Weekend Fun 42: Danny Purple, UP Diliman Character in the 70s

In the facebook group "Taga UP Diliman Ka Kung..." formed two years ago, lots of stories were shared. Among them was Danny Purple. He was indeed a character, see different stories from different UP Diliman alumni below. 

I did not find enough stories about him in google, not even a photo of him. Am using a photo of one of my favorite rock bands when I was in UP Diliman myself, the Deep Purple :-)
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Danny Purple was a character at the Canteen near the Chem Pav tambay sa SABAKA, this was in the mid 70's). He would read/recite poetry always in a loud booming voice. his fav quote; "...because, I am Danny Purple!" When I was a freshman I usually veered away from him because he is a tall guy, with mustache and a goatee. Always has a cigarette dangling from his mouth.

‎70's nga. and he is kinda scary. pag type ka niya susundan sundan ka niya which is scarier. kilala ko type niya bigla na lang binuhusan ng pabango ang paa habang nakasaky sila sa ikot.

ilang araw din siyang nagtambay sa parking lot ng kamia kung saan nakaharap ang rum namin ng type niya . it created quite a stir in the dorm during those times . . .

Mahilig siyang sumakay ng JD mula UP hanggang Quiapo pero round trip. Makikipagtalakayan lang siya sa mga pasaherong intresado sa usapan. Siempre, dahil kilala na siya ng mga drivers, walang bayad ang dyaske! ;-)

one time, papasok ako sa Greenhouse, tumabi si Danny Purple sa 2 babae. nagsindi ng yosi si Danny Purple tapos pinahipan yung posporo sa babaeng katabi nya. natuwa ang kumag, nagsindi nang nagsindi ng posporo si Danny. hihip nang hihip naman yung babae at mukhang natatakot na sa kanya.....

He would wear cargo pants with the side pockets. Lahat ng bulsa, may maliit na suklay. Paglakad niya, bawat hakbang eh kabilaang kamay ang dumudukot sa bulsa at sumusuklay. May hitsurang lalake, sobrang in love kay Boots Anson (Roa) at hindi nakatulong ang pag-basted sa kanya. I was in UP from '75 and he was a known character on campus until nag-graduate ako.

He was a very gentle and caring person who really looked out for his friends. Of all the people i got to know in campus, Danny is the one I look back to most fondly. I'm sure he had touched countless lives.

Kasama namin sa SABAKA si Danny Aguilar AKA Danny Purple. One of the wittiest, funniest, and gentlest people I've ever known. One time he stopped traffic near the AS by laying on the street.

Maraming takot sa kanya. Maraming naniniwala na baliw sya. But I had the good fortune of knowing him more intimately than others and being taken under his wing. Magkasama sila ng kuya ko sa SABAKA at close silang lahat doon...pati mga kapatid. Ang tawag nya sa akin ay "sweetheart" and he would always escort me between classroms during my first year in college. He was a true big brother to me.

 

He was a genius studen t(i think his course was calculus) whose classmate was boots anson roa (that long ago!). they say he was so eccentric. he was so in love with boots that they say, when she busted him, nasira ang ulo. he hung out in and around AS loooong after he graduated. parang si zorro. was in purple pants EVERY DAY, hence the name.

another story- sumakay ng bus (the red one, JD bus) papuntang cubao. FYI, danny is a scary looking guy with thick, bushy eyebrows. when the condoctora asks him saan po kayo, he very slowly turns to her and in a very loud voice that sounded like darth vader, says "SA IMPYERNO!" condoctora backs away shaking, and almost crying, in a whining voice, answers, "hanggang cubao lang po kami eh...."

he was way more fun to be around than zorro. he would sit at the AS lobby and talk to students... really smart and entertaining, harmless really.

Minsan ay nakasakay ako sa bus. sa harapan ko ay may mag-syota na sweet na sweet. sa bus stop ay nandoon si Danny Purple. nakita ang mag-syota. sabi ni Danny Purple sa babae - "lolokohin ka lang niyan!"

 Whenever he rode Ikot, he would have an entire row to himself, and all other passengers would be crammed into the seat on other side. And you knew when it was noon, even if you didn't wear a watch, because he & SABAKA would shout P..KE before they ate lunch at the AS Co-op (I didn't know what to say when my female seatmate asked me, "Ano daw?"). Then one day, they just stopped shouting... forever.

GITNA NG MISA SA UP CHAPEL. TINATAAS NG PARE ANG OSCHA. DATING SI DANNY PURPLE NA MAY HAWAK NA FIREMAN'S AXE, nakasimangot! Natigilan ang pare. Dirediretso si Danny Purple sa altar. Natigilan lahat.Tinaas ang palakol at binagsak sa harap ng altar. Tumingala sa krus. Sabi, "O, hayan, Jess! Di ko na papalakulin. Alay ko na sayo to!" Lumakad palabas. Nakahinga lahat.

He used to walk around the campus (much like Zorro these days, but noisier) shouting to the skies, "I'm a poet! I'm an artist! I'm a genius! I'm a writer! I'm a..."

the strange, dark, tall terror of freshmen girls he often "make gulat" at the AS basement canteen.

Kilabot ng bayan.......Quotable from him.. "Teka, makikihalo na muna ako sa mga leyon.....mga kuting pa lang kayo....."

known for 'my name is Crime, and Crime does not pay' in answer to paying his fare with the Ikot drivers.

sa greenhouse yata, dumaan si lulette moran (?to margie) ni-raise daw ni danny ang skirt ni lulette sabay sayaw at kanta: cha cha cha, ang panty niyay pula.

 

THE icon before Romeo Lee. He would either flash his UP ID to get a discounted rate when taking a jeepney ride, or simply say he is "Crime", explaining that Crime does not pay. He would throw rocks at the UP DMST in protest of then-campus star Boots Anson Roa becoming a sponsor, and at one time after a rainy day, takes off his shirt and lays it on the muddy path for Ms. Boots to step on.

Danny Purple entered U.P. in the mid- or late 60s, then over-stayed in campus until the late 70's. Six-foot plus guy ----the tall, dark but not too handsome fellow who was called by his name because of his favorite color purple. He also wore tangerine and many of those pscyhedelic colors of the flower people of his generation , but purple was a standout. He was a fixture at the AS building (Palma Hall) and whose presence cut across so many batches. 

He was simply a full-time U.P. tambay who was witty in some respects-----being UP educated---but already had nuts and bolts in between his ears.

Being so tall, he would piss not on the urinals, but on the wash basins. He could have been probably one of those vandals at the comfort rooms.

 

One time sitting at the backmost seat of the bus, where he would yell at the top of his voice-----"PARA!!!!" jolting every passenger, including the driver who is forced to screech to a halt, only to be ordered again with a booming voice------"GO.!

 

A core member of the decadent U.P. SaBaKa---- Samahang ng mga Bastos sa Kanteen ( later Kampus). They were the guys who drank hard drinks at the canteen and who popped in and out of classrooms, shouting expletives and cuss or obscene words, like "panahon ng sumigaw ng P.I." etc. Given the opportunity they were walking behind ladies with short hems, they did not hesitate to "skirt the issue" by lifting hems and saying ahems....Mg a bastos talaga.
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See also:
Weekend fun 20: Taga-UP Diliman ka Kung..., August 20, 2011 
Christmas Notes 7: UP Lantern Parade 2012, December 18, 2012 
Weekend Fun 41: Nancy Binay, Grace Poe, Other Politicians, May 25, 2013

UP Alumni Among New Senators

Someone posted in Taga UP Diliman Ka Kung (TUPDKK) facebook group that there will be a mini UP alumni reunion at the CCP, aka induction of the new Senators of the Philippines. I got curious, how many of the 12 new senators are from the University of the Philippines (UP)?

I checked Wikipedia, went through the brief bio of all the new Senators, especially their university education, and here’s what I got, arranged alphabetically among UP alumni first, then the non-UP alumni.

2013 Elections (9/12 from UP)

1. Sonny Angara, UPD, Law

2. Nancy Binay, UPD, tourism

3. Alan Cayetano, UPD, Pol Sci

4. Chiz Escudero, UPD, elementary, HS, Pol Sci, Law

5. Loren Legarda, UPD, Mass comm

6. Koko Pimentel, UPD, Law

7. Grace Poe, UP Manila, Development Studies

8. Antonio Trillanes, UPD, MA Public Administration

9. Cynthia Villar, UPD, Business Ad

10. Bam Aquino, Ateneo

11. JV Ejercito, La Salle

12. Gringo Honasan, PMA

So in the recent elections, nine out of the 12 new Senators are UP alumni, studied undergrad course or Law or a master’s degree. That’s a lot. UP remains the main breeding ground of political leaders in this country until now.

Then I went back to the previous two other elections, here’s what I got:

2010 Elections (6/12 from UP)

1. Pia Cayetano, UPD, Economics, Law?

2. Miriam D. Santiago, UPD, Pol Sci, Law

3. Frankliin Drilon, UPD, AB, Law

4. Jinggoy Estrada, UPD, Economics

5. Juan Ponce Enrile, UPD, Law

6. Ralph Recto, UPD, MA Public Administration

7. TG Guingona, Ateneo

8. Bongbong Marcos, Oxford

9. Serge Osmena, did not finish college, HS in Ateneo and Beaumont, UK

10. Lito Lapid, did not go to college, HS at St. Catherine, Porac, Pampanga

11. Bong Revilla, did not go to college; HS in Fairfax, California

12. Tito Sotto, Letran, English

2007 Elections (9/12 from UP)

1. Edgardo Angara, UPD, AB, Law

2. Joker Arroyo, UPD, AB, Law

3. Chiz Escudero, UPD, elementary, HS, Pol Sci, Law

4. Alan Cayetano, UPD, Pol Sci

5. Loren Legarda, UPD, mass comm?

6. Kiko Pangilinan, UPD, English, Law

7. Koko Pimentel, UPD, Law

8. Antonio Trillanes, UPD, MA Public Administration

9. Manny Villar, UPD, Business Ad

10. Noynoy Aquino, Ateneo

11. Gringo Honasan, PMA

12. Ping Lacson, Lyceum, PMA

* Migs Zubiri, UPLB, Agribusiness (resigned due to election fraud, Koko Pimentel came in)

I posted the results of the 2010 and 2013 elections in one UP Diliman facebook group, someone noticed that Bongbong Marcos did not go to UP even if his father, former President Ferdinand Marcos, and his two sisters, Imee and Irene, went to UP. Perhaps Bongbong wanted the glamour of UK education.

And another friend commented that UP alumni dominating the top political leadership, no wonder why the country remains poor. Well, to a certain extent that’s true. When one is studying in UP, one is somehow bombarded by that slogan of “iskolar ng bayan” or “taxpayers’ scholar” and hence, one must “give back” or work for the people, work in government or do related actions later. The implicit training is to be in government – local, national, multilateral, or consultant -- as much as possible.

Well, being in government means learning the arts and science of regulation, taxation and intervention in the lives of ordinary people. And more regulations and restrictions are unhealthy for us, culturally and economically.

Anyway, it’s not what university that legislators came from that matters most. Rather, it’s the political ideology or philosophy that they hold. So far, some liberty- or business-friendly candidates lost in the last elections, like former Senator Ramon Magsaysay Jr. He could have been a good Senator once more.