A Batch of Firsts

“Never have I been more honored to be in the company of people who have an abundance of wit, charm, humor and especially good looks”. So said our Youth Leader, Atty. Kiril Caral, during one arrival ceremony. 

Of course, using that line to describe ourselves started as a joke, but it later became a battle cry of sorts. Looking back now and recalling those lines always brings out laughter during reunions. 

In many ways, we are a batch of firsts.

We were the first batch under the newly-formed National Youth Commission (NYC). Prior to that, from 1987-1994, the Philippine PYs were selected by the Philippine Council for Youth Affairs (PCYA). In fact, our selection process was still handled by the PCYA. We were just informed about a month after we were selected, that we were now under the NYC. 

We were also the first batch to have representatives from Vietnam, which had just become a full-fledged member of ASEAN in July 1995. While they were technically still observers, having only sent 7 PYs and 1 NL, they were pretty much treated as ordinary PYs, joining in on all the contingent activities and country programs. 

We were also the first (and probably still the only) batch to have had the National Day Presentation at the Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo, the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ Main Theater. We spent many days and nights, hanging out in the corridors of CCP, either rehearsing or creating our props for the presentation and for the exhibits. It was also efficient to hang out there, since it was relatively easy to get to “Ille de Tulle”, as our Mommy NL Vangie, called it. Of course, Ille de Tulle is the world-famous Ilalim ng Tulay (under the bridge) in Quiapo, where we would shop for some of our costumes and materials we needed for our show and exhibits. 

One interesting anecdote is that to appear coordinated and efficient, we decided to attach letters to our formations to be used during the cultural presentations, so that our YL would only need to yell the letter to get us all in the right place. Of course, we only ever had one formation, the legendary ‘formation A’. 

Our batch name, Kaibigan, sums up what we are, nearly 30 years after we boarded the ship. We may have started out as strangers but over the years, the shared experience and the memories that we cherish of those nearly six months together, have made us lifelong friends. 

Written by:

Jennie Ladrido
PY1995

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