Quiz contests during the 1970s and early 1980s were popular segments on television shows such as "IQ7" of Channel 7’s “Student Canteen” and “Pamantayan ng Talino” of Channel 4.“Student Canteen” was hosted by Eddie Ilarde, Connie Reyes, Helen Vela, Bobby Ledesma, and Pepe Pimentel, with Eddie Ilarde hosting the IQ7 segment. On the other hand, “Pamantayan ng "Talino” was hosted by Chito Ponce Enrile and Chinggoy Gil Alonso. Channel 9 later on had a noontime show with Pepe Pimentel that also had a quiz segment with guest hosts. Channel 13 also had a show with a quiz segment that was hosted by actor/comedian Eddie San Jose, if I remember correctly.
Posted below are pictures of some of the guys (including myself) who regularly joined these quiz contests. The pictures were taken in front of the old GSIS building in Arroceros St. in Manila. The GSIS building used to be the venue of the Channel 4 studios; directly opposite the building was the YMCA, which is now occupied by SM Manila.
“Pamantayan ng Talino” was aired on Saturdays; part of our camaraderie as quiz boys was that, after each show, whichever team won treated everyone else to lunch at the YMCA canteen. The prize money was based on the points garnered, with the highest point total being 200. In those days, 200 pesos was a lot of money.
Some of the well known quiz boys are:1. Bong Barrameda from UP Diliman: a perennial champion, he later became a writer and producer with PTV 4, overseeing its reporters during Olympic Games.
2. Jose Ramon Lorenzo from UP Diliman: he became a book author and has been a math teacher in his alma mater, Quezon City Science High School.
3. Jake Maderazo: an investigative reporter for a Channel 2 program; the producer for a radio program of one of the Tulfo brothers, I think; a columnist of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
4. Vic Volfango of UST: a lawyer from the UP Law School.
5. Jim Bilasano: he became president of the National Press Club, if I remember correctly.
6. Angelito Gabriel of RTC: a CPA with the Joaquin Cunanan accounting firm.
7. Vic Saymo of UST: now a lawyer in Florida, USA.
8. Ed Garvida, Cisco Pangilinan, and Gil Maminbo: they became writers, researchers, and producers for PTV 4 and Channel 2.
Other quiz boys were Virgilio "Dick" Acacio; Julius Garcia (Philippine Science High School and UP Diliman); Esmie Tellerva; Nazir Abbas; and Ed Alvaran of PMI.
I will post more names of the quiz boys and more information as soon as I can.In “Pamantayan ng "Talino,” I was part of a team called “Brain Trash,” which also included Jake Maderazo. Our team won for 28 consecutive Saturdays; if I remember correctly, we were defeated by a team of guys from UP Diliman (who all came from Philippine Science High School).
I won the first time I joined IQ7, with a perfect score. My prizes for having a perfect score included a plastic Christmas tree from a company in Escolta and a 126 film cassette camera. Looking back now, using that 126 camera started my obsession with photography. I later on became a journalism teacher and yearbook adviser in Rizal High School in Pasig City; as part of my journalism classes, I taught my students how to take pictures and to develop/print black and white pictures in our school's makeshift darkroom. My blog on photography and K-dramas (mostly historical) is in
https://campusconnection.blogspot.com/We didn't have the Internet in the 1970s and early 1980s; to prepare for the quiz contests, we had to do our research in libraries such as the Thomas Jefferson Library and Museum in Araneta Avenue, the National Library in TM Kalaw, the Mass Com library in Luneta, and the Asian Library in Roxas Boulevard.
In the 1st picture below, Bong Barrameda is in the last row, on the extreme left (wearing a polo). Jake Maderazo is in the same row, 2nd from the right (with arms folded).
In the 2nd picture below, I'm the one in the second row, 2nd from the right. The pictures were taken with the camera brought by Benjie Liamzon of RTC, and the pictures were provided to me several days ago by Ed Alvaran.
