The Nueva Ecija South High School (NESHS) - A Short History
Excerpted from "Our Beloved Gapan - An Open Letter"
Author: Efren Pascual, NESHS '58 Alumnus
Publication: NESHS '58 1998 Reunion Commemorative Magazine, May 1998
During the Japanese occupation in the years 1942-1945, the town lost its high school. The following year, 1946, the parents and teachers of Gapan -- intent on having a high school for their children -- successfully arranged to have the three-story house of Mr. Donato Yuson be used as the school. The Japanese soldiers under Col. Ohta also used this house as a garrison. (Thus the origin of how the building became known as OHTA). The husband and wife team of Manuel and Luz M. Garcia opened the school in February 1946, with Manuel Garcia acting as the principal. At the opening of the next school year, 1947-1948, classes were moved to the Maharlika or National Road. The project of moving the school was facilitated by the then Mayor Dioscoro M. de Leon.
Present day NESHS (circa 1998). [Click pic for full size]
The Department of Education required a land area of no less that 10 hectares in order for a school to qualify as a municipal or provincial high school. The ten hectares of rice fields belonged to different owners; Daniel and Damaso Cunanan, 14,229 and 1,577 square meters; Jose Yamsuan, 16,313 square meters; Basilisa Jacinto, 8,784 and 2,604 square meters and Mercedes Garcia, 6,518 square meters. The landowners all agreed to have their land replaced by other rice fields in another town. The land exchanged totaled 49,425 square meters only. To complete the needed 10 hectares, the adjacent land inherited by Queteria L. Ortiz from Donata Linsangan had to be purchased. Ten thousand pesos were needed to purchase the land. Through the assistance of then Mayor Joaquin Valmonte and the Parents Teachers Association, the supplemental amount was raised.
The school opened as the Gapan Municipal High School in 1946. In 1952 the school was classified as a provincial high school and was named Nueva Ecija South High School. It was during this time that we were students at the school.
Inside the NESHS compound: Front view of school's stage. [Click pic for full size]
During the term of Senator Juan R. Liwag (a native of Gapan), with the latter’s patronage, the school was converted to a national high school. Its’ name was then changed to Gapan National High School. After Senator Liwag's death, the school was named in his honor and is now known as Juan R. Liwag Memorial High School.
During our high school days (1954-1958), there were only five structures in the school compound: the main Academic school building, the Vocational building, the Home Economics building, and the separate restrooms for male and female students. All these structures are no longer in existence and have been replaced by new buildings that are constructed closer to the national highway. The enrollment rose from 1,000 students in 1958 to more than 5,000 in the 1997 school year. The calesas (horse drawn carriage) have been replaced by motor driven tricycles. The wooden Lambingan (Lovers) Bridge, where my classmates and I chased each other coming from school, is now a concrete bridge.
The "Lambingan Bridge" (circa 1998). [Click pic for full size]
Our school’s structures and name may have changed, but for us, the alumni of NESHS Class of 1958, the memories and values that our alma mater has instilled in our hearts shall remain. We will forever be grateful for what the church; the community and most specially the school have contributed to make us who we are today.
Milestones: The NESHS Class of 1958's Twentieth Century
Author: Horatio M. Lotuaco, NESHS '58 Alumnus
Publication: NESHS '58 1998 Reunion Commemorative Magazine, May 1998
1903 Wright brothers made first manned airplane flight.
1905 Albert Einstein formulates new theory of relativity.
1907 Picasso and Braque invents cubism.
1914 World War I erupts in Europe.
1917 Lenin and the Bolshevik Revolution triumphs in Russia.
1927 Charles Lindberg made first Atlantic crossing by plane.
1928 Penicillin discovered by Fleming.
1929 Crash of N.Y. stock market begins the Depression Era in the U.S.A.
1930 Gandhi's civil disobedience brought India freedom.
1931 Empire State Building, world's tallest, completed.
1933 Mickey Mouse brought to life by Walt Disney.
1939 Hitler invades Poland, World War II starts.
1940 Birth Days for members of the NESHS' Class of '58
1941 Japan attacks Pearl Harbor. U.S. enters war.
1944 Gen. Douglas MacArthur liberates the Philippines.
1945 Atomic bomb exploded over Japan. World War II ends.
1946 The Philippines becomes an independent nation.
1948 NESHS Class of '58 starts elementary schooling.
1949 Under Mao Zedong, Communist victory in China.
1950 North Korea invades South Korea.
1954 NESHS Class of '58 starts secondary school.
1955 DNA molecule mapped.
1957 Sputnik I, first man-made satellite, launched in orbit.
1958 Graduation, NESHS Class of '58; Elvis Presley is king.
1965 The Beatles' music conquered the airwaves.
1967 Christian Barnard made first human heart transplant.
1968 Height of the Vietnam war.
1969 Apollo 11 lands and Neil Armstrong walks on the moon.
1973 Arab oil embargo set world energy prices soaring.
1977 "Star Wars" trilogy, the movie, begins.
1981 AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) identified.
1982 The PC, Time magazine's "Machine of the Year".
1985 First Philippine reunion, NESHS' Class of '58 (held in Gapan).
1986 People Power restores democracy in the Philippines.
1987 Corazon Aquino, Time magazine's "Woman of the Year"
1989 First U.S. reunion, NESHS' Class of '58 (held in Virginia)
1990 NESHS Class of '58 alumni collective age crosses half-century mark.
1991 The U.S.S.R breaks up; The Berlin Wall falls.
1998 40th Anniversary reunion, NESHS' Class of '58 ( Gapan & Metro Manila)
Philippine Independence Declaration Centennia
2000 The new millenium begins.
This is our century . . . and it is a Great century!
Think of the revolutionary events and personages that were ushered in this century: powered flight, penicillin, two world wars, the atomic bomb, civil disobedience, moon walking (Armstrong's and Jackson's), computers, Elvis, the Beatles, heart transplant, Picasso, Marilyn Monroe, "2001 Space Odyssey", Muhammed Ali, Star Wars (both the movie and the U.S.' strategy), the collapse of communism in Europe, Gandhi, test tube babies, Mother Theresa, exploration of our sun's farthest planets . . .
The 1940s, the decade when we were born, was also full of excitement (from a historical perspective): there was a big war going on in our part of the world, MacArthur was re-taking the Pacific from the Japanese, the atomic bomb was first exploded over a populated city, the Philippines became an independent state, and Mao Zedong changed the political order, not only in China, but globally. We did not realize it then . . ., our world was undergoing an upheaval.
The writer (a toddler then) have dim memories of that decade . . . , ominous times . . . , vague images of military truck convoys rumbling thru town, dark nights spent in the silong with the kitchen's concreted floor over our heads (and four walls of tightly stacked kindling wood) as the extended family's air raid shelter, hushed talks about the "hukbalahap".
Life must have been harsh to everybody then. Just think of the birthing process then: There was no hospital, no prenatal care (as we know it today), no doctor, scarce medicine (if any), no . . . Some of us were even born in the field during the "takbohan" from the Japanese forces, with a "hilot's" experienced hands ushering us to this world.
But somehow . . . , we grew up and survived those times.
Jump forward to the mid 1950s: we started high school, the Space Age began with the Russian's orbiting of Sputnik, the United States and Russia were competing for supremacy, the polio vaccine was discovered, Marilyn Monroe is the new Venus, Elvis' hip-and-music hit the world, and . . . we were in and passed through high school.
Relatively speaking (in spite of the arms race, the posturings between the world's powers, and anxieties over nuclear bombs) those were peaceable times. We were in our late teens . . . , the future then (from a teen's viewpoint) is unlimited . . . , we were taking steps to the next decade . . . , and a new phase in our lives.
The next four decades went by in a blur. We went by our separate ways, each following an individual path to the future. The Beatles sound was king of the airwaves; the ugly war in Vietnam started, man set foot on the surface of another celestial body, we became young adults, and assumed very adult responsibilities as family men and women.
These times and experiences shaped us, . . . changed us irreversibly. Some in our group fell along the way. For those who made it thru to the 1990s, the transformation was complete . . . the young kids of the mid 1950s have metamorphosed and assumed a completely new persona.
We now stand in the late 1990s and, similar to where we were in the late 1950s, we are about to take another big step . . . , to a new and undefined millenium . . . , to new possibilities . . .
And with experienced toughness to life's realities and openness to what could be . . . , we go forward and continue with our journey . . .
C O U R A G E
A Snapshot of the NESHS Class of '58 - Facts & Figures
Excerpted from: Facts & Figures: NESHS Class of of 1958
Author: NESHS '58 Editorial Staff
Publication: NESHS '58 1998 Reunion Commemorative Magazine, May 1998; (Page 43)
* Total Number Graduating (152)
62 - Females
90 - Males
16 - Siblings
12 - Intra-class marriages
125 - Surviving members (as of Jan. 2000)
27 - Deceased members (as of Jan. 2000)
86 - Alumni in the Philippine Islands (living)
(Metro Manila - 22; Gapan - 56; Other than Gapan or Manila - 6)
22 - Alumni in the United States (living)
(North/Northeast - 12; West/Southwest - 12)
18 - Alumni, unknown address (living)
* Ages
13 - Youngest graduating alumni (1958)
19 - Oldest graduating alumni (1958)
16 - Average age of graduating alumni (1958)
53 - Youngest surviving alumni (1958) Estimated
59 - Oldest surviving alumni (1958) Estimated
56 - Average age of surviving alumni (1958) Estimated
* Professions
44 - Businessperson (17); Farmer (6); Homemaker (11); Self-employed (10)
53 - Employees: Accountant (3); Cashier (2); Chemist (2); Pilot (1);
Diet Technician (1); Driver (1); Engineer (4); Government
Employee, non-military (10); Hospital Aide (1); Mechanic (1);
Medical Technologist (2); Medical Doctor (2); Military Personnel(3);
MIS Analyst (1); Nurse (3); Postal Service Personnel (2);
Production Personnel (1); Salesperson (1); Secretary (1);
Slippermaker (2); Teacher (7); Telephone Operator (1);
WRF Technician (1)
55 - Not known
* Names
4 - Most common first name Leonardo
8 - Most common last name de Guzman
3 ea. - Most common first names (female) Aurora, Estrellita, Gloria; Norma
3 ea. - Most common first names (male) Ernesto; Francisco; Jose; Rodolfo; Rodrigo
1. NATIVIDAD ABAD^
2. LOLITA AFABLE
3 NORMA AFABLE (GRAJO)*
4. RUSTICO ALFARO*
5. MARCIANO ALVAREZ
6 . RODOLFO ALVAREZ*
7. INOCENCIO ANGELES
8. LEONORA ANTONIO (SINGZON)*
9. OFELIA AQUINO (GARCIA)
10. JULIETA AREVALO (DE GUZMAN)*
11. JULITA ATACADOR (RODRIGUEZ)
12. ALBINO AUDAR
13. ERLINDA BAGUISA (SIWA)*
14. GERARDO BAGUISA
15. ARSENIO BARLIS^
16. FRANCISCO BARLIS
17. RUFINO BELTRAN
18. JOSE BULAON
19. ESTRELLITA BUNAG
20. LETICIA CACHUELA (PEREZ)
21. PILAR CARILLO (DEL PILAR)^
22. BIBIANA CARLOS (BERNARDO)
23. OFELIA CUEVO^
24. DOMINGA DELA CRUZ^
25. LORENZO DAYAO
26. ELENA DEVILLERES (VENTURINA)
27. ROGELIO DIEGO^
28. ESTELITA DINO (GOTERA)
29. MERNILO DIONISIO*
30. RESTITUTO ESTRELLA
31. RODRIGO ESTRELLA^
32. LILIA FAJARDO (YUZON)
33. ESTRELLITA FERNANDO (ESTRELLA)
34. FILIPINO FIGUEROA
35. JOAQUIN FIGUEROA^
36. PURITA FRIAS (JIMENEZ)
37. THELMA GARCES^
38. ERNESTO GARCIA^
39. ESTRELLITA GARCIA
40. MATILDE GARCIA (JOSE)
41. MILAGROS GARCIA (PALLARCA)
42. CARLITO GONZALES
43. JACINTO GONZALES
44. ELVIRA GUERRERO (JACINTO)
45. ALBERTO DE GUZMAN^
46. JUANITO DE GUZMAN
47. LEONARDO DE GUZMAN^
48. LUIS DE GUZMAN
49. NORMA G. DE GUZMAN (CAMAYA)
50. NORMA M. DE GUZMAN (ANGELO)
51. ROGELIO DE GUZMAN*
52. ARTURO HERNANDEZ
53. RUFINO HERRERA*
54. LEONARDO HIPOLITO^
55. AURORA IGNACIO
56. NESTOR JACINTO^
57. RODOLFO DE JESUS
58. LOLITA JUAT
59. LUISINIA LABIOS (UYTINGCO)*
60. EFREN LAGAMIA
61. ROBERTO LAZARO
62. GREGORIO DE LEON
63. JAIME DE LEON
64. SOLEDAD L. LIGON (INOCENCIO)
65. ZENAIDA G. LINSANGAN
66. ELPIDIO LIWAG
67. VIRGINIA LIWAG (JIMENEZ)
68. HORATIO LOTUACO*
69. NYDIA MABALAY (TINAWIN)*
70. GREGORIO MACTAL, SR
71. ESPERANZA MAGBITANG (TANGHAL)*
72. JULIANA MAGUNDAYAO
73. ADELAIDA MALANG (YUZON)
74. ISABELITA MALGAPO (LIWAG)^
75. VICTORIA MALGAPO*
76. LEONARDO MANALASTAS^
77. ILUMINADA MANULID^
78. ILUMINADA MARIANO (ANTONIO)
79. LIGAYA MARIANO (PANGILINAN)
80. RICARDO MARIANO
81. RODOLFO MARIANO*
82. ERNESTO MARQUEZ
83. MANUELITO MATIAS
84. RODRIGO MATIAS
85. DOMINGO MENDOZA
86. FRANCISCO MENDOZA
87. MARIANO MENDOZA
88. CONSUELO MUYOT (RAMOS)
89. CECILIO NAVARRO
90. ROMEO NAVARRO^
91. CORNELIO NOCUM^
92. ADELAIDA NUNEZ
93. GLORIA NUNEZ^
94. EMMANUEL PABLO*
95. GLORIA PABLO
96 PELAGIO PABLO^
97. EFIPANIO PABUSTAN
98. FRANCISCO PACLARIN
99. ROMEO PADIERNOS
100. RESTITUTO PADRE JUAN
101. MARIO PAGUIO
102. ROGELIO PAJARILLO^
103. CONCHITA PALOMO (DELA PENA)*
104. FULGENCIO PANGILINAN
105. MELQUIADES PANGILINAN
106. RICARDO PANGILINAN
107. TERESITA PANGILINAN (ALVAREZ)*
108. AUGUSTO PARIAL
109. LYDIA PARIAL (ABELARDO)
110. EFREN PASCUAL
111. REYNALDO PATIAG^
112 . AURORA PAYABYAB (REYES)
113. ROSALINA PAYUMO
114 SUSANA DELA PENA (MONTALBAN)
115. BAYANI PERALTA
116. ERNESTO PINEDA
117. GASPAR RAMOS
118. MARIETTA RAMOS
119. LOURDES RAYO
120. ESTRELLA REYES*
121. NARCISO REYES^
122. REMEDIOS REYES (BARBILLA)^
123. RENATO RICABO
124. EDUARDO DELA ROSA
125. JOSE DEL ROSARIO^
126. LORENZO DEL ROSARIO
127. RODRIGO DEL ROSARIO
128. GELACIO DE SAN JOSE
129. NORBERTO DE SAN JOSE
130. REMEDIOS DE SAN JOSE (ALMONDIEL)
131. CONRADO DE LOS SANTOS
132. ELADIO DE LOS SANTOS
133. BENEDICTO SIWA*
134. ROLANDO SIWA*
135. BENITO SUMANG*
136. OLGA TIONGCO (CRUZ)
137. REGALADO TIANGCO
138. EMELITA TORRES (BAUTISTA)
139. LEONARDO TRINIDAD
140. GLORIA TUAZON
141. OSCAR TUAZON^
142. CIPRIANO UYTINGCO, SR.
143. CORAZON VALERIANO (SANTIAGO)
144. OSCAR VALLARTA
145. LEONIDES VELAYO
146. JOSE VILLAROMAN^
147. CECILIA YAMSUAN (RODRIGUEZ)*
148. FELICIDAD YAMSUAN
149. JACINTO YAMSUAN
150. AURORA YOUNG (CANOSA)
151. DANILO ZABAT*
152. EDUARDO ZABAT
----------------------------------------------------------
^ - Deceased* - U.S. resident - P.I. resident
"N.E.S.H.S." School Name Restoration Project
The N.E.S.H.S. Class of 1958 will initiate a project to determine what can be done to restore the name “Nueva Ecija South High School” for our high school (which is presently named “Juan R. Liwag Memorial High School” or ”J.R.L.M.H.S.” for short).
For your information (and based on our initial findings): The name change from N.E.S.H.S. to J.R.L.M.H.S. was initiated, we were told by a reliable source, by an individual who was running for a local office (in Gapan) and who was seeking the favor of the late then Senator Juan Liwag. The motion for the name change was submitted to a Gapan municipal panel and was approved. The approved motion was then taken by our district’s Congressman (at that time) to a House panel and was approved. Note that during all these “submittals and approvals”, there was no public discussion of the proposed change nor were the general N.E.S.H.S. alumni consulted nor did the alumni who knew (if any) put up an opposition to the motion. Note too that the name change was politically motivated.
This is our frame of mind at this time: In the Gapan City government, there is a process to have a public school’s name changed. If that process was used to change our school’s "N.E.S.H.S." name to something else, we can use that same process to rename the school’s current name back to "N.E.S.H.S." To achieve that objective, what we need is knowledge (of the process), resources (to sustain our effort) and the will to do it. Will keep you posted how this project progresses.
Your alumni-related family & community news are welcome to be included here. Enter your news here by selecting our Guestbook or; EMail to NESHS1958@surffast.com Silver Spring, Maryland (U.S.A.)
The Department of Education required a land area of no less that 10 hectares in order for a school to qualify as a municipal or provincial high school. The ten hectares of rice fields belonged to different owners; Daniel and Damaso Cunanan, 14,229 and 1,577 square meters; Jose Yamsuan, 16,313 square meters; Basilisa Jacinto, 8,784 and 2,604 square meters and Mercedes Garcia, 6,518 square meters. The landowners all agreed to have their land replaced by other rice fields in another town. The land exchanged totaled 49,425 square meters only. To complete the needed 10 hectares, the adjacent land inherited by Queteria L. Ortiz from Donata Linsangan had to be purchased. Ten thousand pesos were needed to purchase the land. Through the assistance of then Mayor Joaquin Valmonte and the Parents Teachers Association, the supplemental amount was raised.
During the term of Senator Juan R. Liwag (a native of Gapan), with the latter’s patronage, the school was converted to a national high school. Its’ name was then changed to Gapan National High School. After Senator Liwag's death, the school was named in his honor and is now known as Juan R. Liwag Memorial High School.
Our school’s structures and name may have changed, but for us, the alumni of NESHS Class of 1958, the memories and values that our alma mater has instilled in our hearts shall remain. We will forever be grateful for what the church; the community and most specially the school have contributed to make us who we are today.
27 - Deceased members (as of Jan. 2000)