IT WAS a Thursday, Amun Jadid (Muslim New Year Holiday) and we were working in City Hall fixing the system for Covid Response with a group of doctors. I happen to notice one solitary person I could not identify in the meeting, but went to offer breakfast.
Matthew 16:13-20
“Relax lang ikaw my Ate Beng. It’s really sad and pains me to hear na malapit ka nang mag-break because of stress. I’ll include you always in my prayers, kaya mo yan Ate Beng. We (your original Brito Boys) will always be here” – Jojo
It was in 1990 when I had my first moderating class with freshmen and junior all-male students were assigned to me - the St. John de Britto Batch of 1992. This was a litmus test for me and I was very nervous and wanted to give-up after three days. The boys were in the prime of their teens and it was a “welcome to the jungle” moment that time.
One Saturday, we had a general cleaning and I had to buy a brick red paint for the floor and put-up curtains for our classroom. That beautiful change of atmosphere was palpable for the boys and a tweak of inspiration for them. I bought pancit for our lunch in Pasonanca pool, and poor Teacher Beng had no food left as the boys voraciously wiped out the bread and pansit because they were hungry.
Mr. Oscar Carzada, my principal back then, encouraged me not to give-up and let the students “taste a sense of victory.”
I remembered it was September after class and during classroom cleaning I called the boys and shared popsicles since it was my birthday. They were all sweaty. And that was when I realised my love for my students and my passion for teaching.
For the Novena to Fort Pilar, we had the procession and attended the mass. On the way home, we walked to the City Hall and the boys went up the stage, what could I do but joined them too. I have never imagined one day I would be on stage years later.
We rode the jeep home to Santa Maria. By October, the Third Year, St. John de Britto Class won the “Marian Altar with Our Blessed Mother”. A table borrowed from Glen Usman, who used to sell newspapers, bougainvilleas from Santa Maria. The Boys had a taste of victory and I became their “Ate Beng” for life!
When the boys were preparing for high school graduation, I was no longer their teacher. But Jojo Soria wrote a class prophecy. In 15 years, he wrote his projection for his classmates, he said that their teacher, Maribel Climaco would be a “Representative to Congress”! Of course at that time we kept this as a Rite of Passage, a tradition for the graduating class, until it became a reality in 2007. I was blessed by God to be the Congresswoman!
Jojo and his sister Jing were both my students, the older being part of my Brito boys, the younger my Britto babies of which I moderated. Today, they are both doctors.
Indeed, we can never fathom the mind of our students. They may be young, full of energy and dreams. But their dreams can be a reality. They keep me on my toes, because of the training I had as teacher and I must always be prepared with my lesson plan.
I have always respected their views and allowed them to express themselves and fight for their rights. But this time around it is my students who teach me. I am immensely humbled, honoured and grateful to God for being part of their lives. I am so blessed that they are helping me run the City.
Just last Saturday, the Feast of Mary’s Queenship, the classmates were interviewed by another Britto student, Eugene Las Prillas, a news anchor and Barangay Kagawad. This is the greatest consolation of any teacher - to see their students with hearts full of love, kindness and are contributing to the community with their God-given gifts.
Matthew 16:18 was Jesus’s declaration to Peter his Prophecy of establishing God’s Church. This is the essence of Fundamental Ecclesiology from the class I had in Theology by Fr. Daniel Huang, SJ, fresh from his studies in the Catholic University of America. The Foundation of the Church by Jesus.
Thank you so much to all my students. Salamat talaga sa inyong dasal at pag-alala. Thank you this time for encouraging me to keep fighting, just as I did when we had our lessons for you to pass, and how we cheered in your basketball games. Today, you give me courage to go on because YOU all matter in my life. And YOU fill me with so much joy. God, with La Virgen del Pilar, has indeed blessed my life as your teacher.
Dear Jesus, in your firm command to Peter, may we discover our purpose and your mission for our life. Thank you so much for those whose lives we have encountered. May we be a blessing to each other. St. John de Britto, Pray for us. Amen.
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