April 27, 2013 at 12:42 pm (1900s Philippines, Arnedo de Sulipan, Family Traditions, Gonzalez de Sulipan, Pampanga Traditions, Personal, Random memories, Religious Traditions, The Global Crowd, The Manilenos, The Pampanguenos, The Past)
The searing heat of summer also brings back memories of childhood gardens, specially Lola Charing’s garden. The garden of “Dona Charing” (Rosario Espiritu Arnedo-Gonzalez) was famous in the 40s, 50s, 60s, & 70s for its big American roses, in a city where even small roses did not thrive naturally. During its heyday, a group of hardy gardeners kept that Eden in bloom rather expensively. And we grandchildren had the run of the place, specially during the summers of the 60s & 70s.
*unfinished*
April 25, 2013 at 5:41 pm (1800s Filipinas, 1900s Philippines, 2000s Philippines, Arnedo de Sulipan, Brother Andrew F.S.C. of De La Salle, Comedy Relief, Family Traditions, Gonzalez de Sulipan, Humor, Pampanga Cuisine, Pampanga Traditions, Past Events, Personal, Random memories, The Global Crowd, The Manilenos, The Pampanguenos, The Past)
Perhaps because of the searing heat these days, I remembered the traditional “Buco Lechias” sherbet which was made in a wood-and-steel “garapinera” churn with lots of rock salt outside (to keep cold?). As far as I knew, it was made in every good Capampangan household. In Lola Charing’s home, it was made by the mayordomo, Benito Nuqui or “Bito” for short. ”Bito” was modernized to “Bits” in the hip 60s. LOL.
I was a preteen in the late 70s (born 1967). Lola Charing had passed on in mid-1977 and my uncle Brother Andrew FSC of De La Salle University became the principal figure in the family. Brother Andrew had the most luxurious and demanding gustatory tastes. In one of those phases, he became obsessed with producing an excellent “Buco Lechias” sherbet. He insisted that the “Buco Lechias” sherbet of his childhood (late 40s) at Lola Titay’s (the Arnedo ancestral house in Sulipan, Apalit, Pampanga) had the WHITEST lychee fruit flesh, not the pale pink ones in the cans currently available. So he sent Bito to Binondo/Chinatown to look for the whitest lychee fruit flesh. Well, what did he expect? It was the Marcos years and there were tight import controls. No whitest lychees. Just cans of lychees with pinkish fruit flesh. Bito returned with the palest pink lychee fruit flesh. No can do. Bito was scolded. Bito was sent back to Binondo/Chinatown and — nobody knew how he did it — but he returned with the whitest lychee fruit flesh!!! Brother Andrew finally had his excellent “Buco Lechias” sherbet with the whitest lychee fruit flesh. Brother Andrew was satisfied, at least for that Sunday.
I remembered that at Lola Charing’s house sherbet and ice cream were served on etched crystal stems on porcelain saucers for everyday. During beautiful lunches and dinners, sherbets and ice cream appeared on chic, Art Deco Christofle footed bowls on Brussels lace doilies on matching Christofle saucers. Of course, I know all about the metallic taste that silver imparts to food, but I’ll use beautiful silver anytime.
The sherbet/ice cream phase did not end there. Brother Andrew wanted a “Calamansi” sherbet. He wanted it tart and dry, something like lime mixed with champagne brut. Not sweet at all (Brother Andrew intensely disliked sweetish food that was not meant to be sweet, like spaghetti). Odd, but “Calamansi” tended to sweeten slightly in sherbet form. No can do. It took Bito several tries to produce that tart and dry “Calamansi” sherbet, but he did, even if he couldn’t tell the difference. Brother Andrew was satisfied, at least for that Sunday.
Now in 2013, I wonder why it didn’t occur to Brother Andrew to have a “Dayap” sherbet, when in fact fragrant “dayap” lime (“dalayap” in Capampangan) was used extensively — on practically everything — in our Capampangan/Sulipan cooking?
The best version of “Buco Lechias” sherbet that I’ve had in recent years — exquisitely and expertly tinged with “dayap” lime rind with a hint of cordial — was served at dinner by my dear friend Albert Salgado Paloma, who is an equal (perhaps even a superior) to Brother Andrew’s luxurious and demanding gustatory tastes. Worldly and elegant Albert thinks nothing of marinating Italian veal shanks in a very expensive French grand cru for his “Ossobuco” and of marinating goat meat in a very expensive French X.O. cognac for his “Caldereta de Cabrito.” For Albert, luxurious excess is the only culinary way to go. Truly Capampangan.
Back to Brother Andrew, the sherbet/ice cream phase did not end there. He wanted the “Mantecado” ice cream of his childhood at Lola Titay’s (the Arnedo ancestral house in Sulipan, Apalit, Pampanga). Mind you, it was not the commercial, vanilla-flavored “Mantecado” ice cream you can buy at the megasupermarkets now. Brother Andrew’s inherited idea of “Mantecado” ice cream was of thick carabao’s milk, full of egg yolks, and “dayap” lime rind shavings. It was golden yellow with sprinklings of grass green. It looked so chic! If Hermes and Chanel made ice cream, that would definitely be it. So Bito produced our family’s version of “Mantecado” ice cream with “dayap” lime from Lola Charing’s rose garden. It was ambrosial. I would have finished off a gallon if I were permitted to do so.
So this is what this warm, warm spell does to me. It makes me think of sherbet and ice cream from the past. From the distant past.
These days, I am delightfully condemned to the highly unusual, positively weird, molecular gastronomy, New Age ice cream concoctions of my brother and nephew. But it’s a nice problem to have. LOL.
December 2, 2012 at 12:00 pm (1800s Filipinas, 1900s Philippines, 2000s Philippines, Comedy Relief, Current Events, Humor, Personal, Random memories, The Batanguenos, The Bicolanos, The Bulaquenos, The Cagayanons, The Cavitenos, The Cebuanos, The Davaoenos, The Global Crowd, The Ilocanos, The Ilonggos, The Laguna Tagalogs, The Leytenos, The Manilenos, The Negrenses, The Novo Ecijanos, The Pampanguenos, The Pangasinenses, The Past, The Samarenos, The Tarlaquenos, The Tayabenses / Quezonians)
I find it hypocritical of the ladies to say that they won’t buy expensive fine jewelry these days because they cannot wear them anywhere and because nobody wears them anymore. Bull. The real reason is that they cannot afford it, cannot afford to go where it’s really worn, and cannot afford to go with the crowd that really wears it. Inside every real Filipina lady who has the real $$$ wherewithal is a voice that cries out: “I want big, bigger, & biggest. And I want more of it.” Come on, admit it, ladies. “Magpakatotoo kayo!” as the local slang says it.
The Filipina ( and Filipino! ) fascination with ”blings,” with jewelry, stretches back centuries to the pre-Hispanic period. The conquistador Spaniards were actually awed when they came across the natives practically encrusted with gold jewelry from head to foot. The natives were even buried with hammered gold funeral masks. So one can safely say that the Filipino interest in jewelry is, well, “genetic”… Thus, Imelda Romualdez-Marcos is really not an enigma as far as fine jewelry and affluent Filipinas are concerned, she was just a truly world-class, albeit shocking, example.
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Wife was very much loved by Superrich Husband and he occasionally gifted her with modest pieces of French and American jewelry during their milestones. However, since he was a principal in The Family’s business empire, his siblings were very sensitive to matters of personal acquisition and they hounded his poor Wife every time he gave her jewelry, as if he were stealing from them, specially his 5 sisters. It came to the point that Wife simply kept his gifts of jewelry in their vault, declining to wear them until the day she died decades later.
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Dona collected everything, including fine jewelry, contemporary and antique. Off her bedroom, walk-in closet, and bathroom was another room, actually a vault, accessed through a secret narrow corridor, unknown to everyone except for her, her husband, and their 6 children. Inside, in elegant glass-fronted cabinets backed by mirror, were suites upon suites of sumptuous jewelry on display: diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires, pearls, and other precious gems. It was a room that could have existed in a Russian imperial palace. After Dona passed away in the 1990s, the jewelry was distributed among her children — 3 gentlemen and 3 ladies — and the room and the cabinets taken down. A grand era had ended.
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Because she felt that her sister had cheated her of her rightful inheritance, including some of her mother’s fabulous and famous jewelry in the late 1970s, Visayan Socialite accumulated her own spectacular collection of jewelry since…
“I like to have a dozen of everything, of every kind and color: earrings, necklaces, bracelets, rings, whathaveyou. It makes me feel secure and happy.”
Oh.
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During her heyday, when she glided like a swan and wasn’t yet tottering like “Pick-Up Stix,” the wife of a Marcos era tycoon, accompanied by a small retinue of lady friends, would walk into Ronald Abram Jewellers in Hong Kong and request, nay demand: “I want to see your best pieces. Only the best. Show them to me. Now.” And the sales staff would immediately acquiesce, as they recognized her as a regular client.
Decades later, a daughter-in-law (not her own daughters) is into the same thing…
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“I really don’t have much… ” a longtime politician’s wife said as she pulled out a clotheshanger draped with more than a hundred gold chains, some rather thick and heavy, with different gem-encrusted and studded gold pendants. “These are my everyday wear…”
She pulled out an old Danish biscuit can from the jumble in the closet. “Well… I have some rings too. Not many, I’m afraid…” The red can held many small packets of synthetic Chinese silk and brown paper envelopes grouped by rubber bands… She opened some of the packets in succession… “This is my everyday ‘solo,’ it’s 10 carats (round). It’s H-I color, VS2.” (“Ay, pangit pala.” I thought to myself. “10 carats nga, H-I color naman, VS2 pa…”) “This is my usual emerald cut, it’s 8 carats.” “Ay, I like this so much, it’s my antique ‘lanzadera’ which I bought from some ‘dona’ gone poor with land reform in the 70s, see how many big ‘gulugud pagong’ diamantes it has? This is hard to find!” Actually, the ‘lanzadera’ ring looked freaky because it was so big.
“Earrings? For everyday? Oh, I don’t have many…” she said deprecatingly. She reached deep into a pile of cashmere sweaters for a big packet of synthetic Chinese silk. Inside were many silk packets and brown paper envelopes. The first packet she opened yielded a pair of 16 mm white pearl earrings. “Pearls are so practical for everyday, I don’t have to think…” she said unselfconsciously. The next packet held a pair of 5.0 rosecut diamond earrings. These I bought from that ‘dona’ with the ‘lanzadera,’ so pretty right?” The third packet held a pair of big Asscher-cut diamond earrings. It was getting very interesting…
“You know me, I’m a simple woman. What would people say if I have fabulous jewelry? That my husband is a corrupt politician who has stolen from government coffers???!!! My conscience could not take that!”
But obviously, her ears, neck, wrists, and fingers could…
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“But why buy just unset, ‘the-bigger-the-whiter-the-better’ diamonds? Don’t you want jewelry to wear?”
“Because it’s easy to run away with them during a revolution. And start a new life elsewhere. Trust me. It’s been proven time and again throughout world history…” replied Senator’s wife.
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Eldest Sister, in her late 80s, has spent her life dutifully shepherding, safeguarding, and enlarging her multibillionaire family’s various businesses. She divides her time only between their offices and their factories. Her only diversion through the decades has been her constant collection of fine jewelry. Although she is always just in one of their offices or one of their factories, the city’s top jewelers regularly send her their best stocks. She is happy to buy most everything presented with cold, hard cash. South African diamonds, Burmese rubies, Colombian emeralds, Kashmir sapphires, South Sea pearls, pieces by big-name Paris, London, and New York jewelers, modern jewelry, and everything else is fair game. She merely brings them home to her bedroom, where fine jewelry practically spills from her closets. She is safe because the family compound is guarded by a veritable army of guards with high-powered firearms, not unlike a maximum security prison. She merely looks at and appreciates them every now and then; she never wears them, protesting that because of work pressures, she has no time to socialize. Eldest Sister possesses one of the most magnificent collections of fine jewelry in the city.
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During her youth, Billionairess Socialite was taken by her aunt Heiress to all the important jewelry shops during their travels, where she watched her aunt accumulate her magnificent jewelry collection. They were yearly regulars at the jewelers on Fifth and Madison avenue, Via Condotti, Bond Street, and at the Place Vendome. “She really informed my taste for jewelry. And I am collecting what I like until today. I really am into jewelry!” said Billionairess Socialite.
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“When Ninoy (Aquino) was shot on 21 August 1983, the next day my sister and I raced to the airport in a taxi with 2 boxes of our jewelry bound for Hong Kong where our parents were waiting. 2 ‘balikbayan’ boxes of jewelry, that was it.”
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“During the attempted coup d’ etat in 1989, renegade soldiers occupied our apartment building (Ayala Twin Towers). I emptied my 2 vaults of jewelry into a folded bedsheet and knotted it. I even asked a soldier to help me carry it to my car. On hindsight, he was goodlooking. Hahah!”
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During her heyday of activity, Formidable Mother made it a habit to buy jewelry, often serious, at fashionable jewelers in world capitals during her travels every year. Cost was never an issue to her industrialist husband, who enjoyed her absences anyway, because he could canoodle with his intellectual girlfriend. Falconer and Ipekjian in Hong Kong, Tiffany’s and Harry Winston in New York, Asprey and Garrard’s in London, Mauboussin, Van Cleef & Arpels, Cartier in Paris, et. al. were all familiar haunts. To appeal to her intellectual side, she also accumulated an important collection of excavated Filipino precolonial gold jewelry. Today in late age, she hovers in and out of memory surrounded by 80 years of shopping for the best…
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At the Hong Kong Jewelry Show last year 2011…
“Hija, why do you look like a pauper? Why didn’t you dress up, for chrissakes? You look like you can’t buy anything! Don’t sit beside me. You’re distracting.” Mother looked straight ahead, nonplussed.
Mother was in full “war gear.” On every finger, save for her thumbs, were magnificent diamonds, both white and fancy-colored, in every shape, in sizes that ranged from 5 to 10 carats. Her wrists were wrapped with (aggressive) bracelets of diamonds and more diamonds; as a concession to her Chinese ”sukis,” among the wrist blings she wore a superb, late Ch’ing dynasty bracelet of imperial jade. The Chinese salesmen were agog and very eager to show her their wares, although the store owners promptly took over when they saw her, an important client. She gamely went through their stocks, criticizing everything, including their business suits, as they politely persisted with their presentations. She liked some extraordinary pieces and bargained hard, but also paid hard. She and her $$$ money were irresistible.
Back at the presidential suite of the Peninsula hotel, Mother received a series of sales representatives from private sellers showing their latest stocks. Bored, she told her mayordoma to turn on the TV to see if any of her fave “telenovelas” were showing. Her mayordoma had arrived 3 days earlier from Manila, to make sure everything was prepared well for her senora. She made sure that the suite was very clean. Immaculate. Once, in Bangkok, Mother pulled a grand tantrum and immediately stormed out of the presidential suite of a top hotel, 7 staff members, 36 LV Louis Vuitton suitcases, and all, because she saw a mosquito — one little mosquito — in the living room. A mosquito in a 6-star hotel!!! She berated the German general manager as if he were her muchacho. She immediately took the top suite at the next 6-star hotel, where she was welcomed by the GM like royalty.
Expensive flowers from HK’s top florist were ordered by her mayordoma for every room in the suite, including the bathrooms, but unscented ones, as Mother was allergic to fragrant blooms. Boxes of tissues, in elegant cases, were installed in the corners of every room, along with discreet trash bins. Rolls-Royce limousines were reserved for senora’s use, white for day and black for night. Restaurant reservations were made, often at Fook Lam Moon; Mother was definitely not into “fusion cuisine.” The mayordoma was kept busy as she made the rounds of Hong Kong — Tsimshatsui, Central, Admiralty, & Wanchai, buying everything in her senora’s long shopping list that would be sent back to Manila. And of course, mayordoma also had her personal shopping to do, usually at Lane Crawford. After all, mayordoma was taught by her senora that “a well-off mayordoma makes for a very rich senora.” Thus, mayordoma’s “modest” 800 m2 house in Ayala Alabang.
Abroad, Mother was always attended to by a retinue of staff like her Makati residence: mayordoma, 3 maids, 2 houseboys, 2 drivers, 2 nurses, and a doctor. If some members of her family accompanied her, then there was a corresponding increase in staff.
After lunch on the first day, it was Mother’s custom to check on her SDBs at the HSBC. Her drawers were from top to bottom and back to top and down again, and again. All were filled with magnificent jewelry, all with corresponding papers, updated with current market values every yearend. There were several classical parures of diamond, ruby, emerald, sapphire, and pearl jewelry which included tiaras and czarina necklaces “just in case one of my daughters marries a prince…” Sometimes she wondered why she had “vulgar” and ”ugly” things, then laughed to herself.
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Congressman’s wife looked at all her diamonds laid out on a tray. A truly busy lady, she no longer had the time to wear them, at least one by one. A big political wedding was coming up, so she thought of carting them to her jeweler and have all of them set into just one big necklace sure to get all the congressmen’s spouses carping…
“After all, it will be so extravagant it will look fake. And that’s good. I won’t be investigated, right?”
Touche.
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In her sleek and slick, Art Deco-style, black, brown, and beige dressing room in Forbes Park, Taitai casually picked through drawers of extravagant costume jewelry, many by Chanel and Prada, which usually cost as much as real jewelry. Lots of real Bulgari too, which she considered as daytime wear, worn with casual tops and jeans and flats (of course, “casual” tops and jeans and flats which, per piece, cost an average Joe’s entire year’s salary). “It’s just costume jewelry every day for me. My friends and I don’t wear our ‘armory’ or ‘arsenal’ except when we have to, like the weddings of the family and our friends. It’s only then that we bring out the “serious blings” — the big white and the fancy colored diamonds. Rubies, emeralds, sapphires, pearls??? Of course… But we all prefer diamonds, the bigger, the clearer, the better!!! Of course, it’s all new, we wouldn’t think of wearing ‘vintage’ lest we look old!!! And most of the time, it’s more fun to do it in Hong Kong, Singapore, Shanghai, Beijing… rather than here in Manila.”
*unfinished*
April 28, 2012 at 7:10 pm (1800s Filipinas, 1900s Philippines, 2000s Philippines, The Batanguenos, The Bicolanos, The Bulaquenos, The Cagayanons, The Cavitenos, The Cebuanos, The Davaoenos, The Global Crowd, The Ilocanos, The Ilonggos, The Laguna Tagalogs, The Leytenos, The Manilenos, The Negrenses, The Novo Ecijanos, The Pampanguenos, The Pangasinenses, The Past, The Samarenos, The Tarlaquenos, The Tayabenses / Quezonians)
The political dynasts of the Philippines.
ALONTO [ Mindanao ].
AGUINALDO [ Kawit, Cavite ].
President Emilio F. Aguinaldo.
Minister of War Baldomero Aguinaldo.
Prime Minister Cesar Emilio Aguinaldo Virata [ Baldomero Aguinaldo’s grandson ].
Supreme Court Justice Ameurfina Aguinaldo Melencio-Herrera.
Rep. Joseph Emilio Aguinaldo Abaya [ also presently Liberal Party Secretary-General ].
Mayor Federico Aguinaldo Poblete.
Mayor Reynaldo Aguinaldo.
Vice Mayor Emilio Aguinaldo IV [ also known as “Orange”; husband of ABS-CBN news anchor Bernadette Sembrano ].
AQUINO [ Tarlac ].
General Servillano Aquino.
Benigno Aquino Sr.
Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr.
President Benigno “Noynoy” Cojuangco Aquino III.
BAUTISTA [ Cavite ].
Leonides Sarao Virata.
Prime Minister Cesar Aguinaldo Virata.
Senator Ramon Revilla.
Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr..
COJUANGCO [ Tarlac ].
Ambassador Eduardo “Danding” Murphy Cojuangco Jr..
President Corazon “Cory” Sumulong Cojuangco-Aquino.
President Benigno “Noynoy” Cojuangco Aquino III.
Congressman Jose “Pepe” Chichioco Cojuangco Sr..
Congresswoman Mercedes “Ditas” Murphy Cojuangco-Teodoro.
Congressman Jose “Peping” Sumulong Cojuangco Jr..
Secretary of Defense Gilberto “Gibo” Cojuangco Teodoro Jr..
Mayor Miguel “Dors” Cojuangco Rivilla.
CRISOLOGO [ Ilocos Sur ].
Congressman Floro S. Crisologo.
Governor Carmelita “Carmeling” Pichay-Crisologo.
Vicente “Bingbong” Crisologo.
General Fabian Crisologo Ver.
CUENCO [ Cebu ].
DURANO [ Danao, Cebu ].
EJERCITO [ San Juan, MM ].
President Joseph Estrada.
Senator “Jinggoy” Estrada.
Mayor “JV” Ejercito.
Mayor Guia Guanzon Gomez.
GUSTILO.
JOSON [ Nueva Ecija ].
Tomas Joson.
Eduardo Joson.
KIRAM [ Sulu ].
LAUREL [ Batangas ].
LEVISTE [ Batangas ].
LOPEZ [ Iloilo ].
Benito Villanueva Lopez.
Vice-President Fernando “Nanding” Hofilena Lopez.
Congresswoman Hortensia Lopez Laguda-Starke.
MACAPAGAL [ Pampanga ].
President Diosdado “Dadong” Pangan Macapagal.
President Gloria Macaraeg Macapagal-Arroyo.
MADRIGAL [ Manila ].
Senator Vicente Lopez Madrigal.
Senator Maria Paz “Pacita” Paterno Madrigal.
Senator Maria Ana “Jamby” Abad Santos Madrigal.
MAGSAYSAY [ Zambales ].
President Ramon Magsaysay.
MARCOS [ Ilocos Norte ].
President Ferdinand Edralin Marcos.
First Lady Imelda Romualdez-Marcos.
Governor Maria Imelda “Imee” Romualdez Marcos.
Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Romualdez Marcos Jr.
MASTURA.
OSMENA [ Cebu ].
President Sergio Osmena.
RECTO [ Batangas ].
ROMAN [ Bataan ].
ROMUALDEZ [ Leyte and Manila ].
Justice Norberto Romualdez.
Mayor Miguel Romualdez.
First Lady Imelda Romualdez-Marcos.
Ambassador Benjamin “Kokoy” Romualdez.
SINGSON [ Ilocos Sur ].
Governor Luis “Chavit” Crisologo Singson.
SUMULONG [ Rizal ].
April 28, 2012 at 6:28 pm (1800s Filipinas, 1900s Philippines, 2000s Philippines, The Batanguenos, The Bicolanos, The Bulaquenos, The Cagayanons, The Cavitenos, The Cebuanos, The Davaoenos, The Global Crowd, The Ilocanos, The Ilonggos, The Laguna Tagalogs, The Leytenos, The Manilenos, The Negrenses, The Novo Ecijanos, The Pampanguenos, The Pangasinenses, The Past, The Samarenos, The Tarlaquenos, The Tayabenses / Quezonians)
ABOITIZ [ Ormoc, Leyte and Cebu ]. The Aboitiz are one of the Basque immigrant families who have risen to the pinnacle of economic importance in the Philippines.
Paulino Aboitiz.
ARANETA [ de R. Hidalgo ].
Atty. Gregorio Soriano Araneta.
Atty. Salvador Araneta.
ARANETA [ Bago, Negros Occidental ].
J. Amado Araneta.
Jorge Araneta.
CHAN [ Negros Occidental ].
CHIONG VELOSO [ Cebu ].
Nicasio Chiong Veloso.
Genoveva “Bebing” Chiong Veloso Singson-Villalon.
Sergio “Serging” Chiong Veloso Osmena Jr..
Dr. “Vicki” [ Chiong Veloso-Singson ] Gonzalez Belo.
CO BAN KIAT [ Binondo ].
COJUANGCO [ Malolos, Bulacan and Paniqui, Tarlac ].
Ysidra Estrella Cojuangco. Founder of the immense Cojuangco fortune.
Melecio Estrella Cojuangco.
Tecla Chichioco-Cojuangco.
Jose Chichioco Cojuangco Sr.
Antonio Cojuangco.
Eduardo Chichioco Cojuangco Sr.
Pedro Sumulong Cojuangco.
Eduardo Murphy Cojuangco Jr..
CONCEPCION [ Manila ].
Jose Concepcion.
Raul Concepcion.
CU-UNJIENG [ Binondo, Manila ].
Guillermo Cu-Unjieng.
CUYEGKENG [ Binondo, Manila ].
DEE C. CHUAN [ Binondo, Manila ].
DE LA RAMA [ Bacolod, Negros Occidental ].
Esteban de la Rama.
DE LEON [ Bacolor, Pampanga ].
Jose Leoncio Hizon de Leon Sr..
DE LEON [ San Miguel de Mayumo, Bulacan ].
Narcisa Lim Buencamino-de Leon.
DE LOS REYES [ Cavite ].
Crisanto de los Reyes.
Rodrigo Berenguer de los Reyes.
Geronimo Berenguer de los Reyes.
DE SANTOS [ Tondo, Manila ].
DE YNCHAUSTI [ Manila ].
DEL ROSARIO [ Manila ].
Ramon del Rosario.
ELIZALDE [ Manila ].
ESCALER [ Sulipan, Apalit, Pampanga and San Miguel, Manila ].
Sabina Sioco-Escaler.
Jose Sioco Escaler Sr.
Ernesto Ocampo Escaler Sr.
Michael de Leon Escaler.
GABALDON [ Nueva Ecija ].
GOKONGWEI [ Cebu ].
JALANDONI [ Jaro, Iloilo ].
JISON [ Silay, Negros Occidental. ]
Francisco Lopez Jison.
LAZATIN [ San Fernando, Pampanga ].
Serafin Lazatin.
Jesus Singian Lazatin.
LEDESMA [ Jaro, Iloilo ].
Julio Ledesma.
LEGARDA [ Manila ].
LIZARES [ Talisay and Bacolod, Negros Occidental ].
Enrica “Dicang” Alunan-Lizares.
Nicolas “Colay” Alunan Lizares.
LOPEZ [ Jaro, Iloilo ]. The “ne plus ultra” of Ilonggo entrepreneurship.
Eugenio “Ening” Hofilena Lopez Sr..
Fernando “Nanding” Hofilena Lopez.
Victoria Ledesma Lopez-Araneta.
Vicente “Cente” Villanueva Lopez.
Eusebio “Sebio” Villanueva Lopez.
Rosario “Sayong” Villanueva Lopez-Santos.
Maria “Bibing” Villanueva Lopez.
Paz Villanueva Lopez-Laguda.
LU YM / LU DO [ Cebu ].
MADRIGAL [ Manila ].
Vicente Lopez Madrigal.
Antonio “Tony” Paterno Madrigal.
Jose “Belec” Paterno Madrigal.
Consuelo “Chito” Paterno Madrigal-Collantes.
MONTILLA [ Pulupandan, Negros Occidental ].
Agustin Montilla.
NEPOMUCENO [ Angeles, Pampanga ].
Juan de Dios Nepomuceno.
ONGSIAKO [ Manila ].
ORTIGAS [ Manila ].
Francisco Barcinas Ortigas Sr.
Ignacio Vargas Ortigas.
Francisco “Paquito” Vargas Ortigas Jr.
Ignacio Ortigas.
OSMENA [ Cebu ].
Severo Osmena.
Sergio Osmena Sr..
Sergio “Serging” Chiong Veloso Osmena Jr..
PADILLA [ Lingayen, Pangasinan and San Miguel, Manila ].
Narciso Padilla.
Barbara Padilla – Resurreccion Hidalgo.
Sabino Bibby Padilla.
Ambrosio Bibby Padilla.
Nicanor Padilla.
PANLILIO [ San Fernando and Mexico, Pampanga ].
Luis Dayrit Panlilio.
Pablo Dayrit Panlilio.
Fe Lugue Sarmiento-Panlilio.
PATERNO [ Binondo, Manila ].
Maximino Paterno.
Susana Ramos Paterno-Madrigal.
PRIETO [ Manila ].
Mauro Prieto.
QUE [ Manila ].
QUE PE [ Manila and Hong Kong ].
ROXAS [ Manila ].
Domingo Roxas.
Bonifacio Roxas.
Margarita Roxas de Ayala.
Pedro Pablo Roxas.
SALGADO [ San Fernando, Pampanga ].
Filomena Salgado.
Teodora Salgado-Ullmann-Sa.
Erlinda Salgado Miranda-Oledan.
SANTOS [ Malabon ].
Roman Rodriguez Santos.
Augusto Andres Santos.
SORIANO [ Manila ].
Andres Roxas Soriano Sr..
Andres Soriano Jr..
SY [ Manila ].
SY-QUIA [ Ilocos Sur and Manila ].
Vicente Ruperto Romero Sy Quia.
Gregorio Sy-Quia y Encarnacion.
Pedro Sy-Quia y Encarnacion.
TAMBUNTING [ Binondo, Manila ].
Ildefonso Cosiam Tambunting.
TAN [ Manila ].
TANTOCO [ Malolos, Bulacan ].
Bienvenido Tantoco.
Gliceria Dimaano Rustia-Tantoco.
TINIO { Nueva Ecija ].
TUASON [ Manila ].
Antonio Tuason. “Duque de Binondo.”
Gonzalo Tuason.
Celso Tuason.
VALDES [ Manila ].
VELASCO CHUA CHENG CO [ Binondo, Manila ].
YAO [ Manila ].
Yao Shiong Shio.
Jose Yao Campos.
YUCHENGCO [ Binondo, Manila ].
Yu Tiao Qui.
Enrique Yuchengco.
Alfonso Yuchengco.
Vicencia Yuchengco.
Helen Sycip Yuchengco-Dee.
Vivian Yuchengco.
YUTIVO [ Binondo, Manila ].
ZAMORA [ Manila ].
ZOBEL DE AYALA [ San Miguel, Manila ].
Margarita Roxas-de Ayala.
Antonio de Ayala.
Jacobo Zangroniz Zobel.
Trinidad Roxas de Ayala.
Enrique de Ayala Zobel.
Alfonso Roxas Zobel.
Mercedes Roxas Zobel-McMicking.
Enrique Zobel y Olgado.
Jaime Zobel de Ayala.
Jaime Augusto Zobel.
Fernando Zobel.
April 28, 2012 at 6:28 pm (1800s Filipinas, 1900s Philippines, 2000s Philippines, The Batanguenos, The Bicolanos, The Bulaquenos, The Cagayanons, The Cavitenos, The Cebuanos, The Davaoenos, The Global Crowd, The Ilocanos, The Ilonggos, The Laguna Tagalogs, The Leytenos, The Manilenos, The Negrenses, The Novo Ecijanos, The Pampanguenos, The Pangasinenses, The Past, The Samarenos, The Tarlaquenos, The Tayabenses / Quezonians)
Brains, brains, and more brains…
ABAD-SANTOS.
ALZONA.
Dr. Encarnacion Amoranto Alzona, Ph.D.. B.A. in History from the University of the Philippines in 1917; M.A. in History in 1918. M.A. in History from Radcliffe College in 1920. She was the first Filipina Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1923.
ARANETA [ de R. Hidalgo ].
Atty. Gregorio Soriano Araneta.
Atty. Salvador Zaragoza Araneta.
Luis Ma. Zaragoza Araneta.
BENITEZ [ Pagsanjan, Laguna ]. PWU Philippine Women’s University.
Conrado F. Benitez.
Dr. Helena Zoila Tirona Benitez.
Purisima “Petty” Benitez-Johannot.
DEFENSOR.
Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago.
Mike Defensor.
DIOKNO.
Jose W. Diokno.
ESCALER.
Atty. Jose Sioco Escaler.
Ernesto Ocampo Escaler.
Bishop Federico “Freddie” Ocampo Escaler, D.D..
FABELLA. JRU Jose Rizal University.
Dr. Armand Fabella.
FLORENTINO.
Leona Florentino.
GALLEGO.
Manuel Gallego.
GONZALEZ [ Sulipan, Apalit, Pampanga ].
Dr. Joaquin Lopez Gonzalez. He was one of the first “ilustrados,” one of the first Europe-educated Spanish-Filipino doctors in the early 1870s. He finished his medical studies at the Universidad Central de Madrid and proceeded to apprentice with the famous ophthalmologist Dr. Louis de Wecker in Paris, who years later trained Dr. Jose Rizal. Dr. Gonzalez was one of only two representatives from Pampanga to the Malolos Congress [ the other being Jose Rodriguez Infante ]. He was appointed by President Emilio Aguinaldo as the first Rector of the first state university, the Universidad Cientifico-Literaria de Filipinas, the Malolos Republic-established forerunner of the UP University of the Philippines.
Atty. Francisco Javier Eligio Sioco Gonzalez. One of the first Filipino Ll.M. graduates of Yale University.
Dr. Bienvenido Ma. Sioco Gonzalez. The sixth President of the UP University of the Philippines and the visionary who transferred the campus from Manila to the sprawling hectareage in Diliman, Quezon city.
Atty. Joaquin “Jake” Tomas de Aquino Valdes Gonzalez. Founding/charter member of the Sigma Rho fraternity of the UP University of the Philippines College of Law.
Atty. Gonzalo Walfrido “GG” Rafols Gonzalez. He was a famous corporate, intellectual property, and labor lawyer. He served as a regent of the UP University of the Philippines.
Dr. Eva Beatriz Rafols Gonzalez. Dean of the UP University of the Philippines and the PWU Philippine Women’s University.
Macario Diosdado Arnedo Gonzalez / Brother Andrew Benjamin Gonzalez F.S.C. of the De La Salle University [ 1940 - 2006 ]. The longtime President of the DLSU De La Salle University and the visionary who oversaw its exponential expansion.
GUERRERO.
Leon Ma. Guerrero.
Carmen “Chitang” Guerrero-Cruz-Nakpil.
KALAW.
Teodoro Kalaw Sr..
LAUREL.
LAVA.
Dr. Jesus Lava.
LEDESMA.
Carlos Ledesma Ledesma.
LEGARDA.
Dr. Benito Legarda.
LOCSIN.
Teodoro Locsin.
Teodoro “Teddy Boy” Locsin.
Leandro V. Locsin.
MANAHAN.
Juan Manahan.
Dr. Constantino Manahan.
Dr. Antonio Manahan.
MARCOS.
President Ferdinand Edralin Marcos.
MARQUEZ.
MASTURA.
MONTINOLA.
Senator Ruperto Montinola.
Aurelio “Aureling” Javellana Montinola Jr..
Aurelio “GG” Reyes Montinola III.
NAKPIL.
Julio Nakpil.
Arch. Juan Nakpil.
Arch. Angel Nakpil.
Dr. Fernando Nakpil-Zialcita.
ONGPIN.
Roman Tanbensiang Ongpin.
Alfonso Ongpin.
Roberto V. Ongpin.
Jaime V. Ongpin.
PADILLA.
Justice Sabino Bibby Padilla.
Senator Ambrosio “Brosi” Bibby Padilla.
Justice Teodoro “Teddy” de los Reyes Padilla.
Atty. Sabino “Binoy” Belling Padilla.
Atty. Eduardo “Eddie” Padilla Lizares.
Dr. Dominga “Minguita” Belling Padilla.
Maria Teresa “Maite” Padilla Gallego-Zaldarriaga.
Marissa Padilla.
Violeta Padilla Gallego-Kramer.
Atty. Dominique “Monique” Padilla Gallego.
PARDO DE TAVERA.
Felix Pardo de Tavera. He was exiled to the Marianas islands on account of his perceived libertarian ideas; he was joined in exile by his wife, the heiress Gertrudis de Gorricho.
Trinidad Hermenigildo “T.H.” Pardo de Tavera.
Dr. Mita Pardo de Tavera.
Xavier Pardo de Tavera Loinaz.
Dr. Marc Loinaz.
PATERNO.
Simon Paterno.
PEDROSA.
Secretary Pio Pedrosa.
PONCE-ENRILE.
Atty. Alfonso Ponce-Enrile.
Senator Juan Ponce-Enrile.
QUIASON.
Justice Camilo Danganan Quiason.
Dr. Serafin Danganan Quiason.
Atty. Enrique “Eric” Imamura Quiason.
REYES. FEU Far Eastern University.
Nicanor Reyes.
Dr. Lourdes Reyes-Montinola.
RIZAL-MERCADO.
Dr. Jose P. Rizal.
ROCES.
Joaquin “Chino” Roces.
Alejandro “Anding” Reyes Roces.
ROXAS.
SALAS.
Rafael Salas.
SYCIP.
Washington Sycip.
TANADA.
TEEHANKEE.
Justice Claudio Teehankee.
Atty. Manuel “Dondi” Teehankee.
Dean Julio “July” Teehankee.
Dean Ben Teehankee.
TEODORO.
Gilberto “Bert” Teodoro Sr..
Gilberto “Gibo” Cojuangco Teodoro Jr..
VILLEGAS.
Bernardo “Bernie” Villegas.
Ramon N. Villegas.
VIRATA,
Leonides Sarao Virata.
Cesar Aguinaldo Virata.
ZOBEL DE AYALA.
Jacobo Zangroniz Zobel [ Jacobo Zobel Zangroniz ]. The outstanding Renaissance man of the Zobel clan.
Enrique de Ayala Zobel [ Enrique Zobel de Ayala ]. He established the “Premio Zobel” to preserve the Spanish language in the Philippines.
April 27, 2012 at 9:58 am (1800s Filipinas, 1900s Philippines, 19th century Filipino Art, 2000s Philippines, Angst, Architecture, Current Events, Design and Decoration, Filipino Art, Random memories, The Batanguenos, The Bicolanos, The Bulaquenos, The Cagayanons, The Cavitenos, The Cebuanos, The Davaoenos, The Global Crowd, The Ilocanos, The Ilonggos, The Laguna Tagalogs, The Leytenos, The Manilenos, The Negrenses, The Novo Ecijanos, The Pampanguenos, The Pangasinenses, The Past, The Samarenos, The Tarlaquenos, The Tayabenses / Quezonians, Tristesse)
“I don’t have any explanation why the Filipinos are like this…???” and Bambi threw her arms in the air.
After Bambi had spoken, there was an open forum and Mary, a Canadian, asked: “Why don’t the Filipinos establish an organization that will maintain and conserve these historic structures … something like Britain’s ‘National Trust’?”
We all knew that we already had HCS Heritage Conservation Society, of which several in our group were members. But funding so that it could have “teeth and claws” was an entirely different story…
It isn’t just those pine trees in Baguio which everyone is babbling about; the overly emotional public outcry is probably the work of the dirty tricks department of a law or public relations firm in Manila. The beautiful Baguio of old [ Session road, Burnham park, Baguio cathedral, the convents of various religious congregations, elegant mountain villas and gardens in the Leonard Wood area, Wright park, "Mansion House" the presidential summer residence, the original Baguio country club, the American Camp John Hay, etc. ] has long been ruined anyway by political greed, disorganized development, and multitudes of squatters from all over the country. It isn’t like the SM group is committing the gravest sin removing those pine trees; far worse atrocities have already been committed and even more are in the offing. It’s sooooo much else all over the country and inside all of us… Sooooo much of our national heritage has been destroyed, is still being destroyed, and will still be destroyed — all in the name of “progress.” We Filipinos inherited the “disposable” mentality imposed subliminally by our American colonizers: We throw everything away, including ourselves. We have thrown our sense of national identity away in a frenzy of “globalization,” to the extent that our youth now want to emulate our black, Negro brothers — not even in their native Africa — but in hiphop Harlem in New York city, in the United States.
The problem with a lot of the Roman Catholic parish priests, specially those assigned to the heritage churches, is that they sincerely think that what they like for their parish churches is beautiful and suitable, when most of the time, it is exactly the opposite…
Very rare are the likes of Diocese of Cubao Bishop Honesto Ongtioco D.D. who engaged the services of patrician artist Rafael del Casal “carte blanche” to redesign the Immaculate Conception parish church to the Cathedral of Cubao. Both Bishop Ongtioco and Mr. del Casal are gentlemen of uncompromisingly elegant tastes and their collaboration has been exceptional. Combined with the generous funding of Captain Oca and the other benefactors, the result is an absolute artistic marvel unique in these islands [ except for the very few areas where Mr. del Casal was not involved ].
It’s the “Uglification of the Philippines,” and the average Filipino is powerless against it. Poor guy. What he thinks is beautiful is actually ugly by world standards.
Unless the Filipinos of culture and resources act — the intelligentsia, the culturati, and the plutocracy — there will be nary a trace of “Filipino heritage” — whatever little of it remains — in the near future.
April 27, 2012 at 9:45 am (1800s Filipinas, 1900s Philippines, Angst, Family Traditions, Gonzalez de Sulipan, Pampanga Traditions, Personal, Random memories, Religious Traditions, The Global Crowd, The Manilenos, The Pampanguenos, The Past, Tristesse)
At the start of Holy Week 2012, I decided that I would visit two people very dear to me: 73 year old fellow aesthete “Cong Albert” Albert Salgado Paloma [ cousin of my Gonzalez-Salgado cousins ] and my great grandaunt, nearly 102 years old “Imang Bets” Beatriz Tiamson Rodriguez [ Rodriguez first cousin of my paternal great grandmother Florencia Rodriguez Sioco-Gonzalez, o 1860 - + 1925 ], both living in San Fernando, Pampanga…
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Cong Albert was in great spirits despite his kidney ailment. His kidney treatment actually allowed him to eat anything, so we shared a luxurious “Bacalao ala Vizcaina” and a decadent “Lamb Shank Caldereta,” both unforgettably delicious. Bishop Socrates “Soc” Villegas in Dagupan, a good friend and client of his, had just sent him a bag of king prawns, so he was thinking of making a nice “Sinigang”…
Illness had barely dampened Cong Albert’s spirits and he was his usual acerb, comic self. We talked about the latest goings-on of our relatives and friends and as always, it made for very interesting conversation.
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Dear ol’ Imang Bets was seated upright on her bed, propped up on several pillows. There was a lunchtime variety show on the TV, but she was looking blankly into space, muttering prayers. I introduced myself, greeted her, and she took both my hands and kissed them. But she could no longer recognize me. It was alright, it was enough that I was with her. There were some dark marks on her arms and legs; Her assistant Charing explained that she got them during a bad fall some months ago and they had not recovered [ but what can one expect at + 100 years old? ]. Imang Bets told me that “Apung Misericordia” was in the house with her [ an antique wooden image of the Crucified Christ that was the center of Rodriguez family devotion for generations ]. She kept repeating a prayer that sounded like “Dear Jesus, forgive us our sins…” Charing apologized that there was no big “ensaimada” nor my favorite “mamon tostado” in stock, which they usually served for “merienda” during my visits. But it was enough, it was really enough, that I was there with dearest Imang Bets for a while.
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Cong Albert and Imang Bets. Two people who make my world rock. 45 years have taught me not to take anyone or anything for granted. Because one day…
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In the late afternoon, I stayed in the family burial ground for over an hour, seated on a prewar, precast bench, looking with deep affection at the gravestones and remembering all the people I had loved, and lost, to something we all call “eternity” which is something none of us fully understand…
September 27, 2011 at 10:59 am (1800s Filipinas, 1900s Philippines, 19th century Filipino Art, 2000s Philippines, Current Events, Family Traditions, Filipino Art, Personal, Random memories, Religious Traditions, The Global Crowd, The Manilenos, The Past)
[ Please be advised: This is a wholly Roman Catholic blog post; it's a sister post to "La Naval de Manila at the Santo Domingo church" of 24 September 2006 { search window }. Christian fundamentalist, Lutheran, Episcopal, et. al. sensibilities could react. "Idolatry!" you could charge, but of course as a Roman Catholic and as a Marian devotee, I couldn't care less if you fell into the Philippine Deep. You have been advised accordingly, in the first place. ]
From the time my grandmother Lola Charing [ Rosario Espiritu Arnedo-Gonzalez, 13 December 1903 - 18 May 1977 ] brought me as a young child [ early 1970s ] along to the Santo Domingo church to pray with her before the “Santo Rosario,” to this day, 4 decades later, I have held the deepest affections for the Blessed Mother…
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“Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum. Benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Iesus… Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen.”
“Dios te salve Maria, llena eres de gracia, El Senor es contigo. Bendita tu eres entre todas las mujeres y bendito es el fruto de tu vientre Jesus… Santa Maria, Madre de Dios, ruega por nosotros pecadores, ahora y en la hora del nuestra muerte. Amen.”
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“Magnificat anima mea Dominum, et exultavit spiritus meus in Deo salutari meo Quia respexit humilitatem ancillae suae ecce enim ex hoc beatam me dicent omnes generationes Quia fecit mihi magna qui potens est et sanctum nomen eius Et misericordia eius in progenies et progenies timentibus eum Fecit potentiam in brachio suo dispersit superbos mente cordis sui Deposuit potentes de sede et exaltavit humiles Esurientes implevit bonis et divites dimisit inanes Suscepit Israhel puerum suum memorari misericordiae Sicut locutus est ad patres nostros Abraham et semini eius in saecula. Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.”
“Proclama mi alma la grandeza del Señor, y se alegra mi espíritu en Dios, mi Salvador; porque ha puesto sus ojos en la humildad de su esclava, y por eso desde ahora todas las generaciones me llamarán bienaventurada, porque el Poderoso ha hecho obras grandes en mí: su nombre es Santo, y su misericordia llega a sus fieles de generación en generación. Él hizo proezas con su brazo: dispersó a los soberbios de corazón, derribó del trono a los poderosos y enalteció a los humildes, a los hambrientos los colmó de bienes y a los ricos los despidió vacíos. Auxilió a Israel, su siervo, acordándose de la misericordia-como lo había prometido a nuestros padres-en favor de Abraham y su descendencia por siempre.”
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Tuesday, 26 July 2011…
As always, through the centuries, 2 long candles on tall silver candelabra were lit before her, and the holy rosary, led by the Rev. Fr. Prior, was recited…
I was told by the ladies that the “Virgen,” when shorn of her crowns [ "rostrillo," "corona," "aureola" ], “joyas” jewels, and embroidered finery, actually looked like a comely 14 year-old girl. It was also in that state that what Rafael del Casal described as the delicate tilt of the head and the oh-so-slight turn of the face towards the right, to the “Nino Jesus,” were easily observable.
As Rafael restored the “encarna” of the “Virgen” and the “Nino Jesus” to their “traditional” appearances, he constantly referred to the famous prewar, black-and-white photograph of the “Santo Rosario” in “La Vanguardia” magazine and tried his darndest best, annoyingly stubborn paints from the previous “encarna” notwithstanding, to recreate that old-fashioned but correct look for the current “encarna.”
Upon Rafael’s and Tita Tunggay’s urging, I sat down beside the “camarera” Tita Mengay and asked her many, many questions about the now 418 year-old “Santo Rosario,” all of which she answered sweetly and charmingly. Somewhere in the haze of memories of her 96 years, Tita Mengay spoke, to my increasing wide-eyed interest and bewilderment, of the “Virgen’s” feet painted to look like shoes, covered by gold slippers decorated with “gravado” work which she and the old nuns would polish every year before the fiesta. Tita Tunggay seriously doubted it, saying that her mother was probably talking of another Virgen. To prove her point, she asked abruptly: “Mommy!!! Does the Virgin have feet???” to which Tita Mengay instantly replied, shaking her head: “No!” Still, I gave Tita Mengay the benefit of the doubt. After all, as Tita Tunggay’s protege seminarian Vince Salac pointed out, Tita Mengay was the last one who saw what was inside the indigo blue painted wood planks [ now faded to a Venetian terra cotta ] with painted rococo C-scrolls of gold “polvorina” paint which was the base of her “bastidor” body, before the missing plank at the back was replaced decades ago, sealing it forever.
Rafael remembered that the Nino Jesus was described in an 1800s document as having a “sono liento” “sleepy-eyed” expression and he tried his best to interpret and recreate that look.
Because the Nino Jesus had to be upright while Rafael was restoring its “encarna,” Mang Rolly and Tita Tunggay’s proteges, former seminarians Vince Salac and Reynard Ong, patiently took turns carefully carrying the heavy ivory image by its chest and stomach over the two-tiered table while Rafael carried out his delicate, painstaking work…
While Rafael was satisfied with his “encarna” of the Virgen, he thought that the eyes of the Nino Jesus still had that sharp look which needed interference. He decided to complete the “encarna” of the Nino Jesus on Thursday.
The team was scolded by Tita Mengay when she observed that the Virgen and the Nino Jesus had been in their undergarments for a few minutes already as the team struggled to unfurl the antique “Numero Uno” “vestida” and the “capa” of the Virgen and the “tunico” and the “babero” of the Nino Jesus. Tita Mengay was vehement that the Virgen and the Nino Jesus were to be dressed immediately with the new vestments as soon as the old ones and some of the undergarments were removed. “The Virgen and the Nino Jesus must not be left undressed even for a few minutes! It was never done and it is never done! Bring their vestments now! Act quickly!” she reprimanded in a mix of Spanish and English. Under no circumstances were they to remain a minute more in their undergarments, even if the Virgen had a full dress of gold-colored silk satin and 5 layers of lace-edged “nagwas” beneath and the Nino had a lace-edged cotton “camisa chino.” Tita Mengay repeated her strong disapproval many times until the Virgen and the Nino Jesus were fully dressed and the “capa” was finally installed.
The team was also scolded by Tita Mengay when she saw that a part of the Santo Rosario’s “capa” was touching the floor. Tita Mengay was vehement that the Santo Rosario’s vestments were not to touch the floor at all under any circumstances. “Those are the Virgen’s vestments! Those are expensive, those are precious!” she snapped in a mix of Spanish and English. Tita Mengay repeated her strong disapproval many times until the vestments were finally piled neatly, properly, and respectfully on a table.
It was amazing to witness 96 year-old Tita Mengay’s [ born 1915 ] surprising acuity and alertness, and sometimes surprising assertiveness, whenever the high standards she had learned prewar from the old Dominican “frailes” and the old “camareras” in the conservation of the “Santo Rosario” were in danger of being replaced by today’s unapologetically mediocre, frankly lackluster, and downright disrespectful practices.
One great advantage of digital photography was that, through repeated pixes by the patient photographer, Rafael was able to produce the exact shade of ivory with which to conceal the distracting and notorious hairline crack extending from the right side of the Virgen’s mouth to her chin. The covered hairline is now temporarily invisible, even in pixes/photographs.
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“Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum. Benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Iesus… Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen.”
“Dios te salve Maria, llena eres de gracia, El Senor es contigo. Bendita tu eres entre todas las mujeres y bendito es el fruto de tu vientre Jesus… Santa Maria, Madre de Dios, ruega por nosotros pecadores, ahora y en la hora del nuestra muerte. Amen.”
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Two days later, on Thursday, 28 July 2011…
Following centuries-old protocol in the dressing of the “Santo Rosario,” the gentlemen were only allowed inside the hall once the ladies had finished their delicate regimen of cleaning the ivory face and hands by dabbing cotton with a mild solution of “esencia de rosa” rose essence diluted with water [ "esencia de rosa" is acidic and strong and used by itself is caustic ], changing the 5 layers of lace-edged “nagwas” underclothes [ only 3 changed for everyday wear ], and the hallowed image was already wearing a simple dress of contemporary gold-colored silk satin over the traditional 5 layers of lace-edged “nagwas,” her long dark brown hair, a “velo” [a white, French late 18th century-style bonnet with ruffled lace edgings ; very "Marie Antoinette" ], and a “cuello” neck ruff of white lace. The gentlemen were needed to install the heavy “plancha de plata” gilt silver dress and the even heavier “capa ‘Numero Uno,’” the magnificent, late 19th century cape of “binanig” laidwork “tisu de oro” cloth-of-gold fabric embroidered with flowers, leaves, and symbols in high relief.
Tita Mengay reminisced: “In old Santo Domingo in Intramuros, nobody, but nobody, was allowed to touch the ‘Virgen’s’ face, by strict instructions of the Spanish Dominican ‘frailes’ and of the ‘camarera,’ Dona Angelita Leyba. The most, the very most, that was done was a very gentle dabbing — with cotton with a mild, mild solution of ‘esencia de rosa’ and water — of the ‘Virgen’s’ face by Dona Angelita herself.”
The Virgen’s hair was usually not removed during the dressing [ unless it was being replaced with a new one or in the occasional case that her face was being restored by Rafael del Casal, as was the case that evening, although, of course out of protocol, I did not see it ]. Usually, the first things installed after her being dabbed with a solution of “esencia de rosa” and water were her “velo” lace-edged bonnet and “cuello” neck ruff of white lace. An hour before that, the late 1800s necklace of Colombian emeralds and diamonds [ or any other necklace or ornament ] had been carefully sewn on to the neck ruff, ensuring that it was centered.
[ During the prewar, when all her magnificent jewels were still used for the "La Naval de Manila" procession, one of the first things that had to be put on the Virgen was her antique pearl "rosario," before the "plancha de plata" vest and sleeves, and gold "rostrillo." It would be nearly impossible to install her "rosario" correctly once the "plancha de plata" vest and sleeves, and specially the gold "rostrillo" were already in place. If one or the other was inadvertently forgotten [ as as the case that evening ], one would have to find an alternate way and gingerly sew it to the “cuello” neck ruff of white lace behind the sharp-edged gold “rostrillo,” quite a painful process since one’s hands would be repeatedly pricked by the “rostrillo” and the various jewels on it; it also would not hang correctly, and would be noticed by the meticulous eyes of the “camarera” Tita Mengay, displeasing her. ]
While I stood awestruck and mesmerized, as always, before the “Santo Rosario,” Tita Mengay nudged me gently and related that, for the longest time, the hole in her neck had been left open, a deliberate decision of the Spanish Dominicans to remind everyone of the sacrilegious deeds committed by the British invaders from 1762-64. The hole was supposed to have been caused by a British soldier’s sword which had effectively decapitated her. According to Tita Mengay, it was only after World War 2, already at the new Santo Domingo church in Quezon city, that the Spanish Dominicans decided to have the hole filled in by a master “santero” with similar, high-quality ivory. Again, I gave her the benefit of the doubt. The more scholarly and more plausible theory, shared by scholar par excellence Regalado “Ricky” Jose, historian Ramon “Boy” Villegas, artist Rafael del Casal, and the Virgen’s steward Rolando “Rolly” Tayo is that the hole is actually the dowel that holds the 7 separate pieces of the Virgen’s head — remarkably engineered to support heavy gold crowns by the unknown Chinese carver in 1593 — together. According to Mang Rolly, the dowel seems to extend all the way to the back of the “Virgen’s” head, it seems to come out just above her nape. That would support the more scholarly theory.
I found it curious that the Virgen only had an antique pearl “rosario” — albeit of covetable, natural saltwater pearls — of standard size and the Nino Jesus only had an antique pearl “rosario” of standard size worn on their necks, albeit with interesting “diamante”-studded crosses from the late 1700s, the way all Filipinos wore their “rosarios” during the Spanish era. Where was the outsize, big rosary of the Virgen? Rafael explained that the big goldplated brass rosary formed to an intertwined “AM” / “Auspice Maria” / “Ave Maria” on the skirt was actually an innovation of the late Rev. Fr. Augusto Antonio, O.P.. It was never the style of the “Santo Rosario” in the old Santo Domingo church in Intramuros; for centuries she and the Nino Jesus only had precious “rosarios” of standard size worn from their necks in the traditional style.
I wondered aloud if the natural saltwater pearls used for both the Virgen’s and the Nino Jesus’ “rosarios” were the very ones listed in the 1907 inventory as “gifts from our Muslim brothers in the south”? No one could answer my query. In any case, both “rosarios” by their archaic style, specially the crosses, seemed to predate 1907…
The exceedingly cute “Nino Jesus” was actually notorious for being difficult to dress, even in years/decades/centuries past, despite his small size. The ladies attending to him as he lay on a high table often “cooed,” cajoling him to finally allow them to dress him. In the end however, it was still a man’s job to dress the Nino Jesus: Mang Rolly wielded the big needle with thread that finally assembled the spectacularly embroidered “babero” bib and “tunico” tunic of the image. One did not simply slip the “tunico” to the Nino Jesus: there was a traditional, specific way of folding it in order to resemble the Dominican habit with the scapular. Mang Rolly took pride that he had been taught to dress the Nino Jesus with the “tunico Numero Uno” by Rafael del Casal, who in turn learned it from the late Rev. Fr. Augusto Antonio, O.P..
Quietly but intently observing the dressing of the Nino Jesus on a quilted white satin mat and pillow atop a simple two-tiered table, Tita Mengay sweetly reminisced that during prewar at the old Santo Domingo church in Intramuros, the Nino Jesus had a bed-cum-crib, with a cotton mattress, simple with some carvings, which was big enough to accommodate him lying down, standing up, and sideways as he was being dressed, without leaving its confines. I asked her why they did not come up with a replacement bed-cum-crib postwar at the new Santo Domingo church; she just smiled and shrugged, as if to say there were more pressing priorities during those days. We decided right there and then that we would reconstruct it; Rafael immediately volunteered to sketch its design.
For an inveterate researcher of Filipino colonial jewelry like I, having the ultrarare opportunity to see and study the 1811 & 1907 crowns and the antique jewelry of the “Santo Rosario” at close range was a fantastic education and reeducation.
Finally, after hours and hours of careful vesting, the 418 year-old “Santo Rosario” towered before us in all her 19th century magnificence, in exactly the same way Filipino historical figures — Jose P. Rizal, Juan & Antonio Luna, Gonzalo Tuason, Trinidad Ayala de Zobel, et. al. — beheld her over a century ago. “Viva La Virgen!!!”
What was surprising was, despite the overwhelming majesty and beauty of the “Santo Rosario” garbed in the magnificent regalia assembled through the centuries, the dazzling profusion of diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires, pearls, and diamantes in the crowns and aureoles of solid high-karat gold… the sheer splendor and opulence did not detract from the spiritual presence of the Infant Jesus and the Blessed Mother… the only feeling I had while standing before her and the Nino Jesus was PEACE. It was a very powerful, very unusual, very different kind of peace. There was the settling and the ordering of all interior chaos, the immediate flight of persistent demons, the calming of all cerebral turbulences, the stilling of emotional waters, the dissipation of tempestuous passions… In their healing presence, I felt a profound, settled peace that eludes me most hours of my life. Although I could not verbalize it that time, I simply wanted to stay in their presence… forever.
Tita Mengay looked over the big, early 19th century gold “aureola” with its exquisite “sala-salamin” details [ ref. to Martin I. Tinio ] and revealed that the genuine gems were concentrated on its upper half and that most of the stones in the lower half were of paste [ faceted glass ].
Rafael excitedly pointed to the very lovely and exceedingly rare “gota de aceite” Colombian emerald set in the 1811 crown of the Nino Jesus.
The “Santo Rosario” had to be moved several times during the course of the pictorial by Mang Rolly’s team of 4 – 6 strong men [ who gallantly stayed up the whole night to help out ] using the “pinggas” hardwood poles. It was always a stressful process because of the fragility of the magnificent 1811 crowns and the “capa Numero Uno”; every movement could cause a gem to fall off the crowns or the gilt silver threads to unravel off the “capa.” Tita Tunggay’s assistant Vince Salac, possessed of excellent eyesight and hearing, diligently stood guard with all senses on alert in case anything would fall off or unravel, and was always the first to crouch on the floor on all fours if there was even a slight, suspect sound. Practicing such care and diligence, there was not a single mishap involving the treasures of the “Santo Rosario” during the pictorial.
Constantly mindful of the great honor and privilege of being there, all through the 15 1/2 hours, I silently prayed intermittently for the millions of devotees of the Blessed Mother, venerated as the “Santo Rosario” — ladies and gentlemen, girls and boys — who would have given anything — anything at all!!! — to be in my place that one unforgettably marvelous evening and I mentally [ psychically ] tried to share my joy with them.
After the pictorial, the jewels and the crowns of the “Santo Rosario” were quickly removed, diligently returned to their packets and boxes, carefully accounted for, and immediately returned to the bank with the tightest security.
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Nearly 2 months later, on Sunday, 25 September 2011…
At 1:30 p.m., 2 long candles on tall silver candelabra were lit before the “Santo Rosario” and the holy rosary was recited…
Rafael spent the afternoon making improvements on the eyes of the “Virgen” and the “Nino Jesus”…
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The next day, Monday, 26 September 2011…
3 days before the “Santo Rosario’s” planned visit to the UST University of Santo Tomas for its Quadricentennial 1611 – 2011 celebrations [ Wednesday - Thursday, 28 - 29 September 2011 ], and 4 days before the Enthronement ceremonies that would begin the “La Naval de Manila 2011″ novena [ Thursday, 29 September 2011 ], the Rev. Fr. Prior, the “camarera” Tita Mengay Reyes, the Mother Superior of the Dominican Sisters of Sienna, Tita Tunggay Reyes, Mang Rolly Tayo, and a very small team of devotees gathered at the hall at 8:30 a.m. for the gala vesting of the “Santo Rosario” for “La Naval de Manila 2011″…
It had been decided weeks before by the Rev. Fr. Prior and the “camarera” Tita Mengay that the vestments commissioned and donated by the Chua family in 2004 would be used for this year’s “La Naval de Manila 2011″…
At exactly 8:30 a.m., as was the custom through the centuries, 2 long candles on tall silver candelabra were lit before the “Santo Rosario” and the holy rosary, led by the Rev. Fr. Prior, was recited…
As always, the gentlemen were not allowed into the hall until the “Virgen” had been gently cleaned with the mild solution of “esencia de rosa” and water, her several layers of exquisite “nagwas” changed, and she was already wearing her formal, fully-embroidered dress. It was the gentlemen’s function to help install the heavy gala “capa” and the heavy crowns, specially the big, Swarovski crystal-studded “aureola,” which the ladies could not handle by themselves.
And I witnessed a bit of the “camarera” and her assistants at the prewar Santo Domingo church in Intramuros…
“Tunggay! It’s too high!” Tita Mengay scolded her dutiful daughter sternly from her wheelchair. The new ‘cuello’ [ neck ruff ] of white lace, donated by a devout Chinese banker [ personally made by the latter, from instructions provided by Rafael del Casal ], was obscuring the chin of the “Virgen.” Tita Tunggay promptly untied it, repositioned it, and then knotted it again.
“Tunggay! It’s too high! Lower!” Tita Mengay demanded. Again, Tita Tunggay diligently untied it, repositioned it, and then knotted it again. But the old lady was still not pleased with the result.
“Mommy, when the ‘rostrillo’ is installed, the ‘cuello’ [ neck ruff ] will go down too, by itself…” Tita Tunggay reasoned patiently with her increasingly assertive mother.
…….
At 12:45 p.m., Tita Tunggay told her mother Tita Mengay that it was time to go home for lunch. Tita Mengay was supported by Tita Tunggay and a maid as she struggled to stand up and approached the “Santo Rosario”… It was touching to witness her — an old lady of aristocratic family, but of simple faith, who had served “La Gran Senora” for nearly 9 decades, 7 of them as “camarera” — address the “Virgen”: “Paumanhin po at kakain muna kami. Huwag po ninyo akong pabayaan… Huwag po ninyo kaming pababayaan…”
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7:45 p.m., Friday, 30 September 2011, first day of the “La Naval de Manila” novena…
We had kept watch as the innovative floral arrangements — masses of flowers juxtaposed against masses of green leaves — for the next 2 days of the novena, sponsored by Tita Mengay’s family, had gone up…
We finally went home at 4:30 a.m., just when the church was stirring for the 5:30 a.m. novena services for the second day of “La Naval de Manila”…
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“Salve, Regina, mater misericordiae; vita dulcedo et spes nostra, salve. Ad te clamamus, exsules filii Evæ. Ad te suspiramus, gementes et flentes in hac lacrimarum valle. Eia ergo, advocata nostra, illos tuos misericordes oculos ad nos converte. Et lesum benedictum fructum ventris tui,nobis post hoc exsilium ostende. O clemens, O pia, O dulcis Virgo Maria.”
“Dios te salve, Reina y Madre de misericordia, vida dulzura y esperanza nuestra; Dios te salve. A Ti llamamos los desterrados hijos de Eva; a Ti suspiramos, gimiendo y llorando, en esta valle de lágrimas. Ea, pues, Señora, abogada nuestra, vuelve a nosotros esos tus ojos misericordiosos; y después de este destierro muéstranos a Jesús, fruto bendito de tu vientre.¡Oh clementísima! ¡Oh piadosa! ¡Oh dulce siempre Virgen María!”
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From the bottom of my heart, thank you very much for the experience of a lifetime, Fr. Jepoy, Fr. Larry, Tita Mengay, Tita Tunggay, Mang Rolly, and Rafael !!! [ Rev. Fr. Giuseppe Pietro Arsciwals, O.P., Prior of the Santo Domingo church and convent, Rev. Fr. Lauro de Dios, O.P., Carmen Reyes [ y ] de los Reyes de Reyes, “camarera” of the “Santo Rosario,” Angelita Reyes, Rolando Tayo, & Rafael del Casal. ]
Acknowledgments: prewar pix of the “Santo Rosario” in the Flickr.com photostream of Victor Ancheta; video of the hymn “Salve Regina” by PapalMusic on YouTube; video of the hymn “Regina Sacratissimi Rosarii” by R.G. Lazaro on YouTube.
*unfinished*
Addenda:
September 24, 2006 at 9:14 am (1800s Filipinas, 1900s Philippines, 19th century Filipino Art, Family Traditions, Filipino Art, Personal, Random memories, Religious Traditions, The Global Crowd, The Manilenos, The Past)
September 6, 2011 at 3:07 pm (1900s Philippines, 2000s Philippines, Random memories, The Batanguenos, The Bicolanos, The Bulaquenos, The Cagayanons, The Cavitenos, The Cebuanos, The Davaoenos, The Global Crowd, The Ilocanos, The Ilonggos, The Laguna Tagalogs, The Leytenos, The Manilenos, The Negrenses, The Novo Ecijanos, The Pampanguenos, The Pangasinenses, The Past, The Samarenos, The Tarlaquenos, The Tayabenses / Quezonians)
Appearances, appearances, appearances… as defined by the legendary Diana Vreeland.
There are just some Filipina ladies who naturally have “star power”…
The Power of Glamour…
Yes, they all pleaded to be “simple ladies,” but by dint of inherited wealth, ancestry, social position, education, and exposure, they were pushed to the forefront of society with all the benefits as well as the attendant responsibilities. Also, their wealth allowed them the luxury and privilege of looking beautiful in their maturity.
Pacita Ongsiako de los Reyes-Phillips.
Conching Chuidian Sunico.
Monina Acuna.
Mercedes Lopez-Araneta [ Mrs. Jose Araneta ]
Victoria Ledesma Lopez-Araneta [ Mrs. Salvador Araneta ].
Angela Olgado-Zobel [ Mrs. Jacobo Zobel ].
Mercedes Zobel-McMicking [ Mrs. Joseph McMicking ].
Virginia Llamas-Romulo [ Mrs. Carlos Romulo ].
Carmen Planas.
Lourdes “Lourding” Alunan.
Charito Moreno.
Telly Albert-Zulueta.
Clarita Tankiang.
Angelina “Gely” Fajardo-Lopez [ Mrs. Francisco Lopez ].
Lourdes Luciano-Ocampo [ Mrs. Fernando Ocampo ].
Victoria “Vicky” Syquia Quirino-Gonzalez-Delgado [ Mrs. Chito Gonzalez; Mrs. Francisco Delgado Sr. ].
Maria Paz “Pacita” Madrigal-Warns-Gonzalez [ Mrs. Herman Warns; Mrs. Gonzalo Gonzalez ].
Consuelo “Chito” Madrigal-Vazquez-Collantes [ Mrs. Luis Vazquez; Mrs. Manuel Collantes ].
Maria Luisa “Ising” Madrigal-Vazquez [ Mrs. Daniel Vazquez ].
Josefina “Pitang” Buyson-Eusebio.
Nelly Montilla-Paterno-Lovina.
Lily de las Alas-Padilla [ Mrs. Ambrosio Padilla ].
Carmen “Chitang” Guerrero-Cruz-Nakpil [ Mrs. Ismael Cruz; Mrs. Angel Nakpil ].
Priscilla “Prissy” de la Fuente-Sison [ Mrs. Carlos Moran Sison ].
Nelly Lacson-Gonzalez [ Mrs. Dindo Gonzalez ].
Letty Lizares-del Rosario.
Nena Lacson-Garcia.
Celine Lacson-Heras.
Sonia Gamboa-Santos [ Mrs. Horacio Santos ].
Imelda Ongsiako-Cojuangco [ Mrs. Ramon Cojuangco ].
Marie Theresa “Bebe” Gallardo Lammoglia-Virata [ Mrs. Leonides Virata ].
Chona Recto-Ysmael-Kasten [ Mrs. Johnny Ysmael; Mrs. Hans Kasten ].
Mary Hernandez-Prieto [ Mrs. Leo Prieto ].
Joji Felix-Velarde.
Elvira Ledesma-Manahan [ Mrs. Constantino Manahan ].
Maria “Baby” Araneta Araneta-Fores [ Mrs. Raul Fores ].
Angeles “Nene” Tuason-Quimson.
Presentacion “Presy” Moreno Lopez-Psinakis.
Imelda Romualdez-Marcos [ Mrs. Ferdinand Marcos ].
Zita Fernandez-Feliciano.
Cristina Castaner-Ponce Enrile [ Mrs. Juan Ponce Enrile ].
Edith Nakpil-Rabat.
Fe Sarmiento-Panlilio [ Mrs. Jose Panlilio ].
Maria Victoria “Minnie” de la Rama Osmena.
Maria Regina “Regi” Lopez Araneta-Teodoro [ Mrs. Enrique Teodoro Jr. ]
Amparito Llamas-Lhuillier [ Mrs. Michel Lhuillier ].
Gemma Guerrero Cruz-Araneta.
Isabel Arrastia Preysler.
Cristina Valdes.
Gloria Diaz.
Toni Serrano-Parsons.
Maria Victoria “Marivic” Madrigal Vazquez.
Margarita “Margie” Moran-Floirendo [ Mrs. Antonio Floirendo Jr. ].
Maria Cristina “Maricris” Cardenas-Zobel [ Mrs. Inigo Zobel ].
Rose Anne Cu-Unjieng de Pampelonne.
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[ *The list is restricted to the ladies of the "de buena familia." ]
