A RETRACING OF THE PLAZANS: A Personal Account: The Early Juvenile Gang Years

Consider this brash first-person scribblings of a now hazy segment of a time past. It could have relevance and would make sense only to those people who figured in and shared with the carefree bucolic times during the idyllic youthful years in the old hometown. To them this little piece of nostalgic history is addressed and dedicated.

While some may have already reduced to print or committed to writing some accounts pertinent to what might loosely be called a retracing of the Plazans, if one is earnestly serious then one has to point deeper, especially into the early beginnings of the Plazans, and it necessarily will have to go way before the word itself even got into the vernacular.

Now, to really be all-inclusive about it, we could also trace even deeper into the earlier times when many adult residents also regarded Plaza Divisoria as their favorite trysting place, an unlikely haven where they could unwind, smoke, and even feel cool during hot summer nights. And maybe more expectedly, hear or exchange relevant news of the day. And since political gatherings typically originated in the plaza areas, then the plaza too was where political Demostheneses pitted and honed their oratorical and argumentative skills with others. The name of perennial mayoralty candidate Totong Pangan readily comes to mind. Thus many old-timers can also be counted as regular nocturnal denizens of the plaza.

And what's more, there was a point in time when a fire truck was stationed in the plaza at night time as a critical early warning device in the city's serious fire prevention program, the plaza being in the center of the poblacion. And so, nightly firefighters also allocated for themselves benches in the plaza during their graveyard duties.

But in my personal judgment, we should limit our little historical adventures to the kids and adolescents who served their voluntary stints as tenants of the plaza since we are after all tracing the evolution of the present connotation and definition of who or what a Plazan is.

As both participant and eyewitness to this unfolding development, I am attempting to recount the seminal events as they happened. And if we put a timeline, to the best of my recollections, we would have to go back to the year 1956, because that was when we first formed ourselves into a determinate group called a gang.

But the Bellboys predated us. This I know because they were already then quite formed and knitted closely; and had already claimed that part of Divisoria Plaza, the Andres Bonifacio section, as their usual meeting place and istambayan. Named after Freddie Bell and the Bellboys (featured in the 1956 movie, Rock Around the Clock, with Bill Haley and the Comets), their members were MicMic Roa, Billy Alegarbes, Bueno Pimentel, Nato Valmores, Tutti Neri, Patuting Neri, Baludoy Veluz, Roque Gaerlan, Tito Yee, Bong Cabe, Ed Chaves, and later on joined by Dixie Jongko, the last one at some point was also in our own gang.

We had formed our own, most of us a year or so younger than the Bellboys, and called ourselves Winchesters ‘73 (I like to take credit for the name because even that early Western movies had already cast a mesmerizing spell over me) The Western movie of the same title starred James Stewart and was made in 1950, and probably got shown in our local theatres some years later.

Our original members were a closely-knit group mostly classmates in Ateneo. We had Arturo Anolin, Nazar Chaves, Eddie Acero, Boy Fernandez, Babe Fortich, Ernie De Leon, Boy Ramos, Baby Ramos, Roy Gaane, me, of course, Dixie Jongko, Jaime Waga, Jessnar Falcon, Rogelio "Butch" Bagabuyo, and Nonie Rivera, forming the core group that met regularly; though at some point or other, we also had others joining in like Iraido Aguilar, even Filamer Artajo and Gerry Agbulos, Tonito Rivera and a few more.

For some inexplicable reason that part of Divisoria, where the Bonifacio monument stands, has always been regarded as the official locale of the groups that would later on be collectively called The Plazans. I suspect that because even then trees there were already mature and tall enough to provide the needed shade near the benches, it became the place of choice. And ideal locale for shielding us from the unyielding sun during the daytime and the equally harsh tun-og during the night. Add the fact that for the Bellboys that was the most convenient locale for them to meet. For members like Tito Yee who resided along Pabayo Street; Tutti along JR Borja; Billy Alegarbes and Patuting along Filipinas St.; Bong Cabe from Cogon Subdivision usually brought along his jeep; Roque from across City Hall; Ed Chaves, as with a number of us, along Victoria St. or thereabouts.

Thus, so it was that the Bonifacio monument became identified with the Plazans, though there are four other subdivisions of Divisoria Plaza, from the amphitheatre near the river to the Masaysay monument dead-ended by the Xavier University grounds.

And many a day and night, we spent huddled together astride the dirty concrete benches, telling our stories, amusing and regaling ourselves with funny anecdotes, and trying to fight the night cold by sharing cigarettes 50-50. And in this regard, Tito Yee was specially regarded because he always smoked the more expensive Philip Morris, compared to the cheaper brands like Winfield, Fatima, Snowman, Newport, etc. that everybody else smoked. In fine, in a grand display of carefree adolescent chatter and time killing best describes how we spent whiling away our idle hours.

Then as I recall our days in the Plaza started getting rarer and less frequent when most of us approached the waning months of 4th year high school and that would be in 1958. At least for me personally, how it eventually ended was when high school came to an excruciating end.

In this regard then, I enjoin the others to continue on with their own stories as Plazans, with the earnest hope that a complete chronology can be established. And thus make more meaningful and coherent, the past and ensuing reunions that are being held. Especially because as you may have noticed even in the few names that I have detailed, a number have already passed on.

Lastly, I shall post this entry also in my own personal blog. Thus visitors can leave comments of correction, clarification, or addition.

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UPDATE  July 5, 2020

We have a list of other gangs with their members, as reported by those eyewitnesses who were also members of gangs.

Blue Boyz – Rogie Lim, Tom Aguirre, Billy Walter, Benjie and Edgar Gorospe, Maning and Jesus Roska, Tony and Nandy Rodriguez, Dolfo Dolores, and an unlikely, Pacifico “Dodong” Pelaez.

James Dean Gang – Harry Willkom, Popoy Martinez, Lionel Mandig, Garby Aguirre, Francis Rebolos, Ricky Jonayon, Bobby Mutia, Manoling Jaldon.

Remingtons (short-lived) – Pondol and Ronnie Dadole, Benjie Gorospe.

Stalag (after the movie, Stalag 17, starring William Holden) - Danzig Sambaan, Loloy Gaabucayan, Paking Mercado, Carlos Yamut, Rudy Avancena, Ben Chaves, Nap Tayanes, Yoyong Gabutina, , Andoy Kong, Loloy and Leo Pabayo, Tony Orqueza, ( to be continued)

Lunars

Leathernecks (later in time) – members coming from other gangs.

HiFi Gang -  Jose “PePe” Balaba, Monix Lim, Felix Almerol, Buddy Blanco, Adrian and Leo Pabayo, Fidel and Le Grande Saa, Orlando V. Neri, Ramon V. Neri, Apolinar “Boy” Velez, Victor Guitarte, Loloy Pimentel, Manny Valdehuesa,

                                                                      

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Anonymous1/09/2023 10:59:00 AM

There was a younger group used to stnby at Dv Soria & along Filipinas st.,now T Chaves St. They were called THE PANTAK a fish family of HALUAN fish. 

They are The WILLKOM BROTHERS & cousins Joseph, George (Gemgem) Edgar Wilkom, Mike & Eddie Wilkom, Our mentors Russell & Gerald Willkom, Boy Laplap, Teddy Garcia, Tata Hernando, Bonbito Ruita, Ben Tan, Bebe Caharian, William Boy Willkom, Onching Roa, Sammy Ortes, Junsam Sambaan, Boy Pabillore & many, many more!

       

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UPDATE; March 12, 2023

Continuing the tracing of the history of the Plazans and the origin of the name itself, getting into the next decade after ours.  Plazan Francis Rebolos of New Mexico has now provided some account on the origin of the name.  Their gang (The Ruggeds) came in the decade of the 60's and Plazan Ricky Jonayon of Nazareth is now being attributed as the originator of the name Plazan(s).

Here is the account of Francis Rebolos in the vernacular addressing his comments to  viewers who asked:  

Ging, karon pa naku ni nabasa. Maayo sab nga nangutana ka ug ngano nga gitawag plazans. Its a long story pero to make it short nag sugod ni sa among grupo nga "Ruggeds" ang among stambayan ang Bonifacio,ang mga magulang namo dito sa Magasaysay, 

Adto nga time kaming mga Ruggeds dili na maayo ang dungog as labi nga si Ricky Jonayon pala away sige lang kita ug sumbagay, paregla ,out of control siya. Daghan na nanghawa kay lagi dautan na among dungog, mga babaye man labay sa divisoria singitan ug dili maayo, did-an na sa mga ginikanan mo tampo sa among grupo. 

So nag decide mi nga alisdan ang among ngalan from "Ruggeds" namili mi ug ngalan starting ni Magsaysay to Bonifacio, hangtud kang Rizal. pero walay napilian ni suggest si Ricky nga tungod kay diha man mi sa Bonifacio ga tambay dugangan nalang ug letter "N" bonifacian lugar pero joker man paminawon ingon si Ricky nga tungod kay diha man mi sa plaza ga estambay sumpayan na lang ug letter "N" ang word Plaza hence nahimong Plazan wala pai "s" sa nadugay tungod kay ang klase klaseng grupo diha man magkita nahimo na dayong "Plazans"....hence na Plazans na gyud.

Yes Toy , una inyong group if my memory would serve me right mga 1968 or 1970 tu . It was Ricky Jonayon that coined the name "Plazan"

                                                              ooooooooooooooooo

A number of us, including me, often wonder whatever happened to Rogie Lim, who was quite popular during our time as a pugilist.  I learned that he was the eldest son of Dulo Lim, who was for many years the manager of the local William Lines, located at the de Lara building in No. Divisoria.  His family lived on the upper floor of the same building.  Learned also that Rogie had lived quite an interesting life during his youth away from Cagayan de Oro.

Do we have any more stories about the Plazans we used to know?

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Additional details from Bellboys member, Roque Gaerlan:

".. on the sides of the ruggeds i agree with francis that it ricky junayon who originated the name plazans. But on the side of the bellboys it bueno pimentel which bueno also establish the plazans official whistle. Every plazans is familiar with the tune up to the present time."

Yes, that unique and familiar call whistle very common with Plazans.  Have not heard that for a long time.

                                                                oooooooooooooooo

A TRUMP RALLY AFTER COVID19

      

                                   Link: https://youtu.be/E_wKLOq-30M

Now one can see why any exposure to the rally speeches of Trump, however fleeting, could risk some violent reaction, or even some dangers of exploding heads, emanating from those who loathe Trump.

HeHeHe.

He is such a quintessential showman, of no equal or comparable parallel in current history of US politics.  A very unorthodox campaigner, dispossessed of all the polite nuances of seasoned politicians of the past and maybe, the present. But then again Trump is so out of the mainstream, he has submerged himself so under the radar in what he does to promote himself and castigate his detractors.

His style definitely is one of a kind.  But is it all ideal, proper, and presidential?  The ensuring debate could result in very vigorous bones of contention that would see no end or resolution.  Just more irate detractors and acrimony against Trump.  Maybe even more noted converts from the fence to the side against Trump.  But Trump may believe that his committed base of support is among the countless and nameless multitude and forgotten masses of middle America, the thousands who attend his rallies and the millions who subscribe to his tweets.

So does Trump care much about all this?  The only thing certain is that he will continue his volleys of tweets and the theatrical tenor of his rally speeches.  Do they border on histrionics?   His detractors no doubt will readily nod in assent.  But I do believe that Trump is convinced that given the historic adversarial realities against him these are the ready options he can count on to try and level the playing field.

For this rally, I probably have gone through with about 20 minutes of playing time, but I promise to get to the whole thing, even if I have to scan view the whole piece.

Personally, I do not invest too much mind on the words of Trump.  Thus, in this regard I have rudimentary and shallow expectations from him. But his actions and their results I do monitory closely, and so far he has not disappointed me.  By most traditional standards he has exceeded the high expectations of many honest and unbiased observers. 

Thus, all things being equal, his actions ought to carry more weight in any decision-making the US electorate has to make in the coming election.  Thus, I feel the seeming absurdity of his detractors parsing his every statement looking for any “gotcha” angle.  They will and are uncovering many. But how much do they count, or do damage to a ship already full of holes, however unfairly inflicted, but still chugging along merrily?

Lastly, given the steely constitution and energetic passion that Trump has shown all this time, amidst “all the slings and arrows” thrown at him, I do believe he can weather through all this and mentally prepare himself for the ensuing bloody battle in his reelection bid.

The reelection could be as much a surprise as the first one.

A PERSONAL STORY: Racism In The US

The global pandemic has gotten the focused attention of the entire planet at this stage, and that grave concern is more than sufficient to drain the energies of many countries.  Some more than others.  Take the US, for example, prior to this the country had already been embroiled in serious political stripe from the start of the current administration.  The scourge has definitely added more burden.  Now, we have the protests, riots, violence and destruction inundating the breadth of the continent, partaking supposedly in the nature of racial stripe.  Though we believe it is a lot more, just the same we want to address the current unrest bedeviling the country.

I thought I’d contribute my little bit on the subject, having lived in the US for 30 years as an adult with our entire family.  Then resettled back in the old homeland while the kids are left there with their own families.

As an immigrant Filipino family we had relocated to No. California in the 80’s with 4 under-age children. We initially settled and then later the kids on their own settled in quite diverse communities in this place called the Bay Area.  The places they worked and the families they consequently established on their own tell us of this diversity of experiences and relationships.  My children married into African-American, Caucasian, Persian, and of course, Filipino families.  My wife herself is of mixed parentage, her maternal grandfather descended from immigrant Jewish family from Europe.  I feel then this accords me some bona fides when it comes to the issue of racism or its absence.

And my approach will not only be more experience-backed, but its anecdotal portions are supported by provable data and statistics.

First, we have to be clear what is objectionable about racism as compared to other similar attitudes about people.  Racism is first and foremost the attitude that your race or ethnicity is superior to the others that you discriminate against.  If you simply prefer one ethnicity over another that is not necessarily racism.  Thus, a prospective bridegroom is not racist simply because he prefers a tall lady rather than a short one, one with fairer hair rather than one with very dark hair, or even one with fairer skin over ones with darker skin, or even Filipina over a Chinese lady.  He has to bring into play the attitude of superiority to make him a racist.  But having discriminating tastes is not racism. So we have to treat with delicate and deliberate caution when we use the term racism.

On the other hand, it would not pass muster in accuracy to conflate slavery with racism, especially because of what we know today.  That slavery in Africa was started by Africans against their fellow Africans and taken over by white slave traders.  Or that in earlier times, slavery was done by others against their own.  Like Romans against their own, or Moro pirates in Mindanao against other native tribes in Mindanao.  In short, racism is not the only reason for slavery.

Now about the US.  If one studies the laws of the United States one cannot find one that outright spells racism, though there may be dead-letter remnants from the past that are left unnoticed in the dusty files of statutes.  I was still living there when somebody discovered some aged local law in one or two farming towns in central California that prohibited the marriage of white ladies with migrant Filipinos which stemmed clearly from the racism of an earlier time.   I believe that was summarily repealed. But those that are current and in use, we can truly say that racism is completely erased from the books.

But hate like love is difficult, if not outright impossible, to legislate.  Even the government or the people cannot get into the minds and hearts of other people and to forcibly remove racist streaks in them.  So, yes, there is still racism in the US, but not of the kinds and pervasiveness as in the past.  I would venture to say no different than the racism in other countries, whether very developed or not.  And I recall that we Filipinos also had our spells of racism, maybe.  And to this day, even in the US, many Filipinos are still very negatively critical of black America.  In the homeland, many Filipinos continue to think ill will against the dominant minority, calling them derogatory names. But we do not immediately jump into the bandwagon of condemning an entire group or country because of racism.\

I will admit that I and the family also were subjected to attitudes and language that could be construed as racist, but we knew they were more because of the ignorance or cluelessness of individuals, rather than an ingrained belief ascribable to an entire group. I recall one busy night at the hotel while on duty at the front desk when one white individual approached my station.  This non-guest wanted to encash a personal check, which I politely refused explaining to him that only registered guests could get funds from the front desk.  But he would have none of it and continued loudly to insist.  Not getting his way, he rushed close to my station and planted his angry heated face close to mine and said:  That is the problem with you Vietnamese, you are so stupid and thus, we lost the war.  And I could only move back and smile a bit, until security came to remove the guy.

In the big hotel I worked for 20 years, it had over 1000 employees from very diverse origins.  If one met a black person one had to be extra careful because one was not sure if he was African-American, Ethiopian, Liberian, Somali, or one from the deep South whose language sounded foreign, etc.  But generally things went along pretty well.

 

I was among the first Filipino immigrants to be assigned to the front desk and my fellow Filipinos made sure I marked that well.   But I did not pay much attention to it in that way.  I thought of it simply as a business decision.  Like, as I noticed in the hotel’s Sales Department which was peopled mostly by white sales managers, and one Japanese sales manager.  At first blush that sounded discriminatory at the very least.  But then one learns, if the main business of the hotel was with white corporate America and white individuals from the upper classes, then one understands.  What about the Japanese sales manager?  Well, because many tourist groups who patronized the hotel came from Japan.  Wise business decisions, indeed.  Not racism.

And the reason why I included the word immigrant in my description of myself is quite easy to explain.  Most of us first generation immigrants regardless of how educated and good at the English language we were, we continued to carry our distinctive accents, making us sound different from everybody else including FilAms who were natives to the place or grew up in the place.  The tacit reasoning has its roots in an observation I realized and was confirmed by others that people there felt more comfortable and more at ease speaking and listening to those who spoke like them.  Media personalities were good examples.  You found them in many ethnicities, but all spoke like the natives, so that one could not tell what ethnicity they had if one did not look directly at them. Applying to our local situation, we bisayans do feel more at ease listening to a tagalog speak bisayan, though we know we would be able to understand him in his native dialect because we also understand Tagalog.  And this is so, because it is just human nature.  In any free and unplanned social gathering, people who speak similarly will group together and most likely speak of their common interests.  That is human nature, too.

When talks about racism in the US erupt, usually occasioned by flashpoints, like a white person killing a black person, they are typically centered around the black segment of the population against the majority white population.

First a breakdown of the current US population.

Loosely, this is how the current US population is distributed

Non-Hispanic whites                  -    62.2%

Hispanics                                   -     15.3%

Black Americans                      -      13.2%

Asians                                      -        5.4%

Other statistics would claim that Hispanics now number about 20% of the populations while blacks are as low as 10%.  But an interesting stat is that of foreign-born residents/citizens which now account for over 14% of the total and in a rather surprisingly lopsided manner, close to 30% of the population of California, the most populous state, are foreign-born.  Regardless, it is no mere idle speculation to state that the America of pre-Civil War era or even in the 60’s has changed very dramatically, most noticeably in ethnic composition.  Thus, we could say that to claim systemic or structural racism in that context is almost logic-defying.

Still, there is no denying that charges of racism are still an almost regularly recurring reality in the US, and when flashpoints are ignited then it exhibits the paroxysms of riots, destruction and violence, yes, killings, amidst peaceful protests and marches.  The charges inevitably stem from the belief that blacks are unevenly and unfairly targeted, bullied, and punished by the US justice system.  The general outrage is bracketed by the claim that while blacks are a small minority in the population, yet they are over-represented in the justice system – thus for them, more killings, more prisoners, more brutality cases, more arrests, etc.

But do the realities bear these out?  This is always the crux of the matter that though easy to resolve is never done.  Because for some reason or other, stats seem to surprisingly not matter in this rather thorny issue, and where it is most needed and apt for any meaningful resolution.

No denying that the black minority is or appears to be over-represented in the justice system when compared to their total number in the population.  But plausible reasons can be advanced why these situations are so.  And there is ample data to explain and rationalize this.  And facts do not point to anything suggesting that systemic racism is causing them.   Thus, comparatively blacks engaged in more numbers in criminality, especially in communities where they dominate in numbers like Chicago, Oakland, etc.  In the realm of detrimental social issues, as much as 70% of black families are fatherless, and children born out of wedlock are pretty high.  And criminal acts by blacks against blacks are so high, they cannot compare with say, criminal acts of whites against blacks, or even blacks against whites.  Even in abortion cases, the black community rates extremely high. In 2019 alone, there were only 10 instances of deaths involving police officers against blacks.  And I do believe a couple of them were done by black police officers.  So the grave difficulty in promoting the claim that there is systemic racism in the country.

But the stubborn myths continue to propagate otherwise, stoked by politicians and interest groups who are constantly harping on the race card to promote their identity politics.  For example, learning a little of Black Lives Matter will reveal its agenda on race relations.  Information is never wanting for those interested to learn.  The diligence and the interest are what are more needed.

A Parody and the End Game

                         (A crude and amateurish  Attempt at Parody (with Apologies))

 How Media framed the narrative of the fateful incidents that transpired and culminated in the visit of Trump to the hollowed-out St. John’s Church which was mercilessly burned the previous night.

Please apportion me some liberties to provide some of my own spin on this well-crafted narrative all designed under their playbook on how to demolish a despicable adversary.  After all I took the effort and pain to read through a couple of accounts from famed journalistic sources to arrive at this summary.

The gist of this narrative which has had a lot of rehearsals and showings in previous incidents under this unlamented administration could be transduced this way.

The impartial but alert media’s dutiful accounting of how a tyrannical dictator responded to his people who were peaceably and admiringly gathered outside his official residence, in peaceful protest against an unconscionable incident for which the tyrant is directly responsible.  All this happening while in many parts of the beleaguered country, structures and vehicles in cities were being burned to a crisp, and stores totally looted, perpetrated by similar groups of peaceful protestors.  And yes, some innocent bystanders or storeowners or law enforcement officers beaten up or murdered along the way.

How this cowardly interloper cowered in fear at his dire prospects, while ensconced in his house, and listening to the peaceful protest outside.  Only a few water bottles and some things were thrown at the formidable phalanx of men guarding the highest executive of the land.  And oh, a few violent clashes here and there.  Nothing there.  And as the night wore on, this coward was forced to retreat to his bunker.  Oh, the morning after, Secret Service reported that 60 of its trusted men were injured during the clashes.  One wonders how many more of them are inside that WH.  Such a waste of men and material of the people, guarding this unworthy creep.

So the morning after, the orange man had crawled out of his bunker and assembled what remained of his robust security detail (Maybe there were reinforcements ushered in the dead of night.).  This uncouth Twitter user wanted to survey the landscape.  What right does he have doing that?  He is not recognized as the president.

Violently pushing peaceful protestors aside, he walked on the cleared path to the very historic church nearby that was burned the night before, supposedly by people who came from the same peaceful protest.  To help clear the way, tear gas was purposely used even against priestly-garbed members of the clergy of the very church that had earlier been brutally burned down.  And yet those pious clergy members were simply aiding altruistically helpful members of the famous and admirable Black Lives Matter medic team as they assist docile protestors with their urgent needs like water in plastic bottles and maybe some hard food.

The despot saunters in arrogantly, holding a black bible in his hand and had his picture taken in front of the hollowed-out church.  How bad this infidel gets!  Blasphemy! Bible. Faith. Christianity.  Etc.

What more is needed?  He should be thrown out of office.  Now.

(This after all is  still the end game.  Remove the demagogue!)

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THE END GAME

Ominously we can see signs to help unmask the logic behind all the unparalleled turmoil and mayhem now engulfing the US.  And they all point to one thing:  The continued and concerted efforts to remove the despised target.  Donald J. Trump.  By whom?  All the opposition collectively, the Democratic Party, mainstream media, and all the highly-placed Deep State operatives.  And this is more than just rumors.  Revealed documents point to this.  Democratic bigwigs do not anymore hide not only their loathing of this president but where they all stand in the midst of all these unruly protests, rioting, and looting the overall goal of which is to try to derail this presidency.  They think protests are great and looting and burning is not violence.

Caught flat-footed in a conspiracy that knows no comparison in the country’s history initiated during the prior administration, the opposition will leave no stone unturned to try to remove this obstacle, and thus being back in power, they can then hide the criminality of the revealed plot.

It was the high priest Caiaphas during the trial of Jesus who prophesized that it was expedient for one man to die for the nation. In this instance, Donald Trump is it, except he is no Jesus Christ.  If salvation, one moral with the other temporal, is still the overarching goal of both, Trump cannot imitate Christ, if he is dead and stays dead.  And thus the reign of the modern high priests and Pharisees will continue from where they left off, driving the country hard into their avowed agenda, whether it be dispensing with the rule of law, socialism, big government and even more prodigious entitlements, globalism, open borders and equal rights to all illegals, defunding ICE and the police.  All this while  the ruling elites stay smug and safe in their aerie perches,  complete with their armed security forces.

In the meantime, kibitzers and committed watchers of US politics like yours truly can only sit back and engage in some kind of light-hearted parody to blunt the gravity and seriousness of this unfolding reality.  No sense keeping ourselves in a tizzy over such a gigantic problem like this.  As they say, this is beyond our pay grade.

No different from watching the unsinkable Titanic barreling toward the treacherous iceberg while we sit at some comfortable distance away.

But it would be nice to be able in the end to enunciate even in whispered tone:  I told you so!

JULIA SATORRE FROM CARCAR: A Gift of Service to our Family

 

JULIA SATORRE FROM CARCAR
A Gift of Service to our Family 

 Journalist Alex Tizon epically wrote about his family secret startlingly kept hidden for so long, the existence of a slave in their family. And strangely, not only while living in the Philippines but carried over to his family’s life in the US.

Altruistic service springs in many forms in the Philippines and it does not necessarily equate to or even remotely identical to indentured servitude.  A Filipino native keenly observant of things around him could even say that in the generations prior to the current one, selfless service or service beyond the call of duty or commerce had been quite common and almost typical in the country.

 It may have had its inauspicious beginnings in the dreadful need for survival of many poor Filipinos, especially those in remote barrios where penury was very prevalent.  But over time, it had evolved to something that could be considered casual and normal in Philippine society. It has had resident members of family households who were not necessarily blood relatives who rendered domestic services and showed loyalty beyond normal expectations to exact even from blood relatives.

 Yes, in quest for survival many adolescent or mature ladies and men from the remote provinces were sent to the cities to search employment as domestics, in reply to a cultural demand that required having domestics around the house.  And not necessarily limited to families with affluence and resources. It had simply carried over from past generations as a cultural construct to have domestics perform menial jobs around the house, even though there may have been ample number of family members to carry on such tasks.  This custom definitely is foreign in many other cultures, specifically Western cultures, where only families who are very rich and/or influential can afford and do engage such services.

 In the Philippine setting affordability was not the main consideration for needing and hiring domestics.  The arranged benefits were then so minimal that for intents and purposes many of them were performing services for simply free board and lodging.

 My personal experiences could be illustrative of this situation.  In the 70’s and we already had 4 young kids then, young domestics could be hired for 60 pesos a month.  They lived with us and slept where space was available, and typically having no private quarters for their exclusive use.  Of course, we fed them and provided minimal benefits like a weekly day off and maybe, provision of some basic medicine for fever, headaches, cuts, etc.  But beyond that, the monthly pay was all that was bargained for.  Others did bargain for more, like maybe being allowed to attend to some vocational courses.

 That was how it was then.  Families practiced it.  Many of these helpers stayed with the same families for years, until certain things change like deaths in their families, marriages, etc.  And thoughts about slavery or indentured employment that would result in any tinge of guilty conscience or moral outrage were not common.  One could surmise It was one contented, and maybe clueless, society, where probably an informal caste system was prevalent.  For truly given the observable circumstances it would now be easy to conclude that such existed during those times.

 Were they ever coerced into staying further or longer without their consent?  It would not be honest to say there were no such cases.  But by and large the relationship was congenial and consensual. Or phrased in a different vein, there could somehow had been some moral suasion at play in some relationships.

 Thus, I offer as example our own Julia Satorre of Carcar, Cebu, who had passed on many years ago.  While the arrangements may be similar in some respects with what Mr. Tizon described for his own particular case, we present in our case almost the opposite of his own.

 I do not know all the circumstances that first led to Julia moving to our extended family with my maternal grandmother as the initiator and for what reasons. But I can say in all honesty that I started knowing Julia when she was still living with my widowed grandmother in her house along Sikatuna St., in Cebu City. She had come from the town of Carcar, Cebu, and from which town my grandmother also had a score of relatives.   My grandmother having been widowed early, Julia had stood as her constant companion in the house during her solitary years. 

 As to exact arrangements, whether short term or long term?  There never was any formal discussion or agreement as far as we know, between her and my grandmother, or my mother, or my sibling who she also served.   Though there definitely were no regular monthly or otherwise stipends, that much we knew.  As a matter of fact, when Julia would go visit her family in Carcar on occasion, she returned home proudly loaded with local goodies, fruits and vegetables, live chickens and/or chicken tinola cooked in the incomparable way that they did in Carcar.  I recall that even on boat trips to Cagayan de Oro, she would pack that tinola so somehow it would survive the overnight trip.

 And we never really realized how far Julia got in her education when she started her stint with the family.  We did notice that she had difficulty writing her name, and more challenged in writing letters.  And she had not gone through any additional schooling during her entire time with the family.  And what’s more, we became Julia’s only family, never really able to create her own.

My grandmother went through years of being bed-ridden and Julia singlehandedly took care of her.  Fortunately, she could count on the help of some close and loving neighbors, who were not only related but very solicitous of our Lola’s welfare.  A doctor son-in-law of a niece always ministered to her.

 And on occasion I also stayed in the place because of certain business in Cebu, and Julia took care of me in the house.  I recall an unforgettable incident when I had to overstay my intended trip because I caught chicken-pox.  Julia did all the yeoman work of feeding me, cleaning the house, and more. Fortunately, during that time, my Lola had to be temporarily moved to the house of a relative nearby so she could convalesce from surgery and could be attended better there.  So I had the place for myself. And the better because chicken-pox is highly contagious.  So I had to spend an extra two-weeks nursing my dreary condition.  All due thanks to Julia, I survived and was soon back to my hometown.

 But many years later, we continued our relationships with her even after our grandmother had died, and a married sister had continued living in the old house where my grandmother stayed.  The house had really been owned by my mother, the land being her share of the estate that Lola divided among the siblings when she was still alive. And Julia continued on as a trusty and invaluable companion of that family. 

 I recall many years after our grandmother had passed and Julia herself was getting on in age, that the remaining family members, her 3 daughters, collectively decided that Julia should have a share of a real estate property left by the old lady. It was a two-hectare lot somewhere in Labangon, Cebu.  Anyway, even before anything was finalized, a homestead lot of 400 sq.m. was allotted to Julia.  And for her part and in another show of extreme generosity and charity, Julia had requested that instead of her, the property should be put in the name of one of her favored nephews.   Needless to say, she got her wish and the nephew and the family started living in that set-aside homestead lot.  Though it took a while to dispose of the lot, it eventually sold and the nephew and his family as far as we know continue to live in his allotted share.

 All of us 9 siblings went our separate ways except for one who stayed on in Cebu.  And over time we lost contact with Julia and on occasion would ask only about her condition.  Next we heard, Julia was having extreme difficulty in moving around, greatly bothered by painful varicose veins on her legs, which condition had started a long while back.  Then if my recall is right, during her last days, she had requested to go back to Carcar, where she continued to have relatives, and my understanding is that she died and got buried there. 

 I know all of us who had contacts with her over the years feel some searing emptiness and nagging remorse in the knowledge that we probably never really tried to fairly repay her countless years of self-less services.  And that collectively, in our honest estimation, the family did not do enough in return if only to show deep appreciation for the graces and selfless services that she had bestowed on the family. Services that were rendered unstintingly with nary a complaint or murmur, performed always with the willing love and care that loving mothers would expectedly give to their children.

 At this point in time, it would not be difficult for me, and the rest of the family,  to understand and realize that we could have planned and done some things that could have “ameliorated” the situation of Julia. Maybe in the area of financial rewards or benefits, though we are certain that if indeed Julia had real needs and had made them known or they came out of the open, my grandmother and mother would have unerringly obliged her even within their very limited capacities. 

 Especially when we became adults and grown smarter to how things ought to be, we could have collectively done something, even though there never was any situation to suspect that Julia was not happy, contented, or even felt coerced in her continued stay with the family.  In other words, there were no trigger incidents that could have alerted us to the need to do something to rectify whatever was wrong or lacking in the relationship. Her relationships with the adults in the family were always cordial like she was a blood relative, and all the kids always respectful to her as an elder, and not as an inferior.  

 We can only hope that God in His good time has given her the rewards she richly deserved.  And we are forever thankful to God for the grace of service bestowed on our family in the gracious person of Julia.

 In hindsight culled from observations made over the years, we find that her unique tribe is disappearing fast and inevitably.  For us, there will never any other person like Julia, even if we paid the whole world for her replacement.


As epilogue, a harkening thought emerges from the mist and draws the picture of a balmy and ideal Philippines having no need for angels or heroes like Julia.  Where everybody is happy, contented, and progressive. Where economic equality and/or parity are prerequisites taken for granted.  Where there are no debilitating hardships needing the rescue efforts of gifted individuals in possession of herculean virtues of generosity, altruism, loyalty, and selflessness.   In other words, where the foretaste of a paradise is already within grasp right here.
   
Would it be an interesting and inspiring place?

Link: 

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/06/lolas-story/524490/