ddkted to: Aloran Central School Grade V Class1967
Year was 1967.
We were on the fifth grade at Aloran Central School.
The last Subject in the afternoon is Gardening.
We were probably around forty or fifty because two sections are fused in Gardening, like Home Economics for girls.
Our teacher was Mr Generoso Cuajotor, infamously called Bo-ongon. (Why? itself is also a story).
One afternoon, we were attending to our gardens which were planted mainly with pechay and kulis while Bo-ongon was at the office of the principal with his co-teachers.
We fetch water for the gardens from the river just a few meters away.
Along it was a huge star apple tree (kaymito), decorated with hundreds or maybe even thousands of fruits hanging.
It is not hard to tell the ripe ones from the nots, they are glossy.
Most of us were not even in our teens, and who could resist ripe star apple?
There was one.
We went frenzy, throwing everything, stones, sticks, even pails at the temptations just few feet overhead.
Needless to say, very few of that blanketed the ground were glossy.
It was catastrophic (hehehe, right Boysen?).
Then came The Terminator.
He must have seen us from the windows where he was or someone reported him the mayhem.
He was devoid of emotions-he was a Major in the USAFFE during WWII and must be used to taking joy kicking butts.
The Thunderbolt!
He ordered all but one of us to pick up one unripe (HILAW) from the ground and fall-in-line.
We were good pupils, we obey our teachers, besides, what can you do?
We queued with an starapple in one hand, waiting for the next command.
Then he took a bolo from one of us, a piece of wood and squat on the ground.
One-by-one, we handed him the star apple we were holding, he halve it and RUB it on our mouth.
Boy! did it taste good?
Humiliating perhaps, but we think it was hilarious!
We then went to the river to remove the TAGOK from our mouth.
Were we afraid doing such thing again?
Ofcourse NOT!
Nothing did stop us from having an AWESOME CHILDHOOD!
NOT even tagok sa star apple.
Hail to the ACS Grade V Class1967 and may God bless the soul of Mr Generoso Cuajotor.