THE AGE OF MENUDO

Hair firmly cemented by gel, pastel colored (imitation) Converse shoes, high school uniform with sleeves rolled up ala siga and the kuwelyo standing ala Dracula, pants bastonized too short (sobra na shorts, kulang na pantalon) and too tight that a plastic have to be worn on each feet for them to slide through the laylayan, the stretchable jeans and Indian moccasins (aka topsider).


1.

Abet watched “Bagets” in Alicia and life was never the same again. He was JC Bonnin, cool and masculine, and broken in by an older woman (Chanda Romero).

Sarsi Emmanuel in Bomba Star, betamax x-rated movie, waffle hotdogs and the Mirinda promo (complete the bike parts from under the bottle caps and win it), breakdancing and the strut, Sony Walkman, Lilet singing “I love you boy if you only knew…”, more bold movies.

2.

Bagets 2 flopped but Menudo was the king of the air waves. It was easy to fall in love.

Bandana rolled up and tied around the head then the wrist then later around the thigh, faded jeans, long hair, bling blings when these were not yet called as such, Michael Jackson’s moon walk, long white socks.

3.

The letters in scented linen paper in the mandatory 3-folds of lovers flew fast. One night, she called him to the chicken coop. She kissed him lightly on the cheek. It was his first. Para siyang naka-virgin. Madonna is a distant relative but Abet didn’t care.

Footloose also flopped and Myra Manibog was hot.


4.

Madonna sings for a combo. She performed in Almaguer North’s pasala on the day he will go back to NELA in Alicia. It was some kind of a forbidden love situation. A tulay (emissary) handed him an envelope scented with Forest Interlude. And as he pulled out the cut-out heart inside emblazoned with BER-NA, he caught her eyes as she began to sing. “Got to catch the plane at 7:30 / Why haven’t you come to say good bye / Time is running out and I’m still waiting / I’m so lost without you I could die…”


FLAMES: F-friends, L-lovers, A-angry, M-married, E-enemies, S-sweetheart.


5.

Then came Amelia. A jealous Madonna confronted her. They broke up. Madonna would later perform in Japan and Abet would go to college. Ricky Martin came back. Bertong Langis remembered the age of Menudo and Madonna and sang for them. “Talk to me / Tell me your name / You blow me off like it's all the same / You lit a fuse and now I'm ticking away / Like a bomb / Yeah, Baby…”


Profiles: The Churches of Barotac Nuevo and Banate, Iloilo

The church of Barotac Nuevo (above) was started to be constructed by Fr. Julian Yturriaga (OSA) in 1876 and was completed in 1888 under the successive supervisions of Fr. Eustaquio Torres (OSA) and Fr. Calixto Gonzales (OSA). It was burned down in 1912 and probably rebuilt. Fr. Eustaquio Torres (OSA) built the Banate church (below) in 1870.