This year a group of Baby Boomers who completed their elementary education in 1966 and high school in 1970 at San Beda College (SBC) will be celebrating their Emerald Anniversary.

The Philippines of the 1960s was a very different country. According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, the total population in 1960 was only 27.1 million. The country was then considered a model of development in Asia, second only to Japan. A 1960 World Bank study on the Philippines reported that real income per capita was higher than most Asian economies. The annual growth rate was averaging 6 percent. Employment grew significantly faster than the labor force. We had both a trade and a budget surplus. The domestic price level was stable and gross domestic savings was high.

It was a time when public office was truly a public trust. As a general rule, voters looked at candidates standing for election based on their qualifications and track record on governance. People in government did what they were supposed to do and the rule of law was followed. Corruption and unexplained wealth were deemed despicable. Crime did not go unpunished.

At San Beda College, the young students who would be the graduates of GS’66 and HS’70 learned their reading, mathematics, science and other subjects in the classroom.

Religion, along with what was good and just, were absorbed in the Roman Gardens of the Benedictine Abbey and in the Our Lady of Montserrat chapel. They got to know sports, the values of sportsmanship and fair play on the school’s basketball courts and grass fields. They imbibed the Benedictine motto of “Ora et Labora,” pray and work. From what they learned at school and at home, of the norms of Philippine society at the time, they internalized the values of love of God and country, of doing good, opposing what was wrong, and helping those in need.

In the last year of their secondary schooling, they experienced the 1969 presidential elections and just before they graduated in early 1970, the First Quarter Storm.

I had the privilege of being part of this SBC batch through my elementary years. My life’s journey brought me to my home province of Oriental Mindoro and to other schools for secondary, tertiary and graduate studies. I lost track of my childhood batchmates and was able to reconnect with them only after more than 50 years. What I saw in them after over half a century was truly admirable.

I saw my batchmates accomplished in their respective careers — as businessmen, professional executives, lawyers, doctors, accountants, engineers, academics, public servants (in the national and local governments, foreign service, government corporations), and other fields of endeavor. Mostly retired now, they had worked hard, honestly and honorably. On the personal side, they had built families and had good family lives.

In sum, I saw a class that the changing times had not corrupted, that held on to the principles they had learned in school. They successfully implemented in their lives their academic learnings and continue to this day to do what is right, oppose what is wrong, help each other and those in need, and carry out their duties to God and country.

They are role models of what Philippine society should be.

To the gentlemen of SBC GS’66 and HS’70, I give you my snappiest salute!