I found myself awake at 6 AM on this day. This is not my usual wake-up time during school days, but well… I did not make the real effort of waking up this early to go to school JUST to attend a normal class. I woke up early this day because… I had to go to school really early to… fall in line… fall in line for the PRESIDENTIAL FORUM to be held in our school later on this day!
During events like this, it is already expected that many would really be desperate to make it inside wherever these events are set to take place. MANY, as in MASSIVE number of people. The settled place of the forum, which is in the DLSU auditorium, cannot accommodate all 10000+ students studying in our school, (or let’s just assume not everyone would be interested to see the forum, so let’s cut the number to 5000 at least) and so that’s why I had to come to school early so I could fall in line early and assure that I could really get inside the venue of the forum, because I’M REALLY DESPERATE to see the presidentiables in person, and of course to hear their respective sides, despite the fact that I will still not vote for this coming elections… HAHA. By the way, I was not alone; there were 5 of us together.
We started waiting at the line at 7 AM at the ground floor. We were a bit close to the very start of the line, so the efforts of coming to school that early were worthy enough. At 9:30, we even managed to have lunch while we were on the line. During that time, the line was really incredibly long, but of course we did not mind that at all since we’re all comfortable on our positions. And it was 10:00 when the line finally moved, and we were brought to the actual venue of the forum, which was in the auditorium. We were seated on the 2nd front seats, so we could clearly visualize the stage from our place. But it was on the 1st balcony of the auditorium, since the seats on the ground floor were reserved already for the VIPs of the event; DLSU professors, organization members, and even some from other colleges and universities.
The show was set to start at 2 in the afternoon, still so it was another 4 hours of waiting for us. Yes, I just said SHOW, because this forum was TELEVISED LIVE on ANC, a channel linked to ABS-CBN, wherein the host was Mr. Ted Failon, the most well-known reporter in ABS-CBN. That’s another great opportunity for me to hear it LIVE - that amazing good voice quality of his when he is reporting on TV.
While waiting, we started taking lots of pictures of ourselves, also the stage set and the stage facilitators. I even fell asleep for some while. Until it was 1:30 when a male voice was heard; we as the audience were reminded about the do’s and dont’s during the actual running of the show. Then next, a woman spoke to us, also gave us instructions on what must be done, like when we will clap. We were also told not to hide our faces when the camera spots us for formality, and also to be attentive to the entire forum, no one from us should be seen on camera sleeping, or thinking really far with our mouths opened wide, so we would not appear as laughing stock on the camera, haha. And before the show could get started, Mr. Ted Failon gave us some instructions also, like when he says his line, “Youth 2010!”, we would all respond to him, “boto para sa pagbabago!”. And we even gave that a try. That was awesome.
A short prayer, the entrance of colors, and the singing of the national anthem were all held first, and then after a few minutes, the presidentiables already came out one by one from the backstage! The loudest impact from us, the audience, was on Sec. Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro, since he is a graduate from our school. DLSU was truly a huge fan base for him, as he really enjoyed waving his hands to us, then we cheered very loudly. There were also loud impacts for the most famous presidentiables Sen. Noynoy Aquino and Sen. Manny Villar. There were series of applause for Sen. Dick Gordon, while only moderate impacts were brought for Sen. Jamby Madrigal, (which is the only female among them) Bro. Eddie Villanueva, Mr. JC delos Reyes and Mr. Nick Perlas since these four are not much competitive when it comes to popularity. They all stepped onto the very front of the stage to wave their hands to us and create audience impacts for them, then after that, they all went back to their seats on the middle stage. One unoccupied seat was noticeable, then. It was reported by Mr. Ted Failon that former president Joseph Estrada was not able to come because he attended a very urgent meeting. We were dismayed a bit about that, knowing the fact that it was also a missed opportunity to see him in personal, and hear his side.
Then at 2:30, the show officially started running. Mr. Ted Failon started reading his lines, while we prepared ourselves for our main parts in the show. After some introductions to the viewers at home, the 1st portion of the forum was started, wherein a question was asked to each presidentiable by students representing different colleges and universities, (which were all planned to do the role) and each was given only 2 minutes to answer. I will not share here anymore every question and answer portion that took place, since I do not wish to be biased about my favorites among the presidentiables if I am to share something, for the sake of the readers with of course, different preferences of favorites. (Plus, it would take too much time and effort for me to share EVERY ANSWER from the 8 presidentiables, okay!)
And after that, the commercial break took place. I first thought while a show is having a commercial break, nothing’s happening new on the stage set; everyone is not moving on their original positions at all. But I was all wrong; during the commercial, everyone was rushing from bringing some materials out, and bringing in new ones to be used for the next portion of the show. I could see everyone really moving from one place to another, while the presidentiables just had their water break, while some were chatting with each other, or with other persons from the backstage that they know. And then the show returned.
The 2nd portion of the forum began. The presidentiables were faced to four students from our school which were tasked to ask the questions; 2 questions per presidentiable. But even Mr. Ted Failon managed to butt in follow-up questions coming from his mind (and not actually part of the script) to some of the presidentiables after they had answered. There were lots of cheers, and there were some boos also.
Then again, commercial break. This commercial break was where almost everyone on the stage was panicking as they brought out many props from the stage until the 9 podiums were left seen. While the presiedentiables were just standing still. Then the show returned. For the 3rd portion of the forum, it was a form of a debate, wherein one same question was asked to all of them 8, and when someone disagreed to what another someone answered, he or she rebutted to put more pressure to that someone who answered. Even Mr. Ted Failon contributed to the putting of the pressure to the presidentiables with his extra questions. And that same question for everyone, by the way, was something related to Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, which is truly very interesting to talk about because you know… Pres. GMA = full of scandals. LOL. Anyway, after that portion, there was another commercial break, then as the show returned, Mr. Ted Failon uttered his final lines for the show. Then the 8 presidentiables were given a minute to address their final messages to us, the audience. After that, the show ended with the presidentiables shaking each other’s hands, and us leaving the auditorium.
…
Oooops! This story is not over yet there, because THERE’S A LOT MORE! And this next sharing that I’m about to do is actually… the BEST PART to me. After leaving the auditorium, it’s not yet go home time! We stayed at the grounds, waiting for the 8 presidentiables as they exit those elevators, and make their way to the school exit… for the sake of SEEING THEM AT EVEN CLOSER LOOK, TAKE PICTURES OF THEM (and luckily have pictures of myself WITH THEM) and be able to SHAKE HANDS WITH THEM!
And these were really what we were able to accomplish here! Despite those total sufferings and hardships of getting through those people who were almost pushing each other already just to get closer to the presidentiable, I still enjoyed it. The presidentiables did not appear on the scene at the same time; one appeared, then another did after some minutes. And they had different respective routes to the exit, that’s why it really made us exhausted as we ran after one presidentiable to the other. DLSU is a very wide school, if you don’t know. It was really a chaotic and stampede-like scenario, especially when the more famous ones showed up, like Villar, Aquino, Teodoro and Gordon. But on the situation of Gibo Teodoro when he showed up was the most chaotic and wild scene! Since he graduated from our school, the La Salle schools like ours are his strongest fan base. While everyone surrounding him, including myself of course, was desperate to get closer to him, the Lasallian alma mater hymn was suddenly heard, sung by us ourselves. And Gibo even joined us, especially on the throwing of the fist part. It was really a proud moment for us, cheering for the running president who carries the name of our beloved school with him, and that’s the main reason why we were really cheering loud for him. it does not necessarily show that all of us Lasallians are totally in favor of him to be the next president.
After all 8 of them had left DLSU, we grouped together to see those photos that we were able to capture during the stampede moments, haha. Then we went our way to the school exit, with ourselves totally perspiring and very exhausted, but despite that, there were smiles on our faces, as we really did enjoy this day, for we were sooooo lucky that we made it inside the auditorium to see the forum. ( because not everyone made it, since as I said a while ago, the auditorium has not enough seating capacity for all DLSU students)
This is one golden opportunity that came into our lives that we will surely never forget, even though the irony of it is that; we are not voting for this election yet. Well, we were just interested to experience this one, so why should anyone care about that? At least, whoever wins the election… WE’VE ALREADY MET HIM or HER in personal! That’s a huge achievement that anybody must feel envious at! -_+
Mr. Ted Failon: “Youth 2010!”
Me, and the entire audience: ‘Boto para sa pagbabago!!!”
