Pacesetter Vol XLI No. 1 Broadsheet Issue
By Florence Vila
Name: Ian Tagudan
Age: 18
Sports: Athletics (Sprinter)
Awards: 28 medals, 11 trophies
Birthday: Nov. 18, 1994
Height: 5’6”
Weight: 55kg
Address: Norzagaray, Bulacan
Course: Bachelor of Science in Physical Education
Motto: "Determinasyon at disiplina ang solusyon para mawala ang bisyo at magkamit ng tagumpay."
“Parang wala nang patutunguhan ang buhay ko.”
He was a drunkard. He’s into smoking. Then he’s into weeds. He gets himself into fist fights. He’s a good for nothing and living a life leading nowhere.
He was young, yet not so. He was here, but at lost. Breathing but not living. Not giving a single damn thing for what’s going to come.
Everything’s over before anything even began.
Then a gunshot is heard, breaking the deafening silence. The good for nothing is gone.
The beginning of the end
He had abandoned innocence, candies, and being a child for cigarettes. Instead of soft drinks and fruit juices, liquor was his favorite when he started on his fifth grade. Schooling and books no longer interest him, for him, these are just child’s play.
“Elementary ako no’ng nakatikim ako ng alak at sigarilyo. First year high school ako, lumakas na ‘ko sa yosi at alak. Naudyukan lang ako ng mga pinsan at kaklase ko. Naimpluwensiyahan kumbaga,” he started.
The curious taste of smoke and alcohol lead him to the slavery of it. And as though these were not enough, he allowed himself a taste of something he is well aware that he is not supposed to have. Nonetheless, He had it anyway.
“Tumikim ako ng marijuana. Alam kong mali pero nagawa ko pa rin,” he narrated. There’s no one looking after him, anyway. His mother had left ahead for the afterlife when he was in the fourth grade, leaving him and his eight brothers, he being the youngest under the care of their father. His father is the only one left to support all eight of them, thus had to work full time then as a security guard to fill their stomachs and send them to school.
He saw that his father sacrificed close familial relationships with all eight children to feed.
Or at least, this is how things look to the one who turned into a good for nothing. Anyhow, that is how he felt, and emotion is not a matter that needs to be justified. After all, it is not like one feels on purpose, one just feels. Period.
“‘Yong tatay ko parang wala ring pakialam sa akin. ‘Yong tipong malayang malaya ako sa mga ginagawa ko. Walang sumisita. Nasasabihan lang niya ako kapag may nagawa na akong masama at nadadamay na ang pangalan niya sa lugar namin.”
The situation greatly affected how the lad perceives life. The gap between him and his father further alienated him from the family and drowned him to every disorienting drop of liquor and puff of cigarette smoke—pulling him deeper and making trouble come his way.
He reminisced a time when he and his buddies had their usual hard-core drinking session. After the usual drink with his peers and not even before the effect of alcohol left their systems, a group with which he and his friends had a dispute waited for them for an assault. And a fight there was.
“Uminom kami ng mga kabarkada ko. Nang umuwi kami, may umabang sa aming dayo lang. Tapos nakabugbog kami ng isa. Masama ang naging lagay niya. Bugbog na bugbog ‘yong katawan pagkatapos putok talalaga ’yong mukha,” he recalled.
And like in the movies, the authorities didn’t arrive, or even if they did, only who were left in the scene knew, for the good for nothing kid and his friends already fled. They escaped trouble, but the boy didn’t know how to escape that life he’s gotten himself into.
The end of the beginning
It’s not even a mind-blowing event that got his mind into thinking that he wants to change, not even the encounter with that rival group. There’s not much drama, he just found himself wanting to end the wrong beginning.
Just a flickering thought in his mind that lights up without warning that soon turned into a burning decisiveness to get a hold of his life, and not the other way around.
“Mahirap no’ng umpisa. Sinasabi sa akin ng mga tropa ko, 'hindi mo na kayang tanggalin ‘yang mga bisyo mo. Pero nagulat ‘yong mga tropa ko no’n, kapag inaalok na nila ako ng yosi o kaya papatagayin e ‘di ko na kinukuha. Tapos isang linggo, natiis ko nang hindi magyosi. Tapos natanggal ko na paunti-unti,” he said.
And not an astonishing discovery of a prodigy either. With three older brothers into sports, the then high school student aspired and decided to follow their footsteps and immersed himself into an entire new world.
Disciplining himself, he started out in javelin throwing. But that didn’t work out. He turned into being a shot put thrower, and it didn’t seem very promising. His throws fell short when pitted against others, he didn’t win even a single competition thus making him and his coach give up on these and dedicate their time in finding in finding what sport he could be good at.
It was during his third year in high school when he discovered that there’s this sport that befits him.
“Na-develop ako ng PE prof namin no’n. Sa training, takbo lang kami nang takbo sa oval namin hanggang sa nakitang malakas ‘yong endurance ko kaya pinatakbo ako,” shared the 18-year-old sprinter.
In the end, he learned to refuse his past fleeting pleasures and defeat them to take a huge stride to new life.
Point of total reverse
The good for nothing is gone. Meet Ian Tagudan, 18 years old, a son of Norzagaray, Bulacan, five-kilometer sprinter of the Gold Gears Athletics Team.
Ever since that gunshot sounded, he who used to be a drunkard now holds achievements for finding the starting line he has long searched for and for running the way to the finish line of sprinting.
Four years had gone by and his name is already tagged with the titles of being the Educational District Meet gold medalist in 2010, the Provincial Meet gold medalist during the same year, the Central Luzon Regional Athletic Association gold medalist and a Palarong Pambansa fourth placer in 2011, and a Regional State Colleges and Universities Athletic Association silver medalist in 2012.
“Bilang manlalaro, kinakitaan ko siya ng determinasyon na magtagumpay sa larangan ng isports at edukasyon. Talagang desidido magbago at napakasipag sa training. Masasabi ko rin na mabuting manlalaro si Ian, dahil sa kabila ng kan’yang katayuan sa buhay dati, pinili pa rin nya ang mag-aral, talagang napakalaking tulong sa kan’ya ang pagiging atleta,” commended Athletics coach Aries Pasno.
His lightning sprints allow Ian to continue not only what he has started during his junior years in high school, but also to keep this life and the person that he is now that for years had eluded him. Therefore, the fleet-footed young man tries his best to keep everything he has now through studying and not failing in any of his subjects.
That kind of positive sentiment sent Tagudan to be the full-time sportsman he is right now. His past is all behind him. Thinking of all he had gone through and who he had once been, he can’t still believe sometimes how far he has reached. That he actually has run far enough and he can still run farther.
“Para kasing walang-wala na. Dati talaga kasi e bulakbol ako at wala na talagang hilig sa pag-aaral. Yosi, tapos inom pa. Hindi ko talaga akalaing magiging atleta pa ako,” Tagudan mused.
That he will actually be Ian Tagudan, the one who storms the tracks with unbelievable speed. That he’ll actually be able to shake off Ian Tagudan, the dead man even before life began. That his life, no matter how seemingly not worth telling in the beginning, would be chronicled as something heroic in the place that reared the old him.
“Dati kilala lang ako sa lugar namin na manginginom, nagsisigarilyo, tapos tambay lang. Ngayon parang nakuha ko na ‘yong respeto,” Tagudan shared.
As of now, Tagudan is preparing for the regional showdown in the State Colleges and Universities Athletic Association (SCUAA) and is aiming for a national level victory.
This and dreams that are still far ahead but he now dares dream. He is not without a destination. This is his life now.
“Natutunan kong laging may pag-asa para magbago kung magpupursige lang. Hanapin sana rin nila ‘yong landas ng buhay nila. Hindi man sa sports, hanapin pa rin sana nila.”
Ian Tagudan will keep running.
Name: Ian Tagudan
Age: 18
Sports: Athletics (Sprinter)
Awards: 28 medals, 11 trophies
Birthday: Nov. 18, 1994
Height: 5’6”
Weight: 55kg
Address: Norzagaray, Bulacan
Course: Bachelor of Science in Physical Education
Motto: "Determinasyon at disiplina ang solusyon para mawala ang bisyo at magkamit ng tagumpay."
“Parang wala nang patutunguhan ang buhay ko.”
He was a drunkard. He’s into smoking. Then he’s into weeds. He gets himself into fist fights. He’s a good for nothing and living a life leading nowhere.
He was young, yet not so. He was here, but at lost. Breathing but not living. Not giving a single damn thing for what’s going to come.
Everything’s over before anything even began.
Then a gunshot is heard, breaking the deafening silence. The good for nothing is gone.
The beginning of the end
He had abandoned innocence, candies, and being a child for cigarettes. Instead of soft drinks and fruit juices, liquor was his favorite when he started on his fifth grade. Schooling and books no longer interest him, for him, these are just child’s play.
“Elementary ako no’ng nakatikim ako ng alak at sigarilyo. First year high school ako, lumakas na ‘ko sa yosi at alak. Naudyukan lang ako ng mga pinsan at kaklase ko. Naimpluwensiyahan kumbaga,” he started.
The curious taste of smoke and alcohol lead him to the slavery of it. And as though these were not enough, he allowed himself a taste of something he is well aware that he is not supposed to have. Nonetheless, He had it anyway.
“Tumikim ako ng marijuana. Alam kong mali pero nagawa ko pa rin,” he narrated. There’s no one looking after him, anyway. His mother had left ahead for the afterlife when he was in the fourth grade, leaving him and his eight brothers, he being the youngest under the care of their father. His father is the only one left to support all eight of them, thus had to work full time then as a security guard to fill their stomachs and send them to school.
He saw that his father sacrificed close familial relationships with all eight children to feed.
Or at least, this is how things look to the one who turned into a good for nothing. Anyhow, that is how he felt, and emotion is not a matter that needs to be justified. After all, it is not like one feels on purpose, one just feels. Period.
“‘Yong tatay ko parang wala ring pakialam sa akin. ‘Yong tipong malayang malaya ako sa mga ginagawa ko. Walang sumisita. Nasasabihan lang niya ako kapag may nagawa na akong masama at nadadamay na ang pangalan niya sa lugar namin.”
The situation greatly affected how the lad perceives life. The gap between him and his father further alienated him from the family and drowned him to every disorienting drop of liquor and puff of cigarette smoke—pulling him deeper and making trouble come his way.
He reminisced a time when he and his buddies had their usual hard-core drinking session. After the usual drink with his peers and not even before the effect of alcohol left their systems, a group with which he and his friends had a dispute waited for them for an assault. And a fight there was.
“Uminom kami ng mga kabarkada ko. Nang umuwi kami, may umabang sa aming dayo lang. Tapos nakabugbog kami ng isa. Masama ang naging lagay niya. Bugbog na bugbog ‘yong katawan pagkatapos putok talalaga ’yong mukha,” he recalled.
And like in the movies, the authorities didn’t arrive, or even if they did, only who were left in the scene knew, for the good for nothing kid and his friends already fled. They escaped trouble, but the boy didn’t know how to escape that life he’s gotten himself into.
The end of the beginning
It’s not even a mind-blowing event that got his mind into thinking that he wants to change, not even the encounter with that rival group. There’s not much drama, he just found himself wanting to end the wrong beginning.
Just a flickering thought in his mind that lights up without warning that soon turned into a burning decisiveness to get a hold of his life, and not the other way around.
“Mahirap no’ng umpisa. Sinasabi sa akin ng mga tropa ko, 'hindi mo na kayang tanggalin ‘yang mga bisyo mo. Pero nagulat ‘yong mga tropa ko no’n, kapag inaalok na nila ako ng yosi o kaya papatagayin e ‘di ko na kinukuha. Tapos isang linggo, natiis ko nang hindi magyosi. Tapos natanggal ko na paunti-unti,” he said.
And not an astonishing discovery of a prodigy either. With three older brothers into sports, the then high school student aspired and decided to follow their footsteps and immersed himself into an entire new world.
Disciplining himself, he started out in javelin throwing. But that didn’t work out. He turned into being a shot put thrower, and it didn’t seem very promising. His throws fell short when pitted against others, he didn’t win even a single competition thus making him and his coach give up on these and dedicate their time in finding in finding what sport he could be good at.
It was during his third year in high school when he discovered that there’s this sport that befits him.
“Na-develop ako ng PE prof namin no’n. Sa training, takbo lang kami nang takbo sa oval namin hanggang sa nakitang malakas ‘yong endurance ko kaya pinatakbo ako,” shared the 18-year-old sprinter.
In the end, he learned to refuse his past fleeting pleasures and defeat them to take a huge stride to new life.
Point of total reverse
The good for nothing is gone. Meet Ian Tagudan, 18 years old, a son of Norzagaray, Bulacan, five-kilometer sprinter of the Gold Gears Athletics Team.
Ever since that gunshot sounded, he who used to be a drunkard now holds achievements for finding the starting line he has long searched for and for running the way to the finish line of sprinting.
Four years had gone by and his name is already tagged with the titles of being the Educational District Meet gold medalist in 2010, the Provincial Meet gold medalist during the same year, the Central Luzon Regional Athletic Association gold medalist and a Palarong Pambansa fourth placer in 2011, and a Regional State Colleges and Universities Athletic Association silver medalist in 2012.
“Bilang manlalaro, kinakitaan ko siya ng determinasyon na magtagumpay sa larangan ng isports at edukasyon. Talagang desidido magbago at napakasipag sa training. Masasabi ko rin na mabuting manlalaro si Ian, dahil sa kabila ng kan’yang katayuan sa buhay dati, pinili pa rin nya ang mag-aral, talagang napakalaking tulong sa kan’ya ang pagiging atleta,” commended Athletics coach Aries Pasno.
His lightning sprints allow Ian to continue not only what he has started during his junior years in high school, but also to keep this life and the person that he is now that for years had eluded him. Therefore, the fleet-footed young man tries his best to keep everything he has now through studying and not failing in any of his subjects.
That kind of positive sentiment sent Tagudan to be the full-time sportsman he is right now. His past is all behind him. Thinking of all he had gone through and who he had once been, he can’t still believe sometimes how far he has reached. That he actually has run far enough and he can still run farther.
“Para kasing walang-wala na. Dati talaga kasi e bulakbol ako at wala na talagang hilig sa pag-aaral. Yosi, tapos inom pa. Hindi ko talaga akalaing magiging atleta pa ako,” Tagudan mused.
That he will actually be Ian Tagudan, the one who storms the tracks with unbelievable speed. That he’ll actually be able to shake off Ian Tagudan, the dead man even before life began. That his life, no matter how seemingly not worth telling in the beginning, would be chronicled as something heroic in the place that reared the old him.
“Dati kilala lang ako sa lugar namin na manginginom, nagsisigarilyo, tapos tambay lang. Ngayon parang nakuha ko na ‘yong respeto,” Tagudan shared.
As of now, Tagudan is preparing for the regional showdown in the State Colleges and Universities Athletic Association (SCUAA) and is aiming for a national level victory.
This and dreams that are still far ahead but he now dares dream. He is not without a destination. This is his life now.
“Natutunan kong laging may pag-asa para magbago kung magpupursige lang. Hanapin sana rin nila ‘yong landas ng buhay nila. Hindi man sa sports, hanapin pa rin sana nila.”
Ian Tagudan will keep running.