Tawi Tawi Solar Eclipse Rewind

Tawi Tawi Solar Eclipse Rewind

Amidst the hectic preparation for the upcoming Shanghai Solar Eclipse expedition this July, I can’t help but recall the wondrous and bittersweet events that happened many many years back.

The year was 1995. We’ve set up an expedition team to the southernmost region of the Philippines to witness, a Total Solar Eclipse, a phenomenon, which it seems even now rare and to-die-for..

It had all the elements of a seemingly insurmountable task – a rare event that couldn’t be postponed, a remote location purported to be terrorist-infested, a four-year old organization with meager funds.

We had the guts to venture to a place where no other Phil. University-based astronomical organization ever set foot before.
We had the technical expertise of our founding members (Bamm, Winston, Denncapps and Monchie come to mind) to make the expedition laudable.
But the one thing that we lacked was funding.

As the head of the organization at that time, the greatest share of burden was with me.
We had to ensure that the team had a fighting chance of going to Tawi Tawi.
There was no room for delays.
There was no room for errors.

We might have been experts in identifying the heavenly bodies in the sky, but soliciting money from sponsors, we sucked. Big time.

I recall going from one company to another in my office attire to solicit for funds. At that time I would say I was looking my best. On hindsight though, I might have looked hideous in my oversized yellow polos, slovenly tucked on poorly pressed khakis, not to mention, an obtrusive umbrella and worn-out backpack in tow.

I braved the sweltering heat of the sun (MRT and FX were non-existent yet at that time, so imagine the perspiration I might be having) knocking on the doors of would-be sponsors. Botak, Aboitiz, and Fujifilm. (if we can’t solicit money maybe can save through tshirts, films and transportation)

Looking back I realize how naïve I was of the corporate world. I tried looking for their marketing directors without even setting up an appointment.

Fortunately their secretaries have been very much cordial, meeting me at the lobby informing me that their bosses are outside the office (a story they probably made up) and that they would call back. We never heard back from them.

I recall our team going to ABSCBN to audition for the game show “Ready Get Set Go”. (TV auditions were popular for orgs during those times- some could get a whopping 20,000 in one weekend). Of course we never made it, nor even had a crack at the initial selection process. I don’t blame the producers. Who would want to put a bunch of boring, bespectacled nerds on their TV show?

I even tried tapping our congressman in Batasan but failed to have a pinch of his pork barrel. (now I understand why I partly loathe the congressmen hehehe)

Fortunately some team members were resourceful enough to get us some slots in the military C130 flight to Zamboanga; a tedious process of constant calling which fortunately bore fruit. We were also fortunate to tie up with MSU-Tawi Tawi to give us accommodations.

Despite best efforts, I was only able to solicit PhP 2000, from Hans Arber, an amateur astronomer who incidentally documented the great 1955 Total Solar Eclipse in Manila. (Sir wherever you are, maraming salamat po!)

In the end, the 12 delegates who chose to go, had to raise the money for themselves Monch, Winston, Bamm, Denncapps, Sean, Aleah, Francis, Beng, Lisel,Camilo, and Joan were fortunate enough to get money from their personal circles.

As a DOST-scholar living only on stipends, the PhP 2000 I solicited was my passport to Tawi-Tawi…If not for the kind gesture of Hans I would have never made it.

Though I was immensely lucky to be part of the 12-man expedition I still somehow felt bad because there would have been other members who could have gone had we generated more funds.

I am so terrible with closures and I guess the Tawi-Tawi frustration was something I had with me all these years.

When I heard about the Shanghai Solar Eclipse, I just knew that life was giving me a second chance.

Many many years have passed since my college days. At my current status I could observe this rare event on my own and not sweat a thing.

But I wanted to extend that experience to one, two or three souls who might find the event life-changing. Souls who have the yearning to observe, but like us before, are limited by resources.

So we’re exhausting all means to help them in our own capacity by reaching out to other people in our network

I might have failed once in TawiTawi in 1995. I sure hope not to do so this time in 2009.

I guess despite all these years, there is still that clueless boy in me who once trudged on the desolate hill of Pag-asa.

I know he would be very happy.