remembrance of things awry

One of the best things in Life is to be able to help the less fortunate and yet have fun in the process.  That was what the MRMF Mother Rosa Memorial Foundation of the Assumption College did last Saturday, 26 April 2008 to raise funds for the Assumpta Technical School in San Simon, Pampanga.  Charitable Assumption alumnae and their friends contributed Php 2,500.00/xx each and went on a Discovery Tour of Pampanga…

One could ask:  What can be seen in Pampanga???  Lahar???  What else???  It’s warm and dusty.  There are no white sand beaches like Palawan and Boracay, no five-star resorts like Amanpulo and Discovery Shores Boracay, no diving or snorkeling, no surfing or wakeboarding, no top international shops like Hermes, Bulgari, Louis Vuitton, Salvatore Ferragamo, et. al.., no celebrated chichi restaurants and bars like at Greenbelt IV and V and Serendra, Nada!!!  True!!!  But Pampanga has so much more than mere consumerism.  The province is undeniably rich with history, culture, traditions, quality education, fine and decorative arts, culinary expertise, and so much more.  Pampanga the province has the ever elusive qualities of Wonder, Depth, and Soul.  And it was that Pampanga that the generous Assumption alumnae and their friends sought to discover that day…

The fundraising MRMF Pampanga Tour was planned by Josefina “Nening” Pedrosa-Manahan and Jacqueline “Jackie” Cancio-Vega.  Angeli Ko of KulTours was consulted for logistics.  And I was consulted for the “off-the-beaten-track” itinerary.          

Included in the tour group were “Connie” Carmelo-Pascal, “Angie” Barrera, Mary Garlicki, “Nonny” Carlos, Marietta Cuenco-Cuyegkeng, Victorina “Chichi” Litton Laperal, Anna Aguirre-Pamplona, Rosalie “Salie” Henson-Naguiat, ”Ching” Singson Abad Santos, “Gigi” Lacson, “Mabek” Lichaytoo-Kawsek, “CJ” Junterreal, “Gina” Gozum, Dr. Gaudencio “Boy” Vega, ADB executive Victor Yon, et. al..   

Petron gas station, northbound NLEX.

JDN CKS HAU The Juan D. Nepomuceno Center for Kapampangan Studies at the Holy Angel University, Angeles City.

The Assumption alumnae were very impressed with the JDN CKS Juan D. Nepomuceno Center for Kapampangan Studies in particular and with the Holy Angel University in general.

Henson mansion, Angeles City.

Chow Time!!!  Salie Henson-Naguiat had prepared a wonderful spread.

Dr. Jose Valencia, Dolores, San Fernando.

The group eagerly descended on “Nathaniel’s” along the Olongapo-Gapan Road and bought boxes upon boxes of the store’s famous chilled ”Buko Pandan” [ with carabao's milk ] dessert for their “buko pandan fix” and every other goody displayed that seized their fancy.

Archdiocesan Museum, University of the Assumption, San Fernando.  I became very irritated with the rude security guards because they passed us from one gate to the other and would not let us in.  As if the university was the gold-laden Fort Knox in Texas.  I sneered:  “You passed me from ‘Papa Gate’ to ‘Mama Gate’ to ‘Baby Gate’!!!  Whothehell do you think I am, ‘Goldilocks’???!!!”  *LOLSZ!!!*  Later on, I was told that the ladies inside the bus were also wondering aloud about what was going on…

However, we all forgot the travails of the university gates when we beheld the sheer magnificence of the Collection of the Archdiocese of Pampanga.  Absolutely marvelous!!!  The curator and concurrently the parish priest of Santa Rita, Pampanga, Monsignor Gene Reyes, was a kind gentleman who took the trouble of explaining every object in the collection that we found interesting, which was mostly everything!!! 

I was able to request my dear friend, the artist Alberto “Albert” Salgado Paloma — a first cousin of the legendary jeweler Erlinda “Liding” Salgado Miranda-Oledan — to open his beautiful home to us.  It is to me, the Filipino version of the legendary tastemaker Roderick “Rory” Cameron at “Le Clos de Fiorentina” above the French Riviera, without the sea of course.

Albert, in his characteristic high style, had ordered his staff to prepare an elegant Kapampangan “merienda” for us.  And what a chic and stylish “merienda” it was!!!

The ladies enjoyed every minute at Albert Paloma’s.  It was as if they never left their houses in Forbes Park or Dasmarinas Village. 

After Albert Paloma’s, some of the group members and I crossed B. Mendoza Street to get our orders of traditional large ”ensaimadas” from Lola Beatriz Rodriguez, who temporarily lives in a priest friend’s house after the old Rodriguez mansion in Bacolor was inundated by lahar.  The group members were absolutely delighted to meet Lola Beatriz, who was already 98 years old but still healthy and alert.

Bacolor Church.

Archdiocesan Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes, Cabetican, Bacolor.  We made a quick stop to make our “first visit” prayers and requisite three wishes at this popular Marian shrine where many petitions are said to have been granted.  We were efficiently out of there in ten minutes flat!!!

Betis Church.  It was a beautiful church with many artistic details but we were not able to appreciate it as much as we would have wanted as it was already late afternoon and there were no lights inside.  We requested some people chatting in the convent to turn on some lights but they replied nonsensically that there was no electrical connection or something equally otherworldly.  We were able to enter the sacristy and admire the magnificent 18th century “vestuario” vestry cabinet, “aparador” cabinet, and “dinemonyo” “mesa altar” altar table.  It was a good thing we had already seen all of that before the security guard entered the church and, not knowing who we were or what we were doing for charity, wanted to shoo us away.  So I didn’t feel the least bit guilty when, in our rush to leave, we completely forgot to leave our envelope with a generous donation to the church.  

After Betis Church, we visited the absolutely enchanting David House, which Salie Henson-Naguiat had arranged for us.  Atty. Dante David showed us around his family’s restored and renovated 1904 Filipino house.  Many of us particularly liked the antique-style, carved wooden brackets with peacock designs at the ceiling of the main floor.  

The restored ancestral house had such a lovely garden.  It seemed to be the work of a top landscape artist until Atty. David told us that they did it themselves!!!

The ladies peeked inside a garden pavilion being used as a [ not at all! ] “dirty” kitchen and giggled when they saw that the tablecloth was the very pattern of their beloved “Assumption Plaid” uniform.  Also, the ladies very much appreciated the very clean and contemporary bathrooms of the house.

Antique “agente,” Betis.

And so, as the sun quickly set on the horizon, the group set out for the border town of Apalit…

The funniest, wackiest, and most outrageous part of the tour happened when we reached Apalit town at 7:00 p.m..  Jackie Vega had secured an appointment with a known Apalit decorative arts manufacturer whom she had met at the Manila F.A.M.E. exporters’ show.  The address read “Dona Asuncion Village, San Juan, Apalit” which, despite my being an Apaliteno, I didn’t know, so I got down the bus when we reached the back of the Apalit Church and inquired with my friends there where “Dona Asuncion Village” was.  They laughingly pointed to the town cemetery and said that the big bus would not be able to pass the street going there.  OH.  UHM…

I got back on the bus and announced to an excited group:  “Ladies, we have the thrill of the unexpected!!!  We know where ‘Dona Asuncion Village’ is.  Problem is, it’s located after the town cemetery and the big bus won’t negotiate the street going there.  We will have to walk, if ever we proceed.  What’s your decision???” 

I looked at the ladies.  The ladies looked at one another.  The ladies looked at me.  I looked towards the cemetery!!!  The “thought bubbles” on their faces were:   ”Shopping… Cemetery… Shopping… Cemetery… Shopping…”  And then a unanimous “YES!!!  SHOPPING!!!”  And they all proceeded to disembark from the bus!!!

It was a scene straight out of an adventure movie:  some 35 well-heeled, well-dressed, and well-shod ladies happily chatting away as they trod the rough road [ of some 500 meters ], accompanied by excited Apalit children, on the way to the decorative arts manufacturer in “Dona Asuncion Village” past groups of drunken men, the town cemetery, and young families enjoying the night air.  They were amply rewarded when we reached the manufacturer because there were all sorts of stylish, “au courante,” export-quality decorative accessories that could be purchased “in situ.”      

Apalit Church.  We were lucky to find the Parish Choir in practice so the church lights were all switched on.  The ladies marveled at the San Agustin “wannabe” church with its interesting and folksy trompe l’oeil paintings. 

I showed the group the beautifully-carved [ Carrara marble ] gravestone of my paternal great grandfather Dr. Joaquin Gonzalez [ 1853 - 1900 ]:  a Spanish Augustinian friar’s son; a Paris-trained ophthalmologist who preceded Dr. Jose Rizal; he was the discoverer of “beri-beri” as a disease in the Philippines; and he was one of only two Pampango representatives to the 1898 Malolos Congress [ the other being Jose Rodriguez Ynfante of Floridablanca ].  I explained that Dr. Joaquin Gonzalez was the great grandfather of such diverse characters whom the ladies knew socially:  Elsie Franco-Diaz, Cecilia Gonzalez-Soriano, Fr. Gabby Gonzalez S.J., Annie Gonzalez-Chanco, Romy Rodriguez, Rosemarie Rodriguez-Lopez, Tony de Leon, Marianne de Leon, Bambina de Leon-Herbosa, Jane de Leon-Syjuco, Toni Lopez Gonzalez, Mely Gonzalez-Gan, Atty. Renato Gonzalez, Leony Gonzalez, Jerry Gonzalez, Jean Gonzalez-Salvador, Ina Gonzalez-Dizon, May Gonzalez-Benedicto, Minnie Gonzalez Blanco-Abdallah, Gene Gonzalez, moi, Atty. Adolfo Gonzalez, Rocelle Gonzalez-Lizares, Charo Cancio-Yujuico, Arch. Jackie Cancio-Vega, Dr. Vicki Belo, David de Padua, Tweetums Cruz Gonzalez, Noli Gonzalez, Atty. Ging Madrigal Gonzalez-Montinola, BG Gonzalez, Gig Gonzalez, Dr. Jake Jison, and Liel Montinola Gonzalez. 

Cacnio House, San Juan, Apalit.  I explained to the group that the Cacnio House was the last intact ancestral home in the entire town and the only evidence that Apalit actually possessed a kind of Spanish colonial elegance which has almost entirely disappeared.   My dear Espiritu-Arnedo-Mercado relatives Tita Esther Cacnio-Atienza and her daughter Paz came all the way from their Manila residence to welcome the MRMF Group to their beautiful ancestral home in Apalit.  The MRMF Group marveled at the 1850s house, transferred from Malabon to Apalit in 1905, which has survived so many disasters intact, down to the last teaspoon of their ancestors. 

The Cacnios prepared a wonderful “Pancit Luglug” traditionally soured with “Kamias” fruit which was a nice counterpoint to all the sweets that we had been eating the whole day!!!  There were also those delightful little aniseed “puto” — a type which we used to produce in Barrio Capalangan, Apalit years ago.   All “Gratis” again which we much appreciated because it was like a donation to the MRMF!!!  Leading the group in their appreciation of the Cacnios’ warm hospitality, Tita “Nening” Manahan presented “Majestic” ham as a token of gratitude.     

And so, in the dark of night, we bravely forged on to Old Barrio Sulipan in Apalit…

It was already 9:00 p.m. when we arrived in the legendary, once-elegant, definitely-not-patrician-and-sylvan-anymore Barrio Sulipan, Apalit, Pampanga… 

Arnedo House, Sulipan, Apalit.  It was simply too late to bother the gay caretaker to open the ancient house for us.

Saint Peter’s Shrine, Capalangan, Apalit.  Our delicious, freshly-made Spanish “postres” were locked inside the Hall behind the gates!!!  Aaarrrggghhh!!!

Petron gas station, southbound NLEX.

Some of the ladies were so happy to see Connie Carmelo-Pascal and Mary Garlicki — who were trapped for several hours in that frightful traffic between the San Simon and Pulilan exits of the southbound NLEX [ two big trucks had fallen off the viaduct!!! ] — all OK in the ladies’ room.  At least, they were safe and finally on the way home!!!

Everyone had already boarded the bus and were raring to finally go home — except for Gigi Lacson.  I got down the bus to look for her…  She had come from the shops and was walking towards the bus.  I waved to her and she waved back.  Before we both knew it, a truck passed as she was crossing the pavement, nearly running her over!!!  She mock-blamed me for not warning her about the passing truck, but I just smiled and laughed because my tired, tiny eyes really didn’t see the truck coming in the dark…  

Back to Quezon City and Makati…  We reached Merced Bakeshop along EDSA near Quezon Avenue — where the Quezon City group dropped off — at 10:30 p.m. and we reached The Manila Polo Club — where the Makati group disembarked — at 11:30 p.m.!!!  Whattaday it had been!!!  *LOLSZ!!!*

We had so much fun that we are already planning the next tour!!!  Perhaps Laguna, maybe Bulacan, on to Batangas, Ilocos Sur and Abra, Bacolod and Iloilo, and of course, Pampanga Part II…  

And yes, almost miraculously, but also because of the generosity of sooooo many people, MRMF was able to raise a good amount for the Assumpta Technical School in San Simon, Pampanga…!!! 

My dear friend Ditas Gomez just called me after dinner at 9:00 p.m..  Her aunt, Tita Betty Favis-Gonzalez, had just passed away at the Makati Medical Center this afternoon.

“Tita Betty” [ Beatriz Favis de Gonzalez, daughter of Don Asterio Favis y Flandes of Vigan, Ilocos Sur and Dona Ramona Gonzalez y Morales of Bautista, Pangasinan; Dona Ramona "Monay" was the youngest daughter of Don Francisco "Balbas" Gonzalez y Reinado, the "Gonzalez de Pangasinan" patriarch, and his second wife Dona Juana Morales y Mamaril ] was one of my all-time favorite people.  I first met her in the late 1980s when she was already in her late 70s but she was as cool and as hip as an 18 year old.  Nothing shocked her; nothing fazed her.  We may have been fifty years apart in age but she completely understood everything about me.  She was as contemporary as the latest gizmo.  I absolutely adored her.   

As befitting the patrician heiress of a grand fortune, Tita Betty was a fashionable lady.  She was a friend and a preferred client of the legendary couturier Ramon Valera.  At a time when Ramoning’s evening gowns cost a princely Php 1,000.00/xx, Tita Betty was charged much less because he liked her a lot, counting her among his close circle of friends. 

It was Beatriz Gonzalez Favis-Gonzalez who lent the young Imelda Trinidad Romualdez the gown she wore during the “Miss Manila” Contest in 195_.   Years later in the early 1970s during Martial Law, during a wedding at the Santuario de San Antonio where She was a principal sponsor, someone at the back tapped her shoulder gently.  Tita Betty turned around and it was The All-Powerful First Lady, Madame Imelda Romualdez-Marcos:  “Betty, I hope you remember me…” 

“Of course.”  she answered curtly, smiling.

“Betty, should you ever need something, you know where to find me.”

“Thank you.”  she answered, curtly again, still smiling.

When she related the incident to her family, they asked her what she would do with The All-Powerful First Lady’s invitation.  She answered in her characteristic “cut-the-crap” manner:  “Nothing.  She… owes me.”  Spoken like a genuine lady to the manor born.   

She was a trailblazer for the ladies of her generation.  In the mid-1950s when bored ladies of leisure entered the interior design and decoration business with no formal training, Tita Betty went to New York City and completed the entire ”Interior Design” course at the famous Parsons School of Design.  But because she was so rich, she never practiced her profession, limiting her design and decoration to her own residences. 

When she returned from her studies in New York, she arrived with suitcases full of the latest dresses, shoes, and bags from the best designers.  She was the envy of her social circle.  Years later, her nieces were thrilled to see such great vintage pieces in her closets.   

In 1958, Beatriz Gonzalez Favis married the widower Beda Juan Medina Gonzalez of Candelaria, Zambales.  He was the son of the Spaniard Angel Gonzalez of Asturias, Spain and of the Filipina Francisca Medina.  He was first married to Concepcion “Conchita” Oirola of Manila with whom he had two daughters, Nancy and Maribel. 

Adios, Tita Betty.  Until we meet again.

Years ago, Formidable Mother — by her marriage a doyenne of the Cavite “de buena familia” — in her trademark ”habito de Lourdes” [ a plain white dress, usually of Swiss cotton, with a light blue sash that devotees of Our Lady of Lourdes wear ], visited an elegant lady friend who had just separated from her husband whom she had caught having — what else — a torrid affair.  Abroad, no less.

Until then, Elegant Friend and her Husband had been living The Dream.  They had four wonderful, intelligent children.  They resided in a vast house in Forbes Park.  Their luxurious home was filled with an impressive Filipiniana Collection:  the masterpieces of Old Filipino Masters and classical Filipino antique furniture.  Their garage was crammed with current model Mercedes Benzes and BMWs.  They owned thriving corporations, factories, and lucrative commercial real estate throughout the city.   They traveled luxuriously every year.  They had an absolutely wonderful life.  Until Husband wandered away…  

Formidable Mother spewed smoke from her solid gold tar guard and urged her friend:  “But why don’t you just reconcile???  PITY YOUR *pause*… COLLECTION!!!”

You heard right.  Formidable Mother didn’t advise Elegant Friend to reconcile with Philandering Husband because of the usual Children, the usual Family, the usual Society, the usual Morals and Values,  the usual Church, the usual God, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.  Formidable Mother — no stranger to an unfaithful husband — advised Elegant Friend to reconcile with Philandering Husband because of their marvelous Art And Antique Collection!!! 

Fortunately for Formidable Mother, Elegant Friend’s Philandering Husband was a gallant man who refused to take his half of the Collection and insisted that it remain with his ex-wife in trust for eventual distribution to their children.

Values really differ from one person to the next…!!!   :P   :P  

Too funny for words, really.

*LOLOLOLSSSZZZZZ!!!!!!!*

[ We are deliberately not using the K word so that this post and its comments will not be found by search engines. ]

It seems Abductions are on the rise again.  They are happening, not in Manila, but in prosperous provincial capitals.  Recently, there was talk of the abduction of a pretty heiress in Bacolod City.  But rather than dwell on the sad realities of Filipino existence and sink into depression, I would rather remember the comic situations from some real situations which I remember…

One of the best stories was the abduction of a rich executive.  The perpetrators had no idea of his deteriorating health and of the hellish termagant he had for a wife.  Furthermore, the couple had completely lost their love for each other and were only performing a romantic charade during family occasions…

“Twenty million o mamamatay siya.”  demanded the abductors.

“Ahahahahahah!!!  Mamamatay naman talaga iyan eh.  Libre pa!!!  Bakit pa ako magbabayad ng twenty million eh malapit na naman iyan sa hukay, ah!!!  Malala na ang diabetes niyan, “To Go” na iyan!!!  Ahahahah!!!”  mocked the wife.

As soon as the abductors sensed that that was how far it went, they returned Rich Executive, lock, stock, and barrel…!!! 

*LOLOLSSZZZ!!!*

Then there was the abduction of the granddaughter of an old banking fortune.  The perpetrators grossly underestimated the hardwired strength of character of the widowed mother, a consistent family trait which was responsible for the patriarch’s great business success in the first place. 

“Fifty million o mamatay siya.”  the abductors demanded.

“Ano???  Eh ang tatanga niyo pala!!!  Saan naman ako magnanakaw ng fifty million???!!!  Anong akala niyo sa amin, mga Marcos???!!!”  screamed Widowed Mother.  That, from a woman who had successfully faced down Japanese soldiers as a 10 year old in World War II.  The reality was that she had steeled herself for the inevitable and had decided to see it through no matter what. 

“Eh di mamamatay siya.”  the abductors threatened.

“Eh di mamatay kung mamatay!!!  Saan kami magnanakaw ng ganong klaseng pera???  Hoy mga gago, tumawag na lang kayo pag nakapag-isip-isip na kayo ng deretso, hah???!!!”  *bangs phone*

The abductors called again the next morning:  “Misis, sige, pagbibigyan namin kayo.  Forty million na lang.  O mamamatay ang anak ninyo.”

“Hoy, baligtarin natin ang istorya.  Kung ako ang humingi ng pera na forty million mayroon ka bang ibubuga???”  asked Widowed Mother.

“Wala, Misis.  Kaya nga hinihingan ka namin eh.”

“Mga gago talaga kayo!!!  Kung wala naman din kayong ibubuga na forty million eh di lalo na ako!!!”  *bangs phone*

The next morning, the perpetrators called again.  Down to thirty million.  No go.  The next morning, down to twenty million.  No go.  The next morning, down to ten million.  No go.  Five million.  No.  One million.  No.  Five hundred thousand.  Widowed Mother paid up in cash, immediately.  The daughter was released at once.

“Mabuti hindi mo sinabi sa mga dumakip sa iyo…”

“Hindi po, Mommy.”  replied the grateful daughter.

“Good, ganyan mag-negosyo!!!  Dapat tuso!!!  Kaya mahal na mahal kita kahit AMPON ka lang!!!”

*LOLOLOLSSSZZZZZ!!!*

But the best story yet was that of the handsome, philandering, Billionaire Husband who was taken after coming from yet another tryst with his newest mistress…

Long-suffering Wife was informed of her husband’s predicament.

“Justice, justice!”  she sighed to herself  “At long last, justice!!!”

The phone rang.  Long-Suffering Wife lifted the receiver.

“Mrs. ???  Mrs. ???  Nasa amin ang asawa ninyo!!!”  threatened the abductors.

Long-Suffering Wife serenely declared without any hesitation:  “AY… WRONG NUMBER.”  Then She went back to her manicure and pedicure…

*LOLOLOLSSSZZZZZ!!!!!!!*

Today, one goes to Quiapo, “sa ilalim ng tulay” under the bridge, to avail of beautiful Filipino handicrafts at sometimes reasonable, sometimes still touristy, prices. One goes to the Chinese wholesalers of foodstuffs and kitchen equipment along Carlos Palanca Sr. Street [ formerly Calle Echague ]. When one is desperate and penurious, one goes to the Quiapo Church, to pray before the miraculous image of the Black Nazarene, to Him who is the most burdened of the burdened [ when one is desperate and rich, one goes to the Santuario de San Antonio in Forbes Park, to the Chapel of the Asian Institute of Management, and to any Chapel of the "Opus Dei" ].

Contemporary, bustling Quiapo still resonates with the names of the old Filipino families who continue to own commercial properties in the area. Despite congestion and disorganization, it is still the seat of several, highly-lucrative, family-owned real estate empires worth Php billions. One is actually surprised to see a veritable registry of old, prominent families — Paterno, Araneta-Zaragoza, Padilla-Bibby, de los Reyes, Ongsiako, Villonco, Cu-Unjieng, Escaler — alongside the New Chinese Rich owning much of the commercial real estate of the Quiapo District.

But Old Quiapo, specially that aristocratic stretch of Calle San Sebastian [ later Calle R. Hidalgo ] from the 1850s until the PreWar, was actually an elegant place…

In the Quiapo of the olden times, it was actually a convenience and even a pleasure to have a house beside an “estero,” for these then-pristine streams supplied water for the gardens as well as an efficient route of transportation.

Like an Empress Dowager, the Paterno mansion — one of the most classically beautiful of the old Manila mansions — reigned over Calle San Sebastian from the 1850s onwards. The immense Paterno fortune was founded by a series of industrious and fortunate Chinese forebears. It spawned a life of high learning, luxury, and leisure for the younger members of the family. The palatial Paterno residences were noted for their European-style opulence, filled as they were with splendid furniture and exquisite decorations. By the late 1800s, the Paterno siblings were the most cultured and refined of Manilenos as personified by the “ilustrado” Don Pedro Alejandro Paterno and his artistic sisters Dona Paz and Dona Adelaida. A part of the fabled Paterno fortune survives to this day through the family of Dona Susana Paterno de Madrigal [ Mrs. Vicente Madrigal ], a descendant who doubtless possessed the same incisive business acumen of her industrious Chinese forebears.

The affluent Tuason-Legarda-Prieto-Valdes Clan had various grand residences along Calle San Sebastian and the nearby streets. When the famous arts and antiques collector Marie Theresa “Bebe” Lammoglia-Virata [ Mrs. Leonides Virata ] first saw the grand “Sala” of the “Museo De La Salle” in 2001, She remembered that it was as big — albeit with a higher ceiling — as the “Sala” of an old Prieto-Valdes residence of friends of hers along Calle R. Hidalgo that she had frequented as a young lady during the PreWar.

The Zamora Family also had several grand residences along the same street.

The celebrated, Neoclassical, Don Felix Roxas y Arroyo-designed mansion of the altruistic aesthete Don Rafael Enriquez was also located along Calle San Sebastian, a few houses to the left of the Paterno mansion.

On the same street was the very elegant mansion of Don Ramon Genato, renowned in its time from the 1880s-90s as a gathering place of “alta sociedad de Manila.” [ Don Ramon Genato also owned an older mansion along nearby Calle Evangelista. ] The raconteur Don Felix Roxas y Fernandez waxed nostalgic: “December 31 of every year, or the New Year’s Eve Ball, was traditionally held in the commodious and luxurious house of the Ramon Genatos whose children, out of love for their father, fondly took care of the lavish preparations for the festivity. By entering the portals of this unusual mansion on R. Hidalgo Street, the guests were brought face to face and impressed with the fine taste and artistic traits of the Genato children; and this impression was augmented when one passed through the artistically decorated and elegant rooms and halls of the mansion. The dining room appeared very splendid, not only because of the profusion of decorative plants and flowers and of fountains prepared with blocks of luminous ice, but also because of the regal appearance of the dining table decked with the latest in the decorative art.”

Near the bridge at # 1034 was the famous 1900s mansion of Don Gregorio Araneta y Soriano Dy Ching and Dona Carmen Zaragoza y Roxas [ now the site of the Quiapo Parochial School ].  Don Gregorio Araneta was an immensely successful lawyer whose first big case was the legal representation of the heirs of the tragic Don Francisco Roxas y Reyes who was executed for sedition in January of 1897. Dona Carmen Zaragoza was the daughter of the bon vivant publisher Don Jose Zaragoza y Aranquizna and Dona Rosa Roxas y Arce, an astute businesswoman who greatly expanded her inherited holdings. The very Filipina-looking Dona Rosa Roxas de Zaragoza* was a second cousin through the Roxas line of the aristocratic [ the de Ayala of Alava, Spain ] Spanish mestiza heiresses Dona Carmen Ayala de Roxas [ married to Don Pedro Pablo Roxas y Castro ] and Dona Trinidad Ayala de Zobel [ married to Don Jacobo Zobel y Zangroniz ].

Also along Calle San Sebastian was the mansion of the Ilustre Family.

On Calle Barbosa [ now Bautista Street ] was the relatively modern, Vienna Secession-inspired mansion of Don Ariston Bautista y Lin and Dona Petrona Nakpil designed by the architect Arcadio Arellano in 1914.  The writer Gilda Cordero-Fernando, who grew up in the area, recalled that the Nakpil ladies had very good taste and that they had exceptionally beautiful things.

At the corner of Calle San Sebastian and Calle Barbosa was a large but rather plain 1850s mansion which served as the Manila residence of a very rich Pampanguena who pioneered the acquisition of valuable Manila real estate among her provincial peers in the 1870s [ the large house was one of three she owned in the area ]. The firebrand Dona Matea Rodriguez de Sioco of Bacolor and Sulipan, Apalit buried two rich husbands [ Don Josef Sioco and Don Juan Arnedo Cruz ] and became the top financier of the revolutionary Katipunan in Pampanga in the late 1890s. She had two married daughters: Dona Sabina Sioco de Escaler and Dona Florencia Sioco de Gonzalez. When she died her large estate was divided into three equal parts between her two married daughters Dona Sabina and Dona Florencia along with her favorite grandson, Don Jose Escaler y Sioco. Dona Sabina Sioco de Escaler continued acquiring Manila commercial and residential real estate. She owned several large commercial properties in the Binondo, Santa Cruz, and Quiapo districts. By the 1910s, Dona Sabina owned several houses along Calle Arlegui and Calle General Solano in the fashionable San Miguel District aside from entire blocks in the Ermita and Malate districts.

In front of Plaza del Carmen, across San Sebastian Church, was the 1910s mansion of the Filipiniana ubercollector Don Felipe Hidalgo y Kleimpell. According to everyone who had visited it during Don Felipe’s lifetime, it was literally an “Ali Baba’s Cave” of treasures. For example, the “entresuelo” mezzanine of that house contained Filipino Old Master Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo’s exact replicas of his two prizewinning paintings in Madrid, Spain: “La Barca de Aqueronte” [ "The Boat of Charon" ] and “Virgenes Cristianas Expuestas al Populacho” [ "Christian maidens exposed to the populace" ]!!!  Another masterpiece in that house was the portrait of “Don Narciso Padilla and his grandson Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo” by Filipino Old Master Antonio Malantic**. 

Very near Plaza del Carmen were several residences belonging to the Spanish mestizo Zaragoza Family.  The brothers Zaragoza y Aranquizna — among them Don Jose the publisher [ of the landmark "La Ilustracion Filipina" ] and Don Miguel the painter — were born in San Isidro, Nueva Ecija, the sons of a Spanish official of the “Tabacalera.”  Don Jose Zaragoza y Aranquizna was matched with the young and affluent Senorita Rosa Roxas y Arce [ daughter of Don Mariano Leon Roxas y Arroyo and Dona Carmen Arce ] of Binondo.  They built their house along Calle San Sebastian in Quiapo.  Don Jose and Dona Rosa had six children:  Dona Natividad [ married Don Demetrio Tuason ], Dona Carmen [ married Don Gregorio Araneta y Soriano Dy Ching ], Don Elias [ married Dona Rosario Velez y Rodriguez Ynfante ], Don Salvador [ married Dona Carolina Tuason ], Don Ramon [ married Dona Trinidad Matute; married Dona Juanita Marin ], and Dona Margarita [ married Don Carlos Preysler ].  Dona Rosa Roxas de Zaragoza built splendid houses for all her children.   All in all, there were seven Zaragoza residences along Calle San Sebastian. 

Approaching San Sebastian Church, to the right, was the fabled mansion of the “Conde de Aviles” the Count of Aviles which was later occupied by Don Benito Legarda. The “Conde de Aviles” was assigned by the Governor General to host King Norodom I of Cambodia during his visit to Manila and the outlying provinces in 1872 [ during those times Malacanang Palace was occasionally in disrepair and could not host visiting dignitaries in style ].

On a side street was the eccentric mansion of the Ocampo-de los Reyes Family, which was remodeled in the 1920s into a Japanese pagoda.

Inside Callejon Llemanzana was an old house owned by Don Felipe Hidalgo which was occupied by Don Alfonso Ongpin which was a veritable museum with an extensive Filipiniana, and Rizaliana, collection.

Expansive Calle Azcarraga [ now Claro M. Recto Avenue ] was lined with splendid mansions. One of them was the 1880s residence of Don Maximino Paterno. A few houses away was one of the inherited residences of Don Trinidad Hermenigildo Pardo de Tavera.

And of course, Old Quiapo was just a stone’s throw away from posh San Miguel District, which became the preferred address of The Rich after the Governor General’s Palace was moved from Intramuros to the Malacanang summer residence following the 1863 earthquake. During the 1880s, Calle General Solano teemed with the more sophisticated, European-inflected mansions — epitomized by the famous Eugster-Moreno Lacalle-Goldenberg — of the Spanish mestizo and Chinese mestizo elite beside the Pasig River.

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Notes:

*According to Regina Araneta-Teodoro, [ her great-grandmother ] Dona Rosa Roxas de Zaragoza was very Filipina-looking, as proven by an old photograph among the private papers of [ Dona Rosa's grandson ] Don Salvador Araneta y Zaragoza.  Dona Rosa Roxas’ Spanish mestizo husband, Don Jose Zaragoza y Aranquizna, looked like Josef Stalin with his moustache.

**The portrait of “Don Narciso Padilla and his grandson Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo” was definitely painted by an Old Filipino Master:  Antonio Malantic, Justiniano Asuncion, or Mariano Asuncion.

She is very ill…

A rather forgetful and not-very-grateful Filipino nation is confronted with the looming mortality of one of the — if not THE — greatest living hero of our times.  Derided during the Marcos Era as an insignificant figment of the political opposition, greatly admired during her administration, and reviled as an impractical democratic idealist during the succeeding political regimes, She stubbornly clung to her personal morals and political ideals rendered almost irrelevant by reemergent political corruption and depravity.  She was the yellow-clad lady who once brought a new dawn of hope for the Filipino nation:  Corazon “Cory” Cojuangco-Aquino, the noble widow of National Hero Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino.    

Despite everything negative that has been said about her, the Filipino People should, and must, always remember that Corazon “Cory” Cojuangco-Aquino was the “raison d’etre” who led them during their Finest Hour exactly twenty-two years ago on 22 February 1986: when the Filipino was at his bravest, most principled, most enlightened, and most spiritual self; when All that was Best in the Filipino shone throughout an admiring, jubilant, and hopeful world!!!

For that one brief shining moment, The Filipino Everyman All over the World — “Juan de la Cruz” of the fields, the factories, the public markets and the “OFWs” of the factories, the ships, the foreign households stood proudly neck to neck and shoulder to shoulder alongside high officials, technocrats, industrialists, and the foreign employers — All were filled with Great Honor and Dignity at their Final Assertion of Democracy in our country, The Philippines.

Thank you so much for Everything, Cory.  I cannot speak for anyone else but I want you to know that I will always remember what We All — The Filipino People — went through together and that I will always be grateful.  For The Hope, if only for The Hope!!!

You would think that Immense Wealth and Great Power would, could, and should confer Immortality on an Individual.  I, for one, have always thought so.  

But there She rested in her elegant manse amidst Everyone and Everything She treasured most…   After all, She was one of the very grandest ladies Manila had ever known:  Consuelo Alejandra “Chito” Paterno Madrigal-Vasquez-Collantes.

Her ashes were finally interred at the Madrigal Mausoleum in Alabang in a very elegant box of “kamagong” ebony wood decorated with ivory inlays made by Osmundo “Omeng” Esguerra, the antiquaire and furnituremaker to Manila high society. However, the expense and the elegance of it all did not change the fact that they were just ashes in a wooden box.

Food for thought…

“Sic transit gloria mundi”…

Everyone but everyone in town is currently reading — in the Internet — the ghastly revelations and experiences in “Manila Sassiety” of a foreigner who once enjoyed “la vida loca” in Manila and Boracay…

There was nothing new and nothing earthshaking in his sordid retelling but it has nonetheless titillated all of Manila and the Filipinos worldwide, now hanging on tethers with his every spiteful word…  

Despite thankfully not being a part of the hedonistic circles he described, I do understand the entire milieu.  And it did get me thinking, and thankful, that such situations are not in my realm of quotidian reality. Far too swank, too fast, too swish. To think that swank, fast, and swish have never been words associated with, or depictive of, polite society anywhere in the world.

Young and Fashionable Manila giggles with perverse delight at the whole affair, breezily dismissing it all as the entertaining chic-of-the-week, saying that they do it all anyway — the parties, the drugs, and the free sex, heterosexual and otherwise — so what’s the bother about it all…???

But in the hallowed enclaves of patrician Manila Society — amidst the “beluga,” the “foie gras,” the white truffles, and the bubbling of the “Cristal Roederer” in the long, Carlos “Botong” V. Francisco-hung dining rooms, the whiffs of “Louis XIII” cognac and “Cohiba” cigars in the aromatic “narra”-paneled, Fernando Amorsolo and Vicente Manansala-hung libraries, the “Chanel,” the “Brioni,” the “Hermes” of the refined groups assembled — there are knowing glances, aristocratic smirks, expensive frowns, and rueful sighs at what has been generally regarded as irresponsible and distasteful behavior displayed by young individuals grudgingly acknowledged by Society as somewhat their own.

It is a case of Privilege Misunderstood.

There is a patrician lady I know of distinguished family and impeccable lineage, still very rich in contemporary terms, who prides herself in her simple ways, aristocratic attitudes notwithstanding. We like to make fun behind her back because of her peculiar Old World disposition and insufferable snobbishness so anachronistic to these freewheeling times. But what she says unfailingly has stuck to my mind: “We have more than the others and we must be mindful of the responsibility that comes with it. Because we have been given more, it is our duty to help those with less, specially those with almost nothing. What we have is not meant for our luxury and self-indulgence, but for the upliftment of the less fortunate, specially the most unfortunate. We have a duty to make the most of ourselves with the best of education, hard work, professional achievement, and accumulation of resources all for the glory of God and the greater good of the community and country.”

I vividly recall the time when a dear, very sensible and very proper friend — one of the most patrician and affluent of the several heiresses of the venerable Lopez de Iloilo Clan — firmly admonished her daughters to steer clear of people “who do not share our values” — the values of hard work, integrity, honesty, and simplicity. Without being in the least self-righteous, She proceeded to disallow contact even with relatives whom she sensed had questionable morals, false values, and debilitating psychological issues. Her authoritative behavior impressed me, and I realized that the traditional strength of the legendary Lopez women through the ages — Dona Maria “Bibing” Lopez, Dona Rosario “Sayong” Lopez de Santos, Dona Paz Lopez de Laguda, Dona Victoria Lopez de Araneta, Dona Lilia Lopez de Jison — was presenting itself firsthand!!!