila then was Rufino
Santos who, in 1960, became the first cardinal of the Philippines.
The Pambansang Awit then started with "O sintang lupa"
instead of "Bayang magiliw". "Land of the Morning" in English
had long been replaced by the Pilipino version.
It was a little bit more peaceful then than the decade before
it, Huk Supremo, Luis Taruc, having surrendered to the authorities.
There were two major political parties: the Liberal and the
Nacionalista.
In 1968 when we left for the U.S., there was no hint whatsoever
that newly elected President Ferdinand Marcos would declare
martial law 6 years later and start a 14-year dictatorship
or that the calm Mt. Pinatubo was a volcano and would erupt a
quarter of a century later. Or that action star Joseph Estrada
would be elected President 32 years later only to be ousted
2 years later and be put in prison. No one ever knew that the
"boy wonder", Ninoy Aquino would be assassinated 17 years later
at the airport that now bears his name, become a martyr, and that
his widow, Corazon Aquino, would become Marcos's nemesis.
No one had any inkling that Gloria Macapagal Arroyo who was
still a teen-aged girl then would one day become the President
and her husband Juan Arroyo would be the first "First Gentleman"
ever - a position unprecedented and which even the U.S. throughout
its long history has never had yet! While in recent times,
there have been newsmakers like Sen. Tessie Oreta who is known
as the "dancing queen", Sen. Miriam Santiago who once challenged
the President to a fist fight, there were also other
confrontations in the past. Rep. Delfin Montano challenged the
President to a duel once. Rep. Jose B. Laurel Jr. slapped
Rep. Felixberto Verano during a congressional session. The
comical Rep. Emilio Cortez had clashes with other congressmen,
notably Rep. Ramon Durano. Rumors had it that Mayor Arsenio Lacson,
who used to host "In This Corner" fatally lost in a match with a
rising starlet.
President Diosdado Macapagal, the poor boy from Lubao, who was
instrumental in the passage of the land reform program also figured
in the changing of our Independence Day from July 4 to June 12.
The leading newspaper columnists then were Jose L. Guevara,
Adrian Cristobal, Max Soliven, Jose Quirino, Napoleon G. Rama,
J.V. Cruz, Amando Doronilla and Doroy Valencia. Nick Joaquin,
N.V.M. Gonzales, Bienvenido Santos, C. V. Pedroche, F. Sionil Jose,
Renato Tayag, D. Paulo Dizon, Wilfrido Nolledo, Francisco Arcellana,
Kerima Polota and Erwin Castillo were well-known literary writers,
and so were playwrights Severino Montano, Wilfredo Ma. Guerrero and
Alberto Florentino. The Manila Times (edited by Jose Luna Castro)
on Florentino Torres St. was the leading daily, and the Philippines
Free Press (edited by Teodoro M. Locsin) was the leading weekly.
There were annual bicycle marathons then called "Tour of Luzon",
and Arzala and Moring Jr. were then the early champions.
Gil Puyat Ave. was still Buendia; Roxas Blvd. was still Dewey;
Valenzuela City was still Polo, Bulacan.
The Quiapo Underpass was constructed, and FEU's front building got
almost totally eclipsed from view on Azcarraga (now, Recto) and
Quezon Blvd.
The Far Eastern University and the University of the East had the
highest enrollment among all colleges and universities.
Tricycles, and later, Honda motorized pedicabs became popular means
of local transportation, although there were still lots of calesas.
The Japanese transistor radio enabled people to listen to radio
programs when Ambuklao was not yet able to supply electricity to
outlying areas.
Tilapia culture was introduced, and before long, most houses had
small tilapia fishponds in their backyards.
The masagana system was introduced to farmers by agriculturists
resulting in higher rice productivity. People were still using the
chupa and the ganta when buying and selling rice.
Smoke glasses were generically called "Ray Ban"; toothpaste was
simply called "Colgate"; any chewing gum was called pepsen, any kind
of seasoning was Vetsin. There was Star Margarine, Purico and Cenvoco
lard, Portola (in addition to del Monte) sardines, Cortal and
Cafiaspirina tablets, Klim and Alpine milk (besides Darigold and
Carnation), Luto and Perla soaps, Chuck Taylor converse shoes (no Nike
and Adidas yet then), Golden Key and Old Gold (besides the older brands,
as well as Salem which has outlasted them) cigarettes, El Bueno matches,
Wearever, Esterbrooke and Parker 51 fountainpens, Bic ball pens,
Quink ink, Senorita notebooks, Mongol and Dixon pencils. ESSO gasoline
(put a tiger in your tank!), along with Flying A, Mobil Gas, Shell and
Caltex were everywhere, and so were the La Mallorca-Pambusco buses,
along with Victory Liner, Philippine Rabbit and Saulog Transit.
The fare from Sta. Cruz or Avenida Rizal to Bambang was just 10 centavos,
becoming 20 centavos later in the 60's. From Guagua, Pampanga to Divisoria,
it was 1.20, climbing up to 1.90 pesos later. The peso-dollar exchange
rate was steady at 2 pesos to the dollar for over a quarter of a century,
but started to go up in the mid-sixties.
Well, thanks for coming along with me down memory lane. In my next column,
I will explore with you the highlights of the entertainment industry
during the sixties. Till then, bye, bye for now.
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