Facebook meme triggers UP frenzy of nostalgia

Illustration by Analyn Perez

If you don't know who Zorro is, a masked campus crazy, then you probably don't belong in this Facebook group. Or you're just one of the pre-Zorro oldies who can recall when the Ikot jeepney fare was just 15 centavos. For the past few days, Facebook has been a time machine — at least for graduates of the University of the Philippines-Diliman (UPD), the country's flagship state university, who participated in a meme that quickly brought together thousands of sentimental UP alumni around an online bonfire. The proposition was simple: just complete the sentence "Taga-UP Diliman ka kung..." with traits and memories exclusive to alumni of UP Diliman, and post these on the meme's group page. Within just a few days since the group's inception, the group quickly drew thousands of reactions from enthusiastic and nostalgic alumni, ranging from enrollment woes to references to campus romances. Many reminisced about the iconic Ikot jeeps. Group administrator Cleve JD Mallari, who set up the page and entered UP Diliman in 1998 as a BS Clothing Technology student, said he got the idea when he was invited to a similar group by some of this friends. "I was invited last week [into] two groups called 'Taga Butuan ka kung...' and 'Taga Urios ka kung....' by high school friends. It was a lot of fun so I immediately thought it would be great to have one for UP Diliman too," he said via Facebook direct message. A similar group for Ateneo alumni has since been started with similar results, proof again of social networking's power to, well, network individuals from different generations and locations around a single common theme or experience. 'Do you recall your UP student number?' Posts from long-ago graduates remembering their student numbers were instant hits on the UP page. User Ann Angala posted: "...hanggang ngayon memorize mo pa din student number mo...game! 87-00440," and generated almost 500 responses. According to one group member, the oldest user who still remembers his student number is Ernesto V. Enrique, whose student number is 68-00761 (the first two numbers depict the year the student entered UPD). Nostalgic alumni also reminisced about how cheap the fare was for the Ikot and Toki jeepneys back then. Bryan Hernandez asked: "uhmm, magkano ang ikot/toki fare nung freshie pa kayo?" Cesar Oandasan posted one of the cheapest jeepney fares when he was still starting off in UPD, which was at P0.15. "1968 yun mga hijos at hijas," Oandasan said. "Baka wala pa kayo sa panaginip ng mga parents ninyo. Hahaha!" Ramon Teodoro Garcia, meanwhile, said the fare was just P0.05 when he entered UPD. "Nag-increase ng 100% to ten centavos when I was about to leave UP. I was there from 1964 to 1968," he said. In contrast, the jeepney fare within the university today is pegged at P7.00. Group members also had fun posting photos of UPD in the olden days, back when there were but a few buildings that sprawled across its green lawns. User Alden Copuyoc even posted a photo of his father's identification card issued sometime in the late '50s, possibly one of the oldest UP memorabilia shared in the group. Famous personalities chime in As the group's popularity continued to rise—more than 15,000 members and about 12,000 posts as of this writing—famous UPD alumni have started to chime in. Erstwhile recording artist JoAnne Lorenzana, whose hits include I'll Never Let You Go, Kung Alam Mo Lang and a revival of the nationalistic song Bayan Ko in the 1980s, commented how the UP ID is a treasured possession for most UP graduates. Famous movie directors Joyce Bernal and Aureaus Solito were also among the contributors to the discussion. "[Kung] nakapanuod ka ng UP Tropa plays nung late 80s to early 90s," said Solito, a stalwart of the UP theater group. Commission on Human Rights Commissioner Coco Quisumbing, meanwhile, had to ask why nobody remembers her favorite UPD chow: "How come no one is mentioning BARBECUE! Sa coop, nung 1970s, and behind the library - for decades and many more to come," she said. But among the famous personalities who posted their fond UP memories, it was activist, writer and actress Bibeth Orteza who stirred up a storm with her question: "E paano naman nabububuko kung matanda ka nang taga-UP Diliman?" Within two days since posting the question, the thread racked up more than 1,300 comments and still counting. "Nabubuko ang UP grad sa edad kung below 25 centavos ang presyo ng Bluebook," said Jamie Pajarillo Nuñez in response to Orteza's question. A blue book is a notebook with a few leaves and a blue cover (hence the name) used throughout UP during exams. UP Professor Jose Wendell Capili, meanwhile, said: "Hindi pa online ang enrollment. Gumigising ka ng madaling araw para mauna sa pila pag-enroll." "At pag naging member ka na ng Board of Regents, ayan, ang tanda, tanda, tanda mo na! 'Kaloka," added Orteza, who was appointed a member of the UP Board of Regents in 2010. Overnight sensation While the group has become a relative success within the UP Diliman community, group administrator Cleve JD Mallari said he didn't expect for it to become such a huge hit among UPD alumni. "I did not expect this to get this big. We've reached 14,000 members in 5 days only," Mallari told GMA News Online via Facebook. "I'm sure there are others who've thought of the idea as well." Even though the members of the group came from different UPD generations, the common experiences shared by graduates of the university over time made the meme click, according to Mallari. "Iba-iba kasi yung kagandahan na nakikita ng bawat isa sa iba't-ibang panahon na nag-stay sila sa campus," he said. "Pero nagkakaisa kaming lahat sa pagmamahal namin sa pamantasang ito bilang mga Iskolar ng Bayan." Coming soon: the "Taga-UP Diliman ka kung..." book This early, some members of the group have already floated the idea of publishing a book based on the memorable gems posted on the site. "The idea to turn this into a book was initiated by Ms. Desiree Carlos (and probably Lucre Villaluna as well)," Mallari said. "She immediately made a rough outline (of the book) after she and some friends agreed on the idea." According to Carlos's outline posted on the group page, the book would contain posts talking about the different food finds inside UPD; ghost stories in UPD passed around over time; famous personalities who studied at UP; enrollment woes of students; and other famous urban legends about the university, among others. Mallari clarified, however, that they still have to iron out some details before pushing through with the publication. "Facebook could probably have technical problems with our group, and that the content and discussions may be lost," Mallari said, adding that there could also be legal implications of publishing users' posts. Nevertheless, he said that a small group of interested alumni are meeting up soon with the UP Alumni Association to see how a partnership could be forged to bring the book to life. An alumnus named Fernando Villarca Cao has, in fact, volunteered to print the book should the project push through. While there is no target date yet for the completion of the book, Mallari said they are already seeing many editions of the planned publication. "We are also planning to have an online version or an ebook," he said. Many have also said that with the overwhelming response that the group generated, the initial publication may be followed up with a sequel. Mallari, who was all too humble to accept credit for his feat, only had the members to thank for the group's overnight success: "I don't deserve too much credit kasi ginaya ko lang naman yung idea. ['Yung] mga nagpapaganda sa page ay yung tunay na mga authors—yung members na nagshare ng mga stories nila." - HS, GMA News