Araw ng Kagitingan

Back in 1980, I was a 10-year old Cebuano Grade 4 new student in a Manila school, trying so hard to figure out my Pilipino assignment that said: “Ano ang ibig sabihin ng giting at magbigay ng halimbawa.” I had to run to my eldest sister for help. Coming from her, I wrote this: "Ang ibig sabihin ng giting ay katapangan. Halimbawa: Andres Bonifacio." The next day, I confidently submitted my homework to my teacher who wrote on the board again “Ano ang ibig sabihin ng gitling?”

Ouch!

Celebrities on the Loose

During the Holy Week, I had the privilege of being invited by a friend’s family to join them on a long road trip that kicked off from Cebu, traversed the islands of Negros Occidental and Panay, winded up in Boracay and back again. Aside from Bora’s world-renowned beach (and the chance to show off my limited Hiligaynon prowess too!), I likewise excitedly looked forward to seeing celebrities in person – as everyone else know these people make Bora their not-so-private-hideaways on such occasions.

First celeb to see for the trip was Nelia Sancho, former beauty queen- (1969’s Miss Philippines-International, 1st runner-up to eventual Miss Universe Gloria Diaz and 1971’s Queen of the Pacific, source: wikipilipinas.org) turned student activist during the Martial Law years. She happened to own the parking lot where we left our van in Caticlan. She was quite a hands-on on her business as she personally guided drivers how and where to park their vehicles. Funny she kept on holding the back of her pants and kept saying “Pasensya na may dumi!”. I thought at first nalapsan sya but then looking at her, I was pretty sure she was already way beyond menopausal blues so it must have been something else. Anyway, if you don’t have any idea who Nelia Sancho is, I feel for you. I do not know her too!

Next to bump into was Ramon ‘Bong’ Revilla Jr., walking along the sandy path of Station 3 (What was he doing in that area?). I’ve already spotted him from afar and thought the whole family was with him. They were not. The local girls called out his name for attention only to be ignored by the “seeking for re-election” senator. Bantay ka lang sa election!

Third was PBB Teen Edition Plus 2nd placer Robi Domingo. Robi who? Well you probably wouldn’t know him at all if you’re about my age, unless of course you’re uber jologs. He was stationed at some henna tattoo corner and everyone that passed by had the chance for a photo op with the young star. Overheard him saying to his companion “Matagal pa ba ‘to Ate?”. When we got back to the same spot about an hour after, he was still around smiling at everyone’s camera. Poor boy.

Fourth in line was the plain-looking Dolly Ann Carvajal – only daughter of the late Inday Badiday; barkada to Pops F.; girl bestfriend to Cesar M.; ex-girlfriend to Robin P. & William M.; and everything else she claims to be. Saw her lounging at the beach front with a group of non-showbiz friends. Well, what more can I say about her? She had rosy cheeks alright but her mouth looked exactly like a faucet! I think the local term gripo would be more appropriate. Harsh.

Coveting the 4th and a half place was “Miss Kita Pag Tuesday” singer and songwriter RJ Jimenez. Who is he, you would probably ask. If you’ve followed for sometime ABS-CBN’s first edition of Pinoy Dream Academy, he was Yeng Constantino’s ka-loveteam. But then, who the hell is Yeng too, I bet you would ask again.

The remaining .5 was none other than the half-sized Goin’ Bulilit mainstay Dagul. Among all the other “celebrities” I’ve seen so far, it was Dagul who had the most number of fans, ranging from kids to adults and classes A to C. People curiously gathered around him and had their pictures taken with him. The diminutive Dagul had a “normal” person for a wife and an “inano” for a daughter. His boys must have been quite a handful that one of them was involuntarily forgotten and left behind at Puka Beach when their rented pumpboat have already gone ashore!

At fifth place was ASAP Gigger Boys’ Dino Imperial – the slang and coño, goodlooking boy model of PLDT myDSL sometime back. He was doing a show for Channel 23 and truly enough, the boy was precisely kiti-kiti. I remember him more as the happy-go-lucky younger brother of Ryan Agoncillo in the now defunct George & Cecil.

Hunky actor Carlos Morales came after, swaggering his way around Station 2’s strip, along with a bunch of other shirtless men at high noon, sucking all of Bora’s fresh air in exchange for their oozing arrogance. I could already imagine how those guys fart.

Sixth place goes to Kapuso Kuya Lhar Santiago together with his PA and cameraman. Tagged as the “godfather of showbiz chika”, he was such a tall and robust man that he almost would not fit into a local tricycle. Literally a giant gay and matibay – makong tiguwang bayot!

Last one and the most popular on my list was TV host, publicist and talent manager Boy Abunda (with his longtime partner Bong Quintana). I was walking past the famous La Carmela de Boracay and expressively hoped to see the “king of talk” in person, not just his Boy BBQ tarpaulins. Perfect enough, he was at the Tanduay-sponsored bartending contest posing as a judge. He looked much younger and leaner upfront. I’m glad the photo I took was clear enough to see him. And felt even better because he was the closest I could get to Kris Aquino! Haha!

They may not be high profiles or really sikat but seeing them all still amused me so why not write something about it, di bala?

Fan Page

How does one become his own fan? Go ask the Mayor. Found this on my FB page today - "Jonas Cortes became a fan of Jonas Cortes." Hmmm...

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This one's aptly placed along the side ads for everyone to see - my friend Mike is a fan of Johnny Ponce Enrile. Woh! Gusto ka happy ko, Manong Mike?

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When my highschool classmate Georinda added me as a friend on FB, she wrote this on my wall - "Remember me? I used to be your no. 1 fan!" Haha! Yeah I do.

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My friend Marianne is the only one who religiously reads my blog. One time I suddenly thought of changing its title and totally forgot to inform her. I got a text from her at once asking what happened. I sensed panic. Gosh!

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My favorite so far - "Tommy Osmeña is now friends with Tommy Osmeña." Cute huh!

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And lastly, there's this other fan page I've uncovered today - "I wanna know ... But i don't wanna ask."

Hey, what gives?

Supahfriends & the Xboys

Checking my mails this morning certainly made me chuckle - i got an FB invitation from my local idol, Tommy Osmeña. Yeah, THE Tommy Osmeña. I’ve often told friends one of my frustrations as a Cebuano, being a former Mandauehanon and now a Consolacionista, is not being able to vote for Tommy O. I've always believed in the guy, no need to explain further.

Who, what, how, whatever. I'm proud to be his 2,236th friend.

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Last night before going to sleep, I enjoyed chatting with the Xboys - my nephews Jolas and Xyxy. The usually quiet 13-year old Jolas was expressively curious, showing interest on taking up Civil Engineering when he gets into college. I, in return, explained to him the step-by-step process of getting into the university life. Xyxy says he likes Science and would love to work in a laboratory creating formulas. So you want to become a chemist, I asked him. He said yes and asked me back if education is really that important. Feeling rational to a 1st-grader, I told him yes, and that education is the only wealth nobody can ever take away from you. Suddenly he changes his mind – "I’d rather be a boxer like Pacquiao!". "So you want to have black eyes too?" I quipped. “Ay, mag-chemist na lang ko!” he mutters before dozing off into slumber.

March Proposals

Yesterday, my high school friend F secretly shared to me she was somewhat torn between a) 2 job offers – 1 in Singapore and another in Dubai, and b) a marriage proposal. The latter was also more of an offer itself as it came not from a lovestruck boyfriend but from a not-so-close Fil-Am chat friend. She promised to update me next week, after their first eyeball.

This morning, my Grade 5 bestfriend R excitedly revealed to me he has found a new boyfriend! Yep, he has a new boyfriend. R is openly gay. I’ve only known him for a year when we were in 5th grade yet when we met again through Facebook, the short period we’ve known each other turned out to be more than forever. Without any delay, he emailed me photos of his new paramour. I was taken by surprise; the guy could certainly give Brad Pitt a run for his money (R’s money that is!). And this Brad wanna be is only from Laguna!

Later this afternoon, my close friend G amusingly told us of another “proposal”. Her older sister is married to an American who happens to have an unattached male cousin who is so envious (of the sister’s husband) for having the sister for a wife, asking if there’s anyone else in the sister’s family who’s still available. The older sister is obviously tickled to match her little sister and the envious cousin. My friend G is amused.

I had fun absorbing these stories. My 3 friends are all 40ish.

Kawat

Adtong niaging Sabado, human sa misa sa among gamay nga chapel, niduol na pod akong Papa (ex-president sa homeowners' association) sa rostrum - nagpasalamat sa pari nga nagmisa ug sa pipila ka mga silingan isip mass sponsors. Ang updates niya - "naghire" sila ug laing tao (actually, silingan ra pod) nga motabang sa ilang peace and order committee. Nganong "naghire" man? Kay lately, diha'y duha ka mga balay nga gipangkawatan ug mga bug-at nga butang. Unsa man pod ka bug-ata? No. 1: Mga baga nga kabilya. No. 2: Daan ug guba nga gate. Ahhh. "So unsa ma'y atong buhaton?" pangutana sa akong Papa. "Akong suggestion, kining mga butanga aron dili makawat, kung mahimo, atong isulod sa atong mga panimalay!" Uhm, Pa excuse me! Di ba kanang gate para ra man na sa gawas sa balay? (pero sa ako ra ning huna-huna) ug kanang kabilya, di ba para ra pod na sa haligi sa balay? (sa ako ra gihapong huna-huna). Ug naa pa gyu'y lain. Iyang gi-awhag ang mga kasilinganan nga ug simbako makakita ug makadudahan nga mga tao sa among palibot, pahibaw-on dayon ang peace and order committee aron ilang pangitaon kining mga tawhana (kung tao man gyud gani). Pero dili sila modakop kay wala man sila'y authority ug capacity para modakop. Igo ra nilang pangitaon ug timan-an ang mga nawng nga makadudahan aron ila po'ng isumbong sa barangay chairman. Kining tanan nga mga suggestions, gisulti ni sa akong Papa (nga ex-president) sa atubangan sa dul-an 50 ka mga nanimbahay, gamit ang microphone. Ug pila'y pad nga katong mga makadudahan ug nawng, nakapaminaw pod sa maong suggestions. Hinaot pa nga wala lang unta sila kasabot sa mga nahisgutang plano. Ug hinaot pod nga dili moabot sa higayon nga ang tibuok balay na ang sunod alsahon ug kawaton! Nang karon, mabalik ta sa akong huna-huna, ingon ko ug "Kana Pa kana, kanaog na diha!" Please.

Laking Las Piñas Ka Ba?

from left to right: Florence, Leslie, Lyn Antonette, Elisa, Felicianita and Josefina (1981)

Scrolling my Facebook page yesterday, I came across a fan page that sort of caught my attention – "Laking Las Piñas Ka Ba?". Thrilled to become a part of it, I immediately checked out the said page and got disappointed to find an empty page with only 52 members to brag about. And yes, 52 members was all it had and nothing else. No news, no postings, no nothing. Sob.

So what’s the catch?

I spent 2 wonderful years of my childhood in Las Piñas – from April of 1980 to April of 1982. I could still vividly recall how my mother shed tears at my father’s exciting news of having been promoted at work and us moving to Manila in the summer of 1980. Aside from having just moved in from Bacolod barely 2 years earlier, it must have been too hard for my mother to leave our then 6-month old, newly built house in Cebu, My eldest sister Ites got herself caught up in a dilemma too. Sometime in August of the previous year, she took effort in convincing our parents to allow her to study in UP Diliman for college but our ever conservative parents never entertained the idea of sending their children away for school. My sister took the UPCAT just the same but obediently applied for Cebu Campus instead. I totally had no idea how they came up with such a ridiculous and contrasting decision – of leaving my sister behind, under our Lola’s care in Cebu, while everyone else in the family moved out to Manila. Overheard our parents just days, maybe weeks after (?) saying it’ll be better for her to remain temporarily in Cebu while our father sought out a good school in Manila. What?! Anyway, after the first semester and perhaps a rather tough stay at our Lola’s, they finally decided to enroll her at a nearby school – Perpetual Help College of Rizal – Las Piñas. Aw naa ra man diay na!

My father, being a salesman all his life, has a special thing with promptness. He is always either early or too early in everything. Perhaps that is one reason why he opted to look for a house in faraway Las Piñas rather than in Quezon City or somewhere else nearer to civilization. I always thought the long and exhausting drive from Las Piñas to his office in QC was a joy for him. With our school (Las Piñas College in Pilar Village, Almanza) still a few kilometers away from our rented house at Gloria Diaz St., BF Resort in Pamplona, we had to be on the road by 6 am, lest he’d be caught up in traffic at the then South Super Highway. Everyday. And the earliest he’d be home at night was at 7, again, thanks to the bearable Manila traffic of the early 80s.

Being a new student had always been difficult for me. Speaking tagalog was even harder. But thanks to my fellow bisaya classmate Florence, who befriended me at once and made me comfortable sooner than I thought. And then came Lyn Antonette, Felicianita, Elisa and Josefina – these five girls made me a natural tagalog in no time at all. That was Grade 4. In Grade 5 came Simonette, Jona, Rommel, Jorge and everyone else. Even my adviser Mrs. Legaspi was extra nice to me (I had the privilege of keeping/getting to and fro her class records in a hidden box at the back of the room of Grade 6 section-I-could-no-longer-remember).

For 2 long years, I savored the adventures of a 10-year old kid in the laidback yet urbanized community of Las Piñas – riding a schoolbus (or jeep to be more appropriate) full of sweaty children everyday; eating lunch (from my masking taped-lunch box) either in school or at a classmate’s house nearby; endless bike rides with my barkada on weekends both in Pilar Village and BF Homes Almanza; after lunch and afternoon gatherings at our designated tambayan (a stumpy concrete street marker at the corner fronting our school); an exciting camping event in school that I wasn’t allowed to stay overnight; basketball games with my brother and his friends (oh how he hated me for tagging along but was always delighted to add me whenever they needed 1 more player as salimpusa); climbing our rooftop through our waist-high “swimming pool” or pasong at 2 o'clock in the afternoon; Friday family movie nightouts at Manuela Cinemas; bumpcar rides and video games at the back of RFC; swimming at the Philam Village pool; eating puto bumbong and bibingka outside the Philam Village Chapel at Christmas time; chasing dragonflies in school and hunting for fireflies in our frontyard at night; and so on and so forth.

And did I mention the suspense of riding our schoolbus with a drunken driver who expectedly hit an old lady at the corner of Almanza and Zapote-Alabang Road? Despite being blocked by bystanders, the driver still went on careening like a madman, then chased by a patrol car until he eventually stopped when a policeman finally pointed a gun at him! All of us kids were screaming upon seeing the gun! I was so stunned I was speechless until I arrived home, only then did I cry out of fear. Drama.

One time, Mrs. Ortiz (the schoolbus owner) thought we didn’t have class that day and so we (me, my classmate and neighbor Evelyn, her sister Rosemarie and 2 more younger boys) were left in school till dark waiting for our ride home. Payphones weren’t available then so we tried talking to another kid who seemed to have also been left out, asked her a favor to take us all home if ever her parents came to pick her up. Moments later her parents arrived at last – in a police jeep! We found out her father was a police officer who was good enough to offer us a ride home, and so all 6 of us kids cramped into their (or rather the government’s) beat up jeep. Trouble was, they still had to drop by the supermarket to buy some stuff before heading home. And so our delay was extended even more. You could only imagine how my mother reacted seeing me get off the patrol jeep at our doorstep! Haha! Comedy!

How I dreaded the time when my father got promoted again and had to uproot the family once more to a remote Davao. Adjusting anew to another environment and people was quite tough. And it was truly upsetting for an 11-year old kid who thought of nothing else but growing up with all her barkada around. Happiness at home was abruptly cut short to make way for a new, happy home.

I must say those 2 years of living in Las Piñas was even more blissful than my 7 years in Bacolod – for the simple reason of being already old enough and having the liberty to recall and enjoy every single moment of it. I will forever be grateful to my friends who made me feel at home and to my family for making it our home even for just a short while.

It took me 17 years to set foot again in Bacolod and 24 years for Davao. I haven’t had the chance yet of going back to Las Piñas ever since we left 28 years ago, which now takes me back to considering becoming a fan of “Laking Las Piñas Ka Ba?” – if only to be home again.