Velada

October 19, 2009 at 8:00 am (2000s Philippines, Current Events, Family Traditions, Humor, Random memories, Religious Traditions, The Cebuanos, The Davaoenos, The Global Crowd, The Ilocanos, The Ilonggos, The Laguna Tagalogs, The Manilenos, The Negrenses, The Pampanguenos, The Tarlaquenos, The Tayabenses / Quezonians)

Assumption Convent High School Batch 1969 celebrated their 40th anniversary “velada” last night, Sunday, 18 October 2009 at the auditorium of the San Lorenzo campus.  They were some of the most accomplished  ladies in the land.  Among the ruby jubilarians were Tess Barcelon, Lody Barranda, Jojo Borromeo, Charo Cancio, Lynnie Castillo, Fay Chan, Annette Chanco, Coritha, Tutti Crisostomo, Aida Cui, Nini Diaz, Deng Dimayuga, Emy Faustino, Paula Feria, Gigi Fernandez, Nena Fule, Vicky Ignacio, Stella Illustre, Ito Kahn, Roxanne Lapus, Tess Lopez, Clarita Magat, Marivic McCann, Annie Molina, Mayen Ordoveza, Nenuca Ortigas, Mau Padilla, Lidia Pamontjak, Annie Rocha, Rose Rodriguez, Marivic Rufino, Tina Samson, Helen Silva, Pandy Singian, Tina Ty, et. al..

Happy Homecoming, Ladies!!!   :)    :)    :)

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“Walking Through Years of Friendship:  The  Assumption High School Class of 1969″

By:  Tess Z. Lopez

It’s show time for the glittering rubies of High School Class 1969!

As we prepared for the velada, we swung to the tune of “Pretty Woman, in celebration of life as fulfilled women in our chosen vocations.  We rocked to the beat of “ These boots were made for walking” remembering the twelve years we walked together at the Assumption Convent, coping with the disciplinary measures of the Assumption nuns,  cramming for quizzes and tests and, on the fun side, sneaking out of the watchful eye of Mang Segundo to eat at  Blums Coffee Shop in old Herran!  Those were fun days when life seemed so simple and everything a bed of roses.  After all, we belonged to the Age of Aquarius and “Flower Power’ was the “in” thing.  We became idealists, seeking peace and harmony in a world racked by global turmoil.

As we bade goodbye to the ivy walls of the Assumption after graduation, we began our individual journeys to fulfill our destinies.  We were full of queries where life would lead us to and what the future had in store for us.  Young as we were, we were charged with an adventurous spirit, and were willing to challenge whatever stood in our way of fulfilling our dreams.  And true enough, with determination, we found our niches in the world.  Many of us became full time mothers, others chose to pursue a career or business while raising children, a few have remained single.  No one chose the religious life! 

Forty years after high school, we come together again to celebrate the friendships that were nurtured through the years.  Thanks to the Age of Technology, the Internet has successfully located classmates who have been silent in the different  corners of the world.  Our friendships, aged by the passing years, resonate with the happy and sad times that  have been shared through the years.  Age and  the passing winds of time have developed new episodes in our lives.  A number of us have become widows, others are now young doting grandmothers and many have retired from their careers.  A few have left us forever to live in eternal peace.  We may not be as physically fit as forty years ago, but the class still holds on to a wellspring of zest and enthusiasm for life, seeking new dreams to pursue, never holding back to the ongoing challenges of life.

In whatever path of life my classmates have taken, I take pride that all of them have become the “ideal woman”  that the Assumption education prayed we would be.  In their sphere of life and work, Class ’69 has given dignity to womanhood, shared their material and spiritual resources to their families and workmates, taken up their crosses with strength and patience and in a thousand ways given of themselves for the betterment of society.  Truly, this has been the dream of our Mother Foundress!  As the curtain goes up on October 18, forty glittering rubies of High School Class 1969 will bring the show down in a dance medley celebrating Life, Love and Friendship.

6 Comments

It’s Time

October 4, 2009 at 6:31 pm (1900s Philippines, 2000s Philippines, Angst, Current Events, Personal, Random memories, The Cebuanos, The Davaoenos, The Global Crowd, The Ilocanos, The Ilonggos, The Laguna Tagalogs, The Manilenos, The Negrenses, The Pampanguenos, The Past, The Tarlaquenos, The Tayabenses / Quezonians, Tristesse)

When I was very young and blissfully ignorant, and that was many, many, many years ago, the arrival of a typhoon was a happy development, specially if it reached Signal Number Two, because that meant that classes were suspended.  We children could look forward to playing most of the day inside Lola Charing’s big house, which was impervious to floodwaters and strong winds.  We liked to  “play house,” “cooking-cooking,” Barbie dolls, G.I Joe figures, “Sungka,” “Piko,” “Patintero,” Hide and Seek, Exchange Places [ in the elegant living room, of all places  :P  ], ”Old Maid,” “Monopoly,” “Scrabble,” etc..  We could watch our favorite cartoons on TV in the afternoon [ "Superman," "Aquaman," "Mightor," et. al. ], and eat all the sugary delights — today’s “tooth decay specials” — we wanted from Lola Charing’s fully-stocked kitchen, and I mean fully-stocked [ "Selecta" and "Magnolia" ice cream;  "Pare" Bito Nuqui's homemade "Mantecado" ice cream of carabao's milk and slivers of "dayap" lime rind { IF there was any left after Brother Andrew and us hungry grandchildren!  :P };  Ate Talia Padilla's homemade cakes, "ensaimadas," "sans rival," traditional pastries like "panaritas," "caramelitos," etc.;  "barquillos" and "broas" cookies from Lola Nena Gala, "Panaderia de Molo" cookies from Lola Gely Lopez, "See's" chocolates, etc. ], and from Aling Maring’s and Aling Esa’s nearby sari-sari stores [ "Sarsi" soda, "Mirinda" soda, "Tarzan" and "Texas" bubble gum, "Choc-Nut" peanut chocolates, "Butterball" butterscotch candy, "White Rabbit" candy, etc. ] for “merienda.”  Those simple pleasures were what typhoons meant to us grandchildren.         

Typhoons then didn’t seem so bad.  Yes, we would see helicopter footages of the Central Luzon provinces — Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Tarlac — inundated in floodwaters, but everyone was smiling and giggling as they waved to the cameras of RPN Channel 9 [ or did President Marcos or Madame Marcos also order them to do that??? ].  And because we were stuck in the house with Lola Charing and Ate Talia during such days, we grandchildren also saw, to our collective chagrin, more episodes of “Aawitan Kita” starring the irrepressible Armida Siguion-Reyna and other howling singers.   I remember “Didang,” a particularly strong  typhoon in the early 1970s.  Now that one caused a lot of damage!  We also had no school for a week!  Yippee!

Thirty years later and Everything is so different now…

The coming of a typhoon nowadays in the 2000s means Difficulty, Desperation, Destruction, and yes, even Death.

I had not realized until now that one could actually get killed in a flood.  I stupidly thought that it was only a matter of swimming well with all kinds of strokes — doggie-style, backstroke, freestyle, butterfly, breaststroke, etc..  Yes, one could get electrocuted by an open electric wire in the water, or, fall into an open manhole [ what with all the steel manhole covers being stolen for sale to steel recyclers! ].  Or contract the dreaded “Leptospirosis” [ infection from rodents' feces ] by open cuts and wounds.  But what I didn’t know was that one could just be swept away by the rampaging waters, and be hit, all too helplessly, by all kinds of flotsam and jetsam — floating vehicles, uprooted trees, loosened concrete, wooden beams, G.I sheets, stones, and all —  until one is simply… DEAD.  Just like the villains in those “Indiana Jones” adventure movies!!!

Last night, I was at Santo Domingo Church for the third day Novena and Mass in honor of the “Santo Rosario,” Our Lady of the Rosary [ an Old World tradition I took from my Lola Charing ] .  We lifted our hands and the “Our Father” was sung beautifully by the grand choir and, and oddly enough, rather soulfully by the congregation.  I thought of all our fellow, suffering Filipinos and the terrible videos seen on TV and YouTube… and my mind’s eye replayed the horrors over and over, and over again.  And I wept…  Of course, Social Me kept my composure [ ramrod straight posture!  Queen Mary-esque pulchritude  :P  ] but the tears just flowed.  I was lucky, only a few, unused things got wet… but many other people lost their livelihood, hard-earned possessions, homes… and lives!!!    The Sheer Devastation wrought by typhoon “Ondoy’s” floods on Filipino Life was just so awful, wasn’t it?

And now, there’s supertyphoon [ first time I've heard the term!!! ] “Pepeng” whirling towards the Philippines…  Ohmygod.  What worse devastation can that one bring???                         

It’s Time…  It’s Time to Pray, and Pray Hard, like we never did before.

It turns out that our Old People, who prayed hard and prayed often, really knew what they were doing.   :|    :|    :|

*unfinished*

16 Comments

Under the Sea

September 26, 2009 at 3:10 pm (2000s Philippines, Angst, Current Events, Manila Houses, Personal, Random memories, The Cebuanos, The Davaoenos, The Global Crowd, The Ilocanos, The Ilonggos, The Laguna Tagalogs, The Manilenos, The Negrenses, The Pampanguenos, The Tarlaquenos, The Tayabenses / Quezonians, Tristesse)

Manila and environs literally went “Under the Sea” today with the 24 hour nonstop rains of typhoon “Ondoy”…

It would be ideal and so “above it all” for me to say that I wasn’t affected at all by the flooding of typhoon “Ondoy” [ international code name:  "Ketsana" ].  OF COURSE I WAS.  Although the house is built on high ground, water just came from nowhere at 11:00 a.m. and quickly inundated the basement level, where I had a lot of good things stored for future use.  Antique Filipino furniture, paintings, art books, vintage photographs, cushions, antique textiles, silver, china, crystal, impedimenta, etc. all went underwater for many minutes before they were patiently gathered one by one by the industrious and conscientious househelp.  Surveying the catastrophe hours later, I was happy enough that the things were not lost;  true, several were damaged, but that’s Life!  I was actually more concerned with the health of the staff.       

I thought I had it bad, at least until I saw the TV coverage hours later.  Ohmygod!!!  Quel desastre!!!

So where were you???

51 Comments

Filipino Precolonial Jewelry

August 22, 2009 at 3:29 pm (1800s Filipinas, Random memories, The Cebuanos, The Davaoenos, The Global Crowd, The Ilocanos, The Ilonggos, The Laguna Tagalogs, The Manilenos, The Negrenses, The Pampanguenos, The Past, The Tarlaquenos, The Tayabenses / Quezonians)

“Please look out for UOD earrings…”  a dear lady friend of Old Cebu and Old Iloilo lineages requested.

I remembered the Great Collection of Formidable Mother…

8 Comments

Filipino Colonial Jewelry

August 22, 2009 at 3:28 pm (1800s Filipinas, 1900s Philippines, 19th century Filipino Art, Random memories, The Cebuanos, The Davaoenos, The Global Crowd, The Ilocanos, The Ilonggos, The Laguna Tagalogs, The Manilenos, The Negrenses, The Pampanguenos, The Past, The Tarlaquenos, The Tayabenses / Quezonians)

“You should see the gold cuffs I inherited from Mama, Toto.”  a dear lady friend of Old Leyte lineage told me.

I have been fascinated with Filipino Colonial Jewelry for many years now…

5 Comments

Of established family

August 20, 2009 at 5:14 pm (1800s Filipinas, 1900s Philippines, 2000s Philippines, Random memories, The Cebuanos, The Davaoenos, The Global Crowd, The Ilocanos, The Ilonggos, The Laguna Tagalogs, The Manilenos, The Negrenses, The Pampanguenos, The Past, The Tarlaquenos, The Tayabenses / Quezonians)

Many comparisons have been drawn between the “de buena familia” good families and the “nouveau riche” of Manila, Cebu, Bacolod, Iloilo, Davao, and the rest of the Philippines.   But there is one thing I have not seen discussed, and it is the clan profile of a “de buena familia” vis-a-vis that of a nouveau riche/newly prosperous one.

Very noticeable in “de buena familia” good Filipino clans is that many members [ apart from the omnipresent miscreants and bad eggs ] are interesting, productive, sometimes outstanding individuals.  The streak is noticeable in nuclear families, then the clan in general, and extends even to their allied families.  In keeping with the culture of wealth and financial savvy, the young are provided with “good education” that hopefully ensures their future,  ”good” [ read: stringent ] not only in terms of academic excellence but also “good” [ read:  well-off, if not outright rich ] in terms of classmates/peers having a similar, well-provided quality of life.  Postgraduate degrees in prestigious universities abroad, the more and the more expensive the better, are essential for the competitive edge in later professional life.  Because of generations of financial stability, even affluence, “good marriages” not unlike corporate mergers further and assure enjoyable social, and later profitable business, connections.  That is why Lolo A is Chairman of the Board of Company A, Lolo B the majority stockholder of Conglomerate B;  Lola C is President of Company C, Lola D is Chair of of the Board of Company D.  It is why Daddy is Chairman of the Board of of Company E and Mommy is the President of Company F.  And why Tito G heads Corporation G and Tita H owns Company H.  It’s All in the Family, Filipino-style.    

What is interesting in nouveaux riches/newly prosperous Filipino clans is that it is usually just one family member, or if they’re lucky then one nuclear family, who has “made it big.”  Then the relatives, by degrees of closeness, gravitate and revolve around him/her/them like moons around a planet or planets around the sun.  Thus, in such a family, it is not surprising that the housekeeper is actually a maternal aunt, the “yayas” female cousins, the drivers uncles and male cousins, the secretaries sisters, and so forth and so on.  One can certainly take the view that the successful family member has taken on the duty of uplifting everybody else in the family or clan.  Very Filipino.

What are your observations?

25 Comments

Filipino Business will support…

August 16, 2009 at 2:10 pm (2000s Philippines, Angst, Current Events, Humor, Random memories, The Cebuanos, The Davaoenos, The Global Crowd, The Ilocanos, The Ilonggos, The Laguna Tagalogs, The Manilenos, The Negrenses, The Pampanguenos, The Tarlaquenos, The Tayabenses / Quezonians)

“LAHAT!!!  BIGYAN ANG LAHAT… PARA WALANG ANGAL!!!  Give Everybody… so no one complains!!!”  declared Insouciant Heiress.

“LAHAT???!!!  All of them???  You can’t be serious…”

“I am.”

“Well, your dear cousin is running.  Is She included in LAHAT???” 

“Dunno.” 

“And what about You?”  I asked Powerful Lady, A Force in Philippine Business. 

“We have to get someone who is good for Business.  GMA is good for Philippine Business.  Somebody like her who knows his/her Economics…”

“Somebody like Manny?”

“Not quite.  We had difficulties with him and all those Camella Homes…” 

“Somebody like Mar?”

“Maybe.  Now Mar really knows his Economics.  But he’s marrying Korina.  She’s not popular by the looks of it.  We have nothing against her.  But she might bring him down… you know the majority of voters.”

I turned to Irascible Industrialist.  “So if Danding supports Chiz, will you support him too?”

“Depends.  Hey, somebody will have to tell Chiz to go back to school.  He doesn’t make sense.  His figures don’t make sense.  Posturing at the podium ala JFK isn’t enough!” 

“Why can’t he be more like Ralph?  Ralph went back to school and now he really knows his facts and figures.  Smart guy, that Ralph.  He’s got a brain!  Between him and Vilma, the Presidency is a breath away.  I’d vote for Ralph anytime!”   

“I agree with you about Ralph.”  interjected Powerful Lady.

“What about Gilbert?”

“That guy is great but the voters don’t know him.  He should have had more exposure these recent years.  It’s a pity his uncle Danding isn’t backing him.  Those Cojuangcos are divided:  Gilbert’s mother Ditas versus Danding.  Nikki’s beauty can be a real political asset, great for stupid voters, but those Cojuangcos have the darndest things to say about her…”       

And I turned to Taipan.  I politely asked:  “Who will you support, Sir?”  He smiled beatifically, as if he had not understood what I had asked.  “Who will you support for President next year, Sir?”  He expertly turned the question around to me:  “Who will you support?”  “Does it matter who I will support, Sir?”  He smiled and winked naughtily:  “Does it matter who I will support, my friend?”  “Of course, it matters, Sir, very much!”  “To tell you the truth,” he whispered, “I will have to support everyone who asks, but I will give more to the one I know will win.”  “How do you know who will win, Sir?”  “WE will make him win.  WE will make him win.”  And he smiled beatifically as if he had not spoken a word.  Like Buddha.

As for Toto Gonzalez, he will support himself.  Harharhar!   :P    :P    :P

5 Comments

Guess Who???

August 10, 2009 at 3:12 pm (1900s Philippines, 2000s Philippines, Angst, Current Events, Random memories, The Global Crowd, The Manilenos, The Pampanguenos, The Tarlaquenos, Tristesse)

It is the story circulating among Social Manila’s elegant dinner tables that in one lucid moment during her final days of illness at the ICU Intensive Care Unit of the Makati Medical Center, the dying Maria Corazon “Cory” Cojuangco-Aquino finally spoke about the masterminds and the assassins of her husband, Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., on that fateful day of 21 August 1983.    

The Story of Cory in the ICU cannot be verified at present.

However, The Truth about the Aquino Assassination, if and when it is finally made public, is eagerly awaited by millions and millions of Filipinos around the world.

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With the recent passing of former President Maria Corazon “Cory” Cojuangco-Aquino, and as the 26th anniversary of that fateful day of 21 August 1983 fast approaches, One Important Question still looms in the minds of millions and millions of Filipinos just like you and I, here in the Philippines and elsewhere in the world…

WHO HAD NINOY AQUINO KILLED???

OK, OK, OK, President Ferdinand Edralin Marcos said that Rolando ”Lando” Galman, whoever he was, did it.  Poor Rolando Galman.  They just fattened him for the kill, like “lechon.”  They didn’t even have the decency to fix him up for his final “One Moment in Time” press kit — no makeup artist, no hairdresser, no tailor, no society photographer.  Well, at least he had his fifteen minutes of fame, or notoriety, whichever.  I believe that Rolando Galman killed Ninoy Aquino as much as Yosemite Sam killed Daffy Duck in the “Merrie Melodies” cartoons.

But I do believe that President Ferdinand Marcos was far too intelligent, much too brilliant, and way too prescient to have ordered Ninoy Aquino’s assassination.  One must never forget that he was the Ultimate Master of the Filipino Psyche.  Unless he was having a Stupid Moment and saying “What was I thinking?” which all humans have at some points of their lives anyway. 

On the other hand, there is the persistent story that upon finally being informed of the assassination of Ninoy Aquino at the MIA Manila International Airport that afternoon, the already very ill President Ferdinand Marcos hurled an object, usually said to be a vase, towards his First Lady, Imelda Marcos.  At that time, it was said that he was not at the Malacanang Palace;  he was supposed to have been confined at the new Kidney Center of the Philippines in Quezon City.  Nurses outside the room swore that they heard a breakable object crash to the floor and invectives hurled by the very ill President at both Madame Marcos and General Ver.     

There are people, mostly anti-Marcos, who claim that if that story was true, then President Marcos, First Lady Imelda Romualdez-Marcos, and General Fabian Ver were just “play-acting”…

One of my mentors, the deliciously, wickedly, Incorruptibly Corrupt Eminence Gris, never fails to remind me that Everything boils down to MONEY.  “Pera lang yan.”  he insists.  If one has a question about anything, specially in Politics and Government, not only in the Philippines but everywhere else in the world, The Answer is Money.  Why did the USA wage war in Iraq?  Money.  Why did the USA have a financial meltdown?  Money.  Why does the USA do business with China?  Money.  Why did Communist China turn capitalist?  Money.  Why did Ferdinand Marcos remain as President of the Philippines for 21 years?  Money.  Why did the USA abandon Ferdinand Marcos and support Corazon Aquino during the EDSA Revolution?  Money.  Why do we have a never-ending Communist insurgency?  Money.  Why do we have a never-ending Islamic insurgency in Mindanao?  Money.  Why do all those candidates — Manny Villar, Mar Roxas, Gilbert Teodoro, Chiz Escudero, Loren Legarda, Jamby Madrigal, Bayani Fernando, Jejomar Binay, et. al. — want to become the President of the Philippines in 2010?  Money.

Why was Ninoy Aquino killed???  Because of Money.

In the study of this 26 year-old mystery case, the crucial question is:  Who had the Most to Lose in terms of Money — if Ninoy Aquino returned to the Philippines — before 21 August 1983???

President Ferdinand Edralin Marcos?

First Lady Imelda Romualdez-Marcos?

Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Fabian C. Ver?

Vice Chief of Staff General Fidel V. Ramos?

Defense Minister Juan Ponce-Enrile?

Multimillionaire Businessman Benjamin “Kokoy” Trinidad Romualdez, Imelda Marcos’ younger brother?

Multimillionaire Businessman Eduardo “Danding” Murphy Cojuangco Jr.?

The CIA Central Intelligence Agency of the United States of America?

The CPP Communist Party of the Philippines / The NPA New People’s Army / Jose Maria Sison?

Years ago, a top official of the Marcos administration, privy to the highest and innermost circles, and yes, almost a “crony,” told me, without revealing anything:  “You will have to wait until we are all dead, hijo.  Several are still alive and active in national politics and big business.  It was very complicated… It was not one, not two, not even three people involved, but several.  An entire cast of characters as exciting as a suspense thriller movie.  James Bond 007 had nothing to compare!  You will be surprised by who was actually involved as well as by who was actually not involved.  It was initially planned in a sports facility.  The intelligence operatives knew about it.  Even I knew it was going to happen.  I contemplated sending my family abroad.  But what could I do except wait for the moment of damnation… of all of us???”

Moment of Damnation indeed. 

And The Moment of Redemption for the Filipino People and their Nation.

46 Comments

Thank you, President Aquino

August 1, 2009 at 12:14 am (2000s Philippines, Angst, Current Events, Random memories, The Tarlaquenos, Tristesse)

And so, The Inevitable has come to pass…

Despite Everything, I am still grateful for The Hope that She brought to the Philippines twenty-three years ago in 1986.  Because it has already happened, I am certain that it will happen again in the future.  And again and again.  Way after all of us living have passed.  Until hopefully, We Filipinos will finally learn the lessons being taught us. 

Her passing, like her crusade from late 1983 to early 1986, has put us in the proper perspective as Filipinos and as the one Filipino nation.

Thank you, Cory.

Thank you, Ninoy.

For your admirable lives so generously given over to the Greater Good of the Filipino Nation and consequently for the Triumph of Democracy All Over The World.  Indeed, Altruism personified.

In profoundly grateful remembrance,

Toto Gonzalez

92 Comments

The Apex of Power

July 16, 2009 at 1:03 pm (2000s Philippines, Angst, Current Events, Humor, Random memories, The Cebuanos, The Davaoenos, The Global Crowd, The Ilocanos, The Ilonggos, The Laguna Tagalogs, The Manilenos, The Negrenses, The Pampanguenos, The Tarlaquenos, The Tayabenses / Quezonians, Tristesse)

I assume that most of us have read through [ in whole or in part ] the major treatises on Power, the most basic being Niccolo Machiavelli’s “The Prince,” to Hegel, Marx, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Bataille, Lacan, Foucault, Derrida all the way to the most recent works by O’Brien, et. al.. 

Given the nature and the requirements of Political Power, we need not wonder why Our Leaders act the way they do.  It’s all a natural, logical progression of Political Survival.

What are Your Musings???

13 Comments

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