Ran Silent, Ran Deep

Sarah Palin runs in Iowa!

Even then, finishing second place is outstanding.

A preview for what's to come in the GOP presidential primaries?

And this time we won't settle for another second place win! - from one runner to another.

Quiet and Simple Pleasures of my Youth

As a scrawny kid growing up in a small city made smaller by my inborn proclivity for keeping much to myself, memories of things that happened are easily remembered. One reason maybe is that because there were not that many memories to be remembered or forgotten.

It may be for this reason that certain memorable events in childhood are keenly remembered and recalled. The following is one such series of events.

During elementary grades and early high school, which would be in the early 50’s, I was wont to take extended visits with my cousin who was an only child. His doting mother was the elder sister of my father. Her family had at one time been next-door neighbors of ours in the old poblacion.

The family had moved to a much nicer and bigger house in a nearby suburb called Lapasan. It was only several kilometers from our house, but it might as well have been in a different town because of its stark contrast with the city life that we were all used to. For one, it had no electricity. One had to purchase a generator if one wanted the place electrified. Neighbors were some distance away, though still visible from the house.

Since I was closest to the age of my cousin among my siblings, I had the unchallenged privilege of getting invited to stay with them for extended periods – like weeks and months. During school, I went to school with my cousin since we went to the same school anyway.

I had many brothers and sisters so my protracted absences were hardly felt and my trips were never an issue at a large household already fractured by an absentee father. Though in hindsight, I often wondered why I was never asked whether I preferred staying home or staying with the relatives. In those days, my aunt invited and things pretty much happened as she wished. Though there were times I pined for the many familiarities I enjoyed in my own house – the different sights and sounds of a city that could be witnessed just outside our doors and windows. And at times I longed essentially for the freedom to do as I pleased. To a quiet introverted loner like me that was a big thing.

Anyway, whatever my aunt said, went. Her only son longed for companionship or a playmate, and I was it. I suspect that one of the moving reasons why my aunt chose me was maybe because I was very easy to get along with and I never refused her biddings.

One chore I had to suffer through with her was her fondness for the game of Chinese checkers and regular checkers. So like clockwork, some time in the morning after a hearty breakfast, she would repair to her spacious room and call for me. I would typically catch her sitting by her bed, arranging the game’s pieces on a tiny plastic board that had holes in them. And we would match up for many minutes, just the two of us; which times seemed interminable for an antsy kid like me who not only was not keen on the game but could not muster the longer attention span that adults had. So I always lost and this made my aunt visibly gleeful egging herself to play even more. At other days, we tried the regular checkers, again sitting on her bed and using another tiny plastic board with odd pieces that had different shapes – like wild animals, fishes, etc.

But somehow I survived through all of it, none the worse for wear. And I bet you maybe because albeit all this, my aunt was quite generous and likeable to me. She was terribly fond of movies; she went with us kids in tow most times new programs were showing in the local theatres. And she liked to eat well, so we always had delectable meals of chicken, pork, sea food, etc. Only occasional servings of vegetables. So definitely I got bigger and better portions than I would have gotten at home where nine kids vied for the finite amount of food set at our table.

So under this very personally beneficent environment, I and my brothers could not interpose any serious objection to what my aunt would bid us to do. Play with her son? No problem. Run errands? Okay. Take some abuse from sometimes spoiled cousin? (Chuckles) Hey, we can stand it. What about hard-massaging the feet and thick thighs of uncle as he took his regular siesta after lunch? Grudgingly, we did as told. And this last challenge which happened when we were still next-door neighbors we submit was no run in the park. He was a large person and we had to be at it until he had fallen asleep. And all this under the watchful eye of my aunt who lay beside him reading her magazines.

Anyhow, at some point during one of my extended stays with my cousin, a relative of my uncle from Bohol also came to live with us in that very spacious house. He was being assigned as the superintendent of the local trade school which was located not far from my aunt’s house. His living quarters at the school were being prepared for him and his expected family. And he was to be the first superintendent of that school, which was quite a unique distinction.

He was a very kindly and amiable person with very genteel manners. He always had on a genuine smile and a very soothing tone of voice. Qualities we associated then with the people coming from Bohol.

Unlike my uncle, he was very friendly with us kids, spending time talking and listening to us. That’s probably why he was an educator. There must have been some instant liking developed between the two of us, because the next thing I can recall is me preparing for a trip with him to his hometown of Tagbilaran. All of a sudden I am in a rush gathering the few clothes I had, my wooden clogs (bakya) included, and a few personal hygiene stuff like a toothbrush. But where to put all of it?

Did I decide to use an old heavy leather satchel bag that was sitting at home or did I decide to dump them inside an empty milk carton box? If the latter would it have been an Alpine or Carnation box? Maybe Carnation since they made sturdier and thicker boxes which were somehow treated to protect them from water damage.

I can’t tell which one I used for this trip since all I can recall is that on one boat trip I took the satchel bag and on another an empty milk carton box, the latter making dull sounds when lifted or carried if one had the wooden clogs packed inside.

The boat ride was an overnight trip from the local pier to the town of Jagna, then a quick bus trip to Tagbilaran.

I remember arriving at an old but comfortable and airy house, being welcomed animatedly by my traveling companion’s equally amiable wife and his 2 kids, the elder a boy and the younger a girl. I easily recall the most prominent piece of furniture in the house as a piano. Both kids played on it.

I was billeted by myself in one upstairs room with big windows. But can’t recall much beyond that.

But I do recall with relative ease that they had brought me to a marketplace where I was treated to a cool milkshake that I believe went by the name of mais con yielo. I must have had it more than once during that trip since the recall is quite vivid.

I must have been pre-teen when all this reckoning transpired, but beyond the above nothing much is left in memory, except for that kindly man who brought me to his place, showered me with his and his family’s hospitality, and being treated to a tasty mais con yielo which acquired taste has stayed with me to this day.

Of such were the quiet and simple pleasures of my youth!

Experience or Learning: Which is the better teacher?

Conventional wisdom touts that experience is the best teacher. A child once burned will have learned how to handle fire the next time. Okay, well and good. But which is better? A child is in a situation where it can observe other children – those playing with fire. He observes their action and reaction. Don’t you think that child will have learned his lesson without having to undergo being burned? Learning also teaches without necessarily bringing in any corresponding hurt or pain.

And that I believe is the better path to take in life. Learn your valuable lessons from the hapless experiences of others. Far from just engaging in trial and error methods, learn first how others are doing it and then do your turn. Aside from plain recklessness, laziness, or too much daring, in many instances one finds ego behind many ill-fated decisions one makes. Pride and arrogance at times take the better of one, rather than the humble attempt find out from others how things are done better.

Perish conventional wisdom in this regard. Many of us may not have the convenient second chances needed to correct our mistakes, and thus, miss out completely on certain things that could have been had by learning from others.

Thus, for a child growing up this is where parental guidance plays a most crucial role, teaching kids to learn first before embarking on pursuits that could have long-term disastrous effects on their lives. Of course, in most instances the learning will have to be accompanied by real-life examples originating from the parents or role models. Instructive words are half of the equation, the other half being the examples to round out and complete the lesson.

Imagine the many instances where a child can profit immeasurably from lessons learned prior to experience. The lesser the pitfalls he has to recover from the better the life of that child. And thus he can reserve his extra energies to more daunting challenges where the chances of success are even slimmer. Pick your fights. Life has more than enough challenges to contend with. Keep always a leg or a step up. We are all bound to need that extra push, resource, or hand when the greater challenges come.

So remember, learning is the better teacher. Learning also invites the needed cautiousness and circumspection in tackling the meatier challenges of life. Thus, place yourself in a position where you can profit most from lessons learned prior to actual experience.

Weren’t parenting and then schooling intended primarily for that purpose? In the haste and clutter of everyday life, sometimes we just plumb forget.

PART SIX: Neri Genealogy: New Findings

I quote from the message exchanges I had with Dr. Antonio J. Montalvan II, PhD, regarding my question on the origins of the Neris here in Misamis:

“It was Rizal's Jesuit friend Fr. Juan Bautista Heras (later pastor of Jasaan) who was on a boat trip one day with Misamis Governor Leopoldo Roldan. While they were along the coast of Lanao, they noticed some signals, some commotion on the shore. They proceeded to alight. There they met the Rajamoda Sampurna who asked for their help. He said he was escaping Lanao because of some internal warfare there that endangered his life (appparently a rido). He said he was willing to go with them. And so they brought him to Cagayan. Perhaps the peril he was in must have been so jeopardizing to his safety that in Cagayan he decided to renounce Islam. A solemn ceremony was then prepared by the priests of Cagayan where a native ritual, the "tampuda," was performed in public. It was there that he adopted the surname Neri.

This happened in the last quarter of the 1800s, very recent indeed. I will get back to you on the exact date. I am personally aghast that many Neris claim him as their ancestor. In fact, there were already Neris present in Cagayan before the entry of the Rajamoda. My suspicion is that the reason why he chose "Neri" may have been the fact that the baptismal godfather was a Neri, in the same way Chinese converts to Catholicism do so.

This account can be found in the Jesuit Letters annotated by another Rizal friend, Fr. Pablo Pastells, since then translated by the present day historian Fr. Jose Arcilla SJ.”

Fr. Arcilla was with us at Ateneo de Cagayan during high school as a scholastic and again years later as a priest. He is now stationed at ADM University, engaged in his field of expertise which is history.

As can easily be gleaned, this account sheds some light on the beginnings of the name of Neri here in Misamis. Given that the sources are confirmed historical figures, one is inclined to believe that the data furnished are incontrovertible.

But what does it say about the claimed origins of many Neri families here? Let us see what we can deduce by examining both accounts.

First, we can say outrightly that if we take the quoted account as factual, Neris did not originate from only one source because Neri families already were in existence prior to the conversion related above which was already in the last quarter of the 1800s, meaning from 1875 to 1900. I can show historical Neri figures who were born in the first quarter of the 1800s. Juan Neri, from whose beginnings we have the families today of Wendy Ramos, Mrs. Edilth F. Pelaez, etc. was born in 1807 and died 1857. Two Neri brothers, Salvador and Lino were governadorcillos of Misamis, in 1832 and 1833 respectively, inferring therefore that these two were born in the very early 1800s while assuming further they got their government posts when they were in their late 20’s or early 30’s. Our family came from the line of Salvador Neri.

Now, on to the names Raja Sampurna and Rajamoda Sampurna. I tried to uncover though only cursorily all I could possibly learn about the names. The word raja or rajah though a title which has origins in Sanskrit is a generic name which generally means king or prince. And the word Sampurna we know to be a name of a clan, which today is still extant in the areas around Lake Lanao. Thus, Rajah Sampurna, could be the title of any or all kings or princes of the Sampurna clan at any time during its long history. But would Rajamoda Sampurna be more specific as to denote a particular person at a particular time in history? In Sanskrit, the word moda would mean joy, happiness, or rejoicing.

Now, back to the Christian Neris. Given the above we cannot now claim that all the Neris started with the christening of “a” Sampurna rajah and his family in 1779, officiated by a parish priest of Cagayan de Misamis, named Pedro de Santa Barbara. Though there appears sufficient evidence to show that indeed that named priest served the parish beginning 1775, and that such a specific christening took place (though I myself will have to be shown hard evidence to this effect.), The quoted conversion above refutes this claim successfully.

The second conversion as related by Dr. Montalvan above could nevertheless have another plausible explanation aside from the one he has advanced. In the second instance, one can surmise that Rajamoda Sampurna followed the example of a previous Muslim ancestor and assumed the same name. After all, both presumably came from the same clan. And on its own this could stand a looser plausibility test.

So, which extant Neri families came from the first or the second conversion? I suppose those who cannot show ancestors dating back to the early 1800s could form part of the second conversion. And my graph does show a couple of lines that do not yet date that far back. And these are those of Merced Neri who married a Gabor, and Genaro Neri who married Silvestra Emata.

Back to the first conversion. As I had previously intimated I have plotted out ancestors of Neri families that go all the way to 21 years before the 1779 christening. But I yet have to hear any heirs of these families provide any oral or documentary evidence that point to their ancestors’ part in the christening – whether those ancestors were participants in the christening or their parents were .

These questions and doubts will have to remain standing, until such time that they can be refuted or verified and confirmed.

UPDATE: from Dr. Montalvan:

I now have the data. The year was July 1879. This is the background: The Spanish Jesuit historian Pablo Pastells, who was once assigned to Jasaan, related that on July 1879, Spanish governor Leopoldo Roldan of Misamis was travelling along the Panguil Bay with the Spanish Jesuit and Rizal friend Juan Bautista Heras who visited the missions in northern Mindanao. Passing along the Agus River in the vicinity of Iligan, they saw the Spanish flag being waved on shore. Disembarking, the two met the Datu Sampurna and his companions who presented themselves that they were at war with their people. Days later, the Datu was in Cagayan to formalize his admission to the Spanish crown.

That is my own summary from the Cartas de Mindanao of Pastells. By the way, I have forgotten that the translation I used is that of Peter Schreurs ("Mission to Mindanao," Claretian Publications 1998). The Arcilla translation is another work.

Now let me quote verbatim from the Schreurs translation:

"During the public ceremony, they were assembled under a beautiful kiosk, where a picture of His Majesty Alfonso XII was placed under a richly-adorned canopy. Before the authorities and a bog crowd of people, they cut a fathom length of rattan in one stroke, threw an egg on the ground, and extinguished a burning candle in one blow, by which manifestations they wished to indicate how they deserved to be treated if they were to break their promises. Then the act was signed by both parties, and some cannons were discharged, after which Moros and Christians marched through the streets of Cagayan.

By the way "rajamoda" or the variant "radiamoda" means "heir presumptive." Somewhat akin to a crown prince."

I HOPE SARAH PALIN RUNS

As everyone who reads this blog on a regular basis (and there are a few of you out there, though this time around it is not about recipes or religiosity), knows I have always been a Sarah Palin supporter, even before she was proclaimed by John McCain as his running mate. And this declaration is not coming from anyone of social or political consequence as many political pundits or social commentators are, holding respectable sways in their respective spheres. After all, yours truly is nothing more or less than a naturalized citizen who has since regularly voted at US elections.

And admittedly this steadfast support did not spring from any dreamy-eyed adulation of what Sarah Palin represents. Therefore, it was not because of her effectiveness or articulateness as a public speaker, not because she stuns and awes with profound or new-fangled ideas, not even because she has very likable or admirable physical and familial characteristics.

It’s just that her political and Christian philosophies jibe with mine and she exhibits that unabashed and unapologetic honesty and earnestness in expounding her philosophies, regardless of how they may be taken by those who read or hear of them. She does not even care much about how all of media would take her pronouncements. In other words, she does not play politics. She lives it. She says what is in her heart, and allows the ball to fall where it may.

Unfortunately, I do not see this kind of honesty, or excuse me, hell-be-damned attitude, in any of the prominent national politicians out there that I know of. They appear to be too concerned or cautious about images and public reaction, even at times when they say they do not care about images and public reaction. Though I must admit that a Michele Bachmann approximates closely a Sarah Palin, there is only one Sarah Palin.

And these same politicians always want to appear erudite, cool, and profound, even when expounding pedestrian bread-and-butter issues that your ordinary man on the streets has to constantly tackle with. In other words, spontaneity or being extemporaneous is not their cup of tea. Neither is connectedness with the ordinary folks.

When it comes to black and white issues, where clearly there is a marked delineation between good and evil, Sarah is not tentative, hesitant, equivocal, and fearful. She is forthright. She has courage where it counts most. She acts not for show, but for exposition of her beliefs.

Amidst all the artificialities, addiction to polls and image, and shameless self-promotion that pervade our social and political landscape, it is ripe that Sarah jogs into the scene to bring this country back to the tracks the founding fathers envisioned. There are enough people out there who share Sarah’s vision, who are in dire need of guidance and direction from a fearless and committed leader who is not constrained by personal agenda. Other than the ardent apostolate of her deeply-held Christian beliefs and unattached and unencumbered desire for public service.

Sarah Palin for President 2012.