Celebrating Batch 1969’s Golden Anniversary

Memories of the late ‘60s

Our golden jubilarians are a product of the years when life was so simple then. It was a time when students did not have to suffer the traffic of modern times and paid for a short 5 km. Jeepney trip at P0.05, enjoyed soft drinks at P0.10 per 7 oz. bottle, bought a meal for P0.50 to P1.00 and the minimum wage was at P80 per month. There were no high-tech gadgets, no
email, no internet and no social media vehicles for communication. Instead we relied on postal mail, letters, face to face meeting and the use of the rotary type analog phones as the means of communication, which provided the means to develop the character and the inter-personal communication skills of the students.

Ironically those were also the years when activism has awakened the youth of the land and PSBA students participated in demonstrations and rallies that denounced their perceived abuses in Philippine Society. These demonstrations were marred by violence on both sides and the demonstrators used Molotov bomb, pillboxes and firecrackers to fight back at government forces. The familiar shouts from student activists were:
MAKIBAKA HUWAG MATAKOT!
DOWN WITH IMPERIALISM, FASCISM, FEUDALISM!

The years were also marked by typhoons and flooding and an earthquake which caused the collapse of the Ruby Tower in Manila. These events resulted in “forced” vacation for students. Nevertheless, student life inside the PSBA campus moved on. The first election of the Supreme Student Council was held on September 29, 1967 where Victor Sison was elected
as the first President of the Council. In the August 17, 1968 election, Mr. Alberto D. Lina of batch 1969 was elected as next President of the Supreme Student Council. Student organizations, fraternities and sororities such as Beta Sigma, Alpha Phi Omega, Tagalog and Batangas Varsitarians, Delta Omega Confraternity, Phi Omicron Fraternity and Student Catholic
Action were organized. The Junior Philippine Institute of Accountants (JPIA) was established and the school supported the sending of its first delegation to the National JPIA Convention inBaguio City where Mr. Alberto D. Lina became the Secretary General of the Convention.

The years of Batch 1969 in PSBA were never dull and despite the turmoil during their time, they were able to give a sigh of relief as they finally graduated. Batch 1969 can look back with pride and reminisce those years. Mabuhay Class of 1969!!!