First Class ang ticket

I was doing a project on students' academic and non-academic performances in the city and province of Iloilo when a group of teachers asked me about the results. I told them I only had raw data and that the project I was doing was not yet finished. But the teachers were very excited about the results and they prodded me to just give them hints of the rankings I made. So I enumerated to them some schools that made a good showing.

I mentioned first private schools from the city, and the teachers just nodded their approval with a smile. But when I mentioned the schools from the province, particularly from the town of Lambunao, the teachers looked at each other and commented, 'Oh, first class!'.

I looked around if others heard the remark. To my knowledge, the comment was derisive and discriminatory, and may not sit well with somebody from Lambunao.

I'd been away from the Philippines for a long time and I had not been privy to the shifts in local perceptions. Later, when I was with some college students, I asked them if they knew the connotation of First Class when referred to somebody from Lambunao. The students were clueless. It seemed they didn't even know that the words were once synonymous with Lambunao. And that when somebody was referred to as First Class, everybody knew where he came from.

But not anymore. I think this is a good development. I know many people from Lambunao and I have friends from there. And these people are very polished, educated, accomplished, and well-travelled. They can stand shoulder to shoulder with anybody in the world. They can never be tagged as First Class, as how I understood the word way back then.

So how did the words First Class got entangled with somebody from Lambunao?

To those who have not known, this was the story I heard a long time ago.

Years ago, indi pa uso ang travel by airplane. So when people went to Manila, or some other island destinations, they travelled by boat. The price of a boat ticket, just like today, was dependent upon the class of accomodation. First Class was the most expensive, followed by the Second Class, and the cheapest was the Third Class or Economy. It followed that First Class had the best accomodation - with aircon, set meals in exclusive dining saloon, and spick-and-span toilet and shower rooms. Of course, Third Class was the cheapest because it was not airconned and the accomodation was a bit messy. Bisan diin lang may karga. Tupad mo mga kaing kang paho kag uling. May mga manok kag pato pa. Kag grabe pasahero kay barato. Kon adlaw, magahod hibi ka mga bata. Sa gab-i, magahod huragok ka mga mal-am. Ay sus!

It was therefore not surprising that being in the First Class Section was a badge of honor. Indi lang matawhay sa First Class. But more so, mas mahal ang bayad tuya. Gani, kon First Class ticket mo, astig ang dating. Dami pera.

And so this bisoy (for those who do not know, during my time bisoy meant bisayang tisoy) from Lambunao went to Manila. And because it was his first time, he would like to impress everybody. So he purchased a First Class ticket. Bigtime!

So, nagsaka na siya sa barko. And he showed with pride his ticket to the gangplank crew. First Class gid man ticket nya. And he was ushered to a separate and much cleaner gangplank for First Class passengers only. All the crew greeted him as his luggage was carried by the porters. Feeling sikat gid siya. Siyempre. First Class ang ticket.

Then the ship left the pier and off they headed for Manila.

In his accomodation, feeling rich gid siya because malamig ang aircon. It was a farcry from the payag he left in Lambunao. Yes, it was also cold and airy in his hometown abode, but it was because of the holes on his walls and not because of the latest technology. And when night fell he got his pajamas from his bag. Yes, pajamas. Kay ti mapa-Manila na siya, indi mapaharab sa uma. Gani dapat naka-pajama. Then he took his toiletries and went to the bathroom. He brushed his teeth and wash his face with soap and water. And what a life. The floors were tiled and water just ran through. Back in Lambunao, he had to fetch water from far away.

But wait a minute. Something was wrong because the guy beside him was saying something.

'Pre, ngaa dira ka nagapanghilam-os haw?', asked the guy.

'Insa haw?', answered back bisoy.

'Pre, indi ka dapat magpanghilam-os da!'

'Insa haw? Perst klas man tiket ko.'

'Pre, indi puwede dira.'

'Insa gani, kay perst klas man tiket ko?'

'Pre, basin na ang ginapanghilam-osan mo. Inudoro. Indi ka manghilam-os sa inudoro.'

'Inudoro. Ano pagkama-an mo kanakon? Perst klas tiket ni!'

The other guy just left in a huff while bisoy toweled himself off as he murmured, 'Perst klas tiket ni!'.

I don't know if this incident really happened. If true, the other guy could really be a chismoso because the story spread like acne on the face of bisoy from Lambunao. During my student days, the label stuck. First Class referred to people from Lambunao.

Here's a video of a similar incident. I don't know if the person in the video was also labelled First Class.