The Legacy of Sr. Don Higino Templado Gobernadorcillo de Tiwi, Albay Philippines 1879-1884

A Biographical Sketch
By
Jay Cy Ty

FOREWORD

The idea to write this biographical sketch was inspired by some old residents of Tiwi who related the different anecdotes and outstanding achievements of the man who is the subject of this sketch. They praised him and inspired me to follow the gobernadorcillo's way of life. I tried to imitate him though I did not presume to measure up to his ideals.

No attempt is made here to appraise his character and his achievements. It is left to the discretion of the reader. The sketch is being presented without assumptions except for some reference notes.

Majority of the materials of this work was related to me personally by witnesses of the time, notably by Cabezang Conoy (Cornelio Comboy from Cale), Cabezang Eno (also form Cale), the late Fermin Corral, Petronilo de la Cruz from Mayong, Alejandro Colina from Cararayan, Inocencia Combo (Mother in-law of Mariano Templado).

Municipal President Lino Clutario related the incident with the Guardia Civil, which he heard from some elder people. Likewise, the late Mr. H.R. Berces confirmed some parts of this work to be true as he heard them many times from elder people.

The late Mariano Templado, the only son of Gobernadorcillo Higino Templado blessed with children, said that he heard all of the accounts in this work as recounted many times by people then living during the time of the gobernadorcillo.

The descendants of Mariano Templado are grateful to the old folks who transmitted this portion of the life story of the gobernadorcillo, without whom he would have been forgotten like the other revered men of his time.

Jay Cy Ty
Tiwi, Albay
January 1, 1979


The Legacy Of Higino Templado

Sr. Don Higino Templado, the sixty-sixth gobernadorcillo* of Tiwi, Albay (1879-1884) was a man of strong personality. He was of strong though slender of physique and stands at five feet and eight inches. He was good in the arts of fencing, which he learned while a student in Manila.

He had a clear and light complexion with a face too serious for his age. His speech was solemn and his voice was full and resonant. He spoke fluently and was at home in the Spanish language. He was well composed in appearance and had no racial complex. He had a high regard for his office and discharged duties with dignity and decorum. A devout Catholic, he led the members of his household in the daily early morning rosary.

*The head of the Pueblo government (town government) was the gobernadorcillo (little governor) popularly called Capitan. In earlier times, all married men of the pueblo elected him annually. Later, he was elected by a board of 18 electors- the out-going gobernadorcillo and twelve electors selected by lot, six from the incumbent cabezas de barangay and six among the former gobernadorcillos and cabezas.

BIRTH AND PARENTAGE

Higino was born in San Fernando, Pampanga on February 11, 1852. He was the eldest of three children born to Licerio Templado and Felipa Fernandez both of Filipino- Chinese descent. His father was from Bulacan while his mother was from Pampanga.

EDUCATION

Higino got his early education from the parochial school of his native town. After finishing his early education, he continued his studies in Manila's higher institution of learning. It is not certain as to what course the young Higino pursued in the University of Santo Tomas but it is believed that he must have studied civil law.

HIS FAMILY

While a student in Manila, Higino met Crisanta San Juan, a young college girl of Manila whom he married in 1873. Crisanta was the eldest daughter of Mariano San Juan* and Macaria Maglake of Manila who migrated to Tiwi earlier than the Templados.

After marriage, the young couple stayed for a while in the house of Remigia San Juan, a sister of Crisanta's father. With the desire to be free and independent and a resentment to undue discipline from Aunt Remigia, the young couple with their first-born child left Manila in 1875 in a pretense to visit their parents in Tiwi, Albay where they decided to stay permanently.

Higino had six children: Mariquita, Gineto, Merced, Licerio, Mariano and Higino II. Of his children, only Mariano was blessed with children to perpetuate Higino's family, one of whom became later a Mayor of Tiwi.

*Mariano San Juan held also the position of gobernadorcillo (1877-1878).

ENTERED PUBLIC SERVICE

Being knowledgeable in law, Higino was appointed Fiscal Promotor* of Tiwi (1876-1878). Due to his growing influence in the town, at the age of twenty- seven, he was elected gobernadorcillo of his adopted town to succeed his father in-law on January 1, 1879. He was re-elected in1881 and in 1883 occupying the position until his death in 1884. His administration heralded liberalism in Tiwi and was characterized by peace and prosperity.

*Fiscal Promotors were provided for in every municipality. They were given to persons who are lawyers or had some academic or professional title, or to those whose positions and circumstances warrant it. Cayetano S. Arellano, "Concession to Public Opinion". The Judiciary (Vol. 1, 1903)

A LIBERAL AND A REFORMER

The liberal ideas brought to the Philippines by Spanish Governor-General Carlos Maria de la Torre (1869-1871) as a consequence of liberalism in Spain, had greatly influenced the character of Higino while a student in Manila. As a student at that time, Higino had the opportunity of attending both Liberty Serenade and Parade in July and September 1869 participated by prominent Filipinos and students of the University of Santo Tomas to express their gratitude for the liberal policies of Governor-General Carlos Maria de la Torre. These demonstrations had imbibed in the young Higino the spirit of nationalism and liberalism. The new ideas spreading in Manila's young people were brought to Tiwi by the young gobernadorcillo.

In the past, the gobernadorcillo was generally, as Jose Rizal said in his Noli Me Tangere, "only an unhappy mortal commanded not, but obeyed; who ordered not, but was ordered; who drove not, but was driven". When Higino assumed his position, he inaugurated a new concept of administration. He chose to inspire and drive his people to action. He initiated reforms and took measures for the development of his town.

SUPPRESSED FLOGGING

Though Higino would not compromise with criminality, he detested the infliction of bodily harm to criminals as a form of punishment. To him, punishment has for its purpose the reformation of the criminal. With this belief, he immediately suppressed flogging, the subjection of offenders to the bite of ants and other physical forms of punishments.

PROMOTED PEACE AND ORDER

Higino believed that peace and order is necessary for the progress of the community. However, he said, peace and order cannot be achieved if those who are charged with the responsibility of maintaining peace and orders are undisciplined and oppressive.

Knowing that the cuadrilleros, the local police force during the Spanish regime, were illiterates and untrained for police work, he took immediate steps in reorganizing the cuadrilleros. They were required to learn the native martial arts and to attend a short course in police work. He issued them instructions to govern their actuations and charged them the duty of preventing crimes and the apprehension of criminals. Erring cuadrilleros were confined in jail without visitors for several days depending on the degree of their errors. Cuadrilleros, he said, must be models and that they could only correct themselves if they are made to taste the dose of their own medicine.

CORRECTED THE ABUSE OF THE GUARDIA CIVIL

An incident with a Guardia Civil caused an unwholesome relationship between him and the organization of the Guardia Civil. In those days, the guardia civil were powerful and arrogant. Nobody dared disobey them. For no cause at all, they would beat anybody (not excluding the gobernadorcillo) who happened to cross their ways.

On one occasion, a guardia civil came knocking at Higino's bedroom while enjoying his noon siesta, with the intention of humiliating the gobernadorcillo. Irked by this arrogance, Higino opened the door abruptly and in a surprise move, he grabbed the guardia civil's pistol and held him up. "Pay respect or honor in the name of the King", the gobernadorcillo commanded. Caught unaware, the guardia civil humbled himself before Higino. He arrested him and locked him in jail. He was only released upon a pledge that the guardia civil will not repeat the incident nor molest his people. From then on, no guardia civil ever dared slight Higino nor would any guardia civil go to any place in Tiwi without his knowledge and authority.

PACIFIED THE AETAS

The forest areas of what is now the Binisitahan of San Bernardo and the mountains of Barangay Mayong were earlier inhabited by roaming Agta (Aeta). These people were nomadic and warlike in nature and were constantly molesting the Christian natives. Higino decided to pacify these Aetas. He befriended their chiefs and summoned them to gather in San Bernardo and the lowlands of Mayong. When Higino arrived at the gathering of the Aetas in San Bernardo, he noted an unfriendly atmosphere among the Aetas. Their Chief, seated on a bench like a king, did not rise nor demonstrate any act of welcoming the gobernadorcillo.

As Higino stood unwelcome and embarrassed, the Chief Aeta, brandishing a bolo signaled to one of his men to throw a coconut to him, which he struck in two. Higino, however, was not impressed by the show. He surprised everybody by disarming him with his bolo. Everybody was tense! The slightest signal from their Chief would throw them into action. Tension, however was eased when the Aeta Chief, in an act of surrender smiled apologetically and explained that what he did was nothing but a mere gesture of welcome. He warned them not to molest the Christian natives and advised them to live peacefully. Later, he arranged for a lay mission, which he accompanied for the conversion of the Aetas to Christianity. For a while they settled peacefully but some of them wandered into the forests.

HIS ENGINEERING WORKS

Town Planning

The only road existing at the time he became the gobernadorcillo was the road from Malinao. The town was no more than a settlement of scattered houses. The only building of permanent construction was the church and convent. Having seen the orderly arrangement of the city of Manila and some other towns near Manila, he made a plan for Tiwi.

Built Municipal Streets

The existing systems of the municipal streets in Tiwi were laid out during the term of Gobernadorcillo Higino Templado. Higino believed in the importance of good roads. He soon started the construction of the Cararayan- Cale road, which was then only a trail to make it passable for Carabao-drawn carts. To provide the barrio of Cararayan with a street through which the religious procession or aurora may pass, he also caused the construction of the back street of Cararayan named Eduardo Comot Street.

The maintenance of the Tiwi- Malinao road always concerned him. It was while supervising the repair of this road during heavy rain that caused his sickness resulting to his death.

Constructed The Tribunal

Tiwi did not have a building to house its local government offices. In 1880, he built a town hall, which was then called the Tribunal. It was built of stone and its architecture was of the Corinthian style. Its construction was partly financed from his personal funds due to the inadequacy of the funds of the Pueblo. This building was unfortunately burned in the later part of the Spanish regime due to the fireworks fired by one Directorcillo* Tomas Gonzalez.

*Directorcillo was the municipal secretary.

The Town Plaza

To provide the community a wholesome place where people could gather and meet on Sundays and holidays, Higino constructed a town plaza in front of the Tribunal building on the very site of the present town plaza. Ornamental trees and plants were planted around the plaza and lampposts were installed and lighted at night. In this place people gathered to see the Comedia or local plays.

This plaza was named Plaza Templado during the time of Municipal President Mateo Clidoro (1925- 1931) in honor of Gobernadorcillo Higino Templado. The name however was soon forgotten. Only former President Lino Clutario (1931-1934), then Secretary to President Clidoro, remembers it to this day.

Irrigation and River Control

Realizing the importance of the lowlands between Cararayan and Naga for agricultural purposes, he saw the need of an irrigation canal. He called the people of the barrio and explained to them the necessity of constructing an irrigation system. Supplementing the Polo or forced labor system of the time with voluntary or cooperative labor the irrigation system from the barrio of Cale was constructed.

It was during the construction of this irrigation system that an anecdote was told about Higino. Early one morning, the continuous beating of a drum annoyed him. He went out of his house and looked for the source of the sound and found the Cabeza de Barangay still beating the drum. "I am calling the men to work in the community dam but not one has come", the Cabeza explained.
"Give me the drum!" the gobernadorcillo commanded. With a bolo, he struck the drum and left the Cabeza dumbfounded.

Struck with fear, the Cabeza went around spreading the news that the gobernadorcillo was angry. Sooner than was expected, men were hurrying to the community dam.

"An sobrang tanog nacaca bognog. Sarong pokpok na malumbay nacacabuhay," Higino was later heard to have said.

The Nagas River Control Project

The Nagas River has been a constant threat to the road connecting Malinao and Tiwi and to the rice fields of Tiwi. It was once reported to Higino that in Taki* was a lake whose water was shut off by a big rock held in place by a vine. It was feared that if the vine was cut, the rock would roll to cause a big flood. To allay the fears of the people, Higino taking with him the image of Nuestra Senora del Rosario (Patron Saint of Cararayan), and leading a party of cuadrilleros and local officials, visited the alleged lake. The report however was found to be false. The trip was not at all futile for it enabled him to map out plan to control Nagas River. The plan did not materialize on account of his untimely death.

*Taki- the upper portion of Nagas River

HIS AGRICULTURAL ACHIEVEMENTS

The Abaca Industry

The Abaca as the people's money crop concerned him much. In fact he was a big abaca plantation owner. His plantations were located at Mayong, Dapdap and in Cale. He was an advocate of quality fibers. He was proud to claim that the best abaca fibers came from Tiwi. To attain his objectives, he required all strippers to use only knives without teeth. He ordered his cuadrilleros to inspect abaca strippers and to confiscate knives with teeth.

Higino was a jealous economist. In 1881, the central government required him to ship to Manila a large quantity of abaca rootstocks. Sensing that the propagation of abaca in other places would later threaten the town's abaca industry, Gobernadorcillo Templado ordered the abaca rootstocks soaked in Naglagbong boiling springs before its shipment to prevent its germination.

Established Experimental Plots

In his desire to improve the economic condition of his people, the gobernadorcillo established a demonstration or experimental plot in Cararayan. He experimented and introduced such plants as legumes or beans, indigo, tobacco, garlic, sugarcane from Central Luzon, and such fruit trees as ates, seneguelas, and mulberry trees for the raising of silkworms.

FOUNDED AND RENAMED BARRIOS

Founding Of Cararayan

In searching for a place to establish his home, Higino selected a place, which he called Cararayhan (most ideal place). In later times people simplified it to Cararayan. He induced his friends and other people to settle down in this place, which he intended earlier to make it the poblacion of Tiwi.

With the cooperation of his neighbors they built a chapel. He ordered a painted image of the Nuestra Senora del Rosario from Manila and since then it has been the patron saint of the barrio. It seems that he chose this image in honor of the patron saint of Santo Domingo Church where he usually heard mass when still in Manila.

Renamed Gentilan*

Mayong was originally known as Cagintilan as Aetas and a haven then inhabited it for bad and troublesome people. After its pacification Gobernadorcillo Templado renamed Cagintilan to Mayong. The head of the Aetas was commissioned as Capitan de Mayong.

* Gentilan- derived from the word Gentil or Gentiles. The word gentil in Bicol refers to lawless people.

Chapel for San Bernardo

In the conversion of the Aetas in San Bernardo to Christianity, a chapel was also established where lay missions held meetings.

HIS CULTURAL ACHIEVEMENTS

No one knows the introduction of the Comedia or Moro-moro dramas in Tiwi. It is certain, however, that Higino was patron of this cultural practice. He encouraged and promoted the holding of the Comedia in Cararayan as well as in the town.

The Comedia is a must during the celebration of fiestas and during the "catapusan" of the "aurora". He is said to have enjoyed the comedia very much especially the awkward gestures of the actors. He found much pleasure in the company of one known only as Pando from Nagas. He was his personal jester. For Pando's pranks and jokes, the gobernadorcillo excused him from the usual polo or forced labor.

Higino appreciated music. He encouraged his brother Dionisio*, a talented musician to organize an orchestra using both native and foreign instruments. During fiestas and other occasions, this orchestra presented musical renditions.

*Grandfather of Kagawad Artemio Auste

New Year's Day Celebration

On New Year's Day, Higino would gather the children for a celebration. He would coax them to sing and to recite prayers and extracts from Christ's passion plays. To each participant he gave them prizes. At the end of the celebration, he would shower them with coins to his full enjoyment as he saw them scramble for the showered coins.

RECIPIENT OF A MEDAL OF MERIT

The Superior government in Manila took cognizance of the Gobernadorcillo's unusual achievements in public improvements, in the promotion of peace and order and in the development of local agriculture. He was therefore awarded a silver medal* wherein the following was inscribed: "GOBIERNO SUPERIOR DE FILIPINAS- AL MERITO CIVIL".

*The heirs of the late Mayor Jose Clutario Templado preserve the medal.

HIS DEATH

In the later part of his incumbency as gobernadorcillo, Don Higino Templado contracted a certain fever. He was confined for a week in bed. Recovering from the illness, he was again in his job supervising the repair of the road in Nagas after a heavy flood. He got a relapse and finally died in 1884 at the prime age of 32. His office vacated, his Teniente Mayor, Ramon Zepeda assumed his office.

*Jay Cy Ty is the pen name of the author, the late Mayor Jose Clutario Templado.

Memories of my Father

My father would have been 60 years old today but he died young at age 43 from complications of his excesses in life.

I remember my Dad mostly as a beer-drinking, chain-smoking, black-coffee drinking, temperamental man who spoke English, which he learned from my mother, mixed with the vernacular he learned from the Istambays in our town.

He was a young man of 21 when he first set foot in our remote town in the Philippines as an eager member of the Japanese Overseas Cooperation Volunteer (JOCV), Japan’s version of the US Peace Corps in trying to make amends for the war that devastated his neighbors years back.

It was in Tiwi, Albay, famous for its Hot Springs and Pottery, among others, where he first made his mark in the Philippines. He was assigned as a Ceramic Technician and had a hand in the rehabilitation of the Ceramic Plant of the town.

And with the cooperation of some local folks, he was instrumental in making maybe the first and probably the only Japanese Garden in the Philippines made by a “genuine Japanese” at that time.

The Japanese Garden in Tiwi was once upon a time one of the most visited places in Albay by both foreign and local tourists alike. It even landed in both the Japanese and Philippine Tourist Guidebooks, although the information on the latter was erroneously credited to a group of Japanese JOCVs, which I think only shows how irresponsible they were in handling facts and put premium more on hearsays rather than do some research on the subject.

Sad to say, the said Japanese Garden of today is a mere shadow of its old self having fallen victim to neglect due to political intramurals of the local leaders. I hope that one day, I could raise the money to rehabilitate it if only the town’s local officials would allow it.

My father was a handsome man which was probably why he was able to win the hands of the only daughter of the former Mayor and convinced her in the end to elope with him when my Grand Pa did not approve of the relationship because of what he deemed as cultural differences and the thought of losing his precious daughter to a complete stranger and a "former enemy" at that, what with the painful reminder of the Second World War still fresh in the late 60s.

My Grandfather, in his attempt to stop their blooming relationship, even asked the Japanese Embassy to pull him out of Tiwi and had him recalled to Japan thus ending abruptly the stint and career of the youngest member of the 1968 batch of the JOCVs in the Philippines. But my father wrote to my mother almost everyday until he finally came back and the rest was history.

EARLY YEARS

I will always remember his ritual each morning, sitting in his chair with a cigarette wedged in his fingers, reading a book in between sips of his very strong sugar-less black coffee.

He was a wide and voracious reader. He had a vast collection of books from the animes to history and the sciences, all in Japanese of course, which was maybe his way of getting in touch with his roots while moored in a land far different from where he grew up.

I will always remember the packages from Japan that my Lola Riki, his mother sent to us. I will always remember the excitement on his face as he took out the toys, clothes and boxes of food out of the box and gave them to us one by one.

Long before Voltes V and other Japanese Anime's invasion of the Philippines, I already had my share of those battery-operated robots, transformers and anime-designed sneakers, school supplies and clothing. Funny, but I even refused to wear those sneakers to school and use the knapsack, since I felt that I was out of place, for in the mid and late 70’s I think those things were uncommon in the Philippines.

And long before Japanese foods were in vogue, I already had my fill of sushi, sashimi and the like. My father would regale us with stories about his early years in Post-War Japan where food were scarce and the sacrifices they made.

He once shared to us a story about how his Mom would prepare and arrange his packed lunch for school with nothing but rice and a single pickled red cherry at the center fashioning out a Japanese flag from the meager supply that they had to remind him not to be choosy about food.

And he was a funny man too. Maybe taking from his mother, he in turn tricked me and my younger sister into believing that the Nori paper that he just ran over the flames of a lone candle is actually carbon paper that he turned into something edible and other hilarious stories about the brown Miso paste, the pickled radish, the sesame seeds and the Kikkoman soy sauce.

I will always remember how he gave birth to a lot of animals through the magic of Origami as well as colored pencil sketches on the drawing books putting to good use his talent that once upon a time won him a place in a UNESCO-sponsored art contest in Japan.

I will always remember how he made our Christmases more bright and fun with his artworks and fancy decorations of Santa, Rudolph and such.

And of course, how he made my school projects better than anyone else with his wide knowledge and imagination.

He was our resident artist, comedian, designer and father rolled into one.

(To be Continued)

Let there be LIGHT

I’ve been so busy the past week that I hardly had time to update my blogs, although I was able to spare a bit of time to take a peek on some of the blogs in my blogroll on some nights that I was home.

Anyway, I read in the March 15, 2007 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer the news about the National Power Corporation’s cutting off supply to the entire province of Albay because of the Albay Electric Cooperative’s unpaid debt in the amount of a whopping P981.3 million.

At first, my mind tried to brush it off but my heart begged me to say my piece after I realized that Aleco was so in the red and could accumulate a debt that would reach a billion pesos in the next few years or so, which would have a very negative effect on the lives of the people of Albay.

It used to be a profitable cooperative run by honest and hardworking people in Albay, where the welfare of its constituents was paramount and service excellence its battle cry.

In fact, my Grandfather, Jose C. Templado used to be its Secretary of the Board and then President during its pioneering days in the early 70s to its heydays in the 80s while at the same time being Vice-President of the Association of Bicol Cooperatives (ABECO) which he served with unquestioned integrity and genuine public service.

He saw the writings on the wall early when crooked politicians entered the cooperative's domain, invaded its board room and started to twist the cooperative’s policies and decisions to suit their needs and interests which I think influenced his decision not to seek re-election and retired quietly when his final term ended.

Afterwards, the cooperative’s fate and fortune all went downhill as more competent and honest people left Aleco disillusioned, and replaced with blood-suckers who bled the cooperative’s coffer dry and drove the company into financial ruins from which it couldn't recover.

At one time, Aleco was divided into 3 independent services that served the 3 Congressional Districts of Albay with--

Aleco 1: Tiwi, Malinao, Tabaco, Malilipot, Bacacay and Sto. Domingo.

Aleco 2: Legaspi City, Daraga, Camalig, Rapu-Rapo, and Manito.

Aleco 3: Guinobatan, Oas, Libon, Ligao, Polangui, Jovellar and Pio Duran.

Each one was independent from each other, policy and budget-wise. Each had its own member-elected Board of Directors and run by an autonomous management team.

This was done to save the consumers of the other districts from the inconvenience of their power and electricity being cut-off because of one particular district’s failure to deliver its payment to Napocor.

Actually, this was done to save the “less progressive” districts, which were the First and Third Districts, from the “urban” Second District, where big business reigned supreme and huge debt to the cooperative was tops.

But the experiment did not last long due to pressures from “unseen hands” and so-called concerned consumers that were supported by lobbyists to the “higher ups” in the national government.

In the course of its history, you can trace Aleco’s woes to its delinquent consumers; not the common Albayano though but mostly from the big businesses operating in Legaspi City owned by prominent people of Albay with ties to powerful politicians and other powers-that-be in the province, as well as to the plethora of inept managers that the National Electrification Administration installed to “mis”-manage the company.

The moral of the story here is that the dirty hands of politics corrupt the people they touch and destroy everything in their path.

If we can only rid our country of these crooked politicians and their minions, maybe we can really, really say that the Philippines can be a really, really nice place to live in.

If that time comes, then I can say that there really is a light at the end of the tunnel. Otherwise, we will continue to be stuck in the dark age of our own making.

3.25.07

1986 People Power Recollections

“Where were you in ‘86 EDSA Revolution?”

This caught my eye while on a jeepney cruising along the Quezon Bridge near Quiapo a long, long time ago. It was written on a wall of an old dilapidated building along the Pasig River. The handwriting was crude using a black paint, and who put it there and for whatever reason we will never really know.

But it was a good question come to think of it for this year's 21st Anniversary of the People Power Revolution, an event that changed not only the history of the Filipino nation and its people but also proved to the world that change could be achieved peacefully. The people in the Communist world soon followed thereafter as they emulated and learned the lessons of our unique form of ending a tyrannical regime without bloodshed.

Thus, we Filipinos could lay a claim that we had a hand in the collapse of the Soviet Union and the communist bloc in the late 80s to the early 90s and in the process changed the lives of millions of people all over the world. But while other nations have progressed since, our country remains in a quagmire of our own making, but that is another story that would merit a deeper analysis and another post in the future. Suffice it to say that for now, we will not stray away from the topic.

Back to the question, I was neither at home in Tiwi, Albay nor protesting in EDSA at that time. I was in the Visayas, Barotac Nuevo in Iloilo to be exact during the National Secondary Schools Press Conference (NSSPC) held in that rustic but charming town and if I remembered it correctly, some 30-plus kilometers away from the City of Iloilo.


I was in third year high school in 1986, when I was chosen as one of the representatives of the Bicol Region (by virtue of me landing in 5th place in the News Writing Category in the Regional Secondary Schools Press Conference (RSSPC) held at the Camarines Sur National High School in Naga City of the same year) to the NSSPC where lady luck smiled on me in Barotac Nuevo for I placed 9th (only the top 10 were announced and awarded certificates onstage) out of 150-plus contestants nationwide and was the highest placed Bicolano in the News Writing Category.

 

My recollections of the events that led to the 1986 People Power Revolution began on the day when Benigno “Ninoy” S. Aquino was murdered on the hot tarmac of the then Manila International Airport on August 21, 1983.

My grandfather, who was the head of the Bicol Saro in our town, the leading opposition party in the Bicol Region during the dark years of the Marcos dictatorship, was keenly awaiting on radio the news of the opposition senator’s arrival, and what he heard from sketchy reports was that Ninoy was shot dead by an assassin despite the presence of the Avsecom personnel in the heavily guarded airport.

I remember my Lolo in shock, and he could only mutter in a barely audible voice that, “this is the beginning of the end for Marcos. He is finished and sooner or later he will be deposed by the people.”

It never occurred to me then that his words would prove providential years later, but then I am not surprised now for my grandfather was a serious student and practitioner of politics, having been elected vice-mayor and then mayor of Tiwi, Albay in his younger days, but of a different kind, back when politics was really “for the people, by the people and of the people”; where the elected leaders did not enrich themselves while in office as opposed to the battle cry of our present crop of shameless politicians as told to me by a descendant of Filosofong Tasyo years ago -- ”poor the people, buy the people and off the people.”

So, when the dictator called a snap presidential election and the Cory-Doy bandwagon rolled into Bicolandia, I was there with Old Grandpa. I saw up close and personal the two opposition candidates at the house of then Assemblyman and later Senator Victor S. Ziga when they held their Miting de Avance in Tabaco, Albay and became a certified member of the Yellow Army by playing the recordings of protest songs (Freddie Aguilar's Bayan Ko) in all the anti-Marcos rallies in our town as well as leading my friends in putting up campaign posters in all the available spaces and places that we could find, and most of our forays were done in nighttime.

I remember listening on the radio with Lolo of course, the fiery interpellation and filibustering of the loquacious Assemblyman from Mindanao, Homobono Adaza during the canvassing of the election returns in the Batasan Pambansa, as then Speaker Nicanor Yniguez of Leyte and other Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL) stalwarts railroaded the process and proclaimed Marcos as the winner of the snap polls, contrary to the beliefs of the people and the National Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL) count which showed the opposition as the runaway winner.

While the daily protests against the dictator and the boycott of all the crony companies were in full-circle, the Bicol delegation to the annual secondary schools press conference was on its way to Iloilo. We were billeted at the classrooms of Saint Paul School in Barotac Nuevo and during the parade of delegates the next day I could see the local people’s faces light up whenever they saw the Bicol Banner and exclaimed, “Bicol, panalo sainyo si Cory at Doy!” and enthusiastically flashed the Laban sign as we passed by.

After the News writing contest, my mom and I decided to go shopping in SM-Iloilo and there in the sidewalks, on the frontpages of the Inquirer and Malaya newspapers were the pictures of Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile and Lieutenant General Fidel V. Ramos barricading themselves in the military camps along Epifanio De Los Santos Avenue (EDSA) as they announced their withdrawal of support from their erstwhile leader.

We could tell the tension in the air as even the local leaders, policemen, parish priests and the Ilonggos were monitoring the events unfolding in Manila on radio in every nook and cranny of the city.

Even the delegates and speakers could not remain apolitical as news updates continued to pour in with the majority cheering for the reformists. Only the delegates from Region I (Ilocos) were rooting for the status quo.

When the late Joe Quirino who was then the speaker for Feature Writing made a remark about the yellow garland that he was wearing and showed his true colors in his lecture, the entire auditorium cheered him with the exception of the Region I delegates for obvious reasons.

When news came that there were more than a million people in EDSA and that Channel 4 had been taken by the reformist soldiers from the loyalist soldiers, the audience applauded while the Ilocanos just kept mum in their seats.

When the church bells finally tolled on the night the Marcoses left Malacanang, the entire auditorium went wild as the delegates from Regions II to XII and NCR whooped it up while the delegates from the Ilocos region just kept quiet.

Despite the celebration of the moment, many were still apprehensive about the news regarding the dictator's plight; their alleged flight from Malacanang since reports were sketchy and it was the then Ministry of Education Culture and Sports Minister Jaime C. Laya himself, who confirmed to the delegates the real situation regarding the country’s leadership when he declared in his opening speech--

“This will be my first and last speech to you as your Minister of Education, Culture and Sports” or words to that effect.

Surprisingly, his pronouncement was greeted with silence but not for long as the place was rocked by a thunderous explosion of joy and happiness.

Amid the wild celebration, I saw the Ilocos delegation quietly shedding tears for their beloved Apo.



Let us not desecrate the memory of the original People Power Revolution and the heroes who shed their lives so that the Filipino people could be free again.

Let us preserve and honor their sacrifices by becoming good and responsible citizens.

Quo vadis, Gringo, Butz, et al?





Note: Manuel L. Quezon III described this particular blog entry as "touching" in his article EDSA AT 21.

Albay is in the Heart

I was about to punch in to start my day at the Emergency Room of Henry Ford Wyandotte Hospital in Michigan when my cell phone buzzed. I could feel the heat of my blood rushing under my skin when I heard what the person on the other line had to say. It took me a moment or two before I summoned the courage to ask the Clinical Coordinator for the day off to allow me to go home and check the news online myself --

And there it was on the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Philippine Star, ABS- CBN News and other news websites the grim reality and horrific pictures of the devastation brought by the super typhoon Reming (International codename: Durian) to Albay Province and Legaspi City, places that I am very familiar with and known like the palms of my hands.

I scanned the pages and my eyes caught the heart-rending, gut-wrenching stories of tragedy and despair of the people; my people, of whom I am very much familiar with their way of life and customs, but you could only take a deep breath to relieve the heaviness in your chest and grieve alone in silence half a world away.

I grew up in Tiwi, a rustic and sleepy town almost 50 kilometers from Legaspi City, the capital of Albay Province, where I went to college for four years to earn my Bachelor’s Degree for my Pre-Medical course years ago from the College of Arts and Sciences in the Dominican-run Aquinas University, a university on the heavily silted Yawa river that made our school look like Venice minus the gondolas in those days, usually right after a heavy downpour, especially during the monsoon season, that has earned the university a derisive name albeit jokingly of being the only “floating university in the Philippines” among its students.

It was in this city by the sea where I spent some of my formative years; my rude awakenings to the real world; my youthful fire and enthusiasm for things that were once forbidden. It was also in this city where I spent some of the happiest times of my young life.

It was in the streets of Legaspi City and the neighboring town of Daraga where together with some childhood friends, we had our baptisms of fire about the joys of friendship and the sad realities of life. Barangays Bonot, Rawis, Arimbay, Pag-Asa, Padang, Victory Village, Baybay and San Roque in Legaspi City used to be our playground as well as dark sections and alleys of Daraga.

There we were -- young, care-free, wet behind the ears teenagers tasting “freedom” for the first time in a city far from home doing crazy unimaginable stuff like watching four movies in succession until our eyes were bloodshot and dry in those dingy and rickety downtown movie houses; making countless pranks in school and not being caught; bloody street fights and numerous fisticuffs with other gangs that left some of us with busted beaks or two and broken bones on the side; darting in and out in those seedy smoke-filled beerhouses near the Legaspi Police Station with names like Mark Anthony, Vejors, Melon Patch, etc.; chain smoking Marlboros like there was no tomorrow; heavy drinking sessions with the stainless Ginebra from dusk until dawn; sleeping along the shores and on the sands of the beach of Lagunoy Gulf while fighting a nasty hang-over and of course, chasing girls while living in the fast lane. Those were the days and they were really damn good days.

All these things occurred under the watchful eyes of the tempest and temperamental volcano that is Mayon, towering over the city and the province of Albay with its nearly perfect cone that makes her natural beauty beyond compare, a Daragang Magayon in our midst and like the dusky beautiful Bicolana maiden, she is not only a beauty in her peaceful slumber but a fiery and deadly one in her wrath and anger.

Circa 1910

Mount Mayon is legendary for her volatile temperament and Bicolanos are so accustomed to her fickle-mindedness and constant grumblings. In fact, it was only months ago where I had written about her in this blog (see Daragang Magayon) when she had shown once again her legendary temper and spewed ashes into Albay’s azure sky and red-hot lava flowed on her belly that left a lot of people, locals and tourists alike, awed and captivated by her beauty and splendor, especially in the night time where the spectacle is far more grand and colorful.

After some fireworks here and there, she was back to her quiet self or so we thought until…

Reming entered the picture and conspired with her to change the landscape of the city that I was so fond of and the province of my roots. The once peaceful, happy and lively place that I knew of has been obliterated from the face of the earth, and death, devastation and despair replaced it. When disaster struck so close to home, a piece of ourselves is also lost no matter where we are.

The people never had a chance. They never knew it coming. It was sudden and deadly, and in one stroke, their lives and property were gone and washed by the strong current into the vast Pacific Ocean. We may never know the total number of casualties in the tragedy but I know that I have lots of friends, classmates and acquaintances who lived in those places. And I know for a fact that some of them never made it back alive after the deluge. Their lives and property were now buried under the mud, the place is deserted and now a wasteland but their memories will forever live in my heart.

How come something like this happened in this day and age? How come nobody of our so-called “experts” have predicted this to happen? After all, the build-up of lava in the slopes of Mt. Mayon does not happen overnight, it has been months before this thing happened!

As usual, the inept and incompetent local politicians have no idea and the national leadership was blind as a bat as well. Finger-pointing on who was to blame for the disaster is the name of the game. Some even blame the people who were living there whose only fault was trying to earn an honest living, which cannot be said though of our political leaders who were busy amassing ill-gotten wealths and playing political intramurals rather than attending to the basic needs of their constituents.

As long as the Philippine political system is corrupt and our so-called leaders are indifferent to the plight and sufferings of the people, tragedies like this will always occur. It will be just a vicious cycle of death and destruction. It’s not too late for our “leaders” to change, but change has to come first within ourselves. I know this is just another pipe dream but hope springs eternal they say. Hopefully, it will be for the better of our country.

Now, I grieve for those who perished and pray for those who survive for life, and it will be a long struggle for them to get back on their feet again.

But I believe in the human courage, the Bicolano spirit and the resiliency of the Albayanos in particular. Mga Oragon baga kita!

And just like the mythical Phoenix, the people of Albay will rise from the ashes and will crawl out from the rubble and rebuild whatever is left of their shattered lives.

I know that we will succeed for that’s how we Bicolanos are; we are a hardened and determined lot and at the end of the day we will always have those beautiful smiles on our faces, those glowing sparks in our eyes and the inherent kindness in our hearts to live by.


Note:

The official death toll of Typhoon Reming (International Codename: Durian) is currently pegged at 1,266 people dead or missing based on body counts and survivor accounts and is growing day by day. It was believed that nobody could really tell the exact number of casualties due to the lack of official data or census of the number of people living in a particular area during that particular time.

Hardest hit were Barangay Padang in Legaspi City and Barangay Maipon in Guinobatan, Albay where entire families were buried alive.

The boarding houses that dotted the banks of the Yawa River near Aquinas University were swept by the rampaging waters into the sea taking with them the students who were sleeping at that time in the process.

The loss of human lives and damages to properties in the province of Albay is enormous and can never be quantified. Power and communication lines were cut, roads were damaged and rendered inaccessible. Food, gas, and water shortages are a sad reality and the probability of a disease outbreak is a given.

The whole province is in a State of Calamity. 

12.5.06

Daragang Magayon

 

The Philippines’ Mt. Mayon, the most active volcano in the archipelago, has once again shown the world her legendary beauty albeit dangerously during the past few days. But I could only watch the colorful but deadly spectacle on the videos available on the Internet, having left the Bicol region a couple of years ago and now living half a world away from my hometown of Tiwi in Albay.

Mayon, rising to 2463 feet above sea level, is one of several active volcanoes in the Philippines (a country lying on the Pacific Ring of Fire) and one of the most destructive, wherein in 1814 it buried the town of Cagsawa, killing an estimated 1,000 residents, where the only reminder of that fateful day is the famous Church ruins and its Belfry, which is now a National Park attracting thousands of tourists year round.

The volcano, which is famous for its almost perfect cone, was named after the tragic maiden in the Bicolano legend of Daragang Magayon (Beautiful Maiden in the local Bicol dialect), and is always a beauty to watch from near or afar; its near perfect cone always elicited aahs and oohs from natives and tourists alike whether in her peaceful slumber or fiery grumblings. Her towering splendor, whether in her moment of silence or in her intense outbursts, is beyond compare.

Bicolanos, especially Albayanos, take pride in Mayon’s unique place in Albay’s landscape and their daily lives; her predilection of erupting every now and then has only added to her mystique and people have grown accustomed either by choice or necessity to her legendary fickleness.

She is a beauty -- a tempest like no other. A wonderful work of nature and God’s miracle and gift to the pliant spirit of the Albayanos hardened by their daily struggle, battered by typhoons and other elements that came their way year-in and year-out, but always having a ready smile for everyone. The Mayon and the Bicolanos have co-existed for thousand of years and their lives and fate will forever be intertwined in happy times and tragedies.

I remember when I was growing up in the sleepy town of Tiwi, we were fortunate enough to have seen and watched her dazzling show of ferocious pyroclastic explosions from afar, the unique spectacle you can appreciate more after dark and far away from the dangers of lava flows and sufferings of some of our fellow Albayanos, as Tiwi is far enough for her destructive powers to reach. The worst we got were showers of ash falls once in a while that were usually evident in the leaves of every plant and tree in backyards in the morning, which also usually depends on the direction of where the wind blows.

I also remember being asked by our teachers in school to bring whatever we could give in the form of food and used clothing to our less fortunate brothers and sisters who were evacuated to school buildings and other evacuation centers to escape Mayon’s wrath and fury that has left countless lives lost and destructions in livelihood through the many years of her unexplained destructive behavior.

It is always bittersweet whenever the beautiful Mayon erupts -- it is always a delight to watch her magical fireworks, especially at night time, and at the same time be in awe at nature's power, but you can also feel sadness deep inside your heart just thinking of the people who were displaced from their homes as well as the peril that she brought to your fellowmen in her moment of anger.

photo credit: keisukejapon

Such is the drama in the age-old relationship between the native Albayanos and the beautiful but dangerous Daragang Magayon.

1934: Sogod

This picture was taken in 1934. And as we can see, the view from Sogod remains the same -- Atulayan island (Sangay), the coastlines along the Albay-Camarines Sur boundary o maski gayud ngani su klase kan mga tinanom o awot.


*Title: "Albay province (Philippines), north of Tiwi village, looking north along coast" Photographer: Robert Larimore Pendleton, 1890-1957 Photographer's Note: "Tiwi...May 14, 1934. Looking North from road along coast N. of Tiwi. Sogod Barrio." ^American Geographical Society Library, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Library