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 Rachel Grace Hermosura is a 21-year old Journalism student from the University of the Philippines Diliman. She has been blogging for 4 years and currently maintains this website. For a lengthier and more substantive profile, click here. |
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 The Last Run of 'Pambansang Hirang': Experiencing History and the PresentRachel Hermosura That night, everyone basked in the University of the Philippines’s centennial glory. As the restless crowd awaited the start of “Pambansang Hirang,” a musical play featuring the 100 years of the state university, the CCP complex seemed to play along and lit its golden lights and sprinkled jets of water in the air. Not a sullen face was seen anywhere, save for those who took a chance at spare tickets. I almost qualified as one of them, but thankfully a performer gave me an extra ticket. Others were not as lucky and had to be waitlisted for donor tickets, a scene reminiscent of an enrollment scene where students fought for a slot on a coveted subject. The audience was a healthy mix, a mark of the not-so-typical UP crowd. Some came in clean white uniforms, as expected from UP Manila students. Some arrived in laidback casual wear, expected from that of the rest of the UP System. Some wore what is known as “smart casual”: slacks, blouses, polos, black shoes and heels. Some brought along their children who donned UP jackets. Others went the extra mile and went formal with pristine gowns and crisp Barong Tagalogs. Almost every seat was occupied inside the theater that the usherettes had to offer available seats rather than follow the seat numbers in the tickets. No one seemed to mind; the third and final run of the play was about to start, after all. Celebrating history “Tonight, we celebrate the history of (UP’s) first century,” exclaimed UP President Emerlinda Roman in her opening speech. Donning a red Filipiniana dress, Roman said it was more than “an occasion of festivity” but also an opportunity to assess “how far we have come.” The show began with the “Pambansang Hirang Overture” to the tune of “UP Naming Mahal,” the university hymn composed by Nicanor Abelardo after whom the building of the College of Music was named. The arrangement was a joy and a wonder to hear, considering that the melody could easily be learned by anyone. From the back row where I had sat, I could hear people humming. For those who do not know or have a fleeting knowledge of the history of the University, “Pambansang Hirang” is a best way to start. The play took us back to where it all began, when UP was founded to educate the best students. “Regardless of age, religion or political affiliation,” said one of the nameless lead characters portrayed by Candy Pangilinan. UP was said to be patterned after the American State University, but UP’s first president Murray Bartlett disagreed. “It was built on Philippine soil,” he said. “If it is to serve best, it must serve the best of the Filipinos.” The stars and the seated The cast then sang “Paano Susukatin ang Dantaon?” whose music and arrangement were written by Ryan Cayabyab and lyrics by Floy Quintos. Its chorus went: “Pamantasang hirang, ito ang kwento mo/ Mahal ko ang UP, ang buhay ko’y narito/ Paano ba susukatin ang isang daang taon/ UP kong mahal, sa simula pa’t sa simula.” Incidentally, the actors and other performers in the presentation were UP alumni and resident students, too. Thanks to pop culture, some of them are already familiar faces, like comedians Pangilinan and Jon Santos, TV staples Malu de Guzman, Eugene Domingo and Boots Anson-Roa, TV host Joaquin Valdes, and singers Agot Isidro and Jeffrey Hidalgo. When the more popular cast members appeared on stage, the audience instantly broke into whispers. Consider Kitchie Molina, herself a professor in the College of Music, who is by now known to some as the voice teacher in the reality TV show “Pinoy Dream Academy.” The buzz on her subsided quickly as she sang an Italian opera song to supplement an audio-visual presentation of the oldest colleges of UP. But beyond their chatter generated by their star sightings, the audience was an appreciative lot, especially when it comes to college pride. They roared upon the announcement of College of Agriculture of UP Los Baños as one of the pioneer colleges of UP. “Pare, bida ang Los Baños, ah!” I overheard one of them saying during the intermission. I would learn later on that the third run was intended mostly for those from UPLB and other UP units. As Molina and other opera singers Aileen Espinosa-Cura, Aggie Barredo and Camille Lopez-Molina raised their voices to the heavens, a diorama of the colleges went on in the background, while an LCD projector showed black and white pictures of College of Agriculture from UPLB and the Colleges of Fine Arts, Medicine and Surgery, Law, Veterinary Medicine and Engineering from the old Padre Faura campus. “My gosh,” I heard someone exclaim at the sight of what these colleges, its students and its professors were a hundred years ago. A change is going to come The trip down memory lane continued. The lead characters changed outfits from long sayas and bakyas to mini-skirts and heels. They swayed no longer to kundimans but jiggled to vaudeville. They praised and read English poems with an American twang and looked at Spanish speakers with horror. “The supremacy of English is assured,” said one of the lady readers portrayed by Frances Makil-Ignacio. “The sooner we get rid of Spanish, the better.” Throwing their books aside, the characters danced and whooped to celebrate and welcome English in the curriculum and in the culture of UP. From the rowdy vaudeville, the stage became as bare as the 15 dancers in skin tone costumes in praise of the university’s famous association, the Oblation. The sculpture was originally sculpted by Guillermo Tolentino as a naked man with its chin raised and its arms outstretched. Alas, then UP President Jorge Bocobo thought otherwise. He later emerges, bronzed and robotic, walks toward an Oblation and places a fig leaf on its crotch, prompting laughter from the audience. The fig leaf fixture remains to this day in all of the Oblations of the different UP campuses. Finally, Diliman But more than the infamous Oblation incident, Bocobo’s term was also highlighted by the Senate criticizing UP for being too involved in political affairs, and by the university urging for more classrooms, which at that time translated to P17.5 million worth of the 30-hectare Diliman site. The transfer to Diliman was preempted by and perhaps became urgent after the World War II which ravaged the Padre Faura campus. The UP Madrigal Singers sung “Payapang Daigdig,” the complete opposite of the spread of the damaged building and pictures of the damages flashed in the LCD projector. “Not a single building in the campus was even suitable for use!” President Bien Gonzales, portrayed by College of Mass Communication professor Alfonso Deza, laments. “But the UP…could not give up. We reopened the Academic Year in 1945. “The spirit of UP could only be indomitable. It was time to rebuild, to move onwards, ever onward!” Gonzales declared, amid the appreciative howling and the rolling of a new backdrop: a painted Quezon Hall. Other buildings arose, students abound, the Oblation moved in—these were the signs of the University’s resiliency. The montage of pictures of UP’s earlier years, which went on as the play progressed, was another feast for the eyes. It was my turn to be taken aback as I discovered through the pictures that there used to be a swamp across Quezon Hall. I could not contain myself and exclaimed, along with a few others, “DZUP!” when a picture of the university’s radio station in the topmost level of Melchor Hall was shown. I also learned that if my generation of Iskolars ng Bayan had the annual Lantern Parade, the older ones, like the segment narrator and actress Boots Anson-Roa, had the junior-senior prom known as “Cadena de Amor.” It was quite interesting to those who were too young to see these sights and to those who have seen these themselves, later realizing how much time has passed and how much has changed. Indeed, time had passed, as Act I ended with a reprise of “Paano Susukatin…” and a 15-minute intermission. I joined those who rose to their seats and left while exchanging comments. Whispers, Chants and Cheers “Kahapon hindi puno, eh,” I overheard someone say as he took his cigarette break outside the Complex. Some alumni, I learned before the show started, had already watched the show in its earlier dates and had opted to watch again, particularly this last leg of the show run. I later learned from Jerson Guiwa, who portrayed Rafael Palma in one of the play segments, that there were talks that the show might run again, this time in UP Theater in the flagship Diliman campus. I could only shrug and wish it was true. Returning to my seat made me realize that the UP crowd can still be orderly despite its ability to raise a ruckus. Most of the viewers claimed the seats they were supposed to occupy in the first place. I found myself displaced from the middle of the back row, only to end up at the far left of the third row. What luck, I thought excitedly, though I had to contend with hearing less of the audience feedback (the seat to my right remained empty until the end) and being distracted by the music sheets and the mechanical moves of the orchestra. I looked around and saw some were also displaced, while some cheered on the musicians that spoofed the intermission chime music. Everyone settled in their seats when the keys of five grand pianos clicked the notes of “Tikladong Hirang,” a piano medley of the compositions of distinguished UP composers. Veteran broadcast journalist, UP alumna and former professor CheChe Lazaro introduced the fine five pianists and told of the tales of First Quarter Storm. Heads turned as student rallyists emerged from the back rows, quoted the Collegian and shouted militant chants. I saw a few who raised their fists along as the cast sang “Makibaka Huwag Matakot,” among other activist songs. Barricades blocked the chorus, placards screamed “Isulong ang Digmaang Bayan!” and red flags waved in the stage. The rage subsided a bit when the names of known casualties of the First Quarter Storm were flashed on the screen. Pastor Messina. Emmanuel Lacaba. The audience respectfully clapped their hands for the heroes of this restless era. The (uncertain) road ahead It has always been asked if the new crop of state scholars have the same zeal and involvement as the older ones had during the angry years of FQS and the dark days of Martial Law. “Kaya nga ba ni Isko? Kaya nga ba namin?” Valdes asked himself and the audience, offering defenses and answers. “Trust us, we march to our own beat.” A booming sound from a snare drum jolted the audience. Drummers from the UP Pep Squad marched and beat on their drums, dancers from Pep and UP Streetdance Club grooved to the beat with cartwheels and headstands, and athletes demonstrated their grapples, breaststrokes and dribbles gracefully to the beat. Expectedly, most of those who clapped and cheered along the motley and energetic crew were the young, and since I belonged to this age bracket, I could not help but join in, too. But where do we really go from here? National Artist Bienvenido Lumbera offered answers and suggestions in a poem he read on stage. Children wearing Filipiniana costumes and teenagers in different UP shirts surrounded him and passed around a copy of his work when he left. A pity it was that I could only take note and listen to a few broken lines: “Binhi’t kaalama’y pinunla sa utak/ Sa sambayanang tumubo ang lakas/ …Magtanong, tumutol, suriin ng husto/ …Hawiin ang dilim ng pandarayuhan/ Alayin ang dilim sa sambayanan.” As the instrumental ended, one of the teenagers, Julia Abueva, emerged and sang “Next In Line” a song that could very well be the theme song of the next generation. The rest cast joined her and sung along, but when the song ended, an awaiting silence fell as President Roman went on stage. “Let us all rise to greet UP a happy birthday!” The birthday song segued to “UP Beloved,” the English and earlier version of the school hymn. Expectedly, the older crowd sang the said version as led by Valdes, but on my corner where members of the UP Pep Squad lurked, some younger ones sang along. The first verse ended and segued to the more popular Filipino version “UP Naming Mahal,” to which the rest of the crowd sang along. It took the prodding of some members of the cast to initiate the raising of fists along with the rhythm of the song. Since the hymn is not usually sang with such actions, I have to admit I was overwhelmed by how everyone raised their fists and sang their heart out. As confetti showered on the stage, the UP Centennial seal and the university seal descended from a harness, the UP Rayadillo paraded the different flags of Diliman colleges, and everyone cheered “UP! UP! UP!” the lights not only went around on stage but roamed around the audiences as well, as if further nudging the audience that indeed they are part of this, this presentation, this history. 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