Balikbayan Magazine April - May 2010

carlos bulosan

former philippine president fidel v. ramos

gov. amado t. espino jr.

balikbayanmagazine.com

APRIL – maY 2010

Volume II number 1

US$ 5.00•PHP 150.00

PUBLISHER & CEO | Roger L. Oriel PRESIDENT & CO-PUBLISHER | Cora M. Oriel EDITOR-IN-CHIEF | EVP ASIA | Lito Ocampo Cruz ASSOCIATE EDITOR | Louie Jon Agustin Sanchez CONTRIBUTING EDITORS | Malou Liwanag-Aguilar, Alma Anonas-Carpio, Jewel Castro, Cynthia De Castro, Gayle Gatchalian, Susan Lara, Ruben Nepales, Janet Susan Nepales, Rochelle C. Pangilinan, D.M. Reyes, Althea Lauren Ricardo, Joel Salud, Walter Villa, Momar Visaya CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS | Joe Cobilla, Phillip Kimpo Jr., Ted Madamba, Raphael John Oriel, Miko Santos, Andy Tecson ART DIRECTOR | Le Grande Dee Pedroche

HUNDRED ISLANDS Cover Photo by R. Ocampo Cruz

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4 EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK A Moveable Feast, Serendipities, Sionil Jose and a Muse named Miss Soledad Oriel

BY LITO OCAMPO CRUZ, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

7 KEEPING A JOURNAL Pangasinan in a Whole New Light

BY ROGER LAGMAY ORIEL, PUBLISHER

8 Pangasinan Today: The Province soars under Gov. Amado T. Espino Jr. 13 April in a Parish 15 The Man from Lingayen

BY ALTHEA LAUREN RICARDO

19 A Day in the Life: Ma. Rachel “Baby” J. Arenas

BY LOUIE JON A. SANCHEZ

20 BALIKBAYAN TRUE STORY The Dean of Flight: A Balikbayan Odyssey in Burgos, Pangasinan

BY LOUIE JON A. SANCHEZ

26 ESSENCE OF PLACE Pangasinan: The Salt of the Earth

BY MAROT NELMIDA-FLORES

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36 NATIVE SON Bulosan’s American Experience

BY GREG S. CASTILLA

39 The saga that is F. Sionil Jose

BY JOEL PABLO SALUD

40 On Writing the Rosales Novels

BY F. SIONIL JOSE, NATIONAL ARTIST FOR LITERATURE

44 THE UNGUIDED TOUR The Summer Solstice: Fiestas and other Pinoy Destinations

BY ALTHEA LAUREN RICARDO

48 PAST FOOD A Moveable Fiesta

BY ALMA ANONAS-CARPIO

55 PERSONA All Eyes on Lea

BY ROCHELLE C. PANGILINAN, LOUIE JON A. SANCHEZ & MARIE ANGELI SYJUECO

61 PUBLIC SERVICE Water Voice: Prospero “Butch” Pichay Jr., The Pied Piper of Water

BY MARIE ANGELI SYJUECO

EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK

BY LITO OCAMPO CRUZ, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

A Moveable Feast, Serendipities, Sionil Jose and a Muse named Miss Soledad Oriel BACK IN THE 1970S, the Nobel

laureate for literature Günter Grass visited Manila, upon the invitation of another celebrated writer, the man we know today as National Artist for Literature Francisco Sionil Jose. I had the good fortune to meet Grass at Sionil Jose’s legendary Solidaridad Bookshop, which continues to be a literary oasis at the old Padre Faura Street in Manila. I had him sign my paperback copy of his novel The Tin Man, which I later donated to the De La Salle University Library. I hope it has not been lost in transition and translation.

The Philippines has yet to have a Nobel laureate, and many literati and critics agree that it must be bestowed to one man— Sionil Jose, whose novels comprising the Rosales Saga, and some other books, have been translated into about 20 languages. He is our main man of letters, witnessing for us, again and again, the many harsh realities of colonial history— but always with the hope for a better tomorrow.

The Rosales Saga, the novels that placed that humble town in Pangasinan in the literary map, has recreated the epic voyage of the Filipino people. It joins the ranks of Garcia Marquez’s Macondo, Faulkner’s Yoknapatawpha and even Juan Rulfo’s Comala in Pedro Paramo,, the precursor to

the Latin American magic realism. The novels, including my favorite The Pretenders, are still unparalleled and continue to place Sionil Jose among the premiere novelists of the world. His voice remains relevant at this time when the novel is considered this era’s genre.

In the recent essay “On the Writing of the Rosales Novels,” by Sionil Jose—actually a lecture at the University of Santo Tomas, he fondly remembers a certain teacher in Rosales by the name Miss Soledad Oriel who introduced him to Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo when he was 10 years old.

Little did we know that there would be more literary twists.

When we asked publisher Roger Oriel about the teacher Soledad Oriel, there was no doubt about the relation. She too migrated to America, and more than ten years ago in Sacramento, California, Sionil Jose had a reunion with his Muse who was then in her 90s.

What’s serendipitous here is the parallelism. At one time, one Oriel was helping create the man who would be National Artist for literature—and God willing, the first Filipino winner of the Nobel Prize for literature. It runs in the family maybe, but supporting the arts has never been lost in the present day Oriels, who now run the Asian Journal Group of Publications, and most recently co-founded with me and other kindred spirits the very first Filipino-American Symphony Orchestra (FASO) in Los Angeles. Upholding the true, good, and beautiful must be in their blood.

It makes sense too that Sionil Jose has been writing about returning to one’s roots, especially with the play called Balikbayan.

Perhaps Miss Soledad Oriel helped ingrain that idea to the impressionable mind of the young Sionil Jose, who up to now advises writers to “always remember.”

It also continues to be our battle cry at Balikbayan Magazine.

Resident writer Althea Lauren Ricardo takes us on an unguided tour of fiestas and other Pinoy destinations.

She shares this consuming passion with Alma Anonas Carpio, who goes from table to table, and writes a magnificent essay aptly titled, “A Moveable Fiesta.” Also celebrated in this issue is Tony award winner Lea Salonga’s return to the musical as she plays Grizabella in a Manila production of Cats. Our three editors, Louie Jon Sanchez, Rochelle Pangilinan and Marie Angeli Syjueco sat down with her as she talked about her life, on and off the stage.

Also profiled here is another advocate of love of country, Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) Chairman Prospero “Butch” Pichay, who has come along way from our La Salle days to Malacañang. He is the Pied Piper of water in our hometowns.

Join us as we celebrate a moveable feast, serendipities, old hometowns, old friends and Muses. g

Pangasinan: Somewhere in Time by R. Ocampo Cruz

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The lighthouse at Bolinao, Pangasinan. pio pangasinan Photo

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Keeping A Journal By roger lagmay oriel, publisher

Pangasinan in a whole new light Indeed,

Pangasinan’s time has come. And this issue is a valentine to our roots. It certainly brings back a lot of memories from our own humble beginnings in Binalonan. We are also amazed at how times flies. So much has changed.

Our recent homecoming to Pangasinan is one for the books.

From East to West, we traveled the roads of the province and saw only progress and development. We believe this presages further growth, and in our recent audience with Pangasinan Provincial Administrator Rafael Baraan at the Lingayen Capitol, we envisioned so many things to look forward to.

For one, Baraan, who has worked for decades in the Pangasinan government in different capacities, said that in order for the province to further grow, it needs infrastructure that welcomes more businesses and investments. One notable project he presented was the proposed Lingayen Golf and Country Club, which will have a sprawling 18-hole international golf course, some hotels and casinos, and high-end residences. This is just one of the many developments being undertaken by incumbent Governor Amado Espino, and his first term has had so many.

The golfing facility easily reminded us of that 10-year old boy who first caddied for his father in the old golf course in the Lingayen Capitol, and who eventually found himself passionately swinging until today. The boy who would become Former Philippine President Fidel V. Ramos joins us again in this issue to remember his Pangasinan childhood, in an essay written by Palanca award-winner Althea Lauren Ricardo.

We also spent our homecoming immersing with people.

Going around with a lot of friends, old and new, we saw Pangasinan in a whole new light. We accompanied balikbayan Dean Cambe of the California-based VIP Jet Services, in what our Associate Editor Louie Jon Sanchez describes as an “odyssey” to his hometown of Burgos. In town were Dean’s childhood friends, led by Burgos Mayor Domingo Doctor.

Along the way, at Alaminos, the gateway to the world-famous Hundred Islands, we also reconnected with Mayor Hernani A. Braganza. Alaminos is Pangasinan’s next boom town as it

ushers in a new airport complex. The Alaminos International Airport, Baraan told us, will surely provide more jobs and sustain development in the region. We also met with and saw in action Pangasinan Third District Representative Ma. Rachel J. “Baby” Arenas at Santa Barbara. We spent an afternoon at the quaint Arenas Farm in Malasiqui.

Pangasinan is of course a melting pot of culture and we’ve got it all from the experts in this issue, from A to Z. Writing for the first time in Balikbayan magazine, Pangasinan scholar and advocate, Dr. Marot Nelmida-Flores, shares with us her reading of three Pangasinan icons. Her very sharp insight provides us a better understanding of what makes Pangasinan.

Dr. Flores teaches at the University of the Philippines-Diliman.

We also feature here two prominent men of letters—native sons Carlos Bulosan of Binalonan, and National Artist for literature F. Sionil Jose of Rosales. Writing from Seattle, Greg Castilla, a holder of a PhD in multicultural education from the University of Washington, remembers Bulosan. Philippines Graphic editor Joel Pablo Salud meanwhile retraces Sionil Jose’s Rosales, fictive and otherwise.

For this issue, we extend our gratitude to Fred Gabot of the Manila Bulletin and Melandrew Velasco, author of RPDEV: Teamwork for Enduring Peace and Sustainable Development for their support.

Pangasinan today has a very different face—vibrant, dynamic and evolving. From its age-old salt fields, to the San Roque Dam and the Sual Powerplant megastructures, we now see ourselves at the threshold of Pangasinan’s crossing into a premiere investments and tourism hub in the region, and consequently, in the world.

Indeed, “every journey has a story and all roads lead to where it all began.” It’s good to be home. g

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Panga The Province soars under Gov. Amado T. Espino Jr.

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sinan GOVERNOR AMADO T. ESPINO, JR. has affirmed that the

province of Pangasinan deserves nothing less than leadership with all the accomplishments it has achieved to regain the lost glory of Pangasinan in just two and a half years of his administration.

In his third State of the Province Address, which also served as his first term report, Gov. Espino focused on how the present administration transformed the sad state of the province before he assumed office in 2007 into a world-class functioning, efficient and achievement-laden delivery of public services, during the 98th regular session of the Provincial Board, last January 25 at the Capitol Plaza here.

The governor’s speech which lasted for over 45 minutes and interrupted by over 40 applauses, dealt with the gains and improvement of the provincial government in hospital services, human resource management, tourism, public health delivery, PhilHealth registration, disaster management, peace and order, infrastructure and various recognitions given to the province.

Effective tourism promotion came as a result of the renovation of the Capitol buildings and its environs. The province is now being noticed, not just in Region I, but across the entire country.

The province also recorded the highest tourist arrivals in the region, posting 205,093 tourists and visitors in 2008 and 316,850 in 2009.

Likewise, Pangasinan has become the number one province in the country in terms of sponsored PhilHealth card registration, posting a record high of 228,552 indigent family enrollments, besting Cebu and Bukidnon, the former topnotcher.

Aside from these accomplishments, the province is also a perennial recipient of awards in various fields and endeavors.

In 2008, the province was adjudged Best Provincial LGU supporting the Millennium Development Goals, Region I Best PESO Manager, Region I Top PESO Performer, Region I Best Province and Best Activity for the National Statistics Month and Region I Most Outstanding Coastal Resources Management Project Implementer.

Last year, the province was also adjudged Region I Best Province and Best Activity for the National Statistics Month, First Runner-up Region I Best LGU Poverty Reduction Program Implementer, Region I

Top Grosser in Real Property Tax Collection and the National Most Outstanding Provincial Accounting Office.

The recognition from various institutions and the appreciation of the local populace has inspired the provincial leadership to further intensify its development thrusts and visions for the province.

On health care services, the governor said that the poor and the needy have been enjoying the upgraded services of facilities of all 14 government-controlled hospitals in the province which have undergone physical rehabilitation and are now equipped with air-conditioning wards, stand-by generator sets, better diagnostic capabilities and new ambulance units.

The improved reputation of the provincial hospitals, he added, has led to steady increases of individual occupancies ranging from 57% to 123% in 2007 to 127% to 168% as of December last year.

The Dialysis Center in San Carlos City is now serving the less fortunate sectors, providing specialized renal care at an average of 20 patients a day.

On human resource management, Gov. Espino reported that the province through its Human Resource Management Office designed in-house programs to upgrade the capability and qualifications of every employee thus leading to the improvement of work attitude and skills.

Streamlining of management systems and procedures were also done for the rebirth of the “New Team Pangasinan” that has survived hard and trying times like the recent typhoons and calamities that devastated the province.

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pio pangasinan Photo

In spite of the strong typhoons and floods that devastated the province, Pangasinan still managed to become the food basket of the region, producing 51% of the region’s rice, 80% fish, 84% mangoes, and 86% eggplants, which is an indication that the province’s agricultural extension program is working.

As an affirmation of Pangasinan’s leading position in agriculture, Espino also bared that the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) with the Department of Agriculture, has selected the province, along with few chosen provinces, to receive a grant worth P196.36 Million for the establishment of a modern rice processing center at the Provincial Nursery in Sta. Barbara, now being constructed.

The province will also continue to give priority to the effective maintenance of peace and order as a continuing measure to protect its people from lawless elements and to safeguard its visitors and investments.

The successful campaign of the provincial Philippine National Police (PNP), through relentless police operations and effective intelligence work resulted in a higher average crime solution efficiency.

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In over two years, the provincial government had spent P1.027 Billion for the construction, repair, rehabilitation and upgrading of various local road lines, provincial government buildings and facilities, hospitals, agriculture extension facilities and school buildings.

About 10% of the fund came from the national government through various agencies such as PAGCOR, the DOH, the DOE and foreign funds such as the European Commission.

Aside from headways made by the Espino administration in previously mentioned areas, the governor bared that industrialization and globalization is in the offing with the construction of the Sual Commercial Seaport as well as the development of the 300-hectare eco-tourism zone in Lingayen.

He confirmed the series of meetings between three groups of Korean investors who are willing to establish a retirement village and invest in mining, agri-business, electric car manufacturing and other ventures in the province.

The governor ended his speech by rallying all Pangasinenses to continue to dream big and grab opportunities still in store for the province and its people even as he said that there is much work left to do. g

THE RESEARCH and Study Committee on Pangasinan’s

Charter Date chaired by Atty. Gonzalo T. Duque has recommended April 5, 1580 as the founding date of the province.

This developed after the group came up with its report following several meetings and thorough research from the records of the National Library, National Archives and artifacts by the committee created last year by Governor Amado T. Espino Jr. Gov. Espino earlier said that Pangasinenses deserve to know their point of origin and the establishment of such facts will provide a more solid foundation for the identity of the province.

The committee came up with five significant data which date back to the Ming Dynasty when Luzon began to be referred to as Lu-sung and Fang-chia-chi-lan as Pangasinan. Tribute missions to Lu-sung (Luzon) were conducted in 1372 and 1410 while the chiefs of Fang-chia-chilan (Pangasinan) brought tribute in 1406 and 1412.

These, however, do not conclusively indicate Pangasinan’s being a political unit since contacts were limited basically to trade.

Another fact came from the writings of the renowned historian, Dr. Rosario Mendoza Cortez, who wrote that “Pangasinan was among those organized into alcadias mayor in 1580.”

Dr. Cortez cited Miguel de Loarca’s Relacion de las Islas Filipinas in 1582 and Bishop Domingo Salazar’s confirmation in his chronicle of 1588, “that Pangasinan was among the seven well-populated provinces of Luzon which had an alcalde mayor before 1856.”

The National Heritage Institute (NHI), Atang the Philippines: Land and People affirmed that Pangasinan was one of the provinces created

by Governor General Ronquillo de Peñalosa in 1580 with Don Pedro Manrique appointed as the alcalde mayor. In the document, an alcalde mayor is defined as “head of province” or region in colonial Philippines with judicial function as that of a provincial governor.

Despite the fact, there are no available documents as to the exact date.

Another gathered fact is that the province was founded during the American regime through Act. No. 86 on February 16, 1901 entitled An Act Extending the Provisions of the Provincial Government Act to the Province of Pangasinan. Records, however, show that the province was organized and already existed as a province prior to the American regime.

Information obtained from the Archivo de Indias document entitled Patronato indicated the establishment of Pangasinan as an encomienda on April 5, 1572.

Encomienda is a labor system that was employed by the Spanish crown during the Spanish Colonization. In the encomienda, the royal crown granted a person a specified number of natives of whom they were to take responsibility. The receiver of the grant (encomiendero) was to instruct the natives in the Spanish language and in the Catholic faith. In return, they could exact tribute from the natives.

Out of the information, the committee has extracted solid facts that Pangasinan became an encomienda on April 5, 1572 and later became a political unit in 1580 when the alcalde mayor was assigned for the first time in Lingayen.

With this, the NHI recommended the following findings that commemorate two historic events in the existence of the province namely: The year 1580 when Pangasinan was organized into a “political unit” under the alcalde mayor who at that time exercises authority as “head of province or provincial governor with judicial function” implying that the province has become a province.

The second state that it was on April 5, 1572 when Pangasinan was made an encomienda by the Spanish royal crown and officially received instructions from the Catholic faith, which means that the province was organized under the leadership and had identity before the Spanish royal court finally put it under the jurisdiction of an alcalde mayor in 1580.

Considering the findings, the committee strongly suggested that a provincial ordinance be legislated with the inclusion of a colatilla stating that the date will hold true until such time that more conclusive evidence to establish the exact date are discovered.

The committee is co-chaired by Sangguniang Panlalawigan Member Alfonso Binse with SP Members Nestor Reyes and Charrizma Salud Carancho-Go as Co Vice Chairman, with representations of various line institutions or agencies comprising the members with the inclusion of Provincial Administrator Rafael F. Baraan. g

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APRIL IN PARISH How the natives first learned the Spanish language and embraced the Catholic faith. And Pangasinan was born on April 5,1580.

PHOTO BY LE GRANDE PEDROCHE | THE AJPRESS balikbayanmagazine.com | APRIL â&#x20AC;&#x201C; MAY 2010 | balikbayan

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by althea lauren ricardo

Photos by le grande pedroche | the ajpress

Several historical turning points

come to mind when one thinks of the man who was to become the Philippines’ twelfth president. In my lifetime of three decades, I can name one for each. In 1986, Lt. Gen. Fidel V. Ramos resigned from his posts as vice chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and chief of the Philippine Constabulary. He and Minister of National Defense Juan Ponce Enrile, after the latter’s failed coup attempt, holed up in Camp Aguinaldo and called for the support of the Filipino people, which snowballed into the People Power Revolution that would oust the dictator. In the 1990s, Pres. Fidel V. Ramos was touted to have turned the Philippine economy around, earning us the short-lived title of Asia’s New Economic Tiger before the Asian Financial Crisis struck in 1997. I still have a copy of the November 26, 1995 Newsweek magazine that has him on the cover. Finally, in 2001, there was private citizen Fidel V. Ramos, still a well-respected figure and leader of political party of LakasCMD, walking on EDSA to show his support for the people massing against then Pres. Joseph Estrada.

But what was the man like before he became legend? Before he became unlit-cigar-chomping icon? Before he became the only nonCatholic president of this predominantly Catholic country? Before he became soldier and the only one who has held all military positions from Second Lieutenant to Commander-in-Chief? Before he became the man who, to this day, can still be the maker of kings?

Balikbayan magazine lets the boy from Pangasinan tell the story.

When Ramos took the reins of the country in 1992, he was named among the modern leaders of the 20th century, with the likes of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew, Indonesia’s Suharto and King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand, all of whom were born in the 1920s. Ramos was in good company and offered it himself. He was schooled at the United States Military Academy and the University of Illinois, earning a master’s degree in civil engineering.

He has also received many military awards.

His long list of achievements, however, finds its starting point in Lingayen, Pangasinan. “In 1928, exactly 30 years after the US took over the Philippines, Pangasinan had become a progressive province,” he recalls of his hometown, “Lingayen had been its provincial capital since colonial days, so there were government offices and public institutions such as courts and schools in the central part of the town, and all public services were operated in accordance with the American practices and standards.”

His achiever roots, however, go deeper. His father, Narciso Ramos, who hailed from the smaller town of Asingan, was a celebrated lawyer, journalist and legislator. “It is recorded that he was hardworking and bright student,” Ramos shares, “He studied law at our highest educational institutions, the University of the Philippines and the Philippine Law School, passed the bar examination in 1925, and opened a law office in Lingayen 1927.”

Narciso had five terms in the House of Representatives, became Secretary of Foreign Affairs, was Philippine signatory to the ASEAN declaration and helped found the Liberal Party.

But it didn’t all come from his paternal side. “My mother, Angela Valdez-Ramos, came from Batac, Ilocos Norte province. She taught English at the Pangasinan Vocational High School from 1927 to

1940.” He notes, “At that time, if you could speak English, you immediately earned social respect.” Angela, who hails from the well-known Valdez clan, was also a big supporter of women’s rights.

“My family’s nickname for me was Eddie,” he says, “I have heard that my mother gave me the name after the famous American poet Edgar A. Guest who was popular at that time because he wrote on the themes of family happiness and worshiping of God.” Despite decidedly illustrious beginnings, young Eddie’s life was far from lavish. However, it made him rich in small-town experience. He grew up in modest rented house on Maramba Boulevard in Lingayen, which was named after the Lingayen Gulf, which enters into the South China Sea. Lingayen is a town known for fishing and all kinds of water sports. “Our rented house was relatively new around 1925,” Ramos shares, “I later heard that the owner was a government worker who was transferred elsewhere, so my newlywed parents rented it.”

He waxes nostalgic about his childhood home, which sounds more and more like a dream now, at a time of rapid development.

“Ours was a quiet place that was separated from the beach by a wooded area. There was a rectangular front yard facing the streets.

The entrance was at the front left, and immediately after entering the house there was a room on the right side that was used as a guest room as well as a living room,” he recalls. “There were stairs at the back that led to the second floor, where my room was. There were hedges on both sides of the house, and red bougainvillea flowers and vermillion-colored stems of tropical bamboo growing straight toward the sky wavered in the wind. Though it was not a plain house, it was not lavish either. It was just a simple house with open windows that allowed a comfortable ocean breeze to waft through it.”

The house still stands. It is now a miniature museum as a president’s birthplace, in which photographs and other memorabilia are displayed. There is a stone monument in the front yard, surrounded by red and yellow tropical plants and green grass, bearing the following inscription: “This house was destroyed during the Japanese invasion.”

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There is still much of the small town boy in Ramos, whose feet still take him home to Pangasinan. “Neighborhood people in my hometown whom I know very well still warmly welcome me when I visit once in a while,” he shares.

Ramos was baptized at the Stewart Memorial United Methodist Church in Lingayen, where his mother was a volunteer workerfacilitator. “So I am not one of the Catholics who account for more than eighty percent of the population in the Philippines and instead am part of the Protestant minority,” he intimates.

It can be recalled that his being a Protestant was a bone of contention among those who were running against him and the electorate, and, in his inaugural speech, he noted as one of three elements, “in the stirring message of our people in the elections,” that they “reaffirmed their adherence to the secular ideal—of Church and State separate but collaborating, coexistent but each supreme in its own domain. In this spirit, I see myself not as the first Protestant to become president, but as the twelfth Filipino president — who happens to be a Protestant and who must be president of Muslims, Christians and people of all faiths who constitute our national community.”

Ramos was also educated in the public school system. “When I was five years old, I enrolled in Lingayen Elementary School which is a public school in the barrio of Maniboc that was about two kilometers from my home. One class had about 40 students.” And his classmates still have good memories of him. “When I became president in 1992, many friends from those days were still healthy and held a celebration-reunion for me, which I still remember fondly.”

His childhood was a very active one. How could it not have been, as he lived close to the sea? Early on, it was clear that he was going to live a very athletic lifestyle. “At every opportunity I had with friends and classmates, I went to the beach to play. I swam, ran around, and played many sports in the sand. I still swim today, and I love scuba diving certainly because I grew up near the sea and have no fear of the water.”

The son of an English teacher, Eddie spoke Pangasinan and Filipino with his playmates, but spoke English in school and at home. “School classes were all conducted in English, so I learned

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that language quickly and naturally. My father and mother regularly spoke English at home. I know many people opposed the US control of my country during the early years of American occupation, but being too young at that time, I naturally accepted the English language and the US presence.”

The future West Point graduate was developed early in him.

“I was a serious child,” he shares, “I did not feel good unless I thoroughly reviewed and prepared for my school studies. I remember trying hard to learn English words, and my friends teased me, calling me a walking dictionary.” His aunts have preserved an image of him: “I often lay on my stomach on the floor, resting on my elbows and reading English books, magazines and newspapers. I maintained top grades until I graduated, and I was the valedictorian at our graduation ceremony from grade school.”

Ramos is also known as an avid golfer, an interest that was also cultivated early on in his life. “My father was a golf lover. I caddied for him when I was 10 years old. Under US colonization, many golf and country clubs were developed in the Philippines.”

He adds, “When I began, I learned how to swing clubs the correct way by watching other people. That joyful experience gradually hooked me on golf, and I have enjoyed the game through all the years to my present age.”

He counts among his unforgettable golfing experiences getting to play with the world’s current best. “In January 1998, I played with the famous Tiger Woods at the Mimosa Golf and Country Club, which is within the former Clark Air Base that used to be run by the US.” Completely enamored with the sport, Ramos still tries to play at least once a week. He has a collection of 2,500 logo or autographed golf balls displayed in a museum built in his yard.

Ramos, who was known for speaking, sometimes sarcastically, against media misrepresentations when he was president, is quick to separate fact from legend. “My life in Lingayen was filled with such pleasant memories. However, there was a major incident that literally left a mark on my life when I fell from a tree. My friends and family remember it more clearly than I do, but it resulted in a big scar on the left side of my lips that gradually became less visible over the years.” Most pictures of Ramos show him with this moderately deep scar, often triggering questions, especially in the minds of the inquisitive.

“The story suddenly was dramatized when I became president,” he continues, “The most popular version was that a classmate was swinging a knife and, unfortunately, I got in the way and was stabbed in the mouth, opening a wide wound. Some claim we were fighting. As the story goes, my erring classmate was suspended from school, and a variety of comments were subsequently heard from witnesses. Some say I cried; however, others say I calmly went home without getting angry, and that I defended my classmate so the suspension was eventually lifted.

Many versions are untrue, and only one is correct.”

He goes on, a retired general recalling a non-battle, “I do not clearly remember what exactly happened. So the line I decided on was to say, ‘I’d feel proud if I fought with someone that passionately; however, I must have suffered the cut when I fell from a tree.’”

Simple stories of great men often give birth to legend. Simple beginnings often set off great legacies.

“I never imagined ever becoming a politician or diplomat,” Ramos confesses, “but I wanted to join the military. But because of unexpected developments, I finally entered politics, namely as president. I do believe that family tradition and the education given me by my parents made my sisters and I follow our father’s footsteps as a career public servant.”

A man makes a plan, and sometimes, another story takes over and deeper roots dictate the course. g

Every journey has a story. All roads lead to where it all began.

www.asianjournal.com

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by louie jon a. sanchez | Photos by le grande pedroche | the ajpress

Balikbayan Magazine recently

accompanied Congresswoman Ma. Rachel “Baby” J. Arenas during the distribution of PhilHealth cards to her constituency in a basketball court in Santa Barbara, Pangasinan.

The young and vibrant congressional first-timer mingled with her province mates, sharing not only what she has been doing during the course of her term but also how she continues to envision further development for her district. Arenas’ district in central Pangasinan, composed of municipalities Bayambang, Calasiao, Malasiqui, Bayambang and Santa Barbara, and the City of San Carlos, is a bustling bailiwick of some 400,000 residents. The district is a gateway to the Pangasinan west, where one could find the province’s myriad pristine beaches and various tourist destinations.

“You are all part of our work in Congress,” says Arenas to the recipients of the PhilHealth cards, which she helped expedite. “We still have a lot of things lined up for you. But first, we have to really open up to each other.” Arenas, daughter of philanthropist Baby Arenas, is indeed her mother’s daughter. Her charm moves, and she embraces her work in congress the way she welcomes all of her constituency. “I only have little sleep. Much of our time is spent in getting into the grassroots, reaching as many people as possible.

But the work is very fulfilling because we really get to know their needs,” she adds. This month, she prepares to present herself again to the Pangasinan electorate, carrying her advocacies and accomplishments. “We are very proud of what we have done so far,” Arenas expresses. g

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| balikbayan true story | by louie jon a. sanchez | photos by le grande d. pedroche | the ajpress

The of A Balikbayan Odyssey in Burgos, Pangasinan

FLIGHT had been a passion for Balikbayan Dean R. Cambe, Sr. who is now based in Van Nuys, California. Being at the helm of VIP Jet Services, a fast growing private jet firm in the state, he is living the dream of a wonderful life collectively shared by Filipinos moving to America.

And his business continues to expand. From Cessnas to Boeings, it seems that everything he touches turns to gold.

But he continues to be one true-blooded Balikbayan. In his recent return to his hometown of Burgos, west of Pangasinan, Balikbayan accompanied him as he traced the beginnings of his dreams, way before the flight of his life took off.

The journey began in Alaminos, Pangasinan where the group converged with Dean’s “advanced party”—a bunch of family friends and relatives actually preparing for his arrival and gearing up for what seems to their guest’s favorite duty as a generous host: going to the market. “We’re hosting a big bunch tonight,” he chides, while we accompanied him around the wet market of the Nepo Shopping Complex basement, a stone’s throw away from the Alaminos Government House.

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By his side was partner Suzanne, who tagged us along a local rice cake section, where we sampled on amazingly tasty sugar cane suman. “What we’re doing is like the Amazing Race,” we tell her, while we ran around, scouting for fresh meat, fish, vegetables and fruits. “It’s always this way, and it’s fun,” says Suzanne.

The shopping ended when we all gathered up again at the Nepo entrance, where Dean gave instructions to the ladies who followed us carrying all the red plastic bags all filled up. He was surely on top of things, trying to make sure that his “advanced party” kept up to the schedule. We had the impression that he was a man of details, as he asked about the time his group would reach Burgos, and about their other needs.

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He is probably that way as managing director of VIP Jet Services, the one-stop aviation shop known in California which offers part sales and aircraft management, as well “avionics” and aircraft inspection services. Management styles are easily seen in small things, and it is understandable where he was indeed coming from. And not just in the eye for details perhaps, but in those working hands. Dean was clearly hands on, as we saw him try the produce himself.

The “advanced party” was sent to Burgos, where Dean says a surprise awaits all of us. Meanwhile, we drove with him around Alaminos to meet some more friends, old and new. An important old friend however, was notably there, assisting him all the way—the good Mayor of Burgos, and Dean’s childhood buddy, Domingo Doctor. Himself an accomplished man, he shared humble beginnings with Dean.

“Mayor Doctor was the straight A student in class, and I was the jolly and free soul,” Dean remembers. The two banded together quite well, and they have never forgotten how their lives continue to intertwine. Doctor went on to be class valedictorian from Burgos High School before moving to Manila to study at the University of Santo Tomas, where he received his bachelor’s degree. Dean though, had another dream and walked his way to his destiny.

While on the way to Sitio Cabongaoan in Burgos, where the “surprise” awaits, Dean recalled how his life as an enfante terrible brought him to where he is. As his eyes gleamed in nostalgia while seeing the rolling hills and the rough road to the sitio, he could not help but remember the times when they had to walk barefoot in these

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lands where everything seems unchanged.

“It was a challenging life that led me to dream,” Dean recalls. As a young vagabond, he went places already. His restlessness brought him to Olongapo City when he was 18. He enlisted for the United States Navy, where he worked as a plane mechanic. There, his love affair with aviation began and soon enough, when he was about to grow his own wings, the love of the skies could not be taken out of him.

Waxing poetic about this, we could not help but remember the pilot and novelist Antoine de Saint Exupery, the author of the classic The Little Prince. The author himself was so passionate about aircrafts and most of his works revolved around flying. There is indeed something poetic about flight that brings us closer to human dreams and desires.

Quite similarly, this flight from Burgos to California brings us some thought once again about the Filipino Dream in America, and how real they can be, if we just believe and have faith in our own capacities. Dean is certainly a testament to how real this could be, and how far humanity could endure despite many struggles. But certainly, the need to come home is also part of the myth, and here he was, Dean, back again at the shores of the Pangasinan, not only trying to remember, but also paying his blessings forward.

We all walked around the rustic rural locale of Burgos before getting ourselves surprised at Sitio Cabongaoan. It’s a quiet town, a sleepy one with at least some thousands of residents, and Dean’s buddy, Mayor Doctor, has made both ends meet just to provide for this fifth class municipality, some two towns away from the province of Zambales.

Dean with Burgos Mayor Domingo Doctor and Burgos Civil Registrar Marlene Reyes.

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Enjoying a horse race in Burgos.

“And the municipality was originally part of Zambales,” says Mayor Doctor, while he toured us around the Poblacion, where he was able to build from meager resources and through good old bayanihan, a decent municipal hall, and a much lauded rural health unit. “There is still much to do here, but we have accomplished a lot, so far,” he adds.

On our way to the quiet church where a chapter of the El Shaddai was having a prayer meeting, we chanced upon a girl selling green mangoes with bagoong. We shared stories with her about the town, and when she saw the mayor, she stood up and greeted him. “She’s one of our scholars here,” the mayor announced, “she’s taking criminology, and she’s doing quite well in martial arts.” Nearby, a family with a blind kid was selling dirty ice cream, and the parents also stood up to greet their mayor, who seemed to know each and everyone of them.

Mayor Doctor is now setting sight on a congressional seat, and Dean, his good friend, is very optimistic that he can accomplish a lot. “So much has changed here in Burgos. People became more disciplined, and even people from other towns know how strict this government was in implementing laws,” says Dean. “I have faith that he’ll go a long way and he is what this district needs.” And being behind his friend, Dean has been actively helping in various community extensions in the town. He has clearly never forgotten his roots, and he will probably be in support of its growth for the rest of his life.

There were so much fond memories shared during the trip, so much stories shared. On the way to Sitio Cabongaoan, in what is known in the town as Barangay Iliw-iliw, the long and winding road was still being built. “When we finish this road, the place will certainly boom,” Mayor Doctor explains. And this is not far from

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being realized with Dean, the foremost investor, on hand.

“I see a lot of things rising up in here,” Dean says, pointing to the rolling summer landscape of dry farm lands. We still did not have any idea yet of what to see beyond the dry fields, but after many minutes of that safari-like/ranch-like ride, a place that could be considered an oasis appeared—tall coconut trees, lush greenery, quaint bamboo rest houses. “We’re here,” Dean tells all of us.

The van that trekked the small pathways in that oasis-like place led to an astounding view of the pristine China Sea. The sand was creamy white, and as we all alighted the van, many of us went straight to the beach.

We surveyed the area, and we immediately noted the presence of a lighthouse, which for Balikbayan magazine always presaged good fortune (in almost all of our trips, there would always be a lighthouse; a curious message that we were doing the right things perhaps?). “And mind you, that’s a working lighthouse,” Mayor Doctor says, while accompanying us to enjoy the view. Dean and Suzanne meanwhile went straight to the makeshift kitchen by the beach to see how the cooking was going.

The big group composed of many friends and relatives of Dean and Mayor Doctor enjoyed a sumptuous dinner of shrimps, crabs, bistek, chicken curry, and the Pangasinan favorite bangus, grilled and stuffed with diced tomatoes and onion. The Mayor and his wife were gracious hosts too, asking us to keep coming back.

We all savored the comfort cooking of the locals while setting our sights to the unfolding sunset by the beach. Dean sat down by the beach to witness this himself, time and again. “This is one of the reasons why I still go home,” he says. Truly, he came, saw and conquered. g

| essence of place | by marot nelmida–flores • photos by le grande d. pedroche | the ajpress

The Salt of

Gearing up for the fresh catch at Lingayen Gulf.

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the Earth HOW ELSE CAN WE KNOW and understand the lands and the

culture that is Pangasinan? In what she calls an “ethnocultural map”, respected Pangasinan scholar and University of the Philippines Philippine studies expert Crisanta Nelmida-Flores, attempts a cartography of Pangasinan based on its geographical history, and its three popular icons—Princess Urduja, the Lady of Manaoag and its traveling caravans.

Prehispanic and Geographic Pangasinan As a toponymic term, Pangasinan means “land of salt” (panagasinan/pinag-aasinan) from the root word asin with the prefix “pang” and suffix “–an”, denoting place. In the Iluko creation myth Angalo ken Aran, the place has been cited as the land of “Thalamasin”. While salt is also found in the Ilocos Region and in Manila Bay, salt coming from Dasol and Bolinao are superior in quality.

And because of salt, Pangasinan is able to produce the best bagoong from the monamon fish that abound along the coast. The town of Bolinao got its name from this fish. In Tagalog, Visayan and in Bicol, “bolinao” means “monamon”. Lingayen is popular for its own variety of bagoong named maniboc.

But there is another name that refers to the interior plains of the province, which is not widely known. This place is called Luyag na Caboloan or “Place of Caboloan”. Caboloan is from the root word bolo (a specie of bamboo) with the prefix “ca” and suffix “–an”, meaning place. Caboloan is a place where bolo is largely found. In earlier times, settlements where bolos abound include Mangatarem, Binalatongan (San Carlos), Gabon (Calasiao), Mangaldan, Manaoag, Mapandan, Malasiqui, Bayambang, Tolong (Sta. Barbara), Gerona, Camiling, Paniqui and Moncada.

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A view to a thrill: the Hundred Islands of Alaminos.

Even some parts of La Union province where bolo could be found were once upon a time within the Luyag na Caboloan matrix, making these towns later under the political jurisdiction of Pangasinan. With the commercial production of bamboo and rattan merchandise, the cattle caravans surfaced as the mercantile outlet for these goods. (We will dwell on the cattle caravans later.)

Another toponymic name, Caboloan first appeared in a grammar book written by Fr. Mariano Pellicer in 1840, entitled, Arte de la Lengua Pangasinana o Caboloan. As Vicar Provincial of Pangasinan and cura parroco of Lingayen, Fr. Pellicer knew the existence of an earlier work on Pangasinan grammar done in 1690 but was no longer in circulation in his time. Based on this earlier work, Fr. Pellicer wrote his own book. In Retaña’s Biblioteca Idiomatica Oriental (1906), Pangasinan was synonymous to Caboloan. The use of Caboloan remained until about the 19th century.

Today, the political formation of Pangasinan is bound on the west by the province of Zambales, on the north by Lingayen Gulf, the northeast by La Union province, on the east by Nueva Ecija, and on the south by the provinces of Tarlac and Pampanga.

From the time of the conquest of Santiago Island in Bolinao by Juan de Salcedo’s men in May 1572, historians and scholars placed Zambales and La Union and some parts of Tarlac under Pangasinan. Interestingly however, in a letter dated 9 December 1572, the account of the tributes collected by Martin de Goiti listed Bolinao as another province separate from Pangasinan. Sometime in the middle of the 18th century, the province of Zambales was created. La Union became a province in 1850 and towns under Pangasinan such as Rosario, Sto. Tomas, Agoo, Aringay, Caba,

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San Fernando, and Bacnotan were included in the new created province. The creation of Tarlac as a province in 1875 removed the towns of Gerona, Paniqui, Camiling and Moncada from the territorial jurisdiction of Pangasinan. A number of municipalities were reterritorialized while new ones were created under the American Government.

In 1903, the western towns of Bolinao, Anda, Alaminos, Bani, Agno, Burgos, Mabini, Dasol, and Infanta which were part of the province of Zambales from mid-18th century, were turned over to Pangasinan. These towns were classified previously as Zambal because residents in these areas, particularly Bolinao and Anda speak the Zambal language. It is only after these were reclassified as Pangasinan towns when residents of Bolinao called their language distinctively, Bolinao.

The rolling formation of these towns from the Zambales ranges and the thick forests prevented commercial interaction between the residents of these areas and the coastal towns from Sual to San Fabian and the interior towns from Aguilar to Malasiqui and Mapandan. Bolinao can only be reached through the coastal waters with the use of native boats such as baloto, lanson, viray, lampitaw and ponting (Bolinao Town Fiesta Souvenir Program; 1998). This isolation made Sual the westernmost town in Pangasinan. The topographic factor also explains why these western towns lagged behind the central plains in terms of progress and urbanization. Sual only became significant when in 1855, a port was established as a result of the opening of the Philippines to international trade by the British in 1834. In fact, Sual’s ancient port area boasts of more berths than Subic’s according to some observers.

Princess Urduja and the Kingdom of Tawalisi It actually all started with the debate on the location of the Kingdom of Tawalisi in the 19th century. No less than our national hero Jose Rizal constructed his own theory about the exact location of the Kingdom of Tawalisi contained in his letter to Dr. A.B. Meyer of Dresden, Germany. Rizal’s hypothesis was contained in the eminent historian Austin Craig’s pamphlet entitled, The Particulars of the Philippines Pre-Spanish Past, which came out in 1916.

To sum up Rizal’s theory, the Kingdom of Tawalisi exists and so was the voyage of the 14th century Arab traveller Ibn Batuta who visited it. The location of the Kingdom is somewhere in the “neighborhood of the northern part of the Philippines.” With Austin Craig corroborating Rizal’s theory, Kingdom of Tawalisi and the amazon Princess Urduja mentioned in the narrative of Ibn Batuta became historical truths during the American Period.

In 1925, the book Stories of Great Filipinos published by Benitez & Benitez stated the existence of Princess Urduja and her Kingdom.

Ten years after in 1935, another book published by Zoilo M. Galang, the Encyclopedia of the Philippines reiterated and expanded the entry on Princess Urduja as an historical figure.

“When Pangasinan was a kingdom, about seven hundred years ago, there lived a Famous woman ruler in that dominion.

Young, beautiful and well-educated. Princess Urduja was reputed to be a good warrior who personally led her soldiers to the battle fields,” he writes. In the same year, Galang also published Gregorio R. Zaide’s book The Philippines Since PreSpanish which described Urduja in this way: “Quite a number

of famous women had appeared, like shooting meteors, across the firmament of Philippine history. Among them…was Princess Urduja, said to be the Amazonic ruler—warrior of ancient Pangasinan, who was visited in 1349 or 1348 by Ibn Batuta, Mohameddan traveller from Morocco.”

All these publications legitimized the narrative of Ibn Batuta about his visit to the Kingdom of Tawalisi where he met the amazon ruler Princess Urduja. To all these however stood Dr. Nicolas Zafra of UP’s Department of History refuting Rizal’s and Craig’s opinion on the exact location of the Kingdom of Tawalisi and regarded Urduja and her Kingdom as myths. But about this time in the 20th century, the focus was no longer on the exact location of the Kingdom of Tawalisi but on the beautiful, educated, fierce amazon warrior Princess Urduja. The image of a maiden warrior has captured the imagination not only of the people of Pangasinan but of the entire nation.

As a cultural icon, the exoticized image of Princess Urduja will be reproduced in paintings, movies (Amalia Fuentes original and the Susan Henson version) and other forms of art. The residence of the provincial governor is named Urduja house. Nearby here still stands the big billboard Urduja hotel in Urdaneta. Interestingly, there is still the Farmacia Urduja in Dagupan, the Rural Bank of Urduja in Tayug and the Urduja Communications building in Sual. Or even the Urduja sari-sari store in Sta. Barbara. Urduja was even adopted as symbol of the Women Development Foundation in Pangasinan and so are national feminist groups in Manila including Gabriela and Samakana. I even have a first cousin named Urduja from San Carlos married to a Braganza of Alaminos.

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The Sual Powerplant, with a generating capacity of 1,218 megawatts, is the largest and most cost–effective coal–fired powerplant in the country.

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As a symbol, Princess Urduja is the articulation of women (not only in Pangasinan but women throughout the country) of a romanticized glorified matriarchal amazonic past. This articulation stems from the reality of gender inequality which from a feminist perspective is a given under a patriarchal system of relations. But Princess Urduja as a symbol goes beyond feminism for her story has been believed, constructed, reproduced even by men. The historical narrative of Ibn Batuta has been eclipsed by literary stories about this exoticized maiden warrior with a colorful tapestry of a kingdom that explicitly displays its power and wealth. The myth of kingdoms and princesses are actually defensive responses to the onslaught of Hispanization. Anacbanua writer/scholars like Catalino Catanaoan and Antonio del Castillo in the 20th century reinforce the belief in a kingdom of colonial elites under Spain like Rizal who perhaps, romanticized a glorious Philippine pre-hispanic past as a reaction to Eurocentrism. In short, the significance of Princess Urduja and her Kingdom of Tawalisi does not depend anymore on whether these are historical truths or just myths because as symbol and discourse, Princess Urduja and her Kingdom underscore the powerful truth about our colonization and the reality of patriarchal relations.

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The image of Our Lady of Manaoag.

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Photo by napoleon laurel jr. | the ajpress

Nuestra Señora de Manaoag and the Manag-Anito Tradition The province of Pangasinan has always been known for its Nuestra Señora de Manaoag. It is also famous for its many healers, whether locally known as managtambal or nationally and internationally recognized as faithhealers. The province is often described as very religious and conservative, producing a significant number of priests and seminarians annually (Being a “Dominican country”, it not only boasts of churches built by the sons of Dominic de Guzman; Manaoag is also home to the Philippine Dominican Order’s novitiate-Ed). Lately, with the awareness on local tourism, the political administration takes pride in the Virgin’s Well and the much talked about Pyramid of Asia. All these situated in the town of Manaoag.

With the replication of the Image of the Our Lady of Manaoag throughout the country, this popular devotion through the aid of both print and visual communication has reached wider audiences, unprecedented since its first canonical celebration in 1926. But what appears to be simply a Catholic devotion to the Blessed Virgin who performs miracles is a rich text that echoes the traditions of an ancient past, the conundrum of a colonial religious icon, and the appropriation of a people in their quest for peace and freedom.

The original 17th century Spanish Nuestra Señora to 20th century Our Lady of Manaoag, is indeed a religious symbol. Its symbology is culled from centuries of cultural encounters within a colonial setting. The ivory image brought to our shores through the missionary zeal of Fr. Juan de San Jacinto OP. glamorized the ancient concept of po-on, but on the other hand, personalized a stoic icon on the retablo. Precolonial Tipan ng Mahal na Ina has her spirit descend upon a material representation in the Nuestra Señora yet her loving and maternal care never wavered for those who truly believe in Her. The Ina in the Blessed Virgin Mother and the Sagrada Familia are indeed closely linked to the Filipino family. The Nuestra Señora de Manaoag as the Ina and Apo Baket among Pangasinan and Iluko folk is the effervescence of

hope and love. She is the perpetual Ina especially of the poor and needy.

Appearing on a hill, the narrative of apparition renews earlier notions of sacred places, however, negotiated upon by the construction of a church, thus expanding the scope of the “sacred” and the “holy” from the natural landscape to the imposing fachada of the Shrine. This historia de la aparicion observed to flourish in medieval narratology and said to contain primordial appeal is less of a universalist Catholic phenomenon than an articulation of humanity that is perpetually in bondage. The two versions of the Nuestra Señora’s beginnings reflect the polarized worldview and predisposition of the church and the folk. The official version was inspired by the evangelical obligation to protect and promote early Christian settlements while the folk version was compelled by historical circumstances of Christianization. Yet, the folk version with its emphasis on the historia de la aparicion is intoned, reproduced and propagated even by the church for its popular and perhaps, primordial appeal. With this seeming approbation of the church, the folk version, thus contain both the ecclesiastical discourse on Christianization and the folk discourse on appropriation. Like in the icon of the Nuestra Señora, its narrative proved to be another important site of negotiations between Judeo-Christianity and the Manag-anito tradition, a powerful cultural interface between Spain and the Philippines.

This inevitable church’s approbation of folk appropriation of the Nuestra Señora is best captured through the fiducial character of the Blessed Virgin’s canonical celebrations. The indescribable jubilation among the faithful approximating the wild and the exotic especially during the actual coronation of the Blessed Virgin outside of church’s premises, can either be understood as the unleashing of suppressed energies or reminiscent of ancient manag-anito’s ritual practices. Academic lens look at it as a study on ethnology where behavior of native converts shift from the somber to the chaotic once a religious image is taken out of the church. For lo and behold, the image consequently became a possession of the multitude rather than a property of the church.

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The San Roque Dam is a megastructure along the Agno River, spanning the municipalities of San Manuel and San Nicolas, Pangasinan.

The Cattle Caravans of Ancient Caboloan Caravan cultures throughout the world depict stories of real journeys, discoveries and exploits. They also account for the construction of local histories, territories and market societies. At best, caravan routes map the geoeconomic and the ethnohistoric trail of peoples on the road towards venture capitalism in the earlier centuries.

But in the 21st century, the history of caravan cultures remain only in the people’s memory as artifact (or artifice?) and which has been romanticized into bioepics or heroic adventures of legendary men caught in the age of material adventurism from the 13th to 16th centuries. In this day of global network and cyber transactions, it is fascinating and at the same time remarkable how the caravan culture still persists in the Philippines.

Its persistence as a vestige of feudal past in an era of intensified commercialization and industrialization is indeed indicative of uneven modes of development, as it is symbolic of intersecting diverse cultures where the rural locale ventures into the national and into the global with far reaching implications on issues of ethnicity and cultural import.

The cattle caravans of ancient Caboloan continue to peddle their

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bamboo-based products from the province of Pangasinan to the highways of Metro Manila. These are the ubiquitous cattle-drawn carriages selling hammocks, bamboo chairs and bookshelves we see around Metro Manila.

More than just a cultural icon for tourists, the cattle caravans trace its origins to the ancient Caboloan, an interior ethnic state in the province of Pangasinan. Caboloan refers to a place where bolo (a specie of bamboo) is abundant—which explains why the cattle caravans up to this day peddle goods made from bamboo and rattan. These bamboo-based products are traded in prehispanic times with the coastal villages, especially in “Panag-asinan”, where salt was produced. This interior (alog)-coast (baybay) dichotomy and its accompanying trading relations were obscured by the colonial mapping of Spanish Augustinian missionaries, who coming from the coastal town of Bolinao named the entire region as Pangasinan.

This prehispanic cultural relations between the interior-coast dichotomy of Caboloan-Pangasinan noted by Scott and Keesing to be vital in the paper of ethnohistories, continue to exist through the living artefact which is the cattle caravan trade.

Locating the cattle caravans of ancient Caboloan is also an attempt at reconstructing local history. Journeying through the caravan routes from the heart of Caboloan to Metro Manila, the cartwheel connects culture and commerce from the village to the metropolis. The cattle caravans’ anachronism in today’s world market economy becomes an assertion of locality and ethnicity in the face of the hegemonic ethnonational and the reifying global system. While the province of Pangasinan is valuated in political terms because of its significant voting population, its ethnocultural history and reality is perceived to be merely part of the mythic kingdom of the Greater Ilocandia. Thus, the cattle caravans serve both as a romantic symbol of an ancient Caboloan culture and as an ethnocultural text amidst the flux of emerging societies and economies.

The Philippines is said to be a “bamboo country” because of its swampy coasts and rivers. Historian Isagani Medina lists several place-names which pay tribute to the bamboo such as Meycauayan in Bulacan, Pasong Kawayan in General Trias, Cavite, Cauayan in Negros Occidental and Caoayan in Ilocos Sur. To add to this list is Caboloan of the interior plains of Pangasinan. While the bamboo industry is spread out in different parts of the archipelago, it is only

in Caboloan where the tradition of transporting bamboo-based products through the cattle caravan persists up to this day and age.

Tourism takes delight in this seemingly quaint, exotic, museum piece of cattle caravans parading at the outskirts of Manila, which are occasionally used to attract foreign tourists. The Tourism office however fails to look at the caravan beyond its cultural significance.

In summary, this ethnocultural mapping is deemed important because it privileges the articulation and the life ways of the folk and how their stories, narratives and thought patterns intersect in the elite construction of Pangasinan history. With this presentation, I hope that it deepened somehow your understanding of the popular cultural archetypes such as Princess Urduja and the Virgin of Manaoag. It provides a sense of pride in terms of our roots and origins through the anachronistic cattle caravan and the earlier historical and trading relations between the coastal Panag-asinan and the interior Caboloan.

The Filipino exile abroad will only become alone if he has been totally uprooted from his native soil. But if his soul brings him to his roots even in a foreign land, he will forever remain Filipino or Pangasinan wherever he may be. g

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| native son | by greg s. castilla

No ordeal is more challenging than that of surviving

in a foreign land. Burdened with history that includes racism, anti-miscegenation laws, and social marginalization, the Filipino immigrants’ quest for respect, dignity, and equality in the United States is no more intense today than it was in the 1930s, during the time of Carlos Bulosan.

Born in Binalonan, Pangasinan, on November 24, 1911, Bulosan left for the United States in 1930 as a 19-year-old and went on to become a major spokesperson for the Filipino migrant workers’ issues and concerns.

Because of his activism, he became the target of deportation at the height of McCarthyism in the fifties. His last days were spent in Seattle, where he was an active member of the International Longshoremen’s and Warehousemen’s Union (ILWU), Local 37. Bulosan died on September 11, 1956 at the age of 44. According to his friend, Chris Mensalvas, when he died all he had was a typewriter, a 20-year-old suit, worn-out socks, and some unfinished manuscripts. He is buried in Mt. Pleasant cemetery in Seattle.

What distinguishes Bulosan as a literary author, activist, and political commentator is the fact that he was largely self-educated. Although he only finished second-year high school in the Philippines, he wrote poems, short stories, essays, and novels on a variety of social, political, and cultural issues. His unpublished works and personal papers are now stored in the University of Washington archives. America Is in the Heart, an autobiographical fiction that chronicles the life of the early Filipino immigrants in the US, is Bulosan’s most popular book. In it he creates a composite profile of what America and what life was like for the early Filipinos.

Bulosan was not just a literary writer. He was a social commentator and political essayist who wrote with and about social consciousness.

In explaining the social context and political motivation of his writings, Bulosan wrote on January 17, 1955: “The writer who sides with and gives his voice to democracy and progress is a real writer, because he writes to protect man and restore his dignity.

He writes so that this will be a world of mutual cooperation, mutual protection, mutual love; so that darkness, ignorance, brutality, exploitation of man by another, and deceit will be purged from the face of the earth.”

In this passage Bulosan assumed the social obligation of a writer. Within his own personal and cultural experience, this

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meant writing about the evils of racism, the pain of cultural alienation, the dehumanizing effects of poverty, and the devastating consequences of social, political, and economic inequalities. Herein lies the greatness of Bulosan: his ability and determination to expose, through his writings, the unjust social structures and their effects upon the Filipinos in particular, and everyone in general.

In writing America Is in the Heart, Bulosan claims and identifies as his own the experiences of other Filipinos. His works, therefore, are based not simply on his life, but on the lives of his ethnic group and the people he encountered. This novel is a powerful example of how, as part of his technique to argue a point, he fictionalizes certain people and conditions to expose the deteriorating social conditions of the early Filipino immigrants. But as his friend P.C. Morante explains, this novel also includes real people. Among them are Bulosan’s brothers Aurelio and Dionisio, disguised as Macario and Amado; and his friends Dorothy and Sanora Bass presented as Alice and Eilen Odell. Undoubtedly, some other characters in the book were real individuals he did not know so intimately, but their life circumstances impressed him profoundly enough that he was moved to employ them in telling his story.

It’s a Crime to be a Filipino Like many Filipino and non-Filipino immigrants in the 1930s, Bulosan came to the US in search of a better life. But he did not find the fortune he sought. The America that he had heard about in the Philippine classrooms was different from the America that he saw. It did not take long before he concluded that the US was a racist society. Bulosan explains this perception in America Is in the Heart: “I came to know afterward that in many ways it was a crime to be a Filipino in California. I came to know that the public streets were not free to my people. We were stopped each time these vigilant patrolmen saw us driving a car. We were suspect each time we were seen with a white woman. And perhaps it was this narrowing of your life into an island, into a filthy segment of American society, that had driven Filipinos like Doro inward, hating everyone and despising all positive urgencies toward freedom.”

Bulosan’s vision of US society as racist results from the confluence of many factors that include, among others, racist violence against Filipinos.

This is evident in most of his writings. Again, in America Is in the Heart, Bulosan speaks about the racism of law enforcement officers. He

witnesses a Filipino shot to death inside a poolroom by two Los Angeles police detectives for no apparent reason: “I was talking to a gambler when two police detectives darted into the place and shot a little Filipino in the back... It seemed that the victim was new in the city. I was bewildered. “Why was he shot?” I asked a man near me. “They often shoot Pinoy like that,” he said. Sometimes when they have been drinking and they want to have fun, they come to our district and kick or beat the first Filipino they meet.”

One of the best ways to understand US society is to live and learn from that society. This is what happened to Bulosan. For the 26 years that he lived in the US, he developed a limited but accurate representation of what the US was really like. Bulosan immigrated to the US expecting to be treated as an equal. But instead he found that the US was racist.

Racism found its expression in the implementation of the anti-miscegenation law, social discrimination, White vigilantism against Filipinos, illegal deportation and ineligibility for US citizenship.

The deadly combination of racism and a capitalist economic order was for Bulosan the basis of inequality in US society. What emerged is a society that is poor, unjust, and immoral due to the unequal distribution of resources. What sustains Bulosan’s activism was his determination to fight the oppressive structure of the US as a capitalist country. Thus, Bulosan’s image of the US is of two kinds: the ideal and the real. The ideal US society represents democracy, freedom, and equality. The real US society continues to be buried in the quagmire of political oppression, social exploitation, and human indignities.

Bulosan and Education What Bulosan conveys in all his writings is an understanding of how the dynamics of social forces operate in society. His analysis of social events is an effort to make people realize that in society there are always a dominant group and a minority group; an oppressor and the oppressed.

This form of social relation is always advantageous to the dominant group because of its power and influence. In this unequal relationship, the minority is powerless, subjugated, and exploited. Implicit in these conditions are economic and political ramifications, as well as moral and ethical demands. Given this system of control, Bulosan incorporates a theory that I call “counter opposition.” For him, not to decide to act against this structure is to contribute to the maintenance of the existing order; to be neutral in the midst of oppression is to support the status quo. As Singer (1994) points out: “Silence on societal issues suggests complicity and discredits calls for reason, academic scholarship, and the value of learning.” What this thinking clearly suggests for schools is that education cannot be a neutral process. This is what Code (1991) means when she says that knowledge is always created and influenced by the social-class position of individuals and groups.

Since the school is historically a place for transmitting values that enable the dominant culture to maintain its sphere of control, the school has to decide what kind of knowledge to teach. In his effort to debunk the myth of the neutrality of knowledge Banks (1994), points out that US society “primarily reflects the perspective and points of view of the victors rather than the vanquished.” Bulosan makes a similar, but harsher reference to this educational tendency: And education—what kind? The filth that the culture-mongers teach in the schools? That one race is inferior to another race because of the pigmentation of skin? Books that are written by the cultural procurers of the ruling class?

From the points of view of Bulosan, the need to deconstruct the present system of disseminating knowledge starts with making a decision for or against racism, inequality, and justice. This is vital to the process of knowledge construction because the content of education is always embedded with economic, political, and moral messages.

Given the continuing need for a relevant curriculum and instructional strategies for all ethnic groups in the US, Bulosan’s pedagogical insights offer a very important perspective. g

They All Hail from Binalonan

By Claire Morales True

• Chief Justice Manuel Moran is one brilliant lawyer who became an assistant attorney in the Bureau of Justice, a judge of Manila, Iloilo and Pampanga, and an author of law books. He also sat in the Court of Appeals as justice. Moran was appointed chief justice by President Manuel A. Roxas under the third Philippine Republic. Chief Justice Moran chose to retire early in 1951 to become the first Philippine Ambassador to Spain and the Vatican .

• Evangelina Guico Macaraeg Macapagal is the better half of Philippine President Diosdado Macapagal. Moreover, she is the mother of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Doña Eva was best remembered during her time as the “First Lady of Elegance” who carefully manicured the Malacanang grounds into a place of beauty and also as a first lady who cares, being a doctor by profession.

• Mayor Ramon Guico Sr. was known as one of the country’s most outstanding farmers. He later became the mayor of Binalonan for many years, and made it one of the cleanest and peaceful municipalities in the country.

He also pioneered the Binalonan Liner, the bus transportation in the North.

Today, his son Mayor Ramon Guico Jr. is the only mayor in the country to lead the League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP) and the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP) for three consecutive terms.

• Among the military and outstanding lawyers who trace their roots to Binalonan are West Pointer Edicio V. Tavanlar, several PMAers, military and police officers led by Philippine Air Force Major General Nathaniel Legaspi, Col. Norman Legaspi, Col. Amorsolo Gabot, Col. Bonifacio de Castro, Chief Supt.

Dominador Resos, Commodore Romeo Aradanas, Former Court of Appeals Court Justice and Justice Secretary Demetrio Demetria, the late Congressman Magdaleno Palacol Sr., and Honorable Eva G. Betita, Philippine Ambassador to Brazil.

• Binalonan is also home to athletes—Philippine cycling champions Rufino Gabot, Samson and Benjamin Etrata, William Calip, and Gonzalo Espiritu.

• Alfred Gabot is a well respected editor, book author, professor and university official and the second Pangasinense to become president of the National Press Club of the Philippines.

• Roger L. Oriel is the publisher of the Asian Journal—the largest circulated Filipino-American Community Newspaper in the US. Asian Journal has two weekly editions in Los Angeles; and is published weekly in the Orange County/ Inland Empire areas, San Francisco, Las Vegas and New York/New Jersey. g

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F. sionil jose Photo by le grande pedroche | the ajpress

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THE SAGA THAT IS F. SIONIL JOSE

BY JOEL PABLO SALUD

thriving province of Ilokandia today was far removed from the Ilocos of the Jose family during the years prompting the Huk rebellion. Theirs was an Ilocos steeped in poverty, of cogonroofed houses held together by molave posts, yet made brittle by the diurnal search for basic needs. Within this sliver of lush country, cragged hills and calm evenings spent under the twittering of the innocent kuliglig, injustice was no less a seasoned thief that swooped down on the poor and innocent under a cloak of darkness.

As a child Frank Sionil Jose had seen how the rich claimed land not their own, leaving poor peasants on the fringes with nothing save the last straw: The prospect of death, if not the daily frustration of fighting a losing battle with the rich and powerful.

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Hence the family’s decision to leave—via the Cagayan Valley through the Sta. Fe Trail—their former life in Ilocos for the chance of another genesis in Barrio Cabugawan, Rosales town in Pangasinan.

The journey was far from being a healthy hike into nature’s wonders. Cagayan Valley was and still is a piece of real estate where mountains are mostly cragged and weather extremes are often displayed by drought or lightning flashes, and endless rains.

Tribesmen living around the area were robust and hard-wearing, children possessing the pragmatism of the old. Newborns of weaker constitution had only two to three days to survive the indubitably harsh conditions.

Bearing on their backs possessions culled within a lifetime, the Jose family trekked through jagged ranges, thick forests and rugged mountain tracks while carrying molave posts, clothes and tokens of possessions, even utensils and the stone mortar used for grinding rice grains. Years later, at this gateway into the Cagayan Valley farmlands, the officers of General Douglas MacArthur would lead the 25th and 32nd Divisions of the United States Armed Forces against the fleeing imperial hordes of Japan’s Lt. General Yamashita Tomoyuki. In 1661, the same sprawling area was the site of the Malong Revolt where Zambal tribesmen were sent to fight off the conquistadores.

Little did the Joses know then that the footsteps of a young wouldbe writer felt the cry of blood from the scarlet soil. Jose as a young boy wasn’t alien to the brutality and childhood terrors one was forced to experience at the time. He was witness to how the moneyed mestizos of his day seized the land of his grandfather whose one chance at fighting back was stifled by not knowing how to read or write. It was this biting reality that compelled him to dig into books and literature, to the art of remembering by way of the fiction of Faulkner, Steinbeck, Cather, and of course, Jose Rizal. From these tales he would wrest a magnificent saga that was to be the bedrock of FF. Sionil Jose’s Rosales epic.

Reading F. Sionil Jose is never for the faint of heart. His novels are sturdy of build, anchored on a tradition of storytelling as epic and passionate John Dos Passos’ Trilogy and John Steinbeck’s East of Eden.

S TTake Jose’s Poon Poon—one man’s quest for justice as he attempts to overcome challenges in a small town in Pangasinan. The story is as close to a biography of the Jose family as it can get, fleeing their beloved Ilocos on account of the cruelty of the balikbayanmagazine.com | APRIL – MAY 2010 | balikbayan

39

rich. Istak, the main character, despite his humble origins, was a learned man, savvy in the ways of science and the languages. In this piece of fiction, Frankie, as the national artist is fondly called, unveils a brewing tension between the natives and the conquering foreigners on account of religious, political and racial differences.

To build tension and conflict, to rouse thought and hopefully, action, aside from the rigors and demands of language and grammar, is the throbbing heart of fiction.

Here Sionil Jose marks out the journey of both country and people in ways only the master storyteller can weave: By seeing all through the eyes of poor farmers of a small province whose only means of justice was a peasant uprising that was doomed to fail.

Yet far be it for Sionil Jose’s novels to merely entertain.

No, his novels do not come close to being an old man’s uncanny attempt at nostalgia. His—and every other Filipino fictionist—is a vocation of remembrance, of retelling histories and conditions of the human soul, of crafting the intricate lines that divide us with the hope of one day merging into a singular voice. His exposes on life on the Philippine countryside mimics little of the foreign influences that had made him who he is as a teller of tales. His is a unique voice, stories speaking of what can only be said in whispers, grasped strangely within the throttlehold of myth—those said in secret, as Chilean poet Pablo Neruda once said, between the shadow and the soul. Hence the burden Sionil Jose carries is the burden every Filipino writer should carry within him or her: To speak loudly of the conditions of mind and society that we have yet to triumph over.

For Sionil Jose, not to remember is the greatest of sins.

And remember Sionil Jose did: the duwende at the Gabaldon schoolhouse, the cogon roofs ruined by flames, the ayungins thriving at the Agno River, the cries of landless and starved peasants at the plaza, the scent of poverty and impunity perched on everyone’s head, carabaos dragging behind it the bamboo paragos where farmers culled their produce, the Colorum and Sakdal uprisings and, finally, the Huk rebellion. This backdrop provided the texture for his works. He glazed it with lives and loves, laurels and losses brought closer to our minds by the cuddle of words.

F. Sionil Jose has his mother and grade school teachers to thank for his taste for literature. It was the result of books his mother brought home regularly, all the while worrying about the next meal. Gripping as poverty was, Jose’s mother found more satisfaction in bringing those volumes to her son as it was not a luxury but a need. Someone in the family must carry the torch and education was the only means to a fuller existence. As young as five years, he had begun his search for answers to what he had seen and heard, and while he devoured each tale, at the back of his mind, he prepared for the inevitable: “I will write.” It was to be the beginning of Sionil Jose’s crusade for the truth.

In one of his lectures, the national artist for literature said, “You ask me why I write. Many of our people do not realize how important the arts are. They think writers are entertainers. But what writers do is create the cultural foundation of a nation. I want to relive our history. I want to give our people memory. My tradition is the village. My tradition is this small town. In many ways, I never really left Barrio Cabugawan.” g

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On Writing

by F. sionil jose, national artist for literature

Science and Technology

are now the universal mantras for progress and, of course, it is difficult to argue against the success of countries like the United States and Japan, and now the emergent China—they have attained such power and prosperity because they excel in science and technology.

We who believe that the humanities—particularly literature—have much to contribute to progress, too, are a muffled minority and it is precisely because humanists are hardly listened to, that seminars such as this are important particularly for those who will expound on our gospel in the classroom.

But even writer–teachers—no matter how committed to their vocation—are bound to tire, grow old. We wallow in clichés, in archaic formulae which must be constantly renewed, ingested, if we are to be useful in a fast changing world.

We need to remind ourselves—those of us who are engaged in this lonely craft of teaching and writing—that repetition may be boring, but necessary. And so we must repeat again and yet again to ourselves and to those who matter the importance of literature: that literature teaches us ethics which is now in great demand in a demoralized world. Literature anchors us in history, too, binds us together with our common past, and hopefully inspires us to build—as I would like to dream always—a society suffused with justice.

Since we write from our inconsequential lives, memory is our most important asset. Perhaps, I started “writing” the Rosales Saga when I was a child, not even in grade school; my grandfather took me to the fields beyond our village and when we stopped, he pointed to the expanse of ripening grain and said all that land was cleared from the forest by him and his brothers. But that land, after all that hard work and suffering, was stolen by the Spanish mestizos. He then said that I must go to school so I will not be oppressed the way he was.

Like most peasants in those days—the closing decades of the 19th century, he was illiterate. I had turned to the ancient face and to this day, I remember him crying silently, the tears rolling down those withered cheeks. Years afterwards when I was surrounded by decrepit lives and the sorry shapes of poor neighborhoods, I understood what my grandfather meant.

Then there was my teacher, Miss Soledad Oriel who gave me Rizal’s novels when I was in Grade Five—10 years old—the Noli and the Fili as translated by Charles Derbyshire—they were the first novels in English which I read. In that portion of the Noli where Sisa’s two sons Crispin and Basilio were wrongly accused of stealing by a Spanish friar, I was so moved, I wept. I was influenced by Rizal’s novels—not just the novels but by his life; they gave me the basic idea for the saga. More than this, Rizal created such vivid characters like Sisa who I recreated as my Tia Nena in the third and last novels in the saga, My Brother, My Executioner, and Mass.

We know that the Fili is the sequel to the Noli; that the conclusions of both novels are not quite precise and clear-cut which leave the reader a lot of leeway in his interpreting what the author really wanted his reader to conclude. Bitin, we call this in Tagalog; the reader is left hanging and even guessing. If Rizal was often implicit, I am often explicit.

I started writing the saga almost immediately after World War II. Earlier in 1938 when I was a sophomore at the Far Eastern University High School, I began writing short stories, mostly the O. Henry type

the Rosales Novels with surprise endings that were arrived at after a careful weaving of the plots. All were rejected by the Free Press, the Graphic and the Sunday Tribune Magazine. During the Occupation, I also wrote verse although there was no publication to which I could send these.

Then, in 1946 in Santo Tomas, I started sending fiction to the magazines and my first story was published by Salvador P. Lopez in the monthly Philippine American Magazine of Benjamin Salvoza. I got P50—this at a time when a salary of a clerk was P80 a month.

The saga is also influenced by my reading during the Liberation of the Salinas novels of John Steinbeck. And William Faulkner’s literary geography, Yoknapatawpha County, became the rural Rosales which expanded into an urban setting.

Though interlinked, each novel in the saga is independent of the others and each can be read complete in itself. Each is written, too, in a manner different from the others. It is difficult to trace the sequence as in a linear continuum. I wrote most of the chapters of The Pretenders, Tree and My Brother, My Executioner as short stories so I could sell them immediately. I was very poor, a self-supporting student after the Liberation in 1945. I had spent all my savings from my brief stint in the American military. I was a stevedore at the piers but the foreman seeing how emaciated and puny I was, assigned me instead to the office. That job lasted a few months; soon after, I became a staff writer of the Philippines Commonweal which later on became the Sentinel, the Catholic weekly.

Miss Paz Latorena, my Santo Tomas literature teacher, told me to take the exam for the college paper, the Varsitarian. I passed, got a small salary and a scholarship which I asked from the Secretary General of Santo Tomas, Fr. Florencio Munos; Fr. Francisco Villacorta who succeeded Father Muñoz continued my scholarship. I was writing the stories in the Varsitarian office and often stayed there late after school.

Poon, the first novel in the time chronology—1872 to 1972—is the last that I wrote in the early ’80s but its first chapter was written together with the chapters of Tree, The Pretenders and My Brother in the ’50s. The first chapter, The Cripple, was published in the Sunday Times Magazine in the ’50s. By then, I had already plotted the full structure of the saga.

I realized that early that I had to do a lot of reading on our history and so many felicitous events came my way. I was invited to dinner by the Lavas who were then living in Diliman.

The honoree was Cesar Majul who had just returned from Cornell with a newly minted Ph.D. When I told him I was from Rosales, he said Mabini had tarried in my hometown for a rest cure when he was fleeing from the Americans. By my limited reading, I knew how upright Mabini was, how he unselfishly served the poor and the new Republic. Mabini must be in the saga.

In recreating Mabini, I committed a horrible blunder by giving currency to the rumor that his being a cripple was attributable to syphilis. I thought that by doing this, I would humanize him—a mistake that should be a lesson to all attempting to work with historical material. When his bones were exhumed in the ’80s, it was found that he had polio. I confronted Cesar Majul and Teddy Agoncillo—our two venerable historians who had passed on to me the story; both excoriated me for using unconfirmed rumors. As Ambeth Ocampo, the much younger historian

explained, the enemies of Mabini concocted the lie to neutralize his tremendous influence in the Malolos Republic.

After, the Noli and the Fili, Miss Oriel gave me My Antonia by Willa Cather then Don Quixote by Miguel Cervantes.

The narrator in My Antonia is a boy who befriends a family of European settlers in Nebraska, among them a girl named Antonia.

This haunting novel impressed me. When I wrote Tree, the second in the saga, I also made the narrator a boy among peasants and their families. I selected a rich boy to tell the story from his point of view.

The novel is an improvement of Steinbeck’s The Wayward Bus. In the Steinbeck story, as the bus stalls in a town, the story of the town unfolds. No central theme unites the characters. In Tree, the town and the balete tree which dominates its plaza are integral to the lives of the characters. The continuity is not just in the town. The landlord who helps the Ilokano settlers in Poon—a revolutionary and friend of Mabini—is now a grandfather of the narrator.

I recall how eagerly I followed Don Quixote’s misadventures— reading the novel even under the street light beyond our house when we did not have kerosene for our lamp. Cervantes taught me the technique of the narrative and to append to it whatever else I wanted.

A writer who ignores the power of the narrative misses his most important function—to tell a story.

Sometime in the Seventies, Kunio Yoshihara, a Japanese friend who is a Southeast Asian specialist, came to the Philippines. He had read Tree and without telling me, he visited Rosales, stayed with the town mayor, then returned to Manila and told me there is no balete tree in Rosales.

Of course, there is no such tree in my hometown. I put it there as one overarching symbol which most of us can understand. For so long, our writers enamored with their Western education have missed it and other native objects—Ficus Benjamina Linn—the strangler tree. It starts as a sapling surrounded by vines which grow around the young tree—the vines strangle it then grow and become the trunk of the tree itself.

The rural setting of the saga is not fictional but I gave it several imagined attributes—the Colorum peasant revolt in nearby Tayug in 1931, for instance. I transferred it to Rosales but did not actually

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describe it as it happened—it is merely inferred in the reminiscence of the characters.

Rosales can be any Philippine town, lethargic in its ways, Christian with a pagan and superstitious core, small town politicians beholden to national warlords, rhythms punctuated by the seasons, the planting and harvesting, the fiesta. All these color the saga, particularly so in Tree.

From this small town, the narrative moves to the city, to the slums, the perfumed enclaves, the university belt and even a sliver of its dark underside. Young and old, the desperate, the dejected and the perennially hopeful move untrammeled in this geography that is also in constant flux.

My Brother, My Executioner, the third novel in the saga, is considered by some as the most dramatic of the five novels. Two brothers, Luis and Victor, represent protagonists in the Huk rebellion in the early ’50s; Luis—the illegitimate son of the Spanish landlord Don Vicente Asperri in Tree, and Luis’ half brother, the peasant leader Victor.

Don Vicente who looms over the novel Tree but rarely appears, is now a very powerful presence in this novel, an anxious father who sees his mestizo son with the peasant woman Nena, mature as a poet and his only heir. Nena who is the reincarnated image of Sisa in Rizal’s Noli also loses her sanity in this novel, disappears then reappears as Tia Nena in Mass and finally, in the play Balikbayan.

The setting of My Brother includes Rosales in the vortex of that revolt and Manila where Luis, the heir, lives in comfort and intellectual exile. He marries his cousin Trining at the urging of his father, after a disastrous affair with his publisher’s daughter, Ester.

The brilliant young playwright, Rody Vera who transformed Tree, Mass and The Pretenders into plays, is now working on My Brother. As a musical, it will be ready for staging early next year.

The Pretenders, the fourth novel—like Tree and My Brother when finally completed—was serialized in the early Fifties in the Weekly Womens Magazine edited by the late Telly Albert Zulueta. The Pretenders is the first in the Saga to appear in book form. When Rody Vera started transforming it into a play, I re-read it after almost 40 years since I had looked at it.

Its patent maturity surprised me. Remember, I wrote it in my twenties.

I then realized that my generation was matured early by World War II—its dehumanizing ordeals, flight, hunger and death. I make his observation as an oblique comment on much of the writing of our younger people today. So much facility, innovation characterize their prose but, alas, there isn’t much probity or depth in it.

Mass, the concluding novel, was a momentous after thought. I intended to write just four novels with The Pretenders as the conclusion — bleak, uncertain but purposive with its symbolic call to revolution in the suicide of Antonio Samson. His death is not just physical but an allegorical rendering of the need for self discovery and destruction of the rotten foundation of society and replacing it with an invigorating vision limned by justice.

Then, in 1972 Marcos declared martial law. So many young people responded to that challenge as did the youth in 1896. I had to record that brave response; I knew some of them, shared their hope although I was not going to act as courageously as they.

Martial law was not kind to me. Aside from being periodically harassed, I was not allowed to travel. After four years of trying without success, I thought it time to pull strings and use my old contacts in government—the friends who joined Marcos, Secretary of Information Francisco Kit Tatad and Foreign Affairs Secretary Manuel Collantes.

They returned my passport after an old friend had placed my name on the black list. I was going to attend a cultural conference in Paris. I decided to stay on for a month to write. Nena Saguil, the Filipina artist who lived in Paris, found cheap room for me in the Left Bank — seven dollars a day with continental breakfast.

On the plane to Paris, I thought of the illegitimate son of Antonio Samson in The Pretenders—Pepe—he became the antihero in Mass.

It is the only novel I wrote from beginning to end in a month of concentrated work and creative spurt. Never had I labored so hard as I did in Paris that summer of 1976. Sometimes, I typed for two to three days straight till my hands were numb. No rest except a nap or a snack of bread and apricots—they were in season and very cheap.

Back in Manila, I cleaned up the first draft for about three months then showed it to New Day publisher, Gloria Rodriguez. She liked it but couldn’t use it. Marcos was mentioned in it by name. I then showed it to Eggie Apostol, my comadre and publisher of the Inquirer.

She turned it down, too, for the same reason. I mimeographed it then distributed it to friends. They said it was too dangerous, that the

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Marcos thugs would get me.

Somehow, my publisher in Holland, Sjef Theunis, heard about it. He immediately put it out in Dutch. It sold very well in Holland. With my royalties I then published it in Manila. I gambled. Even if Marcos read it or heard about it, he wouldn’t bother because he knew Filipinos do not read novels. My thinking was confirmed and so I am here today able to tell you these stories.

Wisps of the saga appear in Viajero which my French translator, the brilliant metaphysical poet Amina Said, considers my very best.

Viajero recounts our history through the eyes and the imagination of a deracinated scholar, Salvador de la Raza. Salvador returns to the Philippines from San Francisco and meets with Pepe Samson and Father Jess. Pepe Samson, now a revolutionary, takes him to the Caraballo range to a “liberated territory” and shows the returning Filipino scholar the grim reality of revolution.

The saga ends with my play Balikbayan. The first act is in a bookshop where the characters in Mass meet after 20 years. Pepe Samson is the central figure; among his activist colleagues in the Sixties and the Seventies, only he has kept the faith.

The second act, Dong-Ao, is the Ilokano ritual of the living wailing over the dead, in this case, Pepe Samsom who is betrayed.

The play was translated into Tagalog by Rody Vera and the second act, Dong-Ao was staged at the Cultural Center of the Philippines directed by the genius, Chris Millado.

The whole saga and the play were presented last Dec. 3 at the Tagbilaran Cultural Center by the magnificent Bohol impresario Lutgardo Labad. The play, translated in Cebuano, was preceded by a reading of the synopsis of the five novels then the first act was read; the second act, Dong-Ao was staged.

The director, PETA’s Melvin Lee, was assisted by Lordely Garrate Trinidad of California. Like Chris Millado’s CCP presentation, the Tagbilaran staging was moving. This comment is self-serving but I really saw that evening in Tagbilaran so many teary faces.

More than 10 years ago, my son Eugenio who lives in San Francisco drove me to Sacramento in California to see Miss Oriel, now the widow Mrs. Bill Soriano and retired. She was past 90 but her mind was still lucid. She told my son how often she had to report me to the principal for being absent. My mother would then be informed; I was playing truant again. She had kept some of my grade school themes to show to her students when she started teaching in college.

I had kept some of those early attempts too—a collection of verse I wrote when I was in my teens. Jette, my daughter who is also my editor, chanced upon it and said I was truly mushy. I am terribly embarrassed when I read these first strivings and those that were published immediately after the World War II. They’re so bad, I could cry.

As I stated in the beginning of this presentation, the ego propels the creative effort. Narcissm, however, has its limits. The happy celebration of the self eventually negates the outward reach of art; the writer then transcends himself to attain the fulfillment which lies beyond his narrow compass.

In writing the saga, I also tried to portray the Filipino condition honestly and as best as I can so that we will be able to recognize the truest image of ourselves. We will then be able to fashion for ourselves an alternative reality, a redeeming vision emergent from our unblemished understanding of why we are.

In writing the saga, I tried to restore our faded memory which custom and the vagaries of life often render us insensate or forgetful of this past—even the recent past, for as long as these dire events—no matter how traumatic to us as a people, don’t impact on us as individuals.

I have tried to show a nobler image of what we truly are; our history has abundantly informed us of our iron revolutionary tradition, our forbearance, our heroism.

I am ready to be accused of falsifying this history, of hieratic myth making and literary sorcery. What excuse or reason can I give other than what any artist will claim—that this saga is my homage, my humble tribute to my unhappy country. g Philstar.com This piece was delivered by the author, upon the invitation of UST professor Ferdinand Lopez, as the opening address during a conference organized by the Faculty of Arts and Letters, the Literary Society, and the college paper of the University of the Santo Tomas, The Varsitarian. The conference, attended by writers and teachers, and which focused on the teaching of Philippine literature in our schools, was held in honor of the writer Paz Latorena.

| the unguided tour | by althea lauren ricardo • illustrations by kendrick l. tan | the ajpress

The Summer

Fiestas and other Pinoy the months of April and May are considered the fiesta months. But Filipinos seem to be raining in fiestas all year. In this essay, Althea Lauren Ricardo remembers her unforgettable feasts while moving around the country.

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It is said that if you spend an entire year in the Philippines, you could spend each week of those twelve months taking part in a fiesta. Between Quiapo’s Feast of the Black Nazarene in January and Pampanga’s Giant Lantern Festival in December are over a dozen regional fests that make life in these tropical islands a truly moveable feast.

Some time ago, the summer breeze blew this Manila girl’s wandering feet towards Tagbilaran City in Bohol, just in time for the Feast of St. Joseph, the Worker, the old city’s patron saint. The evening before the fiesta proper, my three-year-old niece and I watched from the balcony of my mother’s apartment as a group of fifty or so people paraded in the dark street below us, singing a prayer hymn, bearing candles and carrying a statue of St. Joseph, the favorite saint of the Jesuits who founded the city’s parish in 1595. Earlier that same evening, as we took the tricycle around the city, we heard the squealing of pigs ready for slaughter—a sound that, I had learned early, would herald the arrival of feasts everywhere in the country.

All that, however, did not exactly capture what went on during the actual day of the fiesta itself. In the morning, we decided to head for the Cathedral of Saint Joseph the Worker, which fronts the city plaza, to get a feel of the fiesta.

Fiestas in the Philippines are basically religious events nesting on pre-Hispanic pagan roots, mostly indigenous rituals for abundance, in harvest, for instance, or rituals for penitence. When the Spanish colonized our country beginning in the 1500s, in typical Catholic fashion, they incorporated the faith into all faces of our lives, merging pagan rituals with Catholic practices for easy integration.

I remember Nick Joaquin’s “The Summer Solstice”, where the Moretas celebrate the Feast of San Juan Bautista during the day and the women of Paco perform the Tadtarin ritual, a Dionysian festival where women reigned supreme, at night.

As we expected, the cathedral overflowed with people, all of them dressed to the nines, looking happy and looking like they were also headed for various elsewheres, like the public market or, most likely, home.

Solstice

Destinations In front of us, a lady carrying too many baskets and plastic bags flagged down a tricycle.

“Where are you headed?” the driver asked.

The lady gave him her answer.

“I’m sorry,” the driver said, “it’s too far and I’m hungry and I’m on my way to have lunch at a friend’s house.”

“Have lunch at ours,” the lady replied.

And, to my surprise, off they went, the happy new friends.

But was I really surprised? Years back, I was in a car with a friend and her new boyfriend, driving to the boyfriend’s Antipolo hometown. “It’s the Feast of the Immaculate Concepcion,” he said, “our fiesta.”

“Is there a party at your house?” I asked.

“No,” he replied, “but we’re going to look for one.” He picked up the phone and called half a dozen of his friends, and managed to get us invited to three different homes, to which we were welcomed like long lost kin, not only by his friends, but also their relatives.

At dusk, after a walk around the Tagbilaran city proper, we headed for home. Our tricycle driver was wary as he navigated the dimly lit sloping streets to our place. “Some of the drivers have been drinking since morning,” he said. Many of them were both drinking and singing videoke, I discovered, in between ferrying passengers.

For dinner, we found ourselves in the old house of the former town mayor, who happened to be my mother’s landlord, surrounded by a steady swarm of strangers, many of whom, unlike us, had come uninvited but were warmly welcomed nevertheless.

An endless stream of people made their way inside and outside the house, helping themselves to an equally endless supply of the sumptuous fiesta spread.

Let me tell you what I have learned about fiesta food, especially in the province. First, there’s a pig—or two. The fiesta’s crowning glory is undoubtedly the lechon—last night’s squealing porker, roasted to golden brown, crispy perfection, usually in an open pit.

Then, there are the pork-based viands that make use of the porker’s other body parts, in the spirit of the Filipino’s uncanny ability to economize.

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We have the staple fiesta viand menudo, which lists as its main ingredients pork and pork liver. We have the more challenging dinuguan, which is made with pig’s blood and, often, pig intestines. We have other similar dishes that are more popular in their home regions, like the igado of Ilocos, the ingredients of which, depending on who’s cooking, can include the pig’s liver, spleen, kidney and heart.

The women in the family usually start preparing the lavish feast days, sometimes even weeks, early in the culinary performance of their lives—at least until next year rolls in. This is why rule number one in fiestas is to compliment the cook, who, more often than not, would just shrug off the praise and offer you more delicious goods with which to stuff your happy face. Rule number two is to never decline drink or food.

Fiesta activities vary from place to place, but the staples include concerts and a colorful, musical street parade. In Davao, during the Kadayawan Festival in August, the people in this part of Mindanao converge to celebrate the greatest of their region, be it art, culture or heritage. In Cebu, during the Sinulog Festival in January, the crowd in the street moves in unison, an organic whole, as they snake across the streets of the city, dancing and crying out “Pit Señor!” to honor the Sto. Niño. In Baguio, at the Panagbenga Festival in March, a parade of the region’s unparalleled natural bounty blooms as one in the mountain city’s main street and the city is filled with the scent of flowers in its wake.

It is this organic whole I have in mind, when I find myself looking

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at exorbitant plane ticket prices to this country’s different regions in the few days before their fiesta dates; when I find myself being crushed in a happy crowd in airports, ports and bus stations; when I am in the middle of a street overflowing with shiny, happy people, dancing to the beat of one drum; and when I am sitting in a strange house, eating someone’s carefully prepared meal, and yet feeling as if I am home.

During any annual fiesta, a region becomes a small town becomes a small community becomes a home. For a few days of celebration, the crowd becomes an organic whole, united by merriment, by a lavishness that sees no end, by a sense of belonging that connects everybody to everyone, by rituals that it instinctively understands, by a history with which it intuitively connects.

“Fiesta time tells the Filipino where he came from and who he is.

The Filipino organism comes alive, fed by rituals and the coming together of the kin,” writes painter and essayist Alfredo Roces in his book Culture Shock! Philippines: A Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette.

It is said that if you spend an entire year in the Philippines, you would never run out of feasts. I have no idea exactly how many fiestas are held every year in this country of 7,100 islands, but I am quite certain that we are indeed a people who will forever find a reason to celebrate.

In the heart of every Filipino, colonial history and all, where home is concerned, there is always a party waiting to happen. g

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| past food | by alma anonas–carpio • illustration by kendrick l. tan | the ajpress

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WHEN WE TALK about parties

in the Philippines, we talk mostly about food.

Well, if you are Filipino, food will always be the dominant topic of conversation, really, but it is when we talk about fiestas that the talk truly centers on food. However, food is but a peg upon which the understanding of the Filipino spirit in its generosity, goodwill and openness.

The incidental gossip of who is going abroad, who has just returned, who is enjoying a run of wealth abroad and who is running for political office (among myriad topics of discussion) only roams the periphery of the discussions at a fiesta, where all the townsfolk line closed-to-traffic streets with trestle tables groaning beneath the weight of each household’s signature specialty.

In Metro Manila, the melting pot of all the bloodlines of the country, you will see variety: Aling Nene’s barbecue (pun totally intended, as I lived near Aling Nene’s barbecue place once) sitting beside Mang Obet’s kaldereta and the Tan family’s siopao and siomai platter and, maybe, a bit roast duck if the Chinese neighbors are experiencing a time of plenty. There is also the winningest ube halaya provided by the local carpenters’ supply store owner’s wife.

Further on down the street you will find a roasting pig on a spit and lechon kawali (also called bagnet) cooked by the Ilocano neighbor, sitting beside the sinugbang pusit cooked by the Cebuano neighbor across the street. My barangay is in the heart of Makati City and my Bicolana neighbor’s laing, Bicol Express and biko often rule the roost.

There is, too the lechon baka my policeman neighbor is so good at preparing on a spit beside the whole roast pig my neighbor, the carpenter, prepares. I usually provide the Ilocano-style bagnet and fresh mangoes and fragrant, freshly harvested rice from the fields of Zambales, my father’s home province, when I have some extra cash.

The mestizo neighbors usually provide the Spanish fare—callos, slow-cooked arroz valenciana, paella (not negra), bacalao (salted, dried cod fish) simmered in tomato sauce, bell peppers and garbanzos, empanadas and arroz caldo, as well as sweets like lengua de gato, canonigo, barquillos and exotic (read: not traditional Filipino, but Filipinized anyway) pastries provided by the neighborhood bakeries.

Our corner of Makati City is the sum of the islands, with representation of nearly all of the land’s provincial areas and a few tribes, too. Discord among so many ethnicities kept in such close quarters is inevitable, but the fiesta is how we cope. The fiesta is our time of peace offerings, when the Bisaya representatives will make llaneras of leche flan just for the Ilocanos in apology for the Bisaya sons’ being fresh with the Ilocano daughters, or where the Tagalogs will offer mouthwatering sapin-sapin to the Bicolanos whose precious malunggay and kamias trees the mischievous Tagalog children had stripped bare without permission.

Because of the fiestas (we have as many as four a year, one for each season), our barangay hall has had less cause for complaint than the rest. When the Kapampangans begin cooking, everybody steps back and lets them rule the roost—even our Bicolana kitchen doyenne.

They are, in fact, the least molested of the neighbors because they cook so well, and no one wants them to withhold their culinary masterpieces from the fiesta. For us, the fiesta is all about reveling in what Star Trek calls IDIC – infinite diversity in infinite combinations.

Select a good cut of pork—preferably taken from the belly of the pig or the kasim (the cut located below the ribs and between the belly and ribs) cut and slow-boil in salted water for about an hour per kilo. This will soften the pork. Use about two tablespoons of salt per liter of water (one liter for each kilo).

After boiling the pork belly, pat dry and season with finely crushed peppercorns and plenty of peeled, pounded garlic. Allow the boiled pork to air dry for at least 24 hours. If you cannot air-dry the pork in your kitchen the traditional way, which is to hang it on a meat hook over the stove, lay it flat on a baking sheet and put it in the freezer to dry it out for the same amount of time, turning it once every 12 hours for even drying.

Chop the pork into manageable chunks and heat enough oil in a heavy wok for deep-frying the pork. You may also use a deep-fryer to save yourself from the hot oil splatter that may happen. Have burn ointment and plenty of ice water on hand to treat oil burns and keep small children out of the kitchen while frying.

Deep fry the pork chunks in the boiling oil over a medium flame until they turn golden brown. For added crispness (here is the death-defying part and amateurs should probably wrap their arms in heavy cloth and wear clear plastic face-shields for this) sprinkle a handful of water over the frying pork just before you take it out of the wok or deep-fryer. Place the bagnet on a wire rack to allow the excess oil to drip out, chop into bite-sized chunks and serve with vinegar and garlic dip.

Vinegar and garlic dip: Finely mash two cloves of garlic and mix with white, cane or coconut-sap vinegar.

Leche flan done the traditional way: It is interesting to note that leche flan (also called dulce de leche or “sweet of milk” by the Spanish) was spawned by our Spanish forebears’ church-building frenzy during the colonial period of Philippine history. The story goes that egg whites were the preferred binder for the mortar used to hold the stone walls of these churches together and, instead of discarding the egg-yolks, the women in the neighborhoods where the churches were built used the yolks to make leche flan. Other neighborhoods used the yolks for the mortar, hence spawning the eggwhite delicacy known as meringue (meringue, in English), but that is another story altogether.

Here is a recipe from my mother’s family that has been handed down from mother to daughter (and son, as my youngest brother is addicted to the sweet, fiesta or no) for at least seven generations.

Separate the yolks of six large eggs and mix with ¼ teaspoon of lime zest (we used dayap, a locally available citrus much like a sour green ponkan) and four cups of fresh water-buffalo milk (fresh cow’s milk or goat’s milk will do, if you cannot get carabao milk). Mix the yolks, lemon zest and milk with six tablespoons of white sugar and blend well.

Generously sprinkle brown sugar into two large llaneras (tin flan molds)—or several small ones—and hold the llaneras over a medium flame until the sugar melts into caramel. Shake the caramel gently to prevent burning.

Pour the milk and egg-yolk mixture into the llaneras until the mix is but a half-inch from the brim. Cook the flans over medium heat in a steamer or in bain marie (water bath) until a toothpick inserted into the center of the flan comes out clean. g

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When attending a Filipino fiesta—be it the Sinulog in Cebu, the Panagbenga in Baguio City, the Ati-Atihan in Aklan or the smaller, but no less gustatory, barrio-based fiestas like ours—one must be prepared to eat until he or she can gorge no more. It would be seen as impolite to turn down Aling Ising’s puto at dinuguan, Mama Numeng’s paella negra or Kuya Popoy’s fried itik. So go slow, taste from each platter and go for seconds, thirds and fourths and enjoy the fiery tapuey, lambanog, tuba, the sweet sago’t gulaman or the ice-cold San Miguel beer or Red Horse beer we like to wash our food down with.

Since I am a child of the three major islands, Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, I have spent my life visiting fiestas large and small, both as a relative invited to my many adopted hometowns or as a journalist covering the big festivities. Practice and perseverance (and a rubber gut) help me keep my hosts happy when I go on these culinary sojourns.

While the fiesta was first organized by the Catholic missionaries to celebrate the feast days of each converted town’s patron saints, there is nothing remotely saintly about the amount of food a body must consume to keep his or her hosts happy. No, I don’t think any of the saints who lent the Philippines’ towns their names were gourmands.

Deeper into the root of this celebratory tradition known as the fiesta is the fact that the Filipino has always thanked the Almighty for bountiful harvests by holding a feast, or prayed for a better harvest with food. Moreover, the fiesta brings out the best of Filipinos bayanihan spirit through communal cooking and eating. The spirit of the fiesta is in celebrating a community spirit and reminding us of the days when we all relied on neighbors to help us through difficulties both large and small.

Since we are talking about fiesta foods, I must say my list of personal favorites include biko, Bicol Express, laing, sinugbang pusit, kalderetang kambing, papaitan, pinaupong manok, pinikpikan, paella, leche flan and, of course, lechon. Put those dishes together with perfectly steamed rice and fresh fruits (some from well-tended backyards and others bought from the market) and you have the perfect all-day meal (yes, you will literally be eating all day).

Moreover, the fiesta is a time we use to welcome Filipinos who have returned home, permanently or temporarily. This is the time when Aling Saling’s grandson who is home on vacation from Dubai is introduced to Mang Jun’s daughter, who has returned from California for good.

This is when potential matches are made, tried and tested.

The fiesta is the Filipino version of “dinner and a show,” though dinner can begin at breakfast and move on till well past the wee hours. There will inevitably be shows of one kind or another – beauty pageants for the neighborhood girls and gays, informal videoke contests till dawn, talent shows where aspiring singers, actors and actresses put their skills to the test and the odd mahjongg match or pusoy-fest. The bigger fiestas will include votive offerings to the saints and a procession of the patron saint through the barrio streets, streetdancing with a religious (though mostly Catholic) flavor and political speeches by local government authorities.

All told, the fiesta is there to bring out the best of the Filipino (and his kitchen) and to share this bounty of generosity and community spirit with others. This is the time when the dayo (stranger) is made welcome, even if he is from another barrio or country. It is a time when those who have plenty share what they have with those who may not be having so prosperous a season—hence the old tradition of balot (take-away) that heralds the end of the day for each fiesta, which may last more than one day. Celebrate the Filipino spirit with a fiesta—you can do this by coming home or by creating one of your own in your community, after all, the Filipino is a sturdy mustard seed that thrives where he or she may be blown by the winds. g

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photos by le grande pedroche | theajpress

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| persona | by rochelle c. pangilinan, louie jon a. sanchez & marie angeli syjueco | the ajpress

All Eyes on Lea For anyone involved in journalism, there are

personalities whom they would be willing to walk on fire if that was what it took to get an opportunity to meet and get a chance to interview them. For some, landing an interview with an actor and actress who’s gone on to have a successful career, a politician who has ideals they admire, a reclusive author whose books changed their lives or an auteur with a body of work which impresses them to no end is a dream come true. After all, it is in our nature to have that desire to meet in person the people you have high admiration for—not really so you can have a great story to brag to your friends about but moreso because you want to if this person is truly what you make him or her up to be.

After a somewhat tedious process, a window of opportunity finally opened to interview Lea Salonga—yes, the Lea Salonga—as part of her promotion rounds for Cats, to be staged in a limited two-week run in July this year, and I for one instantly thought,”Hell, yes!” There was no “Wait, let me check my schedule,” “Do I have deadlines that day?” or “Would that interview guarantee us tickets to Cats?” (That latter thought came later, actually). It was just a simple “Hell, yes!” and then questions to ask her came roaring like thunder into my mind. This wasn’t going to be an ordinary celebrity interview. This was an interview with someone who is practically royalty. If the Philippines were a monarchy and this was the 18th century, Lea would make the perfect queen...

And I for one would not hesitate to be one of her handmaidens, even if my tasks involved scrubbing the marble tiles at the palace and tightening the queen’s corsette. It’s Lea Salonga.

So the interview itinerary was set up. It was to be on a Monday at the Dusit Thani Hotel in Makati City. All those from the media who were invited were to be allowed 15 minutes each to interview her, and we were given an afternoon time slot—5pm to be exact, but we were told to be there at 4pm sharp.

Fifteen minutes. Andy Warhol once said that everyone will get their 15 minutes of fame, and in today’s showbusiness where fame seems to be fleeting, it is indeed true.

However, thankfully, the universal law of the 15 minutes of

fame do not apply to Lea Salonga as there is no reason that it has to. She, after all, started her professional musical theatre career as early as the age of seven in a production of The King of I. An extensive experience in theater production, film and TV subsequently followed, enough to cover all the pages of this magazine, and the glowing recognitions she received would require a supplemental section. Suffice it is to say, it would be futile to list all of them, not just because of the length of it all, but because there are far more interesting things about her that extends beyond her resumé. And this we proved come interview day.

The day started out as a normal day, but there was obvious excitement and awe with how the day would end. By 3pm in the afternoon, we headed to the venue and upon arrival 15 minutes before 4pm, we were welcomed by the group who handled the marketing and promotion for the upcoming production. By that time, a few media outfits, some of whom we recognized, were done and a few were still waiting for their turn.

Waiting is never easy so we busied and amused ourselves with a ‘Funny or Die’ type of interview while enjoying the delectable food especially prepared for the occasion.

By the time the clock struck five, we were more than ready, but due to unforeseen circumstances, our schedule of 5pm was pushed back further. Minutes went by, and boy, every 15 minute that went by did seem like... well, every 15 minute.

We finally were invited to the room where the interview was conducted at a few minutes past 7pm, but if you think the excitement waned from all that waiting, well, you are wrong. And from it all, the waiting was all worth it. Rochelle C. Pangilinan

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Balikbayan Magazine: What for you constitutes a superior musical performance?

Lea Salonga: Besides musicality, in a musical theater show, it’s for the actor to not just sing well but to give an honest portrayal of whatever role they are playing. And with this, you get to use your imagination a little bit because you’re a cat.

So it’s something that everyone looks forward to when they get to do a show like this.

BM: What would you say is the inspiration for your role as ‘Grizabella’ in the upcoming play?

LS: Well, I’ve owned cats. I’ve had cats. So I think being able to have observed them for a little while is helpful. Because they are very interesting, with very unique personalities. But the thing about these cats is, there’s a human-ness to all these characters. There’s a sexiness. It doesn’t matter which cat it is. And they’re just all incredibly beautiful to look at.

BM: Of your past roles, could you share with us those you hold dear in your heart?

LS: I love doing Kim in Miss Saigon, I love doing Fantine, I love doing Sonya in They’re Playing Our Song. I think those ones. And I think they all each came in a time in my life when it was a perfect time to play them. Like for some strange reason, each of them I guess was reflecting what was happening in my life. It became some sort of catharsis for my life, not just a character that I play.

The thing is that there are certain characters that come in my life at the time when I need to play that character. I don’t know what the catharsis is for this. Maybe it’s time for me to adopt another cat.

I don’t know. Or maybe it’s just a calling to use my imagination and be something that’s all of these wonderful things. And I think it would just be a good time.

BM: Would you be open to doing another non-musical role like the one in Proof?

LS: That was challenging... It was tough and difficult. Half of the time, I don’t know what I was doing. I think if I got to play it now, I would be able to give it a little more. I think there would have been a little more information as far as the character was concerned. It would be a little more interesting to play now. Not eight or nine years ago.

BM: Do you think that the staging of Cats in July would open the possibility of other Broadway theater productions of the same caliber to be staged here in the Philippines more often?

LS: I’m glad that it’s coming so that the Filipino audiences will get the opportunity to see a show as it was originally conceived and produced at the West Standard Broadway. That’s the caliber

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of production that is coming. It’s very exciting in that regard that our kababayans don’t have to go all the way to New York to see a show like this.

BM: In terms of your film career, there were talks that you will be reuniting with Aga Muhlach. Is this something we can expect in the near future?

LS: Yeah, I think that it’s something that we talked about. We both would definitely want to do. We’re now figuring out when to do it, because both our schedules are incredibly busy. He’s making like three movies this year. Two or three. I don’t know if there actually is a time to do one more with me. So I think we’ll wait maybe until the year after this. And see what kind of story we’ll get to be able to play together.

BM: If you were to choose, do you have a story arc in mind?

LS: Now? I don’t know. I mean, it’s interesting what older people like us could actually portray. Like there was one Meryl Streep movie called It’s Complicated. You know, stuff like relationships, like what would people in their 40s get into. I mean it’s just an example of something that older actors play—a couple in their 40s: what crisis would they face, what kind of relationship hurdles or challenges would they go through or challenges as individuals.

When you’re in your 20s, you have a set of challenges where you’re striving to get to the top of your game professionally.

You’re thinking about courting somebody or thinking about getting married. In your 40s, you’re in a stage in your life where there’s

BM: How are things when you’re outside the spotlight?

LS: It’s very, very good, thank you. My husband’s busy working.

My little girl is busy playing. She’s three and a half years old, and she loves princesses and watching animated movies. And she imagines that she’s that girl Penny in Bolt. She’s like, “I have to rescue Bolt.” And her imagination is so vivid, it’s like, “Honey, if you got to do it, you got to do it.’” And she’s like, “I wanna take Bolt home.” She mimics the line of that character. She’s so funny!

BM: Who are the people would you say have guided and inspired you in your career?

LS: I had really good ones. I had (Zeneida) Bibot Amador. I had Baby Barredo. I had some really great voice teachers. Mary Hammond was one who really shaped my technique. Of course, my parents and teachers and principals in high school. The thing though, the people who really struck me the most I think were Tita Bibot and Tita Baby because they are the very first director and musical director that I have ever worked with. And they were women, so I had the presumption then that every director is a woman. And I think because of the first impression and exposure to work with directors who are women, it never occurred to me that women couldn’t do anything. So these were women who are strong and talented, incredibly intelligent and fantastic at what they did.

So it never occurred to me that there are things that women couldn’t do. And they were great influences in that regard.

BM: What do you miss most about Zeneida Amador?

LS: Oh, her humor! She’s always laughing. I missed, you know, whenever she gets angry she would swear like crazy.

Name it... it came out of her mouth. But the great thing about her though is she never gets personal. And you could tell that she really loves what she is doing. She enjoyed working with actors, and she is able to spot if you could be a teacher. She did that with a friend of mine, “you know what, you could teach.”

She said that with one of my friends. And that’s what eventually she did. just so much of B.S. that you throw away, and so many hang-ups that you let go off. So what kind of story could you tell with that perspective. It sounds like a very interesting prospect.

BM: With your vast experience in the industry, is there anything else you are aiming to do?

LS: I don’t know. I’ve never played as kontrabida before. And I don’t know if anyone would cast me as the bad one. I’m usually the character who gets picked on and suffers and triumphs in the end.

That’s a tough one. But I would definitely want to do Eva Peron on stage one day. It has always been my brass ring, because of the challenge, the vocal challenge. But there’s also the emotional challenge because she is somebody who started off rock-bottom poor and grows up as a very ambitious woman and becomes the first lady of Argentina and she dies of ovarian cancer at 33. So it becomes a very interesting portrayal of life. I’d also love to play Elphaba (from Wicked).

BM: With your busy schedule, what do you do to relax?

LS: I get manicures and pedicures. I love going to the spa, getting a massage. I like taking care of myself in that way, being as relaxed as possible. My husband and I get massages at least once or twice a week. I like shopping for shoes, glasses. I have to give a lot of them now. Actually lately I’ve been buying things like flipflops, things with the curved soles (points to the pair she’s wearing).

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box and she was like, “Ang dami naman niyan!” And I was like, “Trust me, you’ll need it.” And after the show she was all red. She said,“God! I have no more Kleenex, I used everything.” And I was like,”I told you! You didn’t believe me.”

BM: There’s no question she will always be there for you.

LS: Yeah, she always will be. Mommy ‘yan eh. She’ll always be supportive. She’s gonna be in my corner no matter what. You better not mess with her kids because she’s gonna fight back. She’s my mom and you know, she is who she is. And it is what it is. The dynamic works. And as manager she is around all the time. Today, she’s not here because she’s making alaga a little girl. So she’s busy with that.

There are times when she seems to be an intimidating presence for some people. But for those who know her well, not really.

She’ll push you hard but I think she’ll push you—same with Tita Baby—knowing what you have. It’s like those coaches that you see in the Olympics. They coach their athletes knowing exactly what they can give. And they push them hard because they know they can deliver. It’s an interesting dynamic.

BM: Any film, theater production or TV show which you have seen recently which moved you?

LS: Oh goodness! I need to watch more theater but I loved Avenue Q, I loved Spelling Bee. I loved watching Atang and Noah. And a lot of other shows.

BM: Of the newer theater actresses, who would you consider as someone who could follow your footsteps.

LS: I don’t know exactly who’s making a conscious effort and to keep doing it and as far as following the footsteps is concerned. As far as I’m concerned, if they thread their own paths, that’s good for them because then they will be trailblazers for what they want to do. I loved Carla Guevarra when she was in Avenue Q and Spelling Bee. She was one person in that show that really made me cry. I think I saw it three times. I would weep every time she would sing, about her heartbreak regarding her mother being faraway. You know, I would just get ripped to shreds every time.

BM: You’ve also taken to writing a column recently for a national broadsheet. How did that came about?

LS: I was writing blogs and I was limited to that and then the powers-that-be at the Philippine Daily Inquirer saw and read my blogs. And then the daughter of the editor-in-chief sent me a message asking if I would be interested in doing a weekly column. And I said yes. But I asked, “What am I gonna write about?” and she told me, “Whatever you want.” So I had the freedom. So I write about exploits on food, I write about what’s happening in my house, I write about what it is like to be sick and be a singer, what could go wrong on stage, my favorite leading men. And it’s called “Back Story” because a back story is what an actor makes up. The stuff that the character doesn’t show when they’re onstage. But the back story’s what they write, their histories, their personal histories. Does this character have brothers and sisters? Does this character grow up in the country? A back story is basically a character’s history. So in a way, a little bit of my history come out. You know bits of my past, bits of my present. It was a name that popped up immediately. I always knew that I was going to call it as that.

BM: Your mom (Ligaya Salonga) as the world knows has been your no. 1 supporter since you started; does she always watch your shows and is she always there for your appearances?

LS: She actually watched Les Miserables just once. And I think that she used every bit of tissue that she had then. I gave her a whole

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BM: Would you consider your mom as a stage mom?

LS: You know, there are a lot of stage mothers who are just really crass. But my mom, she’s a support system. She’s always been incredibly supportive throughout my entire career. There are people who get her right away, and there are people who don’t. Too bad because you’re missing out on getting to know someone who’s really colorful and interesting. She’s really a character. There’s no one in the world like her, thank God. There’s nobody else.

BM: And your brother, Gerard, has also been supportive and you’ve even worked together several times. So how was that like?

LS: It’s different working with Gerard. The dynamic is different because I’m the ate. When I’m working with another musical director, it’s different. There’s no guess work. We know each other’s musical taste, quirks, style, preference. We know what we like. He knows how to bring out the best in my voice when we have a live performance, and he asks can you sing it in this key. So I said,”OK, let’s do it in that key.” And sometimes I push myself to sing it higher. It’s a symbiotic relationship. I think he said it best in one article, “She can’t do what she does without me, and I can’t do what I do without her.”

BM: You were involved in the I Can Serve foundation a few years back, are you still active with the organization?

LS: Not so much active, but I still mention it and talk about it. And I really think it’s important for women to get screened for breast cancer early. One of the founders of I Can Serve passed away not too long ago. She was one of the pioneers of this organization. I Can Serve really pushes that you have to get breast exams every month, and once you get to a certain age, you have to get your mammograms and start to have your doctor checking you. It’s that kind of proactive attitude that they want Filipinas to take rather than “I won’t have check-up because I’m scared.” And then when you have it checked, it’s already too late. It’s being more hands-on and proactive about one’s health. That’s what they’re trying to push as much as possible.

BM: What’s the biggest misconception people have of you?

LS: A lot of people think I’m aloof, suplada, a big snob. It’s probably a misconception. There are just some days when I wouldn’t answer when somebody calls my name because it’s either I’m tired, preoccupied or busy. That does not make me a snob.

It’s just that I’ve gotten a little deaf and I’m focused on something.

I think there are quite a few celebrities that are seen as that. The thing that people tend to forget is that we’re only human, and we also have a bad day. It’s important for the public at large to understand that if a celebrity doesn’t say “Hi!” to you, their guard is up, they don’t trust anybody—they should understand that from the get-go. There needs to be an understanding from both sides. That makes things a lot easier, rather than draw a conclusion based on two seconds. It’s not very fair. g

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| public service | by marie angeli syjueco | the ajpress

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SINCE the appointment of Prospero

“Butch” Pichay as the chairman of the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA), he has been known as the “Waterboy” of the Philippines. With his battle cry and LWUA’s catchphrase: “Malinis at murang tubig sa bawat tahanan!” (clean and affordable water in every home), the organization under Chairman Pichay has made advances in carrying out its mission to provide water to every barangay, especially in the waterless communities.

Before becoming the chairman of LWUA, Pichay had his share of achievements and experiences in public service. As the son of Surigao del Sur’s Provincial Treasurer Prospero Pichay Sr., it is not surprising that Chairman Pichay would follow the footsteps of his father in becoming a public servant.

It was in 1998 when Chairman Pichay became the congressman of the First District of Surigao del Sur. In 2001, after the reorganization of the Congress, he served as the Chairman of the House Committee on National Defense, which he held until his second term as congressman. On his third term in congress, he was chosen to become the Head of the House of Representatives Contingent to Commission on Appointment (CA).

With a Bachelor of Science degree in Commerce from De La Salle University in 1970, he ventured into business, putting up a printing press, a publishing firm and a radio station.

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Chairman Pichay’s background in business is reflected in the way he handles LWUA, his guiding principle: a good business person is responsive to the needs of the clients. “The water districts are our customers, and we should treat them like kings and queens. We aim to please our customers,” Chairman Pichay said.

Apart from Chairman Pichay’s active involvement in the political arena, he also engages in surfing and chess. He is the current president of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCPF) and also serves as the chairman of the Philippine Surfing Federation.

He does not only serve communities with LWUA, but also promotes chess by engaging further interest in the sport. He also promotes surfing in various destinations in the country.

It is indeed evident why Chairman Pichay is called the “Waterboy of the Philippines” with his strong interest for the ocean waves, and his continuous efforts to improve the country’s water supply.

LWUA was sorely inactive when Pichay first took the post as its chairman. And Chairman Pichay found it a challenge to improve the organization and its services. He constantly seeks challenges and is unafraid of untangling the complications of the bureaucracy.

Thus, Chairman Pichay set forth with his mission to lead LWUA in addressing its main purpose: to make sure that water is available and affordable through reduced interest rates incurred by water districts and the extension of loan repayments; to increase the Philippines’ water districts; and to protect the environment to ensure safe and sustainable water supply.

With Chairman Pichay’s determination, LWUA takes big leaps to greater heights in pursuing its purpose to provide “malinis at murang tubig” for all Filipinos. g

The leadership

of Chairman Prospero “Butch” Pichay Jr. has radically changed the face of the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA), the country’s prime water sourcing agency.

Since his appointment in 2008, the agency has effected significant changes, innovations, and several new policies were conceptualized and implemented, mostly through his initiatives.

In response to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s vision of providing water, Chairman Pichay introduced the following policy innovations— 1. LWUA serving as a conduit of low-interest or free-interest loan and outright grants coming from the national government and its various instrumentalities.

2. LWUA and the water districts investing in environmental preservation, especially in the protection and maintenance of vital life supporting watersheds.

So far, the agency has accomplished the following in terms of infrastructure projects— 1. 257 projects. 61 of which have been completed while 196 are ongoing. About 5.5 million in the provinces will benefit the projects.

2. Of the 61 completed projects, 11 are in waterless municipalities covered by water districts.

3. 33 cities and municipalities were served through the 61 completed projects.

4. During the first six months of 2009, LWUA reactivated 125 water districts.

Under Chairman Pichay’s leadership, the LWUA Board of Trustees also created bold and innovative policies designed to accelerate activation of water districts, and keep water service affordable. The Chairman was also instrumental in the retooling and revitalization of LWUA, especially in responding to the needs of the countryside.

Among the most significant policies approved by LWUA’s policy-making body barely a year after Chairman Pichay was appointed were the: 1. Inclusion of loan penalty condonation as a form of financial assistance to distressed water districts, on case-to-case basis, contained in Board Resolution No. 164, Series of 2008 dated 29 October 2008.

2. Reduction of interest rates in LWUA’s Loan Window 1, contained in Board Resolution No. 38, Series of 2009, dated 10 March 2009.

3. Interest-free funding from non-LWUA initiated funds extended to water service providers on 50-50 loan-grant mix,

payable in 10 to 20 years on a floating basis, contained in Board Resolution No. 19, Series of 2009, dated 17 February 2009.

4. Shortening the process of water district formation by removing public hearing as a requisite, contained in Board Resolution No. 147, Series of 2009, dated 9 June 2009.

5. Creation of the Water Technology Research and Development Center which will develop the performance and quality standards and provide technical and training assistance to local water utilities, contained in Board Resolution No. 152, Series of 2009, dated 30 June 2009.

6. Policy on ethical leadership and good governance in response to the president’s call for moral renewal in government contained in Board Resolution No. 124, Series of 2009, dated 26 May 2009.

In a year under Chairman Pichay, the national water agency worked and succeeded in making LWUA Project Funding an inclusion in the General Appropriations Act (GAA) through the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Department of Health (DOH).

A total of P890 million has already been released to LWUA. P490 million was released by the National Government.

An approved P1.5 billion budget per GAA for CY 2009 is pending release from DOH. Meanwhile, the chairman is working for other sources of funds that would finance more water supply projects.

Given the chairman’s earnest efforts for sourcing funds and his steadfast determination to provide the country’s provincial population with long-term water supply service, LWUA has reactivated the feasibility studies of its bulk water supply projects in San Rafael in Bulacan, Tagbiliran in Bohol, Pangasinan and in the Cavite-Laguna area.

The chairman has also guided LWUA towards taking an unprecedented step closer to its role as a financial institution. Recently, the agency obtained a 60% share in putting potable water in every household in the Philippine countryside.

Operationally, the agency complemented the accelerated formation process by shortening the so-called project cycle through a trimmed-down preparation time of the Program-ofWork (POW) and drawing the POW simultaneously with the formation of the water district itself. (LWUA) g

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Best Western Premier Manages F1 City Center by marie angeli syjueco | photos by le grande pedroche | theajpress

F1 City Center Hotel’s is a good choice for a second home and a good investment with its condotel. F1 City Center Hotel is envisioned to become the first and the best five-star hotel in Bonifacio Global City, with Best Western Premier as its partner.

F1 City Center Hotel’s Vince Abad Santos, president of Unibuilt Real Estate Corporation and Arch Ong of Uo2 Architects, together with Glenn de Souza, vice president of International Operations-Asia & Middle East of Best Western International and Mark Schaub, regional operations manager of Best Western International, sealed the agreement last March.

Best Western was first established as a non-profit organization in 1946 by M.K. Guertin, a hotelier with 23 years of experience.

Today, Best Western International Inc. is the world’s largest hotel

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chain with 4000 independently owned and operated hotels located in 80 countries throughout the world. And it was in 2003 when Best Western introduced the first Best Western Premier Hotels.

F1 City Center Hotel is the flagship hotel of the luxury Best Western Premier brand in Bonifacio Global City. It is designed to offer an open, spacious and modern lifestyle concept which will feature fully-equipped and elegantly decorated rooms, along with a range of facilities.

Best Western Premier also gives a lot of attention to service excellence which would define F1 City Center as a five-star hotel.

“From one hotel to the other, it does very little difference. A lot of hotels have rooms and banquet facilities. The only difference is the standard of service. We will focus on service excellence,” De Souza said.

Moreover, Schaub emphasizes the high standards of Best Western Premier. “To provide excellent services you will need to train your people. And the essence of a very good hotel is training,” said Schaub.

Due to open on January 2011, the 240-room F1 City Center Hotel enjoys prime location within Fort Bonifacio Global City. This newly developed area is home to upscale residential buildings, trendy restaurants and bars, retail outlets. It is also near the Market!

Market! shopping center, and the world-class St. Luke’s Medical Hospital. g

THE REDEVELOPMENT of the Araneta Center, the country’s first shopping and leisure complex, kicked into higher gear with the topping off of the first three towers of Manhattan Garden City.

Megaworld Central Properties Inc. President Anthony Charlemagne Yu and Araneta Group EVP for Finance Victor Kalaw led the ceremonies at the site last March 2, while beauties from the Bb. Pilipinas 2010 pageant added glitter to the festivities.

“This topping off ceremony of Manhattan Garden City’s first phase bodes well for the continued redevelopment of the Araneta Center and raises our hopes for the continued success of phase 3, Manhattan Heights. By next year, as we start to turn over units, Manhattan Garden City will give the Araneta Center a strong residential component within this bustling commercial center, ” Yu predicted.

The project is a joint venture between the Araneta Group, which developed the Araneta Center, and Megaworld Corp., the country’s #1 residential condominium developer.

Right after the ceremonial topping off, Yu and Kalaw exchanged ornamental plants as a symbol of good luck. They also led guests to view the actual turnover condition of two showcase units at the 6th floor.

Manhattan Garden City is the country’s first transit-oriented, garden-inspired development. It is the first residential condominium project to feature a direct connection to two mass transit systems.

The nearby LRT2 and MRT3 stations from Araneta Center make the whole metro virtually accessible within minutes.

Meanwhile, a plethora of amenities is interspersed within a landscaped setting at the fourth floor podium deck. Each phase features a wide range of amenities, such a swimming pool, jogging path and trellises.

All phases are interconnected by walkways to the train stations and to Araneta Center’s various shopping and dining destinations.

The new phase, Manhattan Heights, features premium sky garden units at the four topmost floors.

To experience living at Manhattan Garden City, please call Megaworld at 810-3333, visit the showroom at the 3rd level of Gateway Mall, or check out www. themanhattangardencity.com. g

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Manhattan Garden City tops off first 3 towers

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