Halloween Stories 2020

 Sunday at the Park: Paco Cemetery

Besides old churches and ancestral houses, mahilig din ako bumisita ng mga heritage sites like historical cemeteries. One time I was coming back from Malate, dumaan yng driver sa may Sta. Ana area pauwi. Napansin ko yng Paco Park which was a field trip destination nung bata pa kami.

Sinabihan ko yng driver ko na dumaan muna kami at papasyalan ko itong lumang sementeryo na itinayo pa nung panahon ng Kastila. In fact, nilibing dun ang 3 pari ng GOMBURZA at pati si Rizal nung bagong execute pa lng. Nung nagkaroon ng cholera epidemic sa Manila, marami ring nilibing dun dahil hindi na kasya sa mga sementeryong mas malapit sa Intramuros.

Katatapos lng ng last morning mass, so nag-alisan na ang mga nagsimba. Sinarado na rin yng chapel kng saan nagmimisa. Kaunting tao lng ang nasa loob ng Paco Park, yng bantay sa entrance fee booth, yng gwardiya na nasa may gate, at yng isa o dalwang hardinero o tiga-linis. Dalawa kaming pumasok ng driver ko, umikot sa ground area, sa mga lumang libingan na nadikit sa pader, picture 2x.

Maganda ang view sa taas ng walls, mala-Intramuros, at Instagramable din. Naiwan na sa baba yng driver ko habang umakyat ako at sinundan yng paikot na walls. Naka-3/4 nako ng ikot, pabalik na sa may simbahan kng saan yng babaan nang may narinig akong footsteps sa likod ko. Tuloy ang lakad ko, pero parang may sumusunod sa akin, yng yabag ng paa e parang nage-echo na sapatos dun s cobblestones. Weird kasi paano mageecho Kung open air nga yng taas ng walls ng sementeryo.

Tanghaling tapat yun, tirik din ang araw, nang bglang naramdaman ko ang malamig na ihip ng hangin sa likod ko. Tumayo ang buhok sa batok ko at balahibo sa arms. Binilisan ko ang lakad ko kasi parang may something sa likuran ko. Di ko kinayang tumingin, pero nagsalita ako sa isip ko at sinabi ng, 'pasensya na po sa istorbo... Aalis nako.' so Dali-Dali akong bumaba, pero nasa likod yung hagdan, so malayo-layo pa yng lalakarin papuntang gate palabas. This time wla ako naririnig na echo ng footsteps na sumusunod, pero parang may mga nakatingin mula sa taas, sa ibabaw ng walls. Hindi ko rin tiningnan, nakayuko na lng ako habang naglalakad.

Pagdating ko s gate, nandun lahat ng tauhan ng park - yng teller ng tickets, yng guard, at yng 2 hardinero/tiga-linis. Nasilip ko din na naghihintay na sa may sasakyan yng driver ko. Ako lng talga ang galing sa loob ng Paco Park...walang ibang Tao sa loob.

 

Manila Hauntings

 

Besides London sa UK, isa yata kilala worldwide na most haunted cities ang Maynila. Kung tutuusin, understandable naman kasi nga sobra ang sinapit ng Pinas, Lalo na ang capital, nung panahon ng WW2. Kwento ng Daddy ko nuon, sumakay daw pamilya nya ng tren mula sa Tutuban, siksikan na mga tao, makatakas lng bago gawing "open city" ang Maynila. Meaning kasi baka maging "free-for-All" ang labanan ng Hapon at mga Amerikano, bahala na madamay ang civilians. At ganun na nga nangyari; kawawa ang mga naiwan sa siyudad. Kahit yng mga mayayaman na ayaw daw iwan mga malalaking Bahay nila sa Malate area. Pagkatapos kunin at patayin mga kalalakihan ng mga pamilya, gahasain mga kababaihan, susunugin pa daw mga Bahay. Meron pa daw iipunin silang lahat sa mga simbahan tapos, sisilaban yng simbahan pagkatapos silang ikulong dun. Pagpasok ng mga Amerikano, tuloy ang labanan at ayaw din talga sumuko ng mga Hapon. May mga naipit sa barilan at tinamaan ng sniper fire (isa nga dyan yng pamilya ng dating Pres. Quirino). Naging desperado ang mga Amerikano kaya wla na rin silang pakundangan sa pagbagsak ng mga bomba sa Maynila. Ubos ang mga gusali at kabahayan. Sabi nila, mula daw sa Quiapo church, across Pasig river, naging tanaw mo daw all the way to Manila Bay kasi "flattened" daw talga. Kung napunta kayo dun sa Intramuros dun sa may Memorial ng massacre of Manila, makikita nyo gaano karami talga ang mga namatay, including mga bata at sanggol.

Kaya siguro hindi rin nakagugulat kng may mga kwento2x ang mga nakatira sa Maynila kht na mga bagong tayong Bahay na, at mataas na rin ang populasyon. Sabi nga ng Mama ko, kht nung nagaaral pa sila sa kolehiyo nung 50s, yng tinirhan nilang magpipinsan na apartment sa Sampaloc e may nagpaparamdam..May mga naririnig silang yabag at ingay kht wlang ibang tao sa Bahay na kasama nila. Itong pinsan ni Wifey, may Bahay din sa Balic-Balic...kwento ng katiwalang tiga-bantay, may nakikitang anino minsan sa hagdan. Minsan parang may naglalakad sa taas kahit wlang tao sa mga kwarto. Buti matapang si Manang kasi hindi madalas lumuwas sa Maynila ang mag-anak mula sa Cagayan.

Eto naman friend ko, nakatira sa may Blumentritt malapit sa Espana. Luma na yng hilera ng mga kabahayan nila kasi mga early settlers after the war. May makikipot na daan at eskinita sa lugar nila. Kwento ng mga tiga-Brgy nila, sa dulo ng isang eskinita may nagpapakita daw na pari na pugot ang ulo. Kahit nailawan na ng bagong poste at hindi na gaanong madilim, may mga naglalarong bata daw na nakikita yng paring wlang ulo.

Eto naman mga bagong dorms na paupahan lagpas ng UST malapit na sa Recto, may mga kwento din. May Kwento itong bunso namin nung nagre-review sila for the Board Exams. syempre puyatan blues.. lagi daw silang may naririnig sa kusina tuwing disoras ng gabi. Kalansing ng mga pinggan o baso. Minsan narinig nilang parang tunog ng kutsarita tumatama sa tasa at naglakas-loob ang isa sa kanilang silipin kng ano ba talga yun. Nakita daw nya isang tasa sa dining table at may isang kutsarita na parang naghahalo ng kape...umiikot itong magisa.

 

Manila Hauntings 2 (Kwento ni May)

 

Nkwento ko sa friend kong si May tungkol dito sa THSG na ito at yng latest kong entry abt Manila. Naalala nya tuloy yng experience nya nung tumira daw sila sa may Balic2x.

Nangupahan daw sila dun ng partner nya nung nagbubuntis pa sya. So same description ng mga lumang bahay sa lugar, medyo malalaki kaya may space parentahan na extra rooms. Minsan daw gabi, nakaupo sya sa may lumang hagdanan nila. Tanaw daw nya yng bakuran ng tapat nilang bahay. May nakita syang malaking puting aso na akala nya alaga lng ng kapit-bahay nila. Nagulat daw sya nung bgla itong nagtransform at naging matandang babae, yng kapitbahay nila!

Isang gabi naman, galing sa inuman itong anak na lalaki ng landlady nila. Isa syang malaking mama at medyo may katabaan pa. Medyo lasing at dun na sana matutulog sa sala, kaya binuksan nya yng bintana para may hangin. Eto yng mga malalaking capiz windows na sinauna, tapos may outer metal grills lng. Bgla daw tumambad sa kanya yng matandang babae n kalahati lng yng katawan, at may malalaking pakpak! Tumatama daw yng mga pakpak sa bintana, na parang sinasadyang gambalain sila kasi ang lakas ng tunog. Nagising nga sila lhat at nagsilabasan s kwarto. Nasalubong nilang patakbo sa loob papuntang mga kwarto yng anak ng landlady...nahimasmasan daw sa pagkalasing.

2020 and COVID: Buhay DSWD

 

Since I joined the DSWD Procurement Service in 2016, I had become used to not having a decent holiday season to celebrate with family. For the past four years or so, at least three (3) massive typhoons hit before the year ends. Plus, there was the occasional earthquake and volcanic eruption, not to mention internal conflicts like the Marawi Siege. I usually spend Xmas parties and New Year family reunions intermittently on the cellphone or online on my laptop.

I accepted this as part of the job. We at DSWD are most needed when disaster and calamities strike. I consider it a worthwhile sacrifice to work over extended hours, even during rest-days and weekends, to coordinate the supply and delivery of relief goods and other necessary equipment needed by our frontline workers. While I may not be directly dealing with client-beneficiaries like my social worker friends, my function as an essential administrative and support service allows them to perform theirs seamlessly.

This 2020, Mt. Taal’s surprise eruption was the opening salvo for the year. While the local government units scrambled to cope, our regional office was on stand-by, and it was incumbent upon us to likewise be ready to extend additional assistance. Besides the relief goods for the evacuees, there were new and additional requirements of face masks to address the thick ashfall and the need to expedite the procurement of official vehicles to help with the evacuations and rescues.

And while we heard about the new flu-like sickness going on in China, no one expected the impact of COVID19 as it quickly spread around the world. By the time it reached the Philippines and drastic measures had to be imposed, once again we knew DSWD would be called upon to be at the forefront. The Social Amelioration Program (SAP) as financial assistance and the distribution of food packs to all those economically displaced by the temporary closure of business establishments was to be our assignment. But while the risk exposure of medical frontliners were constantly being discussed on media, there were no concrete and effective precautions put in place for the social workers being asked to go down to the communities.

 

Sometime before this COVID Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) period, I was somehow elected into the DSWD Central Office employees union as part of the new Executive Board, eventually becoming the CO Chapter President. It was now also my responsibility to look out for the welfare of my colleagues and fellow union members. The “new normal” of working in the government service compelled us to continue performing our official functions under varying environments. While some of us can afford to “Work-from-Home”, most of us still had to do field work and go down to the communities. Personal protective equipment (PPEs) were not yet the norm except for the medical frontliners, and most of us had to bring our own alcohols and sanitizers.

Good public servants that they were, my fellow DSWD personnel never complained and simply waited for what can be provided for them. They continued to go down and distribute the SAP, have Social Pension pay-outs for senior citizens, and validate Pantawid Pamilya beneficiaries. Some social workers welcomed Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) at the airports and provided psycho-social assistance as these OFWs returned despondent with uncertainty. Still other DSWD staff processed Locally-Stranded Individuals (LSIs) who could not travel or go home to their respective provinces.

Meanwhile, as Union Chapter President, I had to mediate for some work arrangements like ensuring those with identified chronic diseases and co-morbidities to be allowed to Work-from-Home and not be required to physically report to work to serve as skeletal force. My officers and I also appealed for the timely release of salaries for many of our non-regular co-workers because they needed resources for their families during the ECQ lockdowns. Finally, when it was becoming evident that many of our fellow employees were getting infected with COVID19 and were unknowingly spreading it to others at the workplace, the Social Welfare Employees Association of the Philippines (SWEAP) Central Office Chapter initiated the first and only rapid testing to be conducted at our office. True enough, it was validated that many of us were only asymptomatic, but are actually COVID carriers. Through it all, we constantly wrote the DSWD Management to come up with a comprehensive COVID intervention protocol for the employees. Soon, with the alarming increase in the number of COVID positive personnel, the impact of our efforts was eventually a wake-up call for the DSWD Management, and they began to take COVID interventions seriously.

Today, we still don’t have the resources to have our own regular COVID testing, but only rely on networking with the Philippine National Red Cross, the UP Diliman Health Service, and local government units like Marikina and Quezon City who have agreed to accommodate our referrals. We are also fortunate that some private entities have made donations of some PPEs and vitamins for our staff. Sadly, one of our friendliest and most helpful drivers contracted COVID and after developing complications from pneumonia, he died a few weeks ago.  

 

We, at DSWD, continue to rally and trudge on. We know that as public servants, we must render service for the benefit of the Filipino people, even at great risk to our health and our lives. The sacrifice we make is shared by our own families who are similarly exposed to the dangers of COVID as we perform our everyday duties. We can only hope that these efforts are being appreciated too.

 

Of Buses, Pasalubongs, and Fiestas: My Laguna Years

So while I have been writing much about my childhood memories of Ilocos, a big portion of my youth I have been meaning to write about were my college years in UP Los Banos.

I was only 15 years old when I went to the “distant” campus of UP Los Banos in College, Laguna. When I applied for the UPCAT, we only put Los Banos as an alternative campus upon the advise of my older brother, Manong Snokum, himself a graduate of BS Architecture from UP Diliman. He said at least we had a good back-up plan should I not get accepted for my first choice of Diliman campus. In fact, it was only our eldest brother Manong Butch who was able to get in immediately because he was an NSDB (now NSTA) scholar in BS Mathematics. Manong Snokum had to transfer from UST on his second semester, while both Ate Marie and Ate Annette ended up trying out and qualifying for UP Baguio and UP Manila, respectively.

Like the rest of NCR students, majority of my batchmates in high school tried out for UP. But when the UPCAT results came out, only 12 of us qualified or were wait-listed. I remember my classmates saying, “May isang Leonin na nakapasa e…d lang namin sure which one”, referring to me and my cousin, Edlyn. Meanwhile, like the rest of them, I also covered my bases and applied for other universities and colleges. By that time, I had already passed the entrance tests for CEU, Miriam College, UST, Ateneo and was in the process of applying for St. Paul. But of course, UP IS UP, and I quickly jumped at the chance to go the State University be it in a “faraway” campus.

Fortunately, my Mom soon realized that a second cousin of hers was married to a UPLB professor and was living in Los Banos. She reconnected with Tita Cora Pe Benito and made arrangements for me to stay with them. Later would I find out that Tita Cora’s husband, Tito Ruben Villareal was actually the Dean of the College of Agriculture and was pretty well-known and respected in the UPLB community. My affiliation with them would eventually influence my future in UP Los Banos.

* * * *

Our first visit to Los Banos became one of many regular treks to Laguna. Once I began studying in UP Los Banos, this routine became a cherished day trip for my parents and younger siblings, and a sort of bonding activity too. They would drive me over for the next schooldays after I spent the weekend with them in Manila.

Back then, it would be an easy 2 hour drive from Quezon City, traversing EDSA and SLEX to Los Banos. Still not much heavy traffic after Magallanes through Taguig-Bicutan-Paranaque area. As you leave Alabang, the long stretch of SLEX would still be lined by rice fields, and after some time, Maria Makiling’s outline would already be visible. That Southern Tagalog mountain range really looked like a giantess lying in repose; from the soft curve of her breasts to her forehead sloping into her long hair. Mt. Makiling with her accompanying Mt. Banahaw and Cristobal was truly majestic.

As we turn into Calamba, the only other slightly “urbanized” area besides Los Banos, we pass by a few fast food restaurants before the hot spring resorts begin to sprout from all sides. Since Mt. Makiling is a dormant volcano, they say those hot springs served as useful vents to let her steam out. Without those hot springs, some scientists claim Makiling could just wake up and become an active volcano again.

Entering Pansol before Los Banos Bayan area, all you can see are hot and cold spring resorts, and that ubiquitous red-brown quarry at the distance. Through the years, I would observe that natural tower-like feature get eroded both by man and by nature’s forces. We pass Camp Eldridge and PCARRD, which now has that shortcut mountain pass into the UPLB campus, I wonder if this is the same shortcut used by incarcerated Los Banos townsfolk when they were evacuating in World War II and needed to cross over to the other side of Laguna de Bay.

Before long, you reach Brgy. Anos where most buko pie, fresh milk and other pasalubong outlets are, and then comes the famous “Crossing”, that landmark intersection which passes as UP Los Banos’ commercial area. Turning right at the corner Mercury Drug at Crossing, you enter into College and the gateway to UP Los Banos.

Unlike the wide, awe-inspiring University Avenue at Diliman, UPLB’s main gate is narrow and simple. The first thing you see upon entering is not the statue commonly known as the “UP Oblation”, but the carabao heads, the symbol of the UP College of Agriculture first established here prior to World War II. Oh, we do have our own Oblation, albeit much smaller in stature, and it’s located at the center of the campus, in front of our Humanities building. But like Diliman, it would please you to know that scattered around the UPLB campus are some artful sculptures too – like the Mariang Makiling which now stands at the bottom of the road going to Forestry, or the “flying” carabao at the Main Library, the Pinay lass with her banga at the Palma bridge pavilion, or the notorious “the Graduate” at the Social Garden (these last two having some weird tales surrounding them, but that’s another story.) 

Tito Ruben and Tita Cora’s house was actually off-campus, in a subdivision near the International Rice Research Institute (IRR). Getting to their place, you can take either the long route via Ipil Drive and IRRI, or the steep hill at the back of the Animal Husbandry side which takes you directly to their village after coming downhill. Due to the distance, we had to coordinate rides to and from campus. But with two of my cousins still in high school and my other cousin busy with his fraternity activities, it was quite difficult scheduling rides, especially since I started having my own extra-curricular activities. A few times I had to get rides from friends – the very popular Luistro brothers, Kim and Gianni, of the UPLB soccer fame, or my sweet and very kind kabatch, Noel Cuyno ‘86.

There were days I caught the free shuttle to IRRI then took that wooden trolley contraption locals ride along the train tracks, and walked the rest of the way to Pleasantville. You go from the long line of trees along Ipil Drive to IRRI, then get a very good panoramic view of the experimental rice fields backdropped by the mountains of Mt. Makiling and Mt. Banahaw, and even Mt. Cristobal. The trolley ride was truly an experience – novel and innovative as it is, it was quite fun to have the wind in your hair. That is, until a train comes along and you all have to get off the tracks to let it pass since the train does have the right-of-way. The real challenge is managing not to get sucked in by the train rushing by. You have to cling to the tall grasses at the sides for dear life until then.

Either way, whether I take the Animal Science route or the long IRRI road, those walks usually treated me to the wonder of flying exotic birds, a rabbit crossing the road, or an occasional snake during rainy season. It was also there I learned to navigate by the weather…watching out for the dark clouds hovering above to decide which route I would be taking so I won’t be soaked by the sudden rain. Until now, I still watch out for cloudy days and time my trips accordingly because I hate getting caught in the rains.

Those days you could still hitch a ride from the vehicles going to and from IRRI, when we used hand-signals to indicate to jeepneys where we want to go, when UPLB was a close-knit community where most people are connected and know each other from somewhere, somehow. We were safe and secure, and the worst that could happen was getting recruited to become NPA rebels…that, or experiencing those notorious paranormal incidents UPLB is so famous for. Yes, those were the times when there wasn’t any Mayor Sanchez and his goons, or drug-related rape cases.

After my first year, deciding that I had adjusted well enough, I opted to move to an on-campus dormitory. I managed to get a slot at the foremost Co-Ed dorm, then-called “Men’s Dorm” because it used to be solely for male students. Of course, there were all-girls dorms on campus, like the neighboring Women’s Dorm and St. Therese dorm run by the local parish nuns. But I really wanted to experience the whole Hollywood teeny-bopper college campus life for real and luckily when a sorority sister graduated, I got her token space in the so-called Sigma Deltan room at Men’s.

When I was at my relatives, all I had to worry about was budgeting my weekly allowance and getting home after classes. But at the dorm, I had to budget my allowance for food, my transportation back to Manila, getting to my classes on time, and managing my extra-curricular hours responsibly. I was really on my own, and had to act like a mature adult. During the 1987 and 1989 coup d’etats, we got stranded in UPLB because Metro Manila was in chaos. We had to do our own laundry, scrounge enough extra cash to feed ourselves, and manage to home to Quezon City.

Prior to UP Los Banos, I didn’t know how to commute using public transport. Now, I had to learn to take the bus to and from Laguna. Back then, the premier busline was BLTB (Batangas, Laguna, Tayabas Buslines) of the Potenciano family. Eventually the company folded, and my alternatives were Kapalaran and Superlines plying the whole Laguna and Quezon route. While there were a few aircon buses, mostly it was ordinary, open-window commuters that you catch from Crossing. In summer, it was either you suffocate in the heat inside the bus or keep the windows open and let your face take all the G-Force of SLEX.

If not for the BLTB Pasay route, I sometimes had to take the Lawton trip and get off at the Metropolitan Theater in Manila for a Project 2-3 jeepney. Otherwise, I get off at Alabang for an EDSA bus transfer to Quezon City, usually a Monumento or Fairview-bound trip. Once in QC, I either get off in Cubao or at the corner of Kamias-EDSA. I had to learn these routes and transfers the hard way, because I made a few wrong rides too.

But I remember the Dairy Training and Research Institute (DTRI) milk I used to drink on those long bus trips. The shing-a-ling (local fried noodles) being peddled by vendors hopping on and off the buses, along with an assortment of commercial buko pies, espasol, banana or kamote fritters, etc. My sister, Giselle soon learned about kwek-kwek, those orange-covered eggs that you dip into vinegar, deep-friend day-old chicks, and pansit habhab at those bus terminals too.

Getting around the CALABARZON area with our friends, my sister, Giselle and I were soon introduced to the tradition of fiestas in these parts. Besides parish-led activities, most towns have other festivities that include feeding majority of visitors to their place. As s guest, you are invited to most homes even if they don’t know you and you are obliged to sample their dishes. One thing we noticed during these “culinary rounds” was that most houses served the classic pansit bihon, menudong Tagalog, and fruit salad.

These local delicacies and simple fare soon grew on me, and without the fast food cuisine we got so used to in the city, these were welcome changes. I learned to exchange my favorite Coca-cola for fresh milk, began to like buko pie and local breads from the bakery instead of burgers and pizza, and those long, necessary walks actually did wonders for my legs and gluteus maximus.

But the thing I really loved the most about my Laguna days, was the clean, fresh air, the amazing greenery surrounding you, a closeness to nature that I will always have an affinity for. Nowadays, I take the opportunity to drop by UP Diliman for a regular dose of nature. Sometimes, I get lucky enough to have the time to visit La Mesa Ecopark or the Parks and Wildlife Park of QC.

Every so often, I still trek to Los Banos to reconnect with my past, commune with nature, and to simply ground myself. For it was there I did a lot of growing up. It was there I found, and keep finding myself, when I feel lost and in need of some peace. Most of all, in that valley by Mt. Makiling, I keep finding focus and direction.