JP Elementary School: These days and those days

 REMINISCENCE … Samuel P Hernandez (center), a senior IT at PLTD ADSL, Mandaluyong City, Metro Manila, recently visited his hometown Mambulao and reminisced on the years he, as a truant schoolboy, was roaming the town and scrutinizing every nook and corner of the town, including the JP Elementary School where he took his early schooling. Born in Larap but grew roots in Parang with six other siblings including AP Hernandez, MWBuzz founder, Sam took lots of pics around the poblacion, particularly of the new things that cropped up on the JPES campus over the last 40 years. You can see the photos on his FaceBook account.  

JP govt to tap JPNHS alumni for road funding

Picture shows a portion of the Parang-Larap road which has been giving headaches to motorists and travelers.  This is one of the targets of the municipal government road-cementing project. The big question has remained: How much longer would the people of Larap and those living along this deplorable road have to wait? – Picture grab from Facebook account of “Taga-Larap Ako”.

THE municipal council of Jose Panganiban will tap the alumni of Jose Panganiban National High School to help in its baranggay road-cementing project.

This was learned from Kagawad Carlos Tabuada recently, who said that the council would seek the alumni’s help under the motto “giving back to the community”.

Tabuada, who is also a member of the JPCHS faculty, is expected to present the appeal during the school alumni’s general homecoming reunion on April 28-29, 2012.

“We need more materials and we hope that the JPNHS alumni would be able to help the municipal government,” Tabuada said.

The local government is carrying out a municipality-wide cementing of baranggay roads and needs help from the private sector to complete the project.

It is focusing its eyes on the scheduled general home coming reunion of the former graduates of JPNHS, whom the local government believes would be able to help.

Although many of the baranggays roads in the immediate vicinity of the poblacion have been concreted, there are still long strips of rough roads that have to be covered.

Road cementing in Parang is almost complete.

The next phase of the project would now cover the 5km rough road that links Parang to Larap, Sta Milagrosa, Spurline and nearby baranggays.

Facelift for JPNHS proposed

 THE leadership of Batch ’66 has proposed a number of assistance towards our Alma Mater – the Jose Panganiban High School.

The school toilet serving more than 1,000 students.

The proposal was forwarded to the organizers of the 2012 General Alumni Homecoming set for April 28-29, 2012, aimed at giving the school the much-needed facelift before the holding of the big event.

The initiatives aim to improve a number of the school’s facilities like toilets, to upgrade the campus road to a brick road and to repair leaking roofs, ceilings, walls, doors, windows.

Replacement of bulletin and blackboards in many classrooms has also been made urgent.

The installation of a 500-gallon water tank has also been considered alongside a deep-well pump.

Batch ’66 also said there is a need to repaint a number of classrooms and basic facilities like Biology, Physics and Chemistry, Science and laboratory rooms.

The lists of repairs needed with accompanying bills of materials and labor cost (total cost) have already been posted on designated social networking sites accessed by alumni members like FaceBook and Skype.

This way, interested year batches could set up their own plans towards helping raise the needed funds and materials.

“It (the project) should be completed before the grand reunion next April,” Samuel Tatom, LaPIMa secretary, said during a recent meeting with Metro Manila-based members of LaPIMa.

Batch ’66 eyes umbrella group for Mambulaoans

The mini-Jose Rizal Park inside the JPNHS campus. A similar park for Dr Jose Panganiban is in order.

PROMINENT members of JPHS Batch ’66 are in talks as to what umbrella group should cover all Mambulaoans and alumni who are also members of different active groups in Jose Panganiban and overseas.

Metro Manila-based Samuel Tatom, secretary of the Larap PIM Association (LaPIMa), and Jakarta-based Eddie Tarog were of late comparing notes as to the appropriate name the umbrella group should adapt.

Tarog does not belong to LaPIMa, being a native of the poblacion.

In his recent meeting with Metro Manila-based Mambulaoans, Tatom pitched the idea of forming “one strong, solid Mambulaoan organization around the world centered and conceptualized by the mother group – the Jose Panganiban High School Alumni Association”.

Tatom has proposed MATHEW, INC, which stands for “Mambulawans Around THE World, Inc”.

Tarog, in his recent email to Tatom, had pushed for “JPCN Inc”, in a bid to retain the name of the town – Jose Panganiban.

Tatom said in his recent FaceBook posting under the “Taga-Larap Ako” account that the proposed MATHEW Inc has only one set of board of directors comprising 11 officers, and five officers with the International core groups (US, Europe, Middle East, South East Asia, Australia) and the Manila/Bicol Core Group.

If pushed through, MATHEW Inc will be registered with the Security Exchange Commission (SEC) as a non-profit organization.

On the other hand, Tarog’s JPCN Inc would likely to have a total of 66 overseas members of board and 30 officers working independently.

Taking one common stand, however, Tatom and Tarog pitched for an umbrella organization for all the existing associations, namely LaPIMa, Taga-Larap Ako (TLA), MINA East, MINA West – San Francisco, MINA West – Los Angeles and others.

Both leaders were for a name of an organization that would retain the name “Mambulawan”, a term that refers to all the natives of the town.

Likewise, they also seemed to agree on an organization with less number of officers.

Existing Mambulaoan associations overseas have layers of elected officers, which could cause some operational problems later, especially on projects involving funding and materials.

Tatom had explained that the core of whatever umbrella group would always be the JPHS alumni association.

Acknowledging that it was a sensitive issue, he urged for more interaction among alumni members.

He said: “Kailanman di puedeng mawala ang JPHS Alumni Association dahil parang neutral ground ito … and most and majority of the old and young members now ay dito nanggaling … sa isang common place … high school.

“I think our proposed organization should be one aggressive group with one name, less directors and officers, but with effective volunteer international and local core groups,” he said.

“Our one common goal is to help the 27 barangays of Jose Panganiban because it's "payback time", Tatom said, referring to possible assistance that the JPNHS alumni could give to their community and to their Alma Mater.

Tarog has yet to respond to Tatom’s proposal.