Maligayang Bati, Tony Palisoc!
Maligayang Bati, Tony Palisoc!
From a bench outside the Springstowne library in June 1982 to Mare Island bar hops in 2026 — forty-four years of a Vallejo barkada that never let go.
Today, August 20, is Tony Palisoc's birthday — and there is no telling the PinoyBuilt story, or my own, without him. I met Tony on the second day of seventh grade, in second-period French class at Springstowne Junior High School in Vallejo. By lunch that same day, he had already introduced me to Arnel Pacanza and Marcelino Lim. None of us knew it yet, but that lunch table was the start of forty-seven years.
The photo above is from the last day of ninth grade at Springstowne, mid-June 1982 — the bench in front of the school library, all four of us. Salamat sa kapatid ko, Joy, for taking the litrato.
A barkada is not just a friend group — it's the closest thing many Filipinos have to a second family, one built by choice rather than blood. Tony, Arnel, Marce, and I have been each other's barkada since 1980: through Springstowne, through Hogan Senior High School, through clubbing in San Francisco, trips to Hawaii, New York City, and Seattle, and now — decades later — Mare Island bar hops and a Walnut Creek get-together in June 2026.
💬 Please comment below ↓
Barkada — bar-KAH-dah
A close circle of friends; a chosen family. Ang tunay na barkada ay hindi nawawala kahit dumaan ang mga taon — a true barkada doesn't disappear no matter how many years pass.
Two Kids in Second-Period French
Springstowne ran seventh through ninth grade, and it was there that the four of us found each other and, without quite planning it, turned out to be straight-A students. By the time the photo above was taken, we were the four finalists for Most Likely to Succeed (boys division) in our graduating class. Neither Tony and I won; Arnel did. There was no graduation ceremony out of junior high back then, which is too bad — Tony and I would have been two out of three to give the speeches.
What we did get, a week or two after that photo, was something rarer: Tony and I were two of only three students districtwide to receive a certificate from Jesse Bethel and the Vallejo City Unified School District for straight A's across every semester from seventh through ninth grade. [Where's Susan Charette these days? And yes, that Jesse Bethel for whom Vallejo named the high school. We're that OG. LOL] It's a small, specific honor — the kind that doesn't show up anywhere except in the memory of the two people who earned it together.
Varsity Spartans, Three Admissions to a UC
All four of us went on to become varsity athletes at Hogan Senior High School, and we graduated together in the Hogan Spartans Class of 1985. Three of the four of us got into University of California campuses out of Hogan. Marce, if memory serves, went the BYU route instead.
From the 707 to the World
From Springstowne in the 707 to clubbing in San Francisco, to trips to Hawaii, New York City, and Seattle — half of this barkada covered a lot of ground since that bench outside the library in June 1982. And we're not done. In 2026 alone, it's been Mare Island bar hopping and a Walnut Creek get-together in June, with more photos from both still waiting to be posted here. I'll get to them.
Still Running It Back
Forty-seven years is a long time to keep a barkada intact. Careers, marriages, kids, a whole country's worth of distance at different points — and somehow Tony and I are still finding reasons to get a table together. That's kapwa in practice, not theory: the idea that who you are is bound up with who you're with, proven out over four decades, nearly five) instead of just claimed in a single afternoon.
Maligayang bati, Tony. Thank you for the friendship and the memories, bro. Let's run it back.
Rock to the Planet Rock, don't stop!
- A first-person tribute from J.F.R. Perseveranda's own recollection, part of PinoyBuilt's ongoing Hogan Spartans Class of 1985 family-archive series.
- Related: Hogan HS Class of 1985 Reunion: Martin Nunez & Tony Palisoc
- Related: Hogan Spartans '85: Martin Nunez Roasts Dondi Reyes After 40 Years
Help Us Become the #1 Filipino-American Media Platform in the U.S.
PinoyBuilt is built by the community, for the community. If this article meant something to you — if it made you proud, informed, or connected — we need your help to reach every kababayan out there.
💬 Drop a comment below — tell us about your own barkada that's still going strong.
📲 Text this article to a friend, a tita, a teammate — anyone who needs to see this.
📣 Share it on your socials — every share brings us closer.
4.6 million Filipinos in the U.S. One platform telling our stories. Salamat, kababayan.
Founder & Editor
J.F.R. Perseveranda
J.F. (Jonjo) left the Philippines at age nine, spending a lifetime bridging the gap between his Marikina roots and his Chicago/Vallejo upbringing. A proud Hogan Spartan from East Vallejo and resident of LA/SF, he founded PinoyBuilt not just as a digital archive, but as a cultural compass for his three children to navigate their heritage, language, and identity with Pinoy Pride.
What a nice wrap up of long time friendships and remembering Tony's bday today! ❤️
ReplyDeleteHey! Thanks for the comment, Irene! Most especially for the kids' judo class in my old house. I've lost those. Maraming salamat, kaibigan!
Delete