Almost all Filipinos have Spanish names, these names came from a decree (1849) that required everyone to have surnames similar to that of a Spaniard or at least derived from a list they government provided. Before the implementation of the decree, most Filipinos were patronymic, there were no clear standard in naming children upon baptismal, the practice of adopting names from the Catholic Saints were influence taken from the Friars. Narciso Claveria, the liberal and vigorous governor, foresaw that such practices of incoherent names of the natives (some even without it) would present troubles later on both in tax collections and records. Also, written records were very deficient it made document verification difficult, tracing ancestry before 1800's was almost impossible.
Some Prehispanic tribes does not even possess surnames. There were instances that a child's name was taken from his appearance or some natural event (some tribes even had a tribal culture of having no names). When the Friars started baptizing the Indios they initially started using names of saints, mostly naming people based on what the Saints feast day, which, after decades of practice became the norm. Claveria's decree would ammend this practice in 1847, giving Filipinos its first standard when it comes to naming infants.
Aside from significantly improving the governments collection of tributes, the decree's greatest gift was that it paved the way for the native to wholly integrate in the society (as would be in the case of the Chinos). When the so called evolution of the Filipino identity finally became clear, the Catholic names, made it uncomplicated for the native without the education like that of an elites to function as fully accepted citizens within a society. A Christianized native, that had acquired a Christian name enjoy the benefits of having an name familiar with the the general public. This method of making Hispanized names obligatory to all is often slandered as the doing of the Spaniards for they intend to completely control every area of Filipino life, but a clear reading of its anon effects would illustrate how it improved the Filipino way of life, as it was visualized by Claveria.
Loose Guidelines
In most towns, individuals would have names opening with the same letter of the alphabet. The surnames were based on the town of origin. Those starting with "A" (like mine) are set aside for those people who dwells in capital. The outlying town receives names starting with the subsequent letters, "B" for the second town, "C" for third town. This practice was never across the board, there were exemptions. The last names was also based on the first letter of the town, such is the case of Capas, it was assigned to "C", this explains the predominance of the surnames that starts with this letter, such is the case on other towns all over the islands colony.
The authors of the book State and Society in the Philippines has this to say, "A town would choose the names of one letter of the alphabet, a second choose the names of another letter, and so on. Until recently, one could tell the hometown of the an individual by his or her surname. This was true, for example, in Albay province. Those of Oas town, those with "O" from Guinobatan, and those with "B" from Tiwi. This also explains why many Filipinos today bear Spanish names although they may not have Spanish blood"
What was Claveria Thinking
Nowadays, whenever someone would raise the question on how a Filipino got his Iberian sounding name, others would be quick to point to the "decree" ordering everyone to take on a Spanish name without apparent explanation of what's the reason behind it.
Claveria offers us his explanation:"During my visits to the majority of the islands, I observe that natives in general lack individual surnames which distinguished them by families. They arbitrarily adopt the names of the saints as their last names, this results to the results in the existence of thousands of individuals having the same surnames. Likewise, i saw the resultant confusion with the regard to the administration of justice, government, finance and public order and the far-reaching moral, civil and religious consequences to which thismight lead, because the familynames are not transmitted from the parents to their children, so that it is sometimes impossible to prove the degress of consanguinity for purposes of marriage, rendering useless the parochial books which in Catholic countries are used for all kinds of transactions." he continues,"for the purpose of catalgue of family names has been compiled, including indigenous names collected by the reverend fathers provincial of the religious orders, and the Spanish surnames they have been able to acquire, along those furnished by the vegetable and mineral kingdoms, geography, arts, etc. In view of the extreme usefulness and practicality of this measures, the time has come to issue a directive for the formation of a civil register, which may not only fulfill and ensure the said objectives, but also serve as the basis for the statistics of the country, guarantee the collection of taxes, the regular performance of personal services, and the receipt of payment for exemptions. It likewise provides exact information of the movement of the population, thus avoiding unauthorized migrations, hiding taxpayers, and other issues."
The decree after all was not conceived out of greediness and malevolence intent but by having a successful administration of records. The Governor plainly stated the benefits of having surnames for the natives on the long run would prevail over its initial awkwardness. This order that gave us the names that we still bear with us until now is perhaps the greatest impression of the Spanish era aside from our religion.
Some Exceptions
There were exceptions, indication of the orders flexibility, i.e., the direct descendants of ancient rulers (i.e., Mojica, Tupas etc.) were excluded and were permitted to maintain their surnames. The Tagalog nobility was also spared (i.e., Gatmaitan, Hilario etc.) this is the reason why we still hear these surnames up to now. For the rest were given regulated name (based on the Catalogo Alfabetico de Apellidos). There were those who were ordered to take on unique surnames (usually names of flora & fauna) to make them more visible, like in the case of the Rizals, which already had Mercado, a name taken by the first Francisco Mercado (Domingo Lam Co's son). Its interesting to note however that Asuncion Bantug pointed out in her book "Si Lolo Jose", that the reason behind the change was that original Francisco hated the name Mercado for it means "market", choosing another name, Ricial. The Mercados later on started using their second last name, Rizal, as an act of uniting behind Jose's flight.
With the decree also came the opportunity for those without surnames to obtain one. A catalog of names where one could pick was handed to the natives (a directory of Spanish names). The Friars being elected as the agents of organization during the initial years of the decree proved to be successful. The policy was generally realized and Claveria's requirements of a unified registry was created and this would give the Filipino today a way to trace their lineage. The practice also made sure that the surname of the the mother would be attached, this explains "y" (police, NBI and other national records) after the fathers surname. According to the study prepared by Pepe Alas, we're the only nation now that still follow this format.
The Chino Christiano
These Mestizos were allowed to hold on to their name Chinese surnames. This was accredited by the administrators so as for these Mestizo's not to lose their lineage and culture. It was a regular practice also then to generate a last name by merging Chinese names, like that of their parents (i.e., Yu -chen -co, Lim -cau -co etc.). Many of this surnames having "co" at the end because of the Hokkienese polite suffix of "ko" (meaning "big brother"). There were also occasions that the Catholic Filipino Chinese would blend their native names to that of a Christian name, this adaptation is unique and is said to be the only one of its kind in the world. Contrary to what most accept as true, that these names were imposed without due considerations, the Christianized Chinese mestizo's supplies us with a clear example of the laws flexibility (like the considerations for the Tagalog noble clans). The decree was in no way meant to disassociate the Filipino to his native origins and his family.
The Filipino Chinese then was different from the Baba of Malaya and the Javanese Peranakan, both Chinese immigrants, as Wickerberg says, " the Chinese mestizo in the Philippines was not a special kind of Chinese, he was a special kind of Filipino".
This points to the fact of the Filipino Chinese integration to the Filipino society - they became a Filipinos, their prosperity and influence during the Spanish era is a proof of their contributions to the society as key actors.The other Sino immigrants in the neighbouring colonized regions, the Filipino Chinese was not restrained in their comunity but was encouraged to integrate and participate. It was observed that some eventually lost attachment to the Chinese culture and as the author of the book "Brains of the Revolution" says, "instead, a very strong affinity for a Philippine version of Hispanic culture", referring to the Mestizo's preference to the hispanic culture."
Looking back
Contrary to the claims of reknowned historians that this decree stripped us of our native identity, the scheme actually restored the self-esteem for the Filipino then. Today, as we go on with our contemporary lives, we have government agencies going up the mountains and registering natives (for administration, medical and educational purposes), in some cases, missionaries meet up with this tribes to baptize them and give them Christian names, how is this different from what the Claveria decree formed?
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Monday, November 24, 2008
Pan De Manila "Disclaimer"
I have been receiving email's and comment's asking information for the Pan De Manila. I sure would love to provide you with contact information and how to get your franchise but I can not, I am in no way connected to this bread company, I wish I was so I could drop by at any of their outlet and get my bags of goodies. I'm just a fan of their concept and line of products.
I owe people an apology especially those who thought that I work for PDM, I was looking for some information on them too but I don't think they have a corporate website. The post was just my way of thanking them (PDM), they clearly advocate the appreciation of our heritage and what more could be a better representation of that beautiful past than the mighty Pan De Sal!
I owe people an apology especially those who thought that I work for PDM, I was looking for some information on them too but I don't think they have a corporate website. The post was just my way of thanking them (PDM), they clearly advocate the appreciation of our heritage and what more could be a better representation of that beautiful past than the mighty Pan De Sal!
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Food Identity
Being away from the homeland makes you think about a lotta things. In a foreign land is where a Filipino becomes more Filipino. You get to compare things about you, you realize that you are, well, Filipino pala talaga. You get to see yourself in a totally different light.
Identity as they say is what makes you unique from the others. A friend told me that you are ‘what you eat’, it was a funny way to describe the Filipino identity but I understand why he said that. Food would give you a good picture of what a nation is, you can glimpse its past through its plate.
Expats in foreign lands serves homegrown dishes with ‘yabang’, they’re proud of how we make food and how it taste. A tinola here, even if its missing some key recado taste better than a tinola that’s completos recados back home. For some strange reason, eating tinola with fellow Filipinos here makes me feel Filipino, so it must be true that ‘you are what you eat’.
Our food basics are steamed rice and all the viands that always starts with a cooking technique called guisa. The tastiest dishes are of Spanish origin but they have evolved to be Filipino, Filipinize, so to speak. So adobo, sarsiado, mechado, bopiz, tinola, jamon, relleno, embutido, tapa. menudo, pochero, callos, lechon, paella are Filipino, we cease to call this dishes Kastila, we present these us ours, Lutong Pinoy we call it.
We are often told that we are Malay, in fact whenever there is an application form, most Filipinos would still place Malay as their race on the blank space. Some still regard Rizal as the great Malay (is he?), if he is then my mom is French. The foodie question is, why is it that if Malay is our racial origin, why don’t we eat like them? we have the Malay tradition of bi-hoon, cang cung and mee-sua but nothing more, why is it that we never had a taste for mutton? why are we voracious pork eaters?
The Chinese on the other hand they say was already doing business in our shores long before the Kastilaloys came but why is it that our cookery is more Spanish than Chino? are we to think that the natives then only picked the alien Spanish dishes over the flavory familiar Chinese cuisines? are we to believe that we snub the Chinese way of cooking that we seem to enjoy this days?
Stir frying is a cool way to cook our fishies,meaties and veggies (we see this with Martin Yan all the time), a Chinese original but it never became a technique we can call ours. We still go back to the guisado. When it comes to the prehispanic Filipino dishes we could refer to the accounts of Pigaffeta’s gastronomic odyssey with the natives. There’s not much, they did got drunk though, but even that aboriginal drink is a thing of the past for us, we rather entertain our guess with the good ol' cerveza or some fancy European wine at home.
The only logical answer for all this is that our dish became hispanized, we had little choice because we were flooded by all this strange objects and traditions brought by the Spainiards. It is not as if we elected to be influence, we never called them, they came to us. We all end up having this strange appetite for the Espanola cuisine. A strange taste for an Asiano to acquire. When Christmas is around our tradition calls for the quezo de bola or the jamon or the lechon, of course all of this with the cerveza or some delightful vino, or some chocolate to match our versions of mantecadas and pastillas. What seems to be evident is that this Kastila's were the only once who showed us how to culture our food. The bland cookery all of a sudden became sophisticated. What was handed down to us was not only simple Iberian imported recipes but a tradition that we would be identifying with up to this day. Just the other day, we were looking for some cocoa power (the popular brand, cocoa ricoah) when this elderly Chinise looking woman, probably recognizing were Filipinos, looked at us and asked, 'Champorado?'. we are identified with this unique culture, I told myself, 'oh my, she can identify my nationality by what I was about to buy from her'.
That is why I always tell my friends that would ask me about identity or debate me on the topic, that if we want to get rid of that past and revert to the true state of Filipino (I don’t know what that is, Igorot? maybe) we start with ridding ourselves with everything that was created by that past, aside from losing our Hispanic sounding ala Antonio Banderas names, we’ll lose a lot including our cuisine (nooooh!!!). There is no alternative when we speak of identity, that is why countries like Australia or the US would not look back at their precolonial days as the one representing their true identity for if it was the case, they would be anulling the colonial contribution to their advancement both in education, culture and eventual self governance. When they say we that we had no choice, well, I say we deal with the cards that has been dealt to us by this thing called history.
It is this simple logic that should guide us towards embracing our true identity, its the ugly reality for those people who try hard to identify the Filipino identity with the prehispanic tribes of the islands, our soul is not there, we could trace our lineage there but certainly not our character. The thinking that the more aboriginal we make ourselves the more Filipino we become doesn't sound right, actually it sounds stupid. This identity was a process that started when the state was founded, followed by a series of events that started from a Spaniard born in the islands claiming the Filipino as his identity, then to the coming of a generation of educated men that proved that they're equal if not superior to the Spaniard. If we view this process as a retardation of our natural evolution, that all of this are foreign and therefore evil, then we say today that we are indeed retarded, that we are byproducts of a failed process that led to this beautiful identity and this should answer why we are continually moving back wards.
There is no starting over, its not like some subject in college that you flunked and that you can take it up next sem, history is evolution, never static, it waits for no one. Rather than denying it, Hispano culture deserves a second look, acknowledge it and embrace it, there is nothing we can gain from believing that we don't deserve this foreign traditions when we are unconsciously following it, it is our tradition. There’s a real danger in teaching ourselves to hate something we don’t understand, we could end up hating ourselves.
Now back to this foodie identity, make no mistake about it, there is a Filipino cuisine and its alive. Its origins could be hispano but its Filipino no doubt. I remember what Fr. Galende, that nice Augustinian Padre who supervises the lone original Intramuros church, said about all the beautiful century old churches we have in our land, that it is a mistake to call them Spanish because they’re Filipino churches. To say that this are all Spanish culture is to say that there is no Filipino culture, like when we say that because we had great literature written in Spanish, that they are Spanish, not Filipino. All of these belongs to us, this is us, and to tell our children that they were all the creation of the Spaniards is the same as telling them that the Filipinos during those days stayed in the caves and learned nothing.
The same with our food but we should recognize the history behind it. Only when we begin to understand and appreciate we’ll be able to understand how we became Filipinos. This could be an oversimplification of the definition of our identity but if you think of it we really are what we eat.
Now, its morning here. Let me go find some Pan de Sal! ay, wala pala dito.
Identity as they say is what makes you unique from the others. A friend told me that you are ‘what you eat’, it was a funny way to describe the Filipino identity but I understand why he said that. Food would give you a good picture of what a nation is, you can glimpse its past through its plate.
Expats in foreign lands serves homegrown dishes with ‘yabang’, they’re proud of how we make food and how it taste. A tinola here, even if its missing some key recado taste better than a tinola that’s completos recados back home. For some strange reason, eating tinola with fellow Filipinos here makes me feel Filipino, so it must be true that ‘you are what you eat’.
Our food basics are steamed rice and all the viands that always starts with a cooking technique called guisa. The tastiest dishes are of Spanish origin but they have evolved to be Filipino, Filipinize, so to speak. So adobo, sarsiado, mechado, bopiz, tinola, jamon, relleno, embutido, tapa. menudo, pochero, callos, lechon, paella are Filipino, we cease to call this dishes Kastila, we present these us ours, Lutong Pinoy we call it.
We are often told that we are Malay, in fact whenever there is an application form, most Filipinos would still place Malay as their race on the blank space. Some still regard Rizal as the great Malay (is he?), if he is then my mom is French. The foodie question is, why is it that if Malay is our racial origin, why don’t we eat like them? we have the Malay tradition of bi-hoon, cang cung and mee-sua but nothing more, why is it that we never had a taste for mutton? why are we voracious pork eaters?
The Chinese on the other hand they say was already doing business in our shores long before the Kastilaloys came but why is it that our cookery is more Spanish than Chino? are we to think that the natives then only picked the alien Spanish dishes over the flavory familiar Chinese cuisines? are we to believe that we snub the Chinese way of cooking that we seem to enjoy this days?
Stir frying is a cool way to cook our fishies,meaties and veggies (we see this with Martin Yan all the time), a Chinese original but it never became a technique we can call ours. We still go back to the guisado. When it comes to the prehispanic Filipino dishes we could refer to the accounts of Pigaffeta’s gastronomic odyssey with the natives. There’s not much, they did got drunk though, but even that aboriginal drink is a thing of the past for us, we rather entertain our guess with the good ol' cerveza or some fancy European wine at home.
The only logical answer for all this is that our dish became hispanized, we had little choice because we were flooded by all this strange objects and traditions brought by the Spainiards. It is not as if we elected to be influence, we never called them, they came to us. We all end up having this strange appetite for the Espanola cuisine. A strange taste for an Asiano to acquire. When Christmas is around our tradition calls for the quezo de bola or the jamon or the lechon, of course all of this with the cerveza or some delightful vino, or some chocolate to match our versions of mantecadas and pastillas. What seems to be evident is that this Kastila's were the only once who showed us how to culture our food. The bland cookery all of a sudden became sophisticated. What was handed down to us was not only simple Iberian imported recipes but a tradition that we would be identifying with up to this day. Just the other day, we were looking for some cocoa power (the popular brand, cocoa ricoah) when this elderly Chinise looking woman, probably recognizing were Filipinos, looked at us and asked, 'Champorado?'. we are identified with this unique culture, I told myself, 'oh my, she can identify my nationality by what I was about to buy from her'.
That is why I always tell my friends that would ask me about identity or debate me on the topic, that if we want to get rid of that past and revert to the true state of Filipino (I don’t know what that is, Igorot? maybe) we start with ridding ourselves with everything that was created by that past, aside from losing our Hispanic sounding ala Antonio Banderas names, we’ll lose a lot including our cuisine (nooooh!!!). There is no alternative when we speak of identity, that is why countries like Australia or the US would not look back at their precolonial days as the one representing their true identity for if it was the case, they would be anulling the colonial contribution to their advancement both in education, culture and eventual self governance. When they say we that we had no choice, well, I say we deal with the cards that has been dealt to us by this thing called history.
It is this simple logic that should guide us towards embracing our true identity, its the ugly reality for those people who try hard to identify the Filipino identity with the prehispanic tribes of the islands, our soul is not there, we could trace our lineage there but certainly not our character. The thinking that the more aboriginal we make ourselves the more Filipino we become doesn't sound right, actually it sounds stupid. This identity was a process that started when the state was founded, followed by a series of events that started from a Spaniard born in the islands claiming the Filipino as his identity, then to the coming of a generation of educated men that proved that they're equal if not superior to the Spaniard. If we view this process as a retardation of our natural evolution, that all of this are foreign and therefore evil, then we say today that we are indeed retarded, that we are byproducts of a failed process that led to this beautiful identity and this should answer why we are continually moving back wards.
There is no starting over, its not like some subject in college that you flunked and that you can take it up next sem, history is evolution, never static, it waits for no one. Rather than denying it, Hispano culture deserves a second look, acknowledge it and embrace it, there is nothing we can gain from believing that we don't deserve this foreign traditions when we are unconsciously following it, it is our tradition. There’s a real danger in teaching ourselves to hate something we don’t understand, we could end up hating ourselves.
Now back to this foodie identity, make no mistake about it, there is a Filipino cuisine and its alive. Its origins could be hispano but its Filipino no doubt. I remember what Fr. Galende, that nice Augustinian Padre who supervises the lone original Intramuros church, said about all the beautiful century old churches we have in our land, that it is a mistake to call them Spanish because they’re Filipino churches. To say that this are all Spanish culture is to say that there is no Filipino culture, like when we say that because we had great literature written in Spanish, that they are Spanish, not Filipino. All of these belongs to us, this is us, and to tell our children that they were all the creation of the Spaniards is the same as telling them that the Filipinos during those days stayed in the caves and learned nothing.
The same with our food but we should recognize the history behind it. Only when we begin to understand and appreciate we’ll be able to understand how we became Filipinos. This could be an oversimplification of the definition of our identity but if you think of it we really are what we eat.
Now, its morning here. Let me go find some Pan de Sal! ay, wala pala dito.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Novena Singapore
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="215" caption="The Novena Church"]
[/caption]
I went to mass in a place popularly known here as Novena, the St. Alphonsus Church, this Iglesia is located in Thomson Rd situated in the central area of Singapore. It's near where we live so I could just ride a cab for a short trip but the train is far cheaper, the North-South line serves the area where the church is, the station to get to is also called Novena, but we were running late so the taxi was the best pick.
Being a devotee of our Lady of Perpetual Help, I feel a certain affinity with the charming little church. It reminds me very much of our Baclaran church, which is also Redemptorist. Even more, when I saw devotees fervently praying in front of the Marian image brought by the Redemptorist friars (called Our Lady of Perpetual Success). The Redemptorist fathers spearheaded the creation of a missionary here, they also introduced Saturday Novenas that started in 1949 and still continues to this day, the Novena, was their way of strengthening the faith among the Catholics in the area of which all are from different ethnological backgrounds with their devotion to the blessed Virgin as the only bond they share with each other. Over time, the simple make shift church became a fortified structure, it was built on contributions, its land was donated by a wealthy Catholic Chinese family.
I was delighted to see that the parokyano's here are very participative (the mass was in English), they dress well, very formal (In fact the only person thats wearing a shirt and a short was me, how embarrassing!) They are very good Catholics here, you would hear people praying and singing songs of praise, reciting the psalms (without the help of any visual projections). I even saw people praying the rosary after the mass has ended, while some flocked the image of our Lady close to the main altar. Seeing all this, takes me back to the very first time I visited to the historic Binondo Church, I was in high school, I was curious then how the Chinese there would pray, how are they as Catholics, I got my answer, they were no different. I was amazed how the religion has really taken root even amongst the Chinese (Filipino - Chinese), the religion has become the identity. Its the same here, Catholicism, regardless of its propagators has maintained its universality. Christian conversion was in deed the sweet fruit of the Missionaries persevering desire to Christianize the Asian continent. The Catholic faithfuls here are the testament to this.
I would have to admit that I have never seen such active participation this back home, we have our own way - we are often passive during mass, silent for the entire duration of the celebration. I mean it could be something cultural but they're really different, they seem to be more aware and appreciative of their Catholic traditions. This could be the result of the Catholic community here being small, hence, knitted tightly, groups like this tend to be closer and active, something that we no longer feel.
It was an excellent experience, going to mass here, one that I would remember forever. For the first time in months, I feel spiritually Rejuvenated. Looking at them practice their faith inspires me. How odd it is that a nation not known to be Catholic could inspire a Catholic from a nation known to be predominantly Catholic. Surprises comes from unexpected places they say, I found my spiritual surprise here in the Lion city.
Although the church was only built in the late 40's, it has already been declared a heritage site by the Government. They successfully restored the original bell towers donated by a rich Chinese lady. This place of worship, like almost all known places of religion here in this island nation is well maintained.
[/caption]I went to mass in a place popularly known here as Novena, the St. Alphonsus Church, this Iglesia is located in Thomson Rd situated in the central area of Singapore. It's near where we live so I could just ride a cab for a short trip but the train is far cheaper, the North-South line serves the area where the church is, the station to get to is also called Novena, but we were running late so the taxi was the best pick.
Being a devotee of our Lady of Perpetual Help, I feel a certain affinity with the charming little church. It reminds me very much of our Baclaran church, which is also Redemptorist. Even more, when I saw devotees fervently praying in front of the Marian image brought by the Redemptorist friars (called Our Lady of Perpetual Success). The Redemptorist fathers spearheaded the creation of a missionary here, they also introduced Saturday Novenas that started in 1949 and still continues to this day, the Novena, was their way of strengthening the faith among the Catholics in the area of which all are from different ethnological backgrounds with their devotion to the blessed Virgin as the only bond they share with each other. Over time, the simple make shift church became a fortified structure, it was built on contributions, its land was donated by a wealthy Catholic Chinese family.
I was delighted to see that the parokyano's here are very participative (the mass was in English), they dress well, very formal (In fact the only person thats wearing a shirt and a short was me, how embarrassing!) They are very good Catholics here, you would hear people praying and singing songs of praise, reciting the psalms (without the help of any visual projections). I even saw people praying the rosary after the mass has ended, while some flocked the image of our Lady close to the main altar. Seeing all this, takes me back to the very first time I visited to the historic Binondo Church, I was in high school, I was curious then how the Chinese there would pray, how are they as Catholics, I got my answer, they were no different. I was amazed how the religion has really taken root even amongst the Chinese (Filipino - Chinese), the religion has become the identity. Its the same here, Catholicism, regardless of its propagators has maintained its universality. Christian conversion was in deed the sweet fruit of the Missionaries persevering desire to Christianize the Asian continent. The Catholic faithfuls here are the testament to this.
I would have to admit that I have never seen such active participation this back home, we have our own way - we are often passive during mass, silent for the entire duration of the celebration. I mean it could be something cultural but they're really different, they seem to be more aware and appreciative of their Catholic traditions. This could be the result of the Catholic community here being small, hence, knitted tightly, groups like this tend to be closer and active, something that we no longer feel.
It was an excellent experience, going to mass here, one that I would remember forever. For the first time in months, I feel spiritually Rejuvenated. Looking at them practice their faith inspires me. How odd it is that a nation not known to be Catholic could inspire a Catholic from a nation known to be predominantly Catholic. Surprises comes from unexpected places they say, I found my spiritual surprise here in the Lion city.
Although the church was only built in the late 40's, it has already been declared a heritage site by the Government. They successfully restored the original bell towers donated by a rich Chinese lady. This place of worship, like almost all known places of religion here in this island nation is well maintained.
---
* Photo courtesy of NeilMark13
Friday, November 7, 2008
The Singlish, English in Singapore
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="240" caption="Singapura Experience"]
[/caption]
There's much that we could learn from a country like Singapore, particularly with our 'language situation'. There are two major (or maybe more) factions that presented itself at the turn of the century after the Spaniards packed up and left our shores hurriedly. The first one, the traditionalist those who would like to bring back the old Tagalog (with its abecedario of 32 letters) together with the Spanish language as, again, the lengua franca. The second one, are the puristas, this are the so called nationalist, a group that would love nothing but to see the eradication of anything that is of foreign, they would want to revert to the days when the Islas de Felipenas was untouched by western influence, something that I believe never existed, the Philippines was, let's face it, a Spanish creation.
Going back to the issue of language, here in Singapore, they have lots of it, four, all in all, not counting the other Chinese languages (i.e., Cantonese, Fukien), the Government advocates the use of Mandarin instead but still maintains the freedom of those who wish to speak using this traditional languages, the state preference to Mandarin was to push for a single and unified Chinese language amongst the Sino population, to date Mandarin has the largest percentage. The languages in use here are: Mandarin, the one with the largest speakers, Malay, the national language, Tamil, and English, their other official language.
With all this language in such a confined area, the question is, was there ever a problem in their sociological structure (with regards to the people's ability to communicate with each other)?
The answer is a simple no. Because they embraced, as their own, the English language, the mother tongues of their colonial rulers. This, in my view, saved them from the paralyzing effects of having too many languages. English gave them, what they call here, the 'Administrative' language, it became a powerful tool. The bonus for them was, this colonial language - is the global language now.
Language represents ethnological groups, these among other factors causes friction in some other countries, not here, it's their well of strength. Singaporean history has shown that there were social unrest (Pro Malay groups wanting to get the island nation back in the Malayan confederacy and the Communist) in the past, arising from the conditions it found itself in, when they became independent (all too sudden according to their historian) but the great leadership by men like Lee (Lee Kwan Yew defeated this groups early on) suppressed such movements that could've easily dismantled their ongoing progress then.
If there is one thing that can be said of their progress, is that, it is the result of a strong government (in deed not like GMA's so called 'strong republic), who made the laws of the land, the backbone of their nations development. Discipline and the fear of state laws puts everything in order, one could sleep in the plaza's or walk late at night without worrying that some punk would try to steal from you, you could hardly find a police in the vicinity, theirs is a land in order.
The Island state did not pushed for any one single language for they recognized their racial diversity, believing that such moves would only cause unrest, they did however named their official language (Malay) which of course was a mere formality, but in reality everyone here speaks in their own mother language, the Chinese, the Tamil and Malay - they're free to communicate using their mother tongues. Observing them made me think that, like in our country, diversity should be celebrated for it can be a source of strength, unfortunately, most of us have regionalist tendencies, like for example, a Tagalog sneering at a Visayan's accent - here people freely speaks their own language without a worry in mind, without any fear of being discriminated, here exist a strange kind of mix, I have never seen a country so diverse, in culture and race, yet so unified.
Those who opposed having Spanish back, as a language should visit and stay here, it's the perfect example that we can emulate back home. There really is no need to eliminate (like what Aquino did in '87) but rather add, because it is by accumulation of knowledge that we become better human being (imagine how Spanish could've made our workforce more formidable, add to this the markets that we could've opened).Learning languages is always a good thing. Learning our old language back, together with our native language will only enlighten us about our heritage, when we begin to appreciate all our languages, only then we would know who we truly are. This would illuminate our true identity.
So how can they understand each other (Singaporeans) when they speak separate languages?
This is where English (or Singlish as they call it here) comes into play; it is the administrative language of the nation. Like us, their former colonial masters where westerners, the British, this is where their common sense and economic genius becomes evident - instead of debating if they should keep it or get rid of it, they used it! While back home, we untiringly put our heads on the 'language situation' of whether or not to use Tagalog (or Filipino or any other language) or English, they on the other hand enforced their teachers to use English as a mode of instruction, by this celebrating what they see as a gift from Raffles' imperial ambition. They have yet to achieved our proficiency in speaking English but they are on their way to towards that goal (they already have extensive English subjects in their curriculum).
Their brand of English is difficult to understand, not really smooth, especially if your used to the 'Americanized' way of hearing it, here they call it Singlish, but make no mistake about it, it's very effective. Almost all people here speak English, in varying degrees. Shops and its owners could transact in English with ease. So, I ask myself, was there ever a time that this confused them or did anyone here felt alienated, that they needed to adapt to something that's not Asian, something representing the English rule, not Singaporean?
Here lies our fundamental difference with this South East Asian brothers of ours, the Singaporeans, although they treasure and are proud of their Asiatic origins, they continue to recognize early in their history that theirs is a 'global race', that in order to move forward, one must adapt, one must learn, become global. While we were busying ourselves trying to figure out how the Spaniards retarded our national and economic progress (as most of this Filipino nationalist loves to claim), they, on their side paid their respects, honored the former motherland and the language it brought to its shores. They knew that they were once British subjects but they are not captives of that past, no, they are not prisoners of that colonial mentality in fact they are grateful, they see it as part of the evolution that created them. A huge monument somewhere near the city hall was dedicated to Thomas Raffles, the British founder of Singapore, grateful people these Singaporeans, to the imperial power that made their shores, the greatest port city of the world.
Could we be like them? Grateful of the former colonizer, who they as an independent nation now recognize as having unified the small island nation and made it what it is today, one of the richest nation on earth? Could we, in our lands, be brave enough to accept that we too, are like them, that we were founded by western hands? And that much of what we see now, was in fact, contributions from this foreigners for the expansion of their kingdom but later led to unification of lands and of people?
Here in Singapore, they have not forgotten about how important their cultural heritage, theirs is prominently Asiatic, their cultural programs are geared towards maintaining the Asian identity, but at the same time, they never looked back at their colonial past as something that must be omitted in their history text books. Thinking of our country and how it contends with its colonial past - we are wasting our time with this 'nationalistic' ideas, are we not being foolish? wanting to sever its ties rather than learning to appreciate, we all can learn from this great nation.
[/caption]There's much that we could learn from a country like Singapore, particularly with our 'language situation'. There are two major (or maybe more) factions that presented itself at the turn of the century after the Spaniards packed up and left our shores hurriedly. The first one, the traditionalist those who would like to bring back the old Tagalog (with its abecedario of 32 letters) together with the Spanish language as, again, the lengua franca. The second one, are the puristas, this are the so called nationalist, a group that would love nothing but to see the eradication of anything that is of foreign, they would want to revert to the days when the Islas de Felipenas was untouched by western influence, something that I believe never existed, the Philippines was, let's face it, a Spanish creation.
Going back to the issue of language, here in Singapore, they have lots of it, four, all in all, not counting the other Chinese languages (i.e., Cantonese, Fukien), the Government advocates the use of Mandarin instead but still maintains the freedom of those who wish to speak using this traditional languages, the state preference to Mandarin was to push for a single and unified Chinese language amongst the Sino population, to date Mandarin has the largest percentage. The languages in use here are: Mandarin, the one with the largest speakers, Malay, the national language, Tamil, and English, their other official language.
With all this language in such a confined area, the question is, was there ever a problem in their sociological structure (with regards to the people's ability to communicate with each other)?
The answer is a simple no. Because they embraced, as their own, the English language, the mother tongues of their colonial rulers. This, in my view, saved them from the paralyzing effects of having too many languages. English gave them, what they call here, the 'Administrative' language, it became a powerful tool. The bonus for them was, this colonial language - is the global language now.
Language represents ethnological groups, these among other factors causes friction in some other countries, not here, it's their well of strength. Singaporean history has shown that there were social unrest (Pro Malay groups wanting to get the island nation back in the Malayan confederacy and the Communist) in the past, arising from the conditions it found itself in, when they became independent (all too sudden according to their historian) but the great leadership by men like Lee (Lee Kwan Yew defeated this groups early on) suppressed such movements that could've easily dismantled their ongoing progress then.
If there is one thing that can be said of their progress, is that, it is the result of a strong government (in deed not like GMA's so called 'strong republic), who made the laws of the land, the backbone of their nations development. Discipline and the fear of state laws puts everything in order, one could sleep in the plaza's or walk late at night without worrying that some punk would try to steal from you, you could hardly find a police in the vicinity, theirs is a land in order.
The Island state did not pushed for any one single language for they recognized their racial diversity, believing that such moves would only cause unrest, they did however named their official language (Malay) which of course was a mere formality, but in reality everyone here speaks in their own mother language, the Chinese, the Tamil and Malay - they're free to communicate using their mother tongues. Observing them made me think that, like in our country, diversity should be celebrated for it can be a source of strength, unfortunately, most of us have regionalist tendencies, like for example, a Tagalog sneering at a Visayan's accent - here people freely speaks their own language without a worry in mind, without any fear of being discriminated, here exist a strange kind of mix, I have never seen a country so diverse, in culture and race, yet so unified.
Those who opposed having Spanish back, as a language should visit and stay here, it's the perfect example that we can emulate back home. There really is no need to eliminate (like what Aquino did in '87) but rather add, because it is by accumulation of knowledge that we become better human being (imagine how Spanish could've made our workforce more formidable, add to this the markets that we could've opened).Learning languages is always a good thing. Learning our old language back, together with our native language will only enlighten us about our heritage, when we begin to appreciate all our languages, only then we would know who we truly are. This would illuminate our true identity.
So how can they understand each other (Singaporeans) when they speak separate languages?
This is where English (or Singlish as they call it here) comes into play; it is the administrative language of the nation. Like us, their former colonial masters where westerners, the British, this is where their common sense and economic genius becomes evident - instead of debating if they should keep it or get rid of it, they used it! While back home, we untiringly put our heads on the 'language situation' of whether or not to use Tagalog (or Filipino or any other language) or English, they on the other hand enforced their teachers to use English as a mode of instruction, by this celebrating what they see as a gift from Raffles' imperial ambition. They have yet to achieved our proficiency in speaking English but they are on their way to towards that goal (they already have extensive English subjects in their curriculum).
Their brand of English is difficult to understand, not really smooth, especially if your used to the 'Americanized' way of hearing it, here they call it Singlish, but make no mistake about it, it's very effective. Almost all people here speak English, in varying degrees. Shops and its owners could transact in English with ease. So, I ask myself, was there ever a time that this confused them or did anyone here felt alienated, that they needed to adapt to something that's not Asian, something representing the English rule, not Singaporean?
Here lies our fundamental difference with this South East Asian brothers of ours, the Singaporeans, although they treasure and are proud of their Asiatic origins, they continue to recognize early in their history that theirs is a 'global race', that in order to move forward, one must adapt, one must learn, become global. While we were busying ourselves trying to figure out how the Spaniards retarded our national and economic progress (as most of this Filipino nationalist loves to claim), they, on their side paid their respects, honored the former motherland and the language it brought to its shores. They knew that they were once British subjects but they are not captives of that past, no, they are not prisoners of that colonial mentality in fact they are grateful, they see it as part of the evolution that created them. A huge monument somewhere near the city hall was dedicated to Thomas Raffles, the British founder of Singapore, grateful people these Singaporeans, to the imperial power that made their shores, the greatest port city of the world.
Could we be like them? Grateful of the former colonizer, who they as an independent nation now recognize as having unified the small island nation and made it what it is today, one of the richest nation on earth? Could we, in our lands, be brave enough to accept that we too, are like them, that we were founded by western hands? And that much of what we see now, was in fact, contributions from this foreigners for the expansion of their kingdom but later led to unification of lands and of people?
Here in Singapore, they have not forgotten about how important their cultural heritage, theirs is prominently Asiatic, their cultural programs are geared towards maintaining the Asian identity, but at the same time, they never looked back at their colonial past as something that must be omitted in their history text books. Thinking of our country and how it contends with its colonial past - we are wasting our time with this 'nationalistic' ideas, are we not being foolish? wanting to sever its ties rather than learning to appreciate, we all can learn from this great nation.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
The Undisputed Queen of Bagtican
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="240" caption="James, Mommy and me"]
[/caption]
I finally got the chance to visit my step grandma (salamat sa friendster at nagkita kami ng apo niya), affectionately called 'mommy' by the entire Calle Bagtican neighborhood, this great lady has in so many ways showed me what a grandmother's love is, I never had a living grandparent when I was a child. The Magcale was the royal family of Calle Bagtican. Mommy has always look after the neighborhood, she is the 'undisputed queen of Bagtican'.
I was delighted to know that she still remembers me even with her faltering memory as a result of old age, I was more surprised that she can remember the things that we did together. "Gago ka kasi, tinuturuan ka hindi ka nakikinig" she told me yesterday when I boasted that I'm trying to learn Spanish now and that I could speak a little, you see, she did try when I she took me as her step grandson (ampon kuno) but the child that I am, I paid no attention.
It was her who also taught me to take on reading English literature, they once had a roomful of books (stacked as high as 6 feet or more), it was bigger than our elementary school library. I learned last night that all those books were disposed when their place was sold. How I wish I could've acquired them.
She speaks beautiful Spanish, she sings songs and recites poems in pure Castilian. She told me that Maria, her dearly beloved mother taught her how to be a Filipina, she was a fine lady according to Mommy, a mestiza, who taught her unica hija Spanish, the basics of education, even proper attire for different occasions and how to conduct oneself in public. This sophistication in culture is expected from them then, she was born in Calle Cabildo (in Intramuros), where speaking in Spanish and being a Catholic (a cerrado Catolico) is part of life, (The Irish American father is also a practicing Catholic).
Macati then according to her was home to rich families, who migrated to their vacation homes from their old residential houses in Manila after the war. Part of her childhood was spent in La Paz Iloilo, the provincial farm of his American father, a high ranking US Marine officer. She inherited huge chunks of lands in Pasay (later sold to Chung Hua Chinese academy and portions to what we know now as Cartimar) and Macati.
I remember when I was a child that I would runaway when I see her coming, she's probably the first white person I've ever met and I was afraid of her, and those piercing green eyes made me hide behind my Nanay's saya. She's always had a beer in hand, she was after all Irish, so this interest in drinking comes naturally I guess. So after buying a bottle of cerveza at our small sari-sari store she would ask Nanay if she could bring me with her, the lady needed a drinking buddy, too bad I was a minor (but she was the one who taught me to drink beer later on!)! my Nanay busy with her store and her small carinderia would not mind of course, I was one less boy to worry about (we were four in the family all male).
Mommy would engage me in this unending historical discussion that was too much for a child my age (most I never understood, how can I?) like when she explained why the atomic bombs that destroyed the two great cities of Japan was a great idea to end the war, I was in grade3 or 4 (while other kids were probably learning that Jose Rizal's dog is named alipato) Every now and then she would become emotional over certain subjects, "Alam mo ang mga putang inang mga Hapon na iyan walang mga puso iyan, barbaro! animales!". I laughed so hard when I told her that Samuel (my brother) married a Japanese woman, she said,"ay gago iyan si Samuel! hindi ba siya nagaral ng historia? alam niya ba nangyari sa familia ni Omeng (my father)?" she was still the same woman after all this years, it was very Doña Amparoesque!
She would request of me to recite poems in English and of course, talk about Philippine history and what I've learned so far, a subject that I would fall in love later but not during those days, no, I was too young. I was very fortunate, I never got this education in our mababang paaralan (mababa nga!). I was privileged that I had her, she was God sent.
She would romanticize in her lovely stories the Spanish traditions and culture, for her its always about urbanidad and delicadeza and all those Catholic based tradition of the old days, this is the reason why I learned too see it differently than most of the educated youth whose introduction to history is Lapu-Lapu, the aborigines of the islands and the revolution of Rizal, mine was stories of how beautiful the culture was and why it is important that we embrace it.
She would always tell me, "We are Spanish hijo (of course the correct term is Hispanic but she uses Spanish often maybe because of our status as citizens during the colonial years), right or wrong, if we want to change this truth, we should rewind, back to the days when Magallanes arrived, unite all the tribes and islands and fight the invaders but there was no army, no unity, no nation then. Wala hijo mga Españoles ang nagbigay sa atin ng nacion at unidad sa ayaw man natin o hindi." And I knew that if she would have her way she'll pick the Americans over the Spaniards but she reasons that its history not some social science where theories can be accepted.
Though she was, in my eyes, a hispanist, a lover of that culture, she was still American. Very pro American I should say in her views. Her historical lessons would not be complete without glorifying the her country, "The Americans liberated us, they are our friends hijo, why are we expelling them out?", referring to the on going US Base issue then. "Ingrato iyan mga putang inang politicos na yan, los tontos! nagsipagaral pa naman sa UP, fondo ng mga Americano ang nagbigay sa kanila ng educacion! noong panahon ng Hapon nagsipagtago ang mga elitistang familia ng mga iyan, while Americans like my father fought and drove the Japones away!", her father was an accomplished career US Marine, he was her true American hero.
Make no mistake about it she's one of the kindest soul one could meet. Mapagbigay masyado, even to the extent of offending some of her family members, "ano ba ang kailangan niya?" she would ask me if a neighbors would show up in her house. "Binigyan ko na iyan locarit na iyan ah", in the end her generous spirit would always overcome her reasons. "vale,vale, heto! por Dios sabihin mo kay __ maghanap ng trabaho!". She was really a Mommy to all. This is why, last night, tears begun to fall when I was told that no one among those she helped, the old Bagtican dwellers even came to visit her for almost a decade, I felt guilty that I was, in a way like them - I could've visited her earlier, when she was stronger. She no longer could see because of an eye condition. Thank heavens that his youngest grandson (James) takes good care of her. He was the one who inherited her intelligence and her generous spirit!
Old age has gotten into her, she use to be so sharp and witty. It was painful for me to see her that way, blind and incapable of moving around, the last time we were together she was eating oysters, smoking and drinking her favorite San Miguel beer (in a bottle, never cans).
When I told her that I will visit her again she said, "Kung ang paa mo ay sipagin sige, kung hindi naman ok lang din." I found it hard to say good bye because of what she whispered to me, "my time is almost up hijo", I did not know how to react. I guess that's life, its that beautiful cycle and we'll all end up like this great lady, in her life she always made sure she shared her blessings, I now feel that this is what we should aim after, that we share more than we take.
I could go on and on with what I learned from this amazing lady, Doña Amparo, I could never thank her enough, words just won't do it but I believe living my life the way she taught me how, with love, honor, gratitude and care for the people around me is the greatest tribute I could ever give her.
[/caption]I finally got the chance to visit my step grandma (salamat sa friendster at nagkita kami ng apo niya), affectionately called 'mommy' by the entire Calle Bagtican neighborhood, this great lady has in so many ways showed me what a grandmother's love is, I never had a living grandparent when I was a child. The Magcale was the royal family of Calle Bagtican. Mommy has always look after the neighborhood, she is the 'undisputed queen of Bagtican'.
I was delighted to know that she still remembers me even with her faltering memory as a result of old age, I was more surprised that she can remember the things that we did together. "Gago ka kasi, tinuturuan ka hindi ka nakikinig" she told me yesterday when I boasted that I'm trying to learn Spanish now and that I could speak a little, you see, she did try when I she took me as her step grandson (ampon kuno) but the child that I am, I paid no attention.
It was her who also taught me to take on reading English literature, they once had a roomful of books (stacked as high as 6 feet or more), it was bigger than our elementary school library. I learned last night that all those books were disposed when their place was sold. How I wish I could've acquired them.
She speaks beautiful Spanish, she sings songs and recites poems in pure Castilian. She told me that Maria, her dearly beloved mother taught her how to be a Filipina, she was a fine lady according to Mommy, a mestiza, who taught her unica hija Spanish, the basics of education, even proper attire for different occasions and how to conduct oneself in public. This sophistication in culture is expected from them then, she was born in Calle Cabildo (in Intramuros), where speaking in Spanish and being a Catholic (a cerrado Catolico) is part of life, (The Irish American father is also a practicing Catholic).
Macati then according to her was home to rich families, who migrated to their vacation homes from their old residential houses in Manila after the war. Part of her childhood was spent in La Paz Iloilo, the provincial farm of his American father, a high ranking US Marine officer. She inherited huge chunks of lands in Pasay (later sold to Chung Hua Chinese academy and portions to what we know now as Cartimar) and Macati.
I remember when I was a child that I would runaway when I see her coming, she's probably the first white person I've ever met and I was afraid of her, and those piercing green eyes made me hide behind my Nanay's saya. She's always had a beer in hand, she was after all Irish, so this interest in drinking comes naturally I guess. So after buying a bottle of cerveza at our small sari-sari store she would ask Nanay if she could bring me with her, the lady needed a drinking buddy, too bad I was a minor (but she was the one who taught me to drink beer later on!)! my Nanay busy with her store and her small carinderia would not mind of course, I was one less boy to worry about (we were four in the family all male).
Mommy would engage me in this unending historical discussion that was too much for a child my age (most I never understood, how can I?) like when she explained why the atomic bombs that destroyed the two great cities of Japan was a great idea to end the war, I was in grade3 or 4 (while other kids were probably learning that Jose Rizal's dog is named alipato) Every now and then she would become emotional over certain subjects, "Alam mo ang mga putang inang mga Hapon na iyan walang mga puso iyan, barbaro! animales!". I laughed so hard when I told her that Samuel (my brother) married a Japanese woman, she said,"ay gago iyan si Samuel! hindi ba siya nagaral ng historia? alam niya ba nangyari sa familia ni Omeng (my father)?" she was still the same woman after all this years, it was very Doña Amparoesque!
She would request of me to recite poems in English and of course, talk about Philippine history and what I've learned so far, a subject that I would fall in love later but not during those days, no, I was too young. I was very fortunate, I never got this education in our mababang paaralan (mababa nga!). I was privileged that I had her, she was God sent.
She would romanticize in her lovely stories the Spanish traditions and culture, for her its always about urbanidad and delicadeza and all those Catholic based tradition of the old days, this is the reason why I learned too see it differently than most of the educated youth whose introduction to history is Lapu-Lapu, the aborigines of the islands and the revolution of Rizal, mine was stories of how beautiful the culture was and why it is important that we embrace it.
She would always tell me, "We are Spanish hijo (of course the correct term is Hispanic but she uses Spanish often maybe because of our status as citizens during the colonial years), right or wrong, if we want to change this truth, we should rewind, back to the days when Magallanes arrived, unite all the tribes and islands and fight the invaders but there was no army, no unity, no nation then. Wala hijo mga Españoles ang nagbigay sa atin ng nacion at unidad sa ayaw man natin o hindi." And I knew that if she would have her way she'll pick the Americans over the Spaniards but she reasons that its history not some social science where theories can be accepted.
Though she was, in my eyes, a hispanist, a lover of that culture, she was still American. Very pro American I should say in her views. Her historical lessons would not be complete without glorifying the her country, "The Americans liberated us, they are our friends hijo, why are we expelling them out?", referring to the on going US Base issue then. "Ingrato iyan mga putang inang politicos na yan, los tontos! nagsipagaral pa naman sa UP, fondo ng mga Americano ang nagbigay sa kanila ng educacion! noong panahon ng Hapon nagsipagtago ang mga elitistang familia ng mga iyan, while Americans like my father fought and drove the Japones away!", her father was an accomplished career US Marine, he was her true American hero.
Make no mistake about it she's one of the kindest soul one could meet. Mapagbigay masyado, even to the extent of offending some of her family members, "ano ba ang kailangan niya?" she would ask me if a neighbors would show up in her house. "Binigyan ko na iyan locarit na iyan ah", in the end her generous spirit would always overcome her reasons. "vale,vale, heto! por Dios sabihin mo kay __ maghanap ng trabaho!". She was really a Mommy to all. This is why, last night, tears begun to fall when I was told that no one among those she helped, the old Bagtican dwellers even came to visit her for almost a decade, I felt guilty that I was, in a way like them - I could've visited her earlier, when she was stronger. She no longer could see because of an eye condition. Thank heavens that his youngest grandson (James) takes good care of her. He was the one who inherited her intelligence and her generous spirit!
Old age has gotten into her, she use to be so sharp and witty. It was painful for me to see her that way, blind and incapable of moving around, the last time we were together she was eating oysters, smoking and drinking her favorite San Miguel beer (in a bottle, never cans).
When I told her that I will visit her again she said, "Kung ang paa mo ay sipagin sige, kung hindi naman ok lang din." I found it hard to say good bye because of what she whispered to me, "my time is almost up hijo", I did not know how to react. I guess that's life, its that beautiful cycle and we'll all end up like this great lady, in her life she always made sure she shared her blessings, I now feel that this is what we should aim after, that we share more than we take.
I could go on and on with what I learned from this amazing lady, Doña Amparo, I could never thank her enough, words just won't do it but I believe living my life the way she taught me how, with love, honor, gratitude and care for the people around me is the greatest tribute I could ever give her.
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